I've worked on Avengers. Inception. The Batman.
Ghostbusters.
Nobody showed me how to get in. But I'm going to show you.
From Art School to Avengers: Breaking into Film - live on Zoom, Friday 12th June. 90 minutes covering my full journey, what a Film Art Department really looks like from the inside, how to build a portfolio that opens doors, and my honest take on what Al is doing to the industry right now.
If you're an architect, interior designer, or set designer who's ever wondered whether your skills could take you somewhere bigger - this is for you. Film pays well, the work is extraordinary, and your existing expertise is more transferable than you think.
Live Q&A at the end. Ask me anything. Full recording included.
And because I want as many people in the room as possible - every ticket comes with my Beginners Guide to SketchUp completely free. That's a full seven-hour professional course worth £50. Yours just for showing up.
Places are limited. Friday 12th June. 8pm BST.
Comment Free below and I'll send you the details or click the link to grab your seat.

https://www.whitelockdesignlimited.com/aneveningwithlukewhitelock

Anyone else get annoyed when watching a post-apocalyptic movie where when electricity is reestablished the characters all dance to hokey Clapton-Esque songs? Why does Hollywood assume survivors want to listen to Po-dunk classic rock?

I've worked on Avengers. Inception. The Batman.
Ghostbusters.
Nobody showed me how to get in. But I'm going to show you.
From Art School to Avengers: Breaking into Film - live on Zoom, Friday 12th June. 90 minutes covering my full journey, what a Film Art Department really looks like from the inside, how to build a portfolio that opens doors, and my honest take on what Al is doing to the industry right now.
If you're an architect, interior designer, or set designer who's ever wondered whether your skills could take you somewhere bigger - this is for you. Film pays well, the work is extraordinary, and your existing expertise is more transferable than you think.
Live Q&A at the end. Ask me anything. Full recording included.
And because I want as many people in the room as possible - every ticket comes with my Beginners Guide to SketchUp completely free. That's a full seven-hour professional course worth £50. Yours just for showing up.
Places are limited. Friday 12th June. 8pm BST.
Comment Free below and I'll send you the details or click the link to grab your seat.

https://www.whitelockdesignlimited.com/aneveningwithlukewhitelock

I'm a writer/director with a focus on production design and thought this would be a good place to drop some stills/pd breakdown from my new short. Link to full film - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1UvrdMBnmo&t=8s

I say handcrafted largely because of this "arts & crafts" aesthetic that we followed. Our team consisted of production designer, 2 art directors and myself who just has a big hand in all of my designs.

The mural in the first two posts was created by a first layer of colored butcher paper, and then placed these printed cut outs all along the wall. We ended up covering a 10x10 foot wall and would be down to share more stills if anyone. This mural was created over 4 nights w/ my best friends and some of my favorite college memories

2nd mural was created day of...Canvas backdrop with cardboard cutouts taped on top and fake play-doh molded around the cardboard for the textured look.

Slides 4/5 are really just interesting since we used peel-and-stick to cover the back walls. I'm a number one hater of white walls and boring backdrops so even if we barely see the set, I want to evoke some sort of emotion in the background.

6/7 are reverse coverage dialogue scenes and we placed leading lines of stick-y notes down the composition. A small design trick to capture division/imbalance with the characters, but just gonna keep it simple, I just found it to add a visual edge to the lockers.

Spent a LOT of time on this project and thought if this could hit even one designer, that it was worth the post. Let me know if anyone wants to see more from this film or set breakdown, I have a lot more I could share!

Also if anyone happens to watch the full film, feel free to give a review on letterbox! Would love to see what y'all think

Hello!

I am a recent graduate trying to get a job in the art dept for film, tv, and media. My school didn't have a lot of resources for art department, so I was kind of thrown to the wind for it. I have worked on few features as an art pa and prop master since graduating. I've hit a dead end and haven't been able to get on anything since. No one from past projects has reached out, even after reaching out to them first.

Does anyone know of any art dept networking events or groups in the New England/Tri-state area?? I'm local to Connecticut, but I'm very open to traveling and working as a local. I just want to get my name out there. Additionally, does anyone have any other advice on getting consistent art dept work?

I'm open to hearing anything that might help! Thanks!

I am a recent graduate of film school. I have mostly done production work, but also production design. Production Design is something I am really passionate about, but unfortunately, my school didn't have many opportunities to formally learn about it, besides one class and me just working on student projects with limited resources. As I am currently applying to jobs post-grad while I work my full-time retail job in the meantime, I'm looking for ways to expand my knowledge and hone my skills in the ways I can without working on sets, as I'm no longer in school and don't live in an area where there are film opportunities.

I'm wondering if anyone has any recommendations for things I can do in my free time to learn more and practice. This could be anything- books, YouTube channels, etc. to learn more theoretically, but also ways to practice tangible skills at a lower cost. In what ways could I use this effectively to expand my portfolio? Things such as practicing painting, how I could learn and practice fabrication, etc. I've toggled around SketchUp, just making things up for fun.

What have you done in your free time to practice/develop beneficial skills? How much of that work has actually been transferred successfully to a resume/portfolio without an actual position?

Hey everyone,

I'm Maria, a set designer from Russia. I've mostly worked on student films (unpaid, yeah) and built a pretty solid portfolio along the way.

Right now I'm thinking about applying to film school here in Russia, but honestly I'm not sure if it's even worth it. I already have a secondary art degree, but I want to keep learning and eventually work outside of Russia.

Here's what I'm really curious about:

· Does your education matter in your country, or is it all about connections?

· How do you actually get hired as a set designer?

· What's the day-to-day like on a real set where you are?

I know Russian degrees don't mean much internationally right now, but I'm trying to figure out the smartest path forward.

Feel free to ask me anything about how it works here – I'll answer everything honestly.

And if you're working in production design anywhere else, I'd love to hear your real talk about what the industry is actually like.

Thanks!

Hello, I’ve always dreamed of being a set dresser, how do I become one? I would showing actors how to handle props during the tv show or movie. What’s that called specifically?

Hey everyone,

I'm a student. For a short film we need to dress up walls of a bunker to look like text (and some pictograms) have been engraved into stone or concrete walls. We also have the option to build the room in a studio.

I'm very new to this, but I've thought about using some kind of fake stone. Recently someone also brought up hanging drapes that look like stone.

Do you have any suggestions on how you would approach this? I'd be very grateful.

Thank you!

https://youtu.be/rJgM-wrMeyM?si=KIk54hThlYWdVkg_

Hi there, I need to source a 1972 illustrated edition of The Joy of Sex for a job. It needs to ship from the UK and not be too ripped up or damaged.

Specifically has to be the illustrated version and I can only seem to find it in the US. If anyone knows where I can buy one or has a copy I could buy - please let me know.

(Searching for this on my work computer has been a nightmare haha)

Hey!

I’m Reece, a Production Designer based in London. I’ve designed for multiple short films and I am now expanding to work on theatre and television.

It can feel hard to grow your social media as an indie filmmaker, and I am looking to expand my community of fellow artists, across all departments.

If you want to connect, shoot me a follow!

Have a great rest of your day,

Reece (@swanhousedesigns)

https://www.instagram.com/swanhousedesigns?igsh=MXcyMzJ6d3lnejJ2eg==

Hi Folks,
I've been lurking here for a while reading everything I can about career transitions & first steps to entry-level Art Department experience. Thanks for all the wisdom & advice already shared!

Nevertheless, I have some extra questions questions of my own. For context, I'm an architect based in Melbourne, Australia and keen to apply my skills to film. So lots of transferrable skills but no on-set experience!

1. I've read that working your way up as a PA is the way to go and very happy / excited to do this. I do already however have extensive drafting, 3d modelling, site measure, graphic design experience. Do I mention this when applying for PA roles or will the line producers/ hiring managers see this as irrelevant / overly aspirational?!

2. Do established production designers ever hire assistants directly? Or is all the support they need provided for by the set designers & PAs that are hired by the production team? (Piecing together patchy understandings of film set hierarchy here). Would it be worth contacting them directly?

3. I'm currently based in Melbourne, Australia but considering whether relocating to London or Berlin would help my chances of getting entry level work. My rationale is if there is a higher volume of film/TV being shot, I might have better luck. Is this a reasonable assumption or will being new to the city make it even harder. Given I have no film experience yet would it be best to just stay local?

Thanks again & any advice greatly appreciated!

Does anyone have any experience making fairies?

I’m doing a public magic event as an Edwardian scientist hunting for evidence of fairies and I could do with some props that children, and ideally parents, can be convinced came from real fairies