Following the set design project, we were introduced to a collaborative project. The master students at Goldsmiths University are working on their final films and we at Wimbledon formed the Art Department. There were six films to choose from of which “Birds” interested me the most. It’s a prison drama about a mother lying to her youngest daughter about her incarceration until she needs a leotard for a gymnastics competition. Struggling to get the money the lie starts to fall apart.
Before Christmas, we started on pre-production. The director envisioned the film to be set in the 90’s/ early 2000’s and gave us a solid list of references and inspirational material, such as Room, Prison Season 2, Fish Tank and “Prison – A Survival Guide” by Carl Cattermole. I ended up only watching Fish Tank and a documentary on youtube. Nevertheless, the mood boards and concept art were received well. To my disappointment, the work I put into a story board was not needed as they wanted to explore camera angles on shooting day.
The locations were still not set yet, so on our first call with the producer and director, I offered some ideas, pulled from google maps. For example, a hostel could have an institutional atmosphere and bunk beds similar to a prison. Our budget was a mere £300, so the more of the furniture we needed was already there, the better. We were also asked to define our roles inside the art department. In the end I became the production designer, Joey Cleghorn the set dresser, Robyn Martin the art director/graphics, and George Tuson the prop master.
Comments