An Audience experience of production design in three period films in Ghana

Abstract

Production design in films define the visual aesthetics in every frame on screen. It explains the visual representations as well as the creation of the physical worlds in films. As observed by the researcher, less attention is given to the production design in some period films shot in Ghana. Therefore, the films lack some form of authenticity and believability in the “look”. Besides, it creates some form of miscommunication among audience. This qualitative phenomenological study addresses this lacuna with three purposively selected period films in Ghana and semi-structured interviews involving twenty-two (22) audience members who were selected using snowball sampling. The paper dwells on formalism and realism theories in filmmaking. Thematic analysis is used to analyze the results. It is observed that props used in some selected period films did not suit the era envisaged. On the other hand, settings used in other period films enabled to define the period. The paper concludes that visual elements placed in every frame in period film genres must enable define the era in the story world.