Films to honor art direction
By MariaSan Filippo
Nov. 7, 2002 9:00 p.m.
For anyone who’s ever wondered about a film’s art
director’s job, “The Art of Hollywood” film
series at UCLA’s James Bridges Theater pays tribute to one of
the most underrated professions of cinema.
Kicking things off tomorrow is a screening of “The
Godfather: Part II,” in the James Bridges Theater at 7:30
p.m., for which Dean Tavoularis won an Oscar. Art direction ““
or production design, as it is now known ““ creates the look
of a film from set construction to prop placement.
“They used to say that the art director was in charge of
everything in the background slightly out of focus,” said
production director Tom Walsh (“The Majestic,”
“John Carpenter’s Vampires”).
Walsh will speak at the Sunday screening of two early examples
of excellence in art direction, “The Crowd” and
“The Wind.” Both films represent the apex of the silent
era, according to Walsh.
Rather than using a controlled studio sound stage, both films
were shot on location (Manhattan and the California desert,
respectively) ““ no small feat in 1928. In addition,
MGM’s art department rose to the challenge of creating
special effects. From the miniatures created to the duplicate city
skyscrapers, and the cyclone whipped up by airplane motors mounted
on trailers, these early art directors developed methods still used
in filmmaking today.
“There was less money to finance pretensions (while there
was) more collective knowledge being shared,” Walsh said.
“Today, everything happens in its own petri dish.”
During its heyday, production design paid closer attention to
detail, according to Michael Hackett, professor of directing in
UCLA’s theater department.
“Early art directors consulted experts to ensure that
their sets and designs were architecturally and historically
accurate,” Hackett said.
Choosing the eleven films to be screened throughout the month
was daunting, according to Mimi Brody, associate programmer at the
UCLA Film and Television Archive.
“Even our short list had over 100 titles ““ so many
films deserve a closer look and deserve to be seen on the big
screen,” Brody said.
The dual mission of highlighting art direction and bringing
rarely seen films back to the big screen is an often overlooked
one. For example, the 1930 sci-fi odyssey film, “Just
Imagine,” is screening Sunday, but is not available on
video.
The crown of the series will be an appearance by 87-year-old art
design legend Henry Bumstead at the screening of
“Vertigo” on Nov. 24. Bumstead brought
Hitchcock’s obsessive vision to life within the film’s
dream world.
“”˜Vertigo’ is one of the only films that makes
San Francisco look sinister,” said Hackett. “Everything
in the frame is coordinated to accentuate the atmosphere. Even the
colors of Kim Novak’s costumes are meaningful.”
Despite technology allowing work to be done more simply and
quickly, today’s designers face other constraints on their
creativity.
“Before, art directors could learn their craft through
making mistakes,” said Walsh. “Today we don’t
have the time or money for mistakes; we have to finish the film in
time for Sundance.”
For more info, call 310-206-FILM or log on to
www.cinema.ucla.edu.
