Spring is on the horizon, the days are getting lighter and the number of films starting up is very promising. We have had a very positive start to the year and are hoping for more of that throughout this month. Hope your year has begun successfully too.
WHAT WE'VE BEEN UP TO
We kicked off the year in style with Lee Sandales as our first guest on the Industry Session programme. Lee gave us a candid insight into his processes for set decorating Wicked and how his team worked to create those incredible sets. Congratulations on all the very deserved award acclaim!
We came to the end of our Introduction to the Art Department course, delivered with Film London and its Equal Access Network. We have worked with 4 groups of newcomers over the last year, have met some great people and introduced them to some equally great industry professionals! Our guests on this last round were Art Department Co-ordinator Tamara Catlin Birch and
Asst Action Props Buyer James Axford. Thank you to both for being so generous with their insights and experiences and to all 80 participants for their enthusiasm and excellent listening skills!
Thank you to everyone who braved the January cold to come to our Networking Event for mentees, members, course participants and mentors. It was great to catch up with you all and hear so many success stories. Thanks also to Warner Bros De Lane Lea for excellent hosting.
COMING UP
We have had a fantastic response to our new call for the Mentoring Network. Thank you to everyone who took the time to complete an application. We look forward to introducing the new cohort next month!
OVERVIEW OF THE ART DEPARTMENT - 27th February 10:00-12:30
Our next Zoom workshop is on Thursday 27th Feb and is perfect for anyone looking to understand more about how the Art Department teams work on features and HETV dramas. These are small, informal groups with lots of opportunities to meet people at a similar place to you and ask all the questions you may have. You will come away with lots of knowledge, advice and guidance on how to get onto a production. Details here
INDUSTRY SESSIONS
GLADIATOR II - with Set Decorator Jillie Azis and Prop Master Ty Teiger
Saturday 8th February 10:00 - 11:30 Zoom
Jille Azis is one of the industry’s leading Set Decorators, with credits including Loki, The Marvels and Mission Impossible – Fallout. She will be joining us to talk about how she approaches her work and her experiences decorating Gladiator II. We will be looking at the challenges the script and different locations posed, how these were overcome and how she led her team to create the sets seen in the film.
Ty Teiger is one the UK’s most established Prop Masters with over 40 years industry experience and recent credits including The Little Mermaid, Heart of Stone and The King’s Man. He will be discussing his team’s Dressing, Standby and Propmaking work on Gladiator II and their collaboration with the Set Decorating team.
We will also be looking at the reality of working on location in different countries for long periods of time, managing large crews of people and maintaining the budget and schedule.
SEAMUS MCGARVEY - DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY - 1st March 10:00 - 11:30 Zoom
Seamus McGarvey will be joining us to discuss his career as a leading cinematographer and his collaboration with Directors, Designers and Set Decorators to create the wide array of visual worlds. Details here
THINGS WE HAVE BEEN ENJOYING
If your phone is full to bursting with ‘come back to later’ photos - reference shots, clothes to look at, recipes to try, articles to read or restaurants to visit – and you then struggle to find them you need them, take a look at mymind. It saves images and classifies them into sections for easy access. No labelling, organising or filing to worry about. An organised scrapbook of content instead of 10,000 random shots!
If you love Lego and stop motion animation, check out @hypnomotion and watch filmmaker Andrew transform bricks into culinary masterpieces. Soothing and mind blowing in equal measure.
Awards season build up – some great British talent has been highlighted in the nominations for BAFTAS and Academy Awards – particular shouts out to the Conclave and Wicked teams. It also means there are lots of opportunities to watch the nominated films and support cinemas UK wide.
The Prince Charles Cinema, one of the UK’s last independent cinemas, is currently fighting landlords to prevent redevelopment of their West End building. This would be a huge loss to the exhibition landscape – if you can, please sign the petition to prevent its closure.
INDUSTRY TOP TIP
In last month’s Industry Session, Set Decorator Lee Sandales stressed the importance of “taking time to learn what needs to be learned” and this great prompt applies to everyone at all stages of their careers. We talk a lot about moving up the grades slowly and this is a great reminder to do so.
It’s also a good reminder for everyday life. More haste, less speed and all that!
TRAINING GUIDEBOOKS
Our digital training guidebook is for New Entrants and Career Transferrers who are interested in learning about Art Department roles and finding out how get employed on large-scale productions. It is easy to read, full of advice and offers hard-to-access information.
Available to download here
Our next guide in the series, Introduction to Set Decorating, will be released in Spring!
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