Our first chosen contributor to this site Annie Atkins has just published Fake Love Letters, Forged Telegrams, and Prison Escape Maps: Designing Graphic Props for Filmmaking (Phaidon) which is a behind-the-scenes look at the extraordinary and meticulous design of graphic objects for film sets of which Annie has a wealth of experience. Best known for her long-standing association with cult auteur Wes Anderson including his forthcoming film The French Dispatch.
Party invitations, personal letters, daily newspapers, hand-drawn maps, train tickets, and other graphic props are rarely seen up-close in movies and on television, but are often created in painstaking detail. Although they may be given just a fleeting moment of screen time, these objects are every bit as important as the costumes, set design, hairstyles, and special effects makeup, and their role is crucial: to nudge both the actors on set and the audience just that much further into the fictional world of the film.
“This is the notebook of an artisan who persistently moves forward on her own path – a wonderful guide demonstrating how on-screen realities are constructed out of forgery,” says Ha-jun Lee, the Oscar-nominated production designer of Parasite. It also includes a real love letter to Annie and her craft from Jeff Goldblum. You can see who inspired Annie and who the thread encompassed here.
Available now from Phaidon, €29.95.