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Realizing one’s dreams

By Veronica Ho

In the eyes of art directors, movies are more than just a commodity. To them, movies are media for demonstrating their creativity and workshops for realizing their dreams.

Art directors play an indispensable role in the making of films. They get involved in various kinds of decisions in filmmaking, ranging from setting scenes and making props to designing costumes and hairstyles for the actors.

On top of these, art directors also contribute to the writing of scripts.

However, the role of art directors was not played up until the early 80s.

Mr. Oliver Wong Yiu Man, an art director for many local action films, said, “I like participating in the script-writing process and talking with the directors.

“For instance, I will suggest potential venues for shooting, as they pose a direct influence on the style of a film.”

Filmmaking involves not only actors and actresses, but also directors, cinematographers and art directors. So members of the team always have to work closely together in order to make a good movie.

However, on some occasions, the ideas of art directors may be rejected by their working team, especially by those directors who are good at art. In such cases, compromises have to be made.

“Sometimes the suggestions of directors can stimulate the creative works of art directors,” said Mr. Cyrus Ho Kim Hung, who has been working as an art director on local films for about 8 years.

“We are allowed to try a variety of materials and methods as well as fully utilize our creativity, time and budget.”

Mr. Ben Luk Man Wah, who has became an art director in 1982, said that art directors always have to prepare for the worst.

“For instance, a director may want to take some shots in a kitchen suddenly, which is not mentioned in the script. That’s why we cannot decorate only the living room.”

According to Mr. Luk, the inspiration of how to make props comes from experience and research.

Said he: “The work of an art director involves not only what you can see on the screen, but also what you can feel or sometimes what you can’t see on the screen.”

In order to better present the ideas in movies, art directors are responsible for deciding how the props are made and what materials should be used.

Said Mr. Luk: “Sometimes we have to use materials that other people cannot imagine.

“Take the film Black Mask as an example. The mask worn by the actor was made of aluminium foil instead of plastic.”

Besides, being an art director can create many things that were previously undreamed-of.

Mr. Ho said, “I remember that a prop which I made for the film Storm Riders appeared to be very heavy. My assistant told me that it seemed to be impossible to pick the prop up, but in fact it was just made of plastic foam.”

In general, art work plays a very important role in action films, according to Mr. Wong.

He said that as some of the props might break during the shooting, they have to repair them or even replace them with new ones.

Some of the props look very fine and delicate, but according to Mr. Wong, they are sometimes very durable.

He said, “ So art work is very important, especially in action films.”

Many people consider possessing art knowledge to be a basic criterion of an art director. However, apart from this, one’s talent in art is of critical importance.

Said Mr. Luk: “A good art sense is an essential attribute for people working in the artistic or creative field.”

He also said that being an art director need to open up his mind to accept new ideas. Therefore, an open attitude is as important as a creative mind.

Even for an art director who possesses all the above traits, his creative work may still be affected by external factors.

Limited preparation time and budget add difficulties.

Mr. Luk said that it takes time and money to produce good work,

Having said that, however, Mr. Luk admitted that having enough time and money do not necessarily guarantee that the quality of the film would be good.”

Agreed Mr. Ho: “When we realized that we have made some mistakes, it was always too late for us to make any corrections.

“Limited time and budget do affect the quality of our work, but all we could and should do is to try our best to finish the work as fast and best as possible. This could be really challenging.”

What makes the situation much worse is that some local producers and directors do not recognize the importance of art direction in films.

Both Mr. Luk and Mr. Ho think that the commercialized film industry regard art directors’ work as a waste of money.

Mr. Ho said that the importance of art direction to a film is what the importance of a hand to a painter.

Mr. Wong agreed.

Said he: “Our job is to make movies look more appealing to the audience. So there is no point in saying that it is a waste of money. Instead, it should be the basic cost of any filmmaking.”

Moreover, the audience seem to misunderstand the nature of art direction too.

Mr. Wong said that some people regard the job of art direction as disguising the reality and cheating the audience.

Mr. Ho said, “Some people think that an art director should make everything look beautiful in the films.

“But they are wrong. Instead, a good art director should be able to present the ideas that the story wants to tell and then fits into the framework of the story.

In spite of all the limitations and misunderstandings, working as an art director can be very rewarding.

“Within the budgets, we can create something from nothing,” said Mr. Luk.

“In the process of filmmaking, we are just like doing experiments. It is enjoyable and exciting,” added Mr.Wong.

Said Mr. Ho: “Film is just like a dream workshop, and we, the art directors, are given the opportunity to work out our dreams.”

(Courtesy of Mr. Cyrus Ho)

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