Are you looking for a career in the movies, television, or gaming? Read on to know about the courses in art direction that will help you with an entry in either of them.

Art Direction Courses

Central Perk, the café in the hit-sitcom “F.R.I.E.N.D.S” so brilliantly depicts a New York hangout that with the end of the sitcom, replicas of the famous café were created worldwide to pay tribute to the amazing series. The long orange couch with the vintage faded green table as well as the signature-oversized cups all formed a part of the warm décor. Sets are not just mere backdrops for actions but they also represent the theme and give a voice to the characters. Each one of us in our college days or during work probably had a hangout place that symbolized the same feeling of warmth and comfort that the art directors of ‘F.R.I.E.N.D.S’ wanted to project. Art direction is that amazing career option where one man’s vision is translated to reality with the most befitting visuals. If you were always the person who knew how to create that parallel universe on stage, in your theater production, then you can take that passion one-step ahead by considering art direction as a career option. Here are a few courses that will help you take the film, television or the advertising world by storm.

Career In Art Direction

Eligibility
Art direction is mainly a post graduation level course; it is a highly specialized course and requires the candidate to be a graduate, preferably in a field such as architecture or fine arts. The post graduation course is a 2-year program and usually ends with an internship providing the candidate industry experience. There also exist certificate courses, which can be pursued based on the specialization required. It is mainly a production related course; organizing and getting materials for a set form part of an art director’s responsibility. They are also people who work extensively with colors, understanding how different shades of color bring out the mood of a setting is an important aspect.

Details Of The Course
The post graduation course is usually a collaboration of two areas of expertise. A collaboration of design and photography includes studio still life, fashion, and interior designing. Students mainly work with creative teams and art directors on the field to produce quality images based on what is required of the project. Some of these courses also cover areas, such as management of styling which include teaching them responsibilities such as prop sourcing ( hustling involved in getting the required prop), finding appropriate models for a shoot, hair stylists incase the setup demands a new look for the actors or the models, makeup artistes, based on the budget of shoot and the requirements, and the recruitment of other team members.

Some other art direction courses are concerned with art direction in relation to advertising and graphic design. In courses such as these web designing, animation, auto cad, motion graphics, design for digital media, storyboard development, applied drawing, illustration, set building and corporate identity are some of the areas of study.

The post graduation as well as certificate courses mainly teach people idea generation. Art directors are nothing but idea generators, they build the concepts of anything that needs to be sold or shown from scratch and convince people to believe in the make believe world of cinema or buy a product in case of advertising. It is selling through visuals and these courses aim at just that.

Skills Required
Brainstorming ideas, tuning into popular culture, managing a team, working on tight deadlines and lastly dealing with difficult clients; do all these responsibilities come easily to you? Then that would make you creative, organized and a born leader, all the necessary pre-requisites of an art director. An art director is a link between the director’s vision and the implementation team; without him/her, any project in the entertainment industry is like chewing on metallic gum with sponge teeth. A highly stressful job, it requires someone calm and composed, who can weasel out of any tricky situation.

Specialization
The specialization courses in art direction include the following:

Design for animation, film and gaming
Digital filmmaking
Photography
Visual arts in theater
Visual arts in commercial photography
Communication design in illustrations

Career Prospects

Art directors have a wide variety of career opportunities; they can work in the movies, television, reality T.V, production houses, and advertising agencies. They can also be part of broadcasting teams in news channels. They can also be part of theater productions and be in charge of stage and lighting. For a fresh graduate it is best to work with an already established designer and learn the tricks of the trade.

Some Of The Institutes Offering Courses In Art Direction

Miami ad school, Miami, USA
Columbia college Chicago, USA
Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune, India
National School of Drama, New Delhi, India
Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute, Kolkata, India
Asian Academy of Film and Television, Noida, India
Film & Television Institute Of Tamil Nadu, Chennai, India

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