SUZIE DAVIES - Production Designer

Team Deakins

James Ellis Deakins

Tv & Film, Filmlighting, Deakins, Movies, Filmmaking, Production, Film, Cinematography, Film Interviews

4.8 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 23 April 2025

⏱️ 60 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

SEASON 2 - EPISODE 138 - Suzie Davies - Production Designer

In this episode of the Team Deakins Podcast, we speak with production designer Suzie Davies (CONCLAVE, SALTBURN, MR. TURNER). Suzie once thought she’d be a sheep farmer, but after working for model-makers on commercials, she found herself drawn to the art department and filmmaking. A frequent collaborator with director Mike Leigh (Season 1, Episode 76), Suzie reveals how they first met and how she works with him within his unique process. We also learn how the boundaries of production inform Suzie’s general approach to design, and she shares how she tries to help directors realize their creative visions within these limits. Later, Suzie reflects on the challenge of finding period locations in the modern world, and we discuss how she augments locations to suit the film’s reality. Suzie also shares what made the estate in SALTBURN so unique as a location, and we learn how she balanced the production of that film with weekend location scouts in Rome for CONCLAVE. Throughout the episode, Suzie reflects on how she made the most of the opportunities presented to her throughout her career, and we discuss the enduring appeal of being just a sheep farmer.

This episode is sponsored by Aputure

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi and welcome to season two of the Team Deacons podcast, a collection of
0:08.8	informal conversations between Roger and James Deacons and a guest.
0:13.7	We never know where the conversation will take us, so listen in and see where it goes.
0:21.2	This episode is sponsored by Aperture, a premier manufacturer of LED lighting with the industry's
0:28.6	greatest variety of fixtures for your complete lighting needs.
0:33.7	Aperture recently announced the new storm family of lights.
0:37.9	With LED white light quality that matches natural daylight and classic tungsten bulbs,
0:43.6	plus extreme low-end dimming while maintaining color quality.
0:48.2	Discover more about the new storm lights and the complete Aperture lighting ecosystem at aperture.com.
0:59.0	Today we're speaking with a production designer.
1:02.1	Among her credits are saltburn, conclave, and hard truths.
1:06.2	We're pleased to welcome Susie Davies.
1:09.0	Susie, thank you for doing this.
1:11.1	Absolute pleasure.
1:12.0	I listened to this a lot.
1:13.3	So when this cropped up, I was, yeah, very excited.
1:17.3	Oh, great.
1:18.7	We'd like to start with our normal question, which is, how did you get to where you are today?
1:24.3	Were you, as a kid, designing things?
1:30.2	Or did you go down another path and then find it?
1:37.6	Where did you grow up? What's your story? Okay. So my, I come from a pretty traditional family.
1:43.0	No one works in this industry. My dad was an engineer. My mom was a music teacher. I have a brother who was in the army, another one that was a farmer.
	...

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