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A production department

Art department

The art department: who is in it and what each of them does

Every room a character walks into, every street they cross, every mug on every desk: the art department put it there. It is usually the largest below-the-line department on a production, and the one with the most ways in.

Under the production designer, the art department designs, builds, dresses and strikes the physical world of the film. It is really three departments reporting to one designer: the design side, set decoration and construction. On a big feature it runs to hundreds of people; on a modest television drama or a low-budget feature it is five to ten. Its work runs in four overlapping phases, design, prep, shoot and wrap, and for most of the department prep is longer than the shoot.

  1. Production designer

  2. Supervising art director and art directors

  3. Standby art director

  4. Draughtsperson / set designer

  5. Concept artist

  6. Art department coordinator

  7. Set decorator

  8. Production buyer

  9. Props master

  10. Standby props

  11. Dressing props

  12. Construction manager

  13. Art department assistantEntry-level job

  14. Props and set dec traineeEntry-level job

Drawn from MFJF's own Foundations courses Art Department Assistant (module 1: What the art department does, from first sketch to last wrap, and Who is in it, who you answer to, and what your day actually contains; module 5: The wider map) and Props and Set Dec Trainee (module 1: What props and set dec do, from the breakdown to the last return, and Who is in it, who you answer to, and what your day actually contains; module 5). The words are My First Job In Film's. © My First Job In Film 2026.

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Picked for Art Department Assistant. Signed in, they follow your stage and the roles your answers point to. See your whole MFJF journey, step by step →

  1. My MFJF JourneyOne page for everything MFJF has built, in the order you need it.
  2. My Reading ListThe books, blogs and bodies you have saved, in one place.
  3. Start the Stage 1 course: Art Department AssistantTwo hours on what the job is, how people get in and what to do first.
  4. Get on the HotListPut yourself in front of productions looking for crew.
  5. Join MFJF DayPlayersDay work on productions for crew with the credits and the skills.
  6. The career planner: Art Department AssistantWhat to do, learn and be able to do, from no experience to paid work.
  7. The career guide: Art Department AssistantThe job, the day, the way in and the pay, in one guide.
  8. See how it all fits on the career maps17 maps of how films get made: the people, the process and the departments.
  9. Who works whereEvery department on a shoot and every kind of film company: who is in each and what they do.
  10. Industry EssentialsThe books, industry bodies, websites and blogs worth knowing, department by department.
  11. Read the MFJF Survival GuidesStraight answers to what everyone starting out asks: how long it takes, what you get paid, and what to do every day.
  12. MFJF Academy workshopsLive sessions with people who do the job, and the monthly career clinic.
  13. Build your CV with the CV BuilderThe industry's format, built from your profile and your current CV.

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