British Film Designers Guild

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The BFDG logo
The BFDG logo

(Also known as Designer's Guild or B.F.D.G. and can be seen after a member's name as a professional certification abbreviation)

A society of British Film Directors and Designers was founded in 1946, for the betterment of the Design in British Films. Out of this society grew the Guild of Film Art Directors, and the present British Film Designers Guild, who now include in their membership all the various branches of the Art Department. They are not a trade union. The British equivalent of the Art Directors Guild (of America), although smaller in size are one of the key organisations in the Cine Guilds of Great Britain that work directly with the UK Government: Select Committee on Culture, Media and Sport [1].

This Guild is presented primarily to assist Producers and others to select Department members who will maintain the highest standards of Art Direction, even on the smallest of productions, and whose knowledge, experience and talent have been proven to be the highest in a medium where four fifths of the spectators attention is visual.

The British Film Designers Guild has members in every grade of the art department, from draughtspersons to costume designers, set decorators to production designers, and was formed with the aim of raising the standards and the profile of the art department and protecting the interest of its members.

Contents

[edit] Art Department positions

The hierarchy in the United Kingdom does have some title variants with job descriptions. Here is a guide to the main positions within each area, as there are many alternatives dependent on the film requirements and to which country the film is based in. Some titles vary like for example Draughtsman UK, to Set Designer or Draftsman USA [[2]]. The Production Designer is the head of various departments, Art, Construction, Decorating, Property & Prop Making. Here is a guide to the main positions within each area.

  • Production designer (Feature film), Supervising art director - controls staff, work & schedule req., Art director (or Production designer for Commercials) usually several positions - controls several sets, draughts, organizes & liaises with trades, Stand-by art director (shooting crew), Assistant art director - draughts & liaises with trades, Art department co-ordinator, Senior draughtsperson (lead set designer U.S.) experienced draughtspeople who choose to stay drawing board based, draughtsperson (Set designer or Draftsperson U.S.), Junior draughtsperson, Art department assistant or Runner (Production runner U.S.).
  • Set decorator, Production buyer, Assistant set decorator, Assistant buyer.
  • Property master - controls prop collecting, storing, dressing, stand-by and manufacture (Property master U.S., is in charge of acquiring and manufacturing props, then standing by camera or On-set U.S.), Assistant property master, Supervising props dresser Lead man U.S., Props storeman, Props co-ordinator, Stand-by props Swing gang U.S. (Swing gang can also refer to set construction in the U.S.) [3], Prop dresser Set dresser U.S.
  • Construction manager, Assistant construction manager, Construction buyer, H.o.D. (Head of Department) Carpenter (Chippie U.K.), H.o.D. Painter, H.o.D. Plasterer, H.o.D. Rigger & H.o.D. Stagehand (Stag U.K.). Within each department is Supervising, Chargehand positions to Labourers & Apprentices.
  • H.o.D. Prop maker - works in conjuction with Props, Senior prop makers, Prop maker, Scupltors & Apprentices.

Other titles include Visual Effects art director, Vehicles art director, Locations art director, Concept artist (Illustrator U.S.), Storyboard artist, Graphic designer, Sign writer or Lettering artist, Model maker, Armourer, Greensman,Greenskeeper U.S., Drapes master and Scenic artist.

Refer also to Film crew & [Art Department Guide U.S.].

[edit] Collecting Society

This Society was formed out of work done within the Guild to benefit members and has since grown to assist many other departments within film production.

As you probably know when a blank tape is used to record a film or television programme this infringes the copyright of the various 'authors' of the work. In Britain this infringement is ignored and the Government have steadfastly refused to do anything about it. However, in Germany the government there have addressed this problem and have set up a Blank Tape Levy [4] which is used to compensate copyright holders when their work is transmitted on German television and is therefore available to be copied on to blank tape (or DVD). The Germany government also decided that the definition of copyright holders should be extended beyond the usual suspects - director, writer and composer of the music - to include technicians, deciding that the production designer, cinematographer, editor and the costume designer all played an important part in the creation of the film and should therefore be recognised as 'auteurs'.

In order to collect this revenue the British Film Designers Guild set up a collecting society in conjunction with the British Society of Cinematographers and the Guild of British Film Editors. In December 1999 British technicians received residuals for the first time and these payments have continued ever since.

Anyone who has worked on a film in any of the capacities mentioned above, even if they have only worked on part of the film, are eligible for these payments. The date when the original work was completed does not matter but the film has to have been transmitted on German television. The Collecting Society therefore obtains the transmission records of all German television stations and compares them with a database of members to generate applications.

In addition to making applications for members the Collecting Society is also engaged in the debate concerning the author's rights of production designers, cinematographers, editors and costume designers throughout Europe. Currently we are negotiating with the Austrian authorities for similar blank tape levy payments and we continue to research other countries who have similar legislation.

[edit] Closely related departments

[edit] A Few Famous Members

[edit] Published articles

[edit] Related literature

[edit] See also

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