Trying my hand in different areas of art had always been my thing. One of them happen to be Art Direction. Art direction is what you don’t see explicitly on the screen but is an important process of film-making. It is something that sets the whole mood of the movie, specifically the time frame of the incidents that takes place. Watching movies with the perspective of a professional artist makes you delve deeper into the movie in regards to the sets, lighting, etc. I had always been curious to know the behind-the-scenes of it all. When the opportunity presented itself, I was delighted. The first project I worked on, as a costume designer, was called Contrast. It was a photo documentary showcasing the contrast of a foreign woman in a very local setting of Hyderabad such as in a crowded bus or a butcher shop. The wild idea needed equally wild outfits and I was ready to throw in my two cents. Another project which gave me the most exposure was a short film called Lipi. It happened to be a time-travel movie hence the sets played a major role as they had to be consistent with every scene. The film revolved around an Indian post office and an empty room had to be transformed into one from scratch. I remember vividly working on a shoot, how the perception of the whole film could be changed based off of art direction.
Art direction is not just for home movies but also very significant in documentary-making. Documentation of photographs, although similar to art direction, the work environment of both differed largely. While photo documentation took place more on-schedule and less spontaneous, movie-making was a new schedule everyday as it had to be in collaborative efforts with other departments such as audio, camera crew, etc.
As much fun as art direction can be, it can also be very grueling at the same time. It requires a lot of physical effort such as being present for outdoor shoots, etc. In a way I prefer documentaries over films, if I had to choose, given my schedule as of now. In fact, I would love to have my own production and create certain sets to document different areas of art and life in the near future. I love challenging myself to new endeavors. Here’s a list of few films/documentaries I’ve worked on if you are interested:
1) Contrast by Kishor Krishnamoorthi
2) Lipi by Harikanth Gunamagari
3) Hide n Seek by Deepak Redddy
4) Ranga Veda by Harikanth Gunamagari