Martin Scorsese at work on the set of The Departed
“Cinema is a matter of what’s in the frame and what’s out.”
-Martin Scorsese
From the mean streets of New York City to the days of Christ in desolate landscapes to the vast beauty of Paris in the 1930′s, let there be no question that Martin Scorsese is a master of visual storytelling. Great filmmakers don’t stop telling the story on the page, in the camera or in the cut, they continue to use the tool of environment and space: production design. Often times in Scorsese’s films the environment is another character. New York City is his most prominent character no matter which decade he sets his story.
The quote above is an important one for me and one I use very often when designing a film. What you have in the frame is as important as what you leave out. Everything you have in the frame is part of telling the story. It’s the details of the graphics in Travis Bickle’s apartment which were written into the script to the branded poker chips which you may have not noticed in Casino to the tiny tools dressed on the desk in Hugo’s living space, that make Scorsese’s worlds all-encompassing and believable. In a Scorsese film the one thing you can always count on is that every detail is accounted for.
Now obviously Scorsese himself does not implement these details but he demands the very best from his crew. Luckily, success has awarded him the opportunities to work with the very best in Production Design. His work with Production Designer Dante Ferretti is particularly epic and their collaborations together always leave me breathless. Hiring the right people, as they say, is half the battle.
So here now are those worlds. I warn you there are spoilers and violence ahead. Enjoy!
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Mean Streets (1973)
Art Department Unknown
Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1974)
Production Designer: Toby Carr Rafelson
Taxi Driver (1976)
Art Director: Charles Rosen | Set Decorator: Herbert F. Mulligan
New York, New York (1977)
Production Designer: Boris Leven | Art Director: Harry Kemm | Set Decorator: Robert De Vestel & Ruby R. Levitt
Raging Bull (1980)
Production Designer: Gene Rudolf | Art Director: Alan Manser (L.A) & Kirk Axtell (L.A) | Set Decorator: Phil Abramson & Frederic C. Weiler
The King of Comedy (1983)
Production Designer: Boris Leven | Art Director: Lawrence Miller & Edward Pisoni | Set Decorator: George DeTitta Sr. & Daniel Robert
After Hours (1985)
Production Designer: Jeffrey Townsend | Art Director: Stephen J. Lineweaver | Set Decorator: Leslie A. Pope
The Color of Money (1986)
Production Designer: Boris Leven | Set Decorator: Karen O’Hara
The Last Temptation of Christ (1988)
Production Designer: John Beard | Art Director: Andrew Sanders | Set Decorator: Giorgio Desideri
Goodfellas (1990)
Production Designer: Kristi Zea | Art Director: Maher Ahmad | Set Decorator: Leslie Bloom
Cape Fear (1991)
Production Designer: Henry Bumstead | Art Director: Jack G. Taylor Jr. | Set Decorator: Alan Hicks
The Age of Innocence (1993)
Production Designer: Dante Ferretti | Art Director: Speed Hopkins | Set Decorator: Robert J. Franco & Amy Marshall
Casino (1995)
Production Designer: Dante Ferretti | Art Director: Jack G. Taylor Jr. | Set Decorator: Rick Simpson
Kundun (1997)
Production Designer: Dante Ferretti | Art Director: Alan Tomkins | Set Decorator: Francesca Lo Schiavo
Bringing Out the Dead (1999)
Production Designer: Dante Ferretti | Art Director: Robert Guerra | Set Decorator: William F. Reynolds
Gangs of New York (2002)
Production Designer: Dante Ferretti | Art Director: Stefano Maria Ortolani | Set Decorator: Francesca Lo Schiavo
The Aviator (2004)
Production Designer: Dante Ferretti | Art Director: Robert Guerra & Claude Paré | Set Decorator: Francesca Lo Schiavo
The Departed (2006)
Production Designer: Kristi Zea | Art Director: Teresa Carriker-Thayer | Set Decorator: Leslie E. Rollins
Shutter Island (2010)
Production Designer: Dante Ferretti | Art Director: Robert Guerra | Set Decorator: Francesca Lo Schiavo
Hugo (2011)
Production Designer: Dante Ferretti | Set Decorator: Francesca Lo Schiavo
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What is your favourite Scorsese film? Why does it resonate with you?
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Rose XO.
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The Birth, Life, and Death of Christ (1906)
