“Everything in film is done deliberately,” instructor and mentor, Roger Schutter, told me early on in my training. It was a bombshell. The implications, at the time, made the mountain that is “filmmaking” seem insurmountable. Could I be that “detail-oriented?”

I always knew that I loved art and film and that I belonged somewhere in that creative world, but exactly where, I was not sure. Working in the camera department seemed to be a life dedicated to math and unending combinations of lenses and light colors. Editing meant I had to learn to use a computer for more than a jukebox.

Then came the day I found myself in the Art Department on a feature film. It was there I met the love of my professional life, and I haven’t had time to look back.

I’ve had to locate authentic leather straps to give a hospital bed that perfect “mental institution” look. I’ve had to transform a rundown drug house to working order and back again. I’ve folded clothes for hours, scrounged through wallpaper samples, and spent more time in thrift stores than I’d like to admit.

What am I learning? Everything in film is done deliberately. This is especially true when creating a character’s environment. When I stare at an empty set in various states of disrepair, I have to consider the characters as well as the story. The character’s environment has just as much to do with telling the story as do the characters themselves.

For me dressing a set needs to be about creating a place that is true to each character’s life and how they’re living in their environment: this is how the main character (who deliberately ran over his girlfriend’s mother with his pickup truck) arranges his plants. This is the color of his tableware, and this is what he would cook if his best friend from high school (who is now an amateur storm chaser) and his girlfriend (who routinely physically abuses him and does not know her mother is dead) came over for dinner.

In understanding the characters and their motives and desires, I create an authentic experience for the audience. I build a world for viewers to see and feel something more. To me, there’s no better job in the world.

- Chris Coulier (08) started as an intern in the Art Department on “The Chaos Experiment” starring Val Kilmer. He was then hired as a Set Dresser for the feature film “Cherry.” He’s worked on “The Apprentice,” an Eminem music video, and is currently a Set Dresser on “What’s Wrong with Virginia,” written and directed by Oscar winner Dustin Lance Black. When not on set, Coulier plays drums for The Benjamin Riley Band.