Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/629850
On Monday, June 8, the American Film Institute's Conservatory held its annual opening-night reception on the AFI's Warner Bros. soundstage in Los Angeles showcasing the talents of the students who are working toward an MFA in Production Design. The event featured the design work—from renderings to scale set models—of the Conservatory's first- and second-year Production Design Fellows. Attracting artists from architecture, interior design, theater arts, scenic design and other related fields, the Production Design curriculum at AFI focuses on the creative process of visually and physically developing an environment that becomes an essential component of the storytelling process. Production Designers must possess a keen understanding of the story in order to create a believable and realistic world on screen. First-year Fellows learn to transform designs into reality on a soundstage or location, while adhering to Right, and below: DANIELA MEDEIROS drew these three views of a SketchUp ® model, each rendered in Podium ® and finished in Photoshop ® , of her design for MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS, reconceived aboard a Jules Verne-esque blimp. A second-year Fellow (Class of 2015), Daniela has a double degree in architecture and urbanism from the Pontifical Catholic University, and the other in industrial design from the Federal Technological University of Parana in Brazil. Her professional background includes work on multiple short films and video clips. Below: On June 8 and continuing through the 12th, the AFI Conservatory in Los Angeles dedicated its small soundstage to a roomful of displays featuring the work of the first- and second- year Production Design Fellows. restricted budgets. Fellows develop design skills through classes, workshops and practical set construction, learning traditional drafting methods as well as computer-aided design. Second-year Fellows design an entire thesis production, while completing an independent design project for their portfolio. The curriculum also includes more advanced classes on set illustration, drafting, model building, budgeting, color theory and the latest digital design. As part of their course of study, Fellows have the opportunity to meet Art Department professionals during campus seminars and visits to Los Angeles film sets. ADG