Harold Michelson, 87, Production Designer dies
wazzzy
Veteran motion picture Production Designer Harold Michelson, one of
the icons in that craft and a two-time Academy-Award nominee (for
"Terms of Endearment" and "Star Trek: The Motion Picture"), died at
the Motion Picture & Television Fund home Friday, March 2, following a
lingering illness. He was 87.
Michelson was presented the Art Directors Guild's Lifetime Achievement
Award in 1999 and the Hollywood Film Festival's Outstanding
Achievement in Production Design Award in 2002.
His other major credits as an Art Director and/or Production Designer
include "Dick Tracy," "Spaceballs," "Planes, Trains & Automobiles,"
"Mommie Dearest," "Catch 22," "History of the World, Part I," "Johnny
Got His Gun," "The Outside Man," "Hair," "Mame," "Pretty Poison,"
"Can't Stop the Music," "The Thousand Plane Raid" and "Two People."
Michelson also worked as a visual consultant on "Matilda" and "The
Fly."
Michelson was widely considered to be "the industry's greatest
illustrator." Films he illustrated include "The Ten Commandments,"
"Cleopatra," "Ben Hur," "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf," "The
Graduate," "Irma La Douce," "West Side Story," "The Apartment," "The
Birds," "Fiddler on the Roof," "A Star is Born," "From Here to
Eternity," "Ship of Fools" and "The Turning Point."
Michelson was born in New York in 1920. His first job after graduating
high school was with the Bureau of Printing in D.C. During World War
II as a bombardier-navigator in the U.S. Air Force he flew more than
40 missions over Germany. Following the war he became an illustrator
for magazines while attending art school at New York's Arts Students
League. He then worked in Chicago and Los Angeles illustrating movie
posters. His first studio job was as an apprentice illustrator for
Columbia Pictures, which segued to his being traded to Paramount
Pictures to do illustrations and storyboards for "The Ten
Commandments." At Paramount he moved up the ranks to junior and then
senior illustrator. He then moved on to MGM to work on "Ben Hur" and
then to Universal to illustrate for "Spartacus." Michelson's career in
art direction began with NBC's "Matinee Theater" and went on from
there to CBS's "The Gomer Pyle Show" and "The Andy Griffith Show." In
recent years he has been a consultant for Danny DeVito.
He is survived by his wife Lillian Michelson, who is considered to be
the dean of motion picture research; his three sons Alan, Eric and
Dennis, and two grandchildren Luca and Romeo.
A memorial service will be held March 6 at 2:00 PM at Mount Sinai
Hollywood Hills (5950 Forest Lawn Drive Los Angeles, CA 90068).
Note to media: a color image of Harold Michelson is available by
contacting Jen Coyne-Hoerle at j...@publicity4all.com
Contact:
PRESS CONTACT:
Murray Weissman
Murray Weissman & Associates
818/760-8995
Email Contact
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Source: Art Directors Guild
Michael O'Connor
and see the term but have no idea what the job involves.
Hyfler/Rosner
"Michael O'Connor" <mpoco...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:1173139922.6...@8g2000cwh.googlegroups.com...
> What does a Production Designer do? I always read the
> film credits
> and see the term but have no idea what the job involves.
The production desginer is responsible for every inaminate
thing you see in a film. Every room, every scene, every
prop, every costume, has to be designed and created.
Production designers work hand in hand with the director and
the cinematographer to paint a picture of the time period
and the appropriate environment for the characters and the
story. They work closely with the art department, the props
department, and the wardrobe department to achieve this. I
have spent more time with production designers arguing over
things like lamps than you can imagine. I once even had an
argument over a dust bunny that I didn't think looked right.
When a production designer is bad, whole scenes can look
phony. Ever watch a period film and think, there's
something wrong here? It's because they threw it all at the
scene. Every grocery item from 1930, for example, looking
brand spanking new. I saw a film recently that had a lot of
power cords around an office desk and I thought, that's a
good production designer. Everyone else always eliminates
cords. Because they're not 'actually' using them, are they?
When a production designer is great, you don't even notice
what they've done. You think they just walked into a room
and started shooting. Which they do occasionally. But a
whole lot less than you think.
It's a very important job.
aka Bob
magnanimously proffered:
> I saw a film recently that had a lot of
>power cords around an office desk and I thought, that's a
>good production designer. Everyone else always eliminates
>cords. Because they're not 'actually' using them, are they?
One of the glaring omissions I've seen and continue to see in films
and television from all eras is the absence of any hint of weight when
someone lifts a suitcase. You know they're empty when they're picked
up and can only think of one film (name escapes me) in which
continuity included a "heavy" suitcase.
--
"It's not that I'm afraid to die. I just don't want to be there when it happens." - Woody Allen
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wax-up and drop-in of Surfing's Golden Years: <http://www.surfwriter.net>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
John M.
wrote:
>On Tue, 6 Mar 2007 08:46:32 -0500, "Hyfler/Rosner" <rel...@rcn.com>
>magnanimously proffered:
>
>> I saw a film recently that had a lot of
>>power cords around an office desk and I thought, that's a
>>good production designer. Everyone else always eliminates
>>cords. Because they're not 'actually' using them, are they?
>
>One of the glaring omissions I've seen and continue to see in films
>and television from all eras is the absence of any hint of weight when
>someone lifts a suitcase. You know they're empty when they're picked
>up and can only think of one film (name escapes me) in which
>continuity included a "heavy" suitcase.
Then there was that trunk in "High Anxiety". :-)
--
John M.