A brief summary of the workshop on art direction

March 3 within Skill Bill Start programme Vlad Odudenko held a workshop passed on art direction. Vlad works in film industry for over 15 years and during this time he created the atmosphere in more than 30 films, including "The Guide", "The Tribe", "Single by contract" and others.

Main theses:

• Production designer is involved in preproduction and production periods, and starts to work as soon as receives the script. Sometimes, but rarely, he is also involved in color correction.
• Filmmaking is magic. Art director after reading the script must invent the world of the film together with director and D.O.P. and create it with his own hands. The magic is that the director often does not know what will come out in the end.
• In the first stage you have to "see" the big picture. Communication during the readings pushes to creating sketches. The artist's task - find the most accurate solutions for the realization of art director's idea.
• Art department writes out the script all the locations of events and their content: from small detail to the largest objects.
• Production designer has to create a natural and integral world and consider the entire chain of what is happening to the hero to watch out for the little things that may be needed. Even lighter, which in time will not appear on hand can lead to a stand-by.
• When preparing for the film try to explore as much information, images, photographs as possible.
• It is important to understand whether the movie will be color or black and white in order to come up with idea and style.
• Everything that surrounds actor should work on the atmosphere, but not to attract too much attention. If you have found a rare, beautiful authentic carpet, it must not strike the eye - the film is not about the carpet. Texture, detail, color and atmosphere as much as possible should work on the idea of ​​the scene.
• In the movie, do not use pure white and pure black color. Also try to avoid shiny surfaces.
• Production designer is also a manager. He is responsible for the budget, expenses, controls the timing. For series assistant prop makes a list of props for each episode and location, which is also included in the budget.
• A good cinematographer is always well acquainted with the laws and the types of composition. Therefore, it is easy to reach an agreement with the artist.
• Storyboard on the set helps to organize the process, but not always takes into account locations, situations. It can bind director, artist and D.O.P. Vlad prefers to be more free on site.