no career by 30 yrs=certain doom?
queenofstuff
a director or DP, I want to art direct. I enjoy learning everything
about production, but am I wasting my time? If so, what should I be
doing instead?
* Sent from RemarQ http://www.remarq.com The Internet's Discussion Network *
The fastest and easiest way to search and participate in Usenet - Free!
Mozeman
A good source of learning about art direction, IMHO, would be an art school
or animation school. In animation, you can learn about art, but apply it to
motion pictures (something that is likely to be frowned upon in a
traditional art program). You have the live action studies, but you're not
likely to learn much about your chosen career there unless you already have
an art background.
Tim Burton started in animation as an art director (what we in the biz call
a Visual Developer for Disney). While he is no great director, the art
direction in his movies is some of the best I've ever seen.
--
Mozeman
*****************************
tmo...@waypointinc.com
*****************************
queenofstuff <erinNO...@worldofstuff.com.invalid> wrote in message
news:1b21fe10...@usw-ex0102-009.remarq.com...
David Mullen
>or animation school.
Also theater arts school.
David Mullen
George Selinsky
queenofstuff wrote:
> Ok, so I'm in film school, and it's going fine, but I don't want to be
> a director or DP, I want to art direct. I enjoy learning everything
> about production, but am I wasting my time? If so, what should I be
> doing instead?
You never waste time learning about production, that is always a strong plus.
I'd even take a class in cinematography if I were you - so this way you know
how lighting affects your sets and so on.
- G.
Steven J. Weller
news:1b21fe10...@usw-ex0102-009.remarq.com...
> Ok, so I'm in film school, and it's going fine, but I don't want to be
> a director or DP, I want to art direct. I enjoy learning everything
> about production, but am I wasting my time? If so, what should I be
> doing instead?
Not wasting your time AT ALL. I just got off a show where the
Production Designer had no real production experience (I think she was
an interior designer in real life) and it was a nightmare. Production
is a unique environment, and knowing as much as possible about it is
always the best training. Knowing what will actually show, and how it
will read, can save a production thousands of dollars - money which you
as the PD can then put back up on the screen where it WILL show and
read.
Everybody starts out in low budget, and your reputation will be built,
at least at first, on what you can do for little or no money. Later,
you'll have all the money you need to put chachkis on shelves, but
knowing how the film is actually made will put you miles ahead of the
interior designers who want to work in the glamorous realm of movies.
Real-world example, from a recent show - the PD (her first show) rented
black wooden folding chairs, a couple of folding tables, and a bunch of
sconces to decorate a room set built on a rental stage. Blew a HUGE
chunk of budget doing so, and when (surprise!) we had to go back and
reshoot about half of what was shot on that set, weeks later, we didn't
have the money to rent it all again. A quich search of the stage
facility turned up all the black METAL folding chairs we could use,
plus tables, plus a few other things. We used them, they look just
fine, but they don't match what we shot before. If she'd had a little
experience, she would have used the free stuff in the first place, we'd
have spent a lot less, and we'd still have had budget left to re-rent
the proper sconces for the reshoots.
This was a low-budget vantiy production, but this kind of basic mistake
(repeated, on some level, on nearly every scene in the film) will
genuinely make the difference between the film being distributable and
the film sitting on a shelf as a $100,000 mistake. A first-time PD
with a film school background could have made the difference here.
--
Life Continues, Despite
Evidence to the Contrary
Steven
Terry Byrne
lot along the way. If you want to learn to be a PD and really master the craft,
I recommend my alma mater Carnegie Mellon very strongly. The training I got
there got me work on two continents and a teaching job when I'd had enough.
queenofstuff wrote:
> Ok, so I'm in film school, and it's going fine, but I don't want to be
> a director or DP, I want to art direct. I enjoy learning everything
> about production, but am I wasting my time? If so, what should I be
> doing instead?
>
Ronin27
>a director or DP, I want to art direct. I enjoy learning everything
>about production, but am I wasting my time? If so, what should I be
>doing instead?
My advice is simple, though possibly difficult to adhere to after graduation...
work as a Production Assistant on Commercials and Music Videos... you will
NEVER get a better opportunity to work closely with any Craft you wish to learn
than being a PA... I'm not talking about an Office Coffee Machine/Copy Machine
slave... I am talking about working on the set, being paid to make contacts and
learn from watching the true pros at work... as a PA, I always worked closely
with the camera guys, and worked my way into that department... TONS of Art
Directors and their assistants always enjoy a gunh ho PA who wants to help and
learn... this is your ticket to your craft, if you can deal with the crap and
kick ass on the set... just an opinion...
Ronin /}
@#####{ ]::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::>
\}
queenofstuff
right track, after all. I've got a BA in studio art, already,
by the way. I'm just wondering, though: most of the PAs I've
met are a lot younger than me. I'm 30, and I'm wondering if my
age is a liability. It feels kind of pathetic to be this old
and starting out at the bottom. Am I just paranoid?
JT
feature film and I worked as a Set Dresser. Now I'm 35 and still
working at something I love. I doubt I will ever make it to the ranks
of those that started doing it since they were 18 or 19 but I'm
enjoying the ride anyway. Stay with it.
JT
Lew Douva
>right track, after all. I've got a BA in studio art, already,
>by the way. I'm just wondering, though: most of the PAs I've
>met are a lot younger than me. I'm 30, and I'm wondering if my
>age is a liability. It feels kind of pathetic to be this old
>and starting out at the bottom. Am I just paranoid?
The great thing about the bottom of this industry is that some people spend a
week there, some people spend their lives there, some people never get that
low, and some people never get that high. In other words, you can be at the
bottom at any age, and nobody else knows if that is good or bad. It's all
relative. But relative to what?
--Douva
Randy
queenofstuff <erinNO...@worldofstuff.com.invalid> wrote in message
> Thanks for all the advice, folks. It sounds like I'm on the
> right track, after all. I've got a BA in studio art, already,
> by the way. I'm just wondering, though: most of the PAs I've
> met are a lot younger than me. I'm 30, and I'm wondering if my
> age is a liability. It feels kind of pathetic to be this old
> and starting out at the bottom. Am I just paranoid?
>
yes
ma...@poppix.com
advice, or mounting new projects. Contact Rick at:
www.poppix.com/rickbrophy.html
queenofstuff wrote:
> Thanks for all the advice, folks. It sounds like I'm on the
> right track, after all. I've got a BA in studio art, already,
> by the way. I'm just wondering, though: most of the PAs I've
> met are a lot younger than me. I'm 30, and I'm wondering if my
> age is a liability. It feels kind of pathetic to be this old
> and starting out at the bottom. Am I just paranoid?
>