When you have a lower budget, you have less time. It’s a little more money, and a lot more work, but it will make your film feel fuller and help immerse your audience in the world of your story.

Go thrift store hunting for some cheap furnishings that fit your characters. In the real world we don’t even notice, but in film, where we are used to seeing colorful frames filled with information, plain white walls are jarring. Chances are you will find yourself surrounded by unadorned white or beige walls. These films are often shot on location, usually in places where the filmmakers live or work, and the biggest giveaway is the walls. On a low- budget film, you might not even have a dedicated production designer, let alone a whole team. Their sets are carefully planned out to reinforce color motifs or support character backstory.

Big budget movies can afford massive art departments full of painters, builders, and set dressers, all working in careful coordination to control every single thing that appears in each shot. It’s one of those jobs where if you do it right, nobody notices. Production designers are some of the (many) unsung heroes of filmmaking.

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