Polly Platt

Aaron Hunter lectures in the department of film at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland. His monograph Authoring Hal Ashby: The Myth of the New Hollywood Auteur (2016) constructs an alternative, multiple-authorship framework for understanding New Hollywood, an approach he continues in this work on Polly Platt. His collection Women and New Hollywood, co-edited with Martha Shearer, will be published in 2022.

“[Aaron Hunter] charts Platt’s substantial contribution to the look of New Hollywood cinema through films like The Last Picture Show (1971) and Thieves Like Us (1974). Hunter’s book is an eye-opener, depicting production design as a collaborative role that cuts across every department from locations to costumes to script. In the 1970s, it was also an underappreciated and underpaid job.” (Nancy M. West, LA Review of Books, lareviewofbooks.org, April 13, 2022)

• Introduction.- Section One: Production Designer.- Chapter One: Set Design and Attention to Detail. - Chapter Two: Location and Design.- Chapter Three: Colour.- Chapter Four: Costume and Production Design.- Chapter Five: Design, Character, Narrative.- Section Two: Producer.- Chapter Six: James L. Brooks.- Chapter Seven: Mentoring New Filmmakers.- Conclusion.