The Set Decoration Department is part of a collaborative design team headed by the Production Designer (Ken Adam).

Once the sets are built and painted, or the location is chosen, the Set Decorator's (Bernhard Henrich) job is to create the surroundings that will contribute to the narrative and support the concept of the Production Designer. To accomplish this, Bernhard Henrich breaks down the script, analyses the characters, researches the period and style, plots, groundplans, haggles over budgets, purchases, designs and constructions in order to produce creative and well-dressed sets. When the finished set is a natural for the scene and the character's personality is telegraphed succinctly, the contribution may go unnoticed in its perfection.

This job demands complete understanding of most technical aspects of filmmaking; The Set Decoration Department works extensively with other departments. For example, they need to know how colours will photograph and what different lenses and filmstocks can do to an environment. The Director of Photography requests 'practicals' to provide a desired quality of light. Special Effects and Stunts ask Mr. Henrich to manufacture or find objects suited to their needs while fulfilling the design concepts.

Challenged to be supremely collaborative by interacting with colleagues in and out of the Art Department, the Set Decorator at the same time exercises a high level of responsibility and independence. He has a budget separate from that of the Art Department or Construction. The Set Decoration team rent, purchase and fabricate the many thousands of items needed to decorate each project. Changes in the filming schedule require flexibility in the preparation timetable for these materials.

The Set Decorator also hires and supervises the Set Dressing Department, which like the Art Department with which he works so closely, houses a variety of talents. The Leadperson helps handle logistics for the many tasks occurring simultaneously, and the crews are known as the Swing Gang or Set Dressers. The Set Decorator brings in a variety of experts according to the needs of each job including drapery persons, floor covering people, upholstery workers, electrical fixtures specialists, florists and specialised fabricators.

Research for every project involves knowing its period of history and design thoroughly. He may delve into a seamy side of life such as strip bars or flophouses, or investigate the lifestyles of the rich and famous, other cultures, or the latest area of technology. Only thus can he cull the world for the material needed to tell the story in a given style.

Searching for sources for set dressing, the Set Decorator works with all kinds of people in the "real" world. Projects often require arcane specialties that can't be found in the usual places. He travels a great deal, visiting odd workshops and unique associations of collectors and dealers. Familiarity with prophouse stocks is indispensable, and these vital businesses bend over backwards to help the Set Decorator get the job done. He must be able to produce any object whether at home, at a studio or away at some distant location. A carefully dressed set will wear many "coats" of the lives of the characters - down to a cartoon taped to the side of a cash register in a restaurant set.

Production Designers use their vision to establish the overall look of the film. The privilege as Set Decorator is to fill the frame, providing the details that allow the audience to flow into the lives of the characters and receive the subliminal messages of great design.