The production designer works directly with the Director and Producer from the pre-production phase, to select the settings and style to visually tell the story. The production designer guides the costume designer, the hair and make-up artists beside other key personnel like the art director, set designer and the prop master from the art department to obtain the required look.

A script breakdown is the detailed scrutiny of a given screenplay. It informs us about the locations of a shoot, characters in a scene, the props and costumes used in every scene. It also provides information about the schedule of the shoot, the director's creative analysis of the staged action and the approximate budget. In addition it also contains important clues from the point of view of production design to ensure optimum visualization.

The process of visualization starts on the basis of the already accumulated pointers of a given script. Selection of the final image happens only after evaluating the various stylistic possibilities. The chosen look will then be developed meticulously to create the detailed set illustration of the blueprint.

Crystallizing your set illustration in a 3-D scale model before shooting complicated scenes enables the Production Designer to know what works and what doesn't, in the final set. It provides information about factors such as placement of doors and windows, colour harmony, arrangement of furniture, plants and props within the given space etc. This helps to make changes if necessary to address issues such as the shooting zones, light sources, various camera placements and movements, individual actor movement, action sequences and choreographed moments in the final locale.

A better part of production design involves intra personal skills with people from all walks of life. The workmen who create the sets need to be monitored and hence knowledge of their working style is significant. Right from the carpenters to thermocol artists, moulders to painters, tailors to various assistants, all play their own part in creating the final filmed look. Students are taught how to communicate with various craftsmen and elicit the best from them.

Budgeting is the prime driving force of any project and it lies in the Production Designer's skilled day-to-day negotiations to keep the film within budget. Shooting is an expensive affair and effective production control begins with a watertight budget. If a film goes over-budget then the fault is usually placed at the door of the Production Designer and therefore being cost effective is essential at all times. Students are taught how to optimize on costs and also ensure that quality is not compromised.

Film and Television mediums are quite different from each other both in content and style. In Films one has the liberty to be detailed, whereas in television, regular telecast dates and short deadlines pose a restriction. The nuances of Film and TV projects are explained through the use of examples.

The month-long final project in the Production Design course will provide students a chance to create and present their individual 3-D models at a professional level on the basis of their own visualization from the given script.

The completion of the project requires every student to do the assignments given below:

P1) Script Breakdown: Students scrutinize the given script in detail for information regarding period, locality, character's character, social status and more in order to decide on the correct kind of interiors and if required, the correct kind of exterior spaces as well. They also arrange the data in the format commonly followed in the industry.

P2) Visualization: On the basis of already accumulated data, each student has to start visualizing the logical placements of walls, doors, windows, floorings, staircases along with furniture, props, upholstery, greeneries, light fittings etc within the imagined space according to the requirements of the script.

P3) Planning: Students make the floor plans and if needed also produce the elevations to clarify the exact positions of partition walls, doors, windows, staircases to make separate areas for living room, dining space, bedroom etc with probable light sources or provisions for camera movements from the given space.

P4) Create Set Illustration: The students have to create detailed set illustrations, ideally incorporating all the elements already present in the plans, complete with colour suggestions regarding walls, doors, windows, floorings, furniture, props, upholstery etc.

P5) Budgeting: Students prepare detailed estimations within the allotted budget for the probable expenditure required to execute the finished model on an actual scale in the case of it’s selection as the best model.

P6) Model Making: Students build a model in such a way, so that it furnishes all the visual details necessary to establish the character or characters of the given script believably within the created space without posing any practical problems whatsoever to the other aspects of film making.

P7) Colouring: Students apply correct colour on walls, doors, windows, floorings, furniture, upholstery within the model and if feasible create an aged look in case it is required by the script.

P8) Documentation: To prepare a final presentation package students need to take limited numbers of photographs from chosen angles or make video clips and write a support paper within the given time.

P9) Final Presentation: Students individually submit the final presentation package and answer the queries raised by the examining panel consisting faculties from different disciplines of Film Making.