The VISUAL LANGUAGE of FILM © A.M.P.A.S.® Teacher’s Resource Guide ART DIRECTION: ART Youth Media International Ltd. Dear Educator, by the Academy Awards to teach executives, film editors, make-up outh Media International, in valuable lessons in critical thinking artists, composers, songwriters, sound Ycooperation with the Academy and to develop visual literacy skills. and visual effects experts, and writers. of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, The Academy, organized in 1927, is Please share this material with is proud to present the most recent a professional honorary organization other teachers in your school. edition of annual study guides that composed of more than 6,000 Although the material is focus on the different branches of motion picture craftsmen and copyrighted, you may make as many the Academy. women. Its purposes include photocopies as necessary to meet This guide focuses on art advancing the art and science of your students’ needs. direction, one of the many craft areas motion pictures; fostering To ensure that you receive future involved in the collaborative cooperation among creative leaders mailings, please fill out and return the endeavor of creating a motion for cultural, educational and enclosed reply card. Also, feel free to picture. Students will learn about art technological progress; recognizing e-mail us at [email protected] direction (or production design, as it outstanding achievements; and to comment about the program at is also known) as they complete the fostering educational activities any time.We welcome your thoughts activities in this kit, which is intended between the professional community and suggestions. for students in secondary school and the public at large. Academy English, language arts and members are the people who create Sincerely, communications courses.The movies—the cream of the industry’s activities are designed to capitalize on actors, animators, art directors, students’ natural interest in current cinematographers, costume designers, films and the excitement generated directors, documentarians, studio Roberta Nusim, Publisher Program Components when awards shows seem as common as nightly news 1.This instructional guide programs, the Academy Awards are unique because the 2. Four student activity masters judges—Academy members—are the top filmmakers 3. A four-color wall poster for classroom display from around the world.The question,“Who gets the 4. A response card for teacher comments Oscar?” is decided by a true jury of peers. The awards process provides a wonderful Target Audience opportunity to teach your students about the many This program has been designed for students in craft areas—and the many communications secondary school English, language arts and techniques—that play a part in creating a motion communications courses. picture. Filmmaking is by nature a collaborative process, with each creative area supporting and being supported Program Objectives by the others. Because our space is limited, this kit 1.To enhance student interest in and knowledge about focuses on just one of those areas—art direction. the motion picture development and production process. 2.To encourage students to use critical thinking as they Selecting Films for learn how production designers contribute to the Student Viewing process of creating a motion picture. Students may select the films they wish to view during 3.To engage students in an exploration of film as a the following activities. medium of communication. The following films have won Academy Awards for 4.To help students become more visually literate. art direction and may be appropriate for your students: Moulin Rouge (2001), Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon Introduction (2000), Titanic (1997), Star Wars (1977), To Kill a The first Academy Awards were handed out on May 16, Mockingbird (1962) and Citizen Kane (1941). 1929, just after the advent of “talkies.” By 1930, The following films were nominated for Academy enthusiasm was so great that a Los Angeles radio Awards for art direction and may be appropriate for station did a live, one-hour broadcast, and the Awards your students: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone have enjoyed broadcast coverage ever since. (2001), The Lord of the Rings:The Fellowship of the Rings The number and types of awards have grown and (2001), Pleasantville (1998), William Shakespeare’s Romeo changed over the years to keep up with the + Juliet (1996), Apollo 13 (1995), A Little Princess (1995) development of the motion picture industry. Awards of and Forrest Gump (1994). Merit—Oscars—are presented in each (or in sub- divisions) of the following categories: acting, animated Activity 1 feature, art direction, cinematography, costume design, directing, documentary film, film editing, foreign- CREATING the LOOK language film, make-up, music, best picture, short film, rt direction is a broad concept encompassing many sound, sound editing, visual effects and writing. In an age Avisual elements of film production—set design and construction, locations, décor, props and costumes. point out examples of the defined architectural terms. Over the decades, the nature of art direction has Then have them focus on one scene in a selected film changed considerably.The first film sets were devised and discuss how camera movement and lighting work by pioneer French filmmaker Georges Méliès at the with the basic set design. turn of the 20th century.With their painted backdrops, Méliès’ sets resembled traditional theater scenery— Supplementary Activity: Have immovable and two-dimensional. In 1916, D.W. Griffith’s students videotape a short scene in various locations silent epic Intolerance made cinema history, in part around school, including at least one outdoor setting. because of its full-scale sets. Unlike his predecessors, Screen the tapes and discuss how the architectural set builder Frank Wortman considered Griffith’s moving elements in each setting affected the scene. camera when designing for Intolerance, devising a Alternatively, have students photograph or draw completely integrated, three-dimensional space. various locations around school and discuss how a ART William Cameron Menzies, designer on such classics scene could be set in each setting. as Gone with the Wind (1939), is considered the father of Activity 2 modern production design. Menzies’ sweeping cinematic vision and distinctive personal style helped elevate the DIRECTION: art director’s position in the Hollywood hierarchy. In SETTING the STAGE the 1950s, as film production became more costly and nce the architectural elements are in place, complex, the scope of art direction expanded. Studios Oproduction designers must decide how to decorate recognized the need for full-blown production their sets and locations. Set decoration includes all designers—artists who would be responsible for the props and furnishings, including foliage and food, used in overall look of a film—not just the sets. a given scene. Sometimes individual props and Production designers collaborate closely with the furnishings can be crucial to the story: the witch’s director and cinematographer to visualize the hourglass in The Wizard of Oz (1939), or the sled in screenplay.Together they determine how visual Citizen Kane, for example. More often, however, the components can best be combined to tell the screen effect of set decoration is collective.As in real life, we The story. As award-winning production designer Patrizia make assumptions about film characters based on their von Brandenstein notes,“The most beautiful ballroom environment. How characters decorate their living on earth means nothing unless it helps the context of room, or what they put into their medicine chests, can VISUAL the story.” When devising sets or considering locations, tell us as much about them as the dialogue or action. production designers must first determine the volume, To get the most out of set decoration, production or overall size and shape of a space. Does the scene designers study the script’s characters.Whether the call for a large, rectangular space, such as the Xanadu story is contemporary, futuristic or period, designers mansion in Citizen Kane (1941), or a claustrophobic strive to create a credible everyday world. For period enclosed space, such as the submarine in U-571 (2000)? pieces, designers conduct research at libraries and Just like painters, production designers exploit archives to help them achieve authenticity. For LANGUAGE perspective to direct the viewer’s eye toward a futuristic or fantastic stories, they consult with particular spot in a set or to create a sense of depth. scientists and engineers to create sets that are both Scale can be used to evoke feelings about a space.The imaginative and believable. Sometimes, however, stairway in Scarlett O’Hara’s Atlanta mansion in Gone designers choose drama over realism, selecting props with the Wind, for example, is outsized. Its large size or furnishings that may not be absolutely accurate, but suggests Rhett’s excesses and his power over Scarlett. are emotionally true. This sense of power becomes especially obvious when Students can learn about the connection between Rhett forcefully carries Scarlett up the stairs to the set decoration and visual storytelling by creating a bedroom.Although architectural elements apply most detailed environment for a specific character.To test significantly to sets, they can also be used in location whether they have picked appropriate details, have of filming.The mental institution in One