British Film Design: A History

＂British Film Design＂ is about the things that you see when you close your eyes and think of British cinema: Dr. No’s Hideaway, the buffet of ’Brief Encounter’, Vera Drake’s parlour, Hogwarts School...and a thousand other visions of British films. This book is also about the people who have created those visions. The physical environments of films are made by Production Designers/Art Directors. Their efforts have tended to go unnoticed by cinema audiences. ＂British Film Design＂ offers the first comprehensive historical survey of British art direction. It takes a chronological journey through British film design, starting with the efforts of the film ’primitives’ of the silent era and ending with the modern day purveyors of part built/part computer generated ’blended design’. Certain themes recur en route. These include British cinema’s obsession with realism; the Production Designer’s continual struggle for recognition; and, influence from European artists and the benefits - and perils - of American finance. The book succeeds in expressing the joy of looking at films from inside out; seeing beyond the stars to recognise sets as silent players in the action.

Laurie N. Ede is a Principal Lecturer in Film, Media and Applied Writing at the University of Portsmouth.