Films › Production design
Delicatessen
Directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Marc Caro, 1991
Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro, working with production designer Marc Caro's own background as an illustrator, built the apartment building set with exaggerated forced perspective and warped angles so the architecture itself communicates the post-apocalyptic scarcity the script never explains through dialogue. Every prop, from the butcher's tools to the tenants' furniture, was aged and distressed with a consistent sepia-tinted grime that cinematographer Darius Khondji lit to emphasize texture over clarity, making the production design legible even in shadow. The directors storyboarded the entire film before shooting, a practice carried over from their backgrounds in comics and commercials, which let the design team build sets to match exact camera angles rather than leaving blocking to be discovered on the day. This tight storyboard-to-set pipeline is the useful lesson for a filmmaker working with a constrained budget, since it means no square footage of the set was built without a planned shot to justify it.
What to watch for
Notice how the building's exaggerated angles and warped hallways are used to block character movement rather than serving as static backdrop.
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