Red: Role Critique (Art Director)

As the 'Art Director' of the project I felt it was my position to ensure everything we were trying to convey through our short film was visually done to a standard that we were all happy with.  I was first presented with the opportunity to do so during the planning stages. 

At this point we had developed a solid story and had developed an approach and aesthetic regarding our main characters and settings.  I thought this would be a good opportunity to cement these ideas by creating a relatively detailed story board consisting not only of plot outline, but of particular shot choices and cinematic approach.  This allowed us to really envision what we were going to do step-by-step, and to individually contribute to the planning of the film's aesthetics.  Once this was completed, the actual filming stages, although still time-consuming and choppy, were a lot more organized than if this stage had not been implemented.

I feel a lot of responsibility when making the choices regarding cinematography, which as the art director i felt responsible for.  I was happy and confident with the decisions I made. Whilst most of the work we produced was done so by the team as a whole, I felt it was good to be in the position where I felt capable enough to step in and make a final decision.  this allowed us to push forward on potentially time-wasting shots, and work at a much more efficient rate.  In the future, if I was to take a role as art director again, or even push a cinematography-specific position, it would be good to commit entirely to this role.  Having everyone involved in a specialized position would allow more focus on individual aspects of the film.  As long as every member involved was confident with what they were doing, and gelled well with the rest of the group, it would make for a very productive way to approach the work at hand.

Lastly I was able to really take charge with the static imagery attached to the film (poster and DVD cover art).  This was something I was looking forward to, and was allowed absolute creative freedom from the rest of the group.  I took in ideas, and implemented ideas of my own.  I observed the general direction of the film, and pushed the aesthetic idea we were collectively aiming for.  The end result was something I was very proud of.  incorporating the aforementioned bold contrasting 'Sin City'-esque visuals, whilst remaining independently stylized.  As was I believe the general visual style of the project as a whole.