The relationship between creativity and pragmatism in production design revolves around one of the key aspects of the process: world building-successful narrative immersion depends on it. In support of this, this current paper demonstrates just how the theory of agile innovation can significantly help in world building by serving to connect the artistic vision with pragmatic realization effectively. In summary, adapting to rapid changes in technology and audience expectations within an evolving film industry involves methods that foster collaboration, flexibility, and iterative development so essential to this creative medium.

 

Agile methodologies integrated into the process allow production designers to go back and forth, making designs with ongoing feedback for continuous improvement. Such agility allows openness in attitude toward new ideas and changes, thus making it a dynamic setting where world building can be effectively done.

 

The key benefits brought about by Agile practices in filmmaking include much closer collaboration, exploration of ideas, and refinement, plus the overall quality of the design. Activities inspired by software engineering, such as sprints or daily stand-ups, can be modified to suit film-making requirements.

 

Considering the traditional hierarchy associated with filming, several professionals might reported be quite sceptical about agile methodologies. Training in agile principles and workshops that foster a collaborative culture will be vital to such a transition-the balance required between creative freedom and systematic efficiency.

 

That is all fair, but bear in mind that the further treatment of agile methodologies, focusing on iterative development and real-world feedback, will be discussed in the application to film production design. Further research will involve a variety of industry case studies that more accurately reflect filmmaking environments and scales of production. Additionally, it will be very helpful to further analyse scalability of agile principles-working or differing between much smaller indies and major studio productions-to add to our knowledge about agile adaptability across contexts within the industry.

 

Currently, I am engaged in three distinct projects that could contribute to this exploration of industry case studies. The first is a feature film melodrama, Fables’ Folly (2024). The second is a proposed TV concept, Seven Valleys (2024), progressing through predevelopment. Lastly, I am working on a multi-year documentary, Lahan-Thread (2026), partially filmed with additional footage planned for 2025 during World Pride in Washington, D.C. This documentary is expected to be distributed in 2026 during Amsterdam World Pride.

 

 

Figure 38: Click the image above to discover the WIP on this project

The research necessitated that agile innovation theory underlines world building in film production design. With a mixture of literature review, interviews, and case studies, agile approaches emerge supportive of higher creativity, collaboration, and storytelling. Creating an experimentation culture and opening dialogue between the filmmaking world and agile expertise is urgently needed to fashion a fluid future in film industry milieus.

Insight from the expert interviews, particularly with Alex McDowell, demonstrates how world building is an immersive practice for narratives that brings together a variety of different storytelling elements. The case projects MAKOKO, JUNK, and NIKE represent applied world building principles. The MAKOKO project demonstrated creative fragility in difficult socio-economic contexts, while JUNK showed how collaboration tools like Miro can be at the very heart of an agile innovation process. The result was NIKE, one of the best examples of how integrated platforms can create layered, interactive narratives in which audiences summarise their active participant roles through the world building tool the mandala.

In the light of the above, therefore, a paradigm bringing together world building, the AI effect, and agile methodologies within the pre-development phase of historical dramaturgy is discussed herein. It allows for rapid development of both the narrative and character, hence enriching the story being told.

Moreover, worldbuilding carries an artistic transformative potential that can be observed in the TV concept in predevelopment Seven Valleys, which merges worldbuilding with AI and agile methodologies in potentially connecting effectively with today's audience. In such a way, screen artists will be able to develop their stories further into larger ones, representative of the nature of humanity. This relationship between creativity and efficiency being fundamental in filmmaking, it is time for worldbuilding propelled ahead by innovative practices set forward by the production designers.