We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Paige Schaeffer. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Paige below.
Alright, Paige thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.
Growing up in an imaginative household in the Chicago suburbs, I knew very early on I wanted to be an artist. I was always making things with my hands whenever I got the chance, whether it was drawing, painting, or sculpting. I have always known I wanted to make an impact with my art but just didn’t know exactly how I could do so until I saw a few movies growing up and realized the effect they made on me. It is an extraordinary feeling to watch a film and resonate with a character’s struggles and see yourself in them. These movies began to close the gap between myself and the world around me. This realization and my background in architecture are what lead me to production design. I have found production design to be a beautiful mix of all of the goals I had for my art – I could create highly immersive settings that bring emotional value and connection to viewers, as well as help people resonate with stories that are beyond themselves.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I am a production designer and art director working in Los Angeles. I first studied architecture in college as I was fascinated by how architects use different forms of art to create environments that can impact us as individuals. As I dove further into architecture, I realized I was losing a lot of the freedom that helped shape my identity as an artist. I missed being able to make intuitive decisions and to tell meaningful stories through those decisions. Through the years that have passed since, I have discovered the stunning power of collaboration in the art department and in filmmaking itself. There is really no better feeling than creating entirely new worlds with other like-minded people. I now have my masters in production design from the American Film Institute and have lived in Los Angeles for the past 3 years pursuing my career in the art department. The production designer and the rest of the art department are responsible for the location, the architecture in the space, the furniture, the color palette, the props, the lighting fixtures, and every other detail that is a part of a set. I love working with other filmmakers to bring scripts to life through detailed and textured set design. I have found that my mixed training in the complementary fields of architecture and fine art have given me a unique outlook on storytelling that leans a bit more experimental. It really excites me to think I can create an entire environment that has never existed in this world before. I would love to work on more projects that extend outside of what we already know. That is one of the best parts about filmmaking is that we can make things up as we go – which is true freedom! As a designer, that ability to be curious and explore undiscovered places is one of the best feelings.
The best part about my job is creating sets that people can connect with and in return they feel safe enough to put themselves deeper into the stories the other filmmakers and I work so hard to tell. It is a very rewarding feeling to see the details I put into a set shine through and tell a story even on their own. One of those instances recently has been the nomination of my thesis film at the 43rd College Television Awards presented by the Emmys Television Academy. The film ‘We Met at Camp’ is a queer coming of age story, and I am so proud I got to be a part of a story that gives a refreshing representation to the discovery process that happens for young queer people.
Outside of production design, I still love to work on my own personal art practices. Currently I am working on a project that combines experimental animation with some of my poetry work. I loved the idea of being able to turn my own drawings and paintings into moving images which has brought me to many different forms of animation. One of my biggest goals for 2024 is to bring a few of these personal projects out of hiding and into the world!
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
As I have moved through my career there are a few personal missions I have picked up, but my main drive to be in this industry comes from the lack of realistic female stories I have seen in film throughout my life. Countless times I have seen stories about women being directed and written by men that did not seem authentic to me. It is very exciting and uplifting that changes are starting to be made and female run productions are becoming more common. Seeing something missing in the film industry, I am passionate about using production design to amplify all stories of those who are often underrepresented, not just women.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
I think the most rewarding part of my job is something I mentioned earlier: creating sets that people can connect with and in return they feel safe enough to put themselves deeper into the stories. It is a very fulfilling feeling to see the details I put into a set shine through and tell a story even on their own. The audience might not have noticed each one, but as a whole they create the mood for the film which is the vehicle of our message. I love walking away from a screening and hearing that the audience was able to see that message in the visual language of the film.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.paigeschaefferdesign.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/paige.s_design/