British Film Design: A History (Cinema and Society)

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British Film Design is about the things that you see when you close your eyes and think ofxA0; 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; 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.

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