With changing technology demands, the role of production designers like Alex McDowell (left) and cinematographer Curtis Clark are expanding and changing.

Common Issues
Since art directors and production designers are active mainly during preproduction, while cinematographers come into the picture just before the camera starts rolling, the ADG and ASC had been working independently on the technical issues that face each group respectively. But they began to realize their issues weren’t mutually exclusive, and thus formed the joint working committee. “The cinematographer’s single greatest collaborator, aside from the director, is the production designer,” insists Clark.

“We’re using tools that are very helpful to cinematographers,” McDowell adds, citing previs as a key example. “This could become a component of the whole production workflow pipeline.” He points out that the data compiled in the digital hub of previs can flow through shooting and post-production, with editors, gaffers, vfx supervisors, cinematographers, production designers and directors accessing it for decision-making purposes, or importing it into their own systems as a starting point for their work.

The previs could help solve some of the color-management issues that are of concern to the ASC, as well. Information about how a particular red wall should look, or what lights and filters should be used, could be stored and carried all the way through, says McDowell, so when the scene gets to DI and the color timing, “that nugget of information remains in place.” That would enable the scene to feature the color the designer and director wanted rather than an approximation.

Previs applications and the previs work by the production designer could be more effectively integrated into the planning of scenes and shots, Clark agrees, adding, “We’d like to see more consistent work being done on developing the previs side as a way of integrating the look management [the tools that allow color correction tweaks to reference materials] into the preproduction and production process.”

“We’re really connecting the two pieces of the pipeline,” McDowell asserts. “It’s clear that the tool sets we’re both creating are mutually beneficial.”

“We all have the same concerns and ambitions in common,” confirms Thomas A. Walsh, production designer and president of the Art Directors Guild. “We’re all overwhelmed with the new technologies. We so fundamentally affect each other, and no one has enough experience yet to say, ‘This is the one way to do it.’ We’re all hunter-gatherers in the wilderness, trying to do this on our own. We need a clear perspective on what the tools are and how they are best used.”

Cinematographers seldom are involved in preproduction, and therefore have to make a lot of assumptions about what the production designers, who have already completed their work, had in mind. With 3D modeling and rendering, cinematographers eventually could be involved earlier, such as at the set design stage, at which point they could decide how to light a scene and set up other elements, according to Ron Frankel, president of Proof, a previsualization company, which recently worked on World Trade Center. “It would make for a more efficient design process,” he says, noting, “the general goal of promoting communication among departments is a positive one.”

Thomas Walsh (left) and Kim Libreri believe a set of digital standards would be beneficial.

Impact on VFX
While vfx supervisors are not directly involved in the ASC/ADG joint initiative, the guilds’ work will have an impact on the VFX community. Vfx supervisors are increasingly coming on board earlier in the filmmaking process, and view the previs as an increasingly essential tool. “The design department is giving them a space in which they can work,” says McDowell. “There’s much more collaboration in the design process, which makes us both happy.”

He notes that once the previs, which is created three or four weeks after the start of preproduction, has incorporated information about sets, cameras and sequences into the 3D animation space, “it’s an easy pitch to the producers that the vfx supervisor should be in on it.” It’s practical and efficient to make effects decisions at that point, such as where animation or matte paintings should be used or where set extensions are needed.

McDowell points out that production designers have been frustrated when their vision hasn’t been carried out accurately in the VFX, while vfx supervisors have been frustrated when they’ve had to fill in the blanks after the designers have scattered. All this due to a lack of collaboration between the two departments. “We can design the full arc of the film in all aspects [using the previs],” McDowell says. “We can negotiate the line between live-action and set extensions.” This coordinated planning saves time and money.

In addition, some of the data from the previs can be used for building VFX in post. “You’d be carrying files through the process,” reports Walsh. “There would be no redundant or obsolete information. You’d maintain a continuity. There’s a lot of duplication waste, and it adds lots of time to the process. We can’t go on forever making films for $300 million or $400 million.”

The information created with 3D modeling tools during preproduction “all is getting handed downstream,” adds Frankel. “VFX will inherit a lot of information that otherwise they would just be guessing.”

Kim Libreri, vfx supervisor at ILM, notes that modern movies have a significant number of VFX shots, and often rely on multiple vendors, who are increasingly involved earlier in the process, while the art department and designers are still doing their job. It’s hard to keep track of which vendors are doing what, he says, and of which versions of scenes are being used. “You get out of synch,” Libreri says. “People think with digital effects you can change anything, and you can, but it costs time and money. You could spend millions working on the wrong design.”