Y.Sunita Chowdhary
Earlier in the film industry, there were just one or two female art directors but now we have them working in all the 24 crafts. Chandrika Gorrepati is just around two films old as an intern but is now on her own wings. Very soon, we shall see her becoming a production designer which is the next in hierarchy but let us discuss their job profile. Who is an art director and what is his or her job? Film sets, props, and graphics all work to create the visual identity of a film and help immerse audiences into the world presented before them. The art director is the person who makes this world come to life. An art director reports to the production designer. They design sets, oversee artists and construction workers, and help determine the overall look of a film production. During pre-production, the art director acts as a liaison between the production designer and the construction crew. When principal photography begins, they report to set and keep the production designer informed of how the look is coming to life.
Chandrika Gorrepati wanted to be an architect, did Bachelors of Architecture as she liked designing and designing spaces in general. After bachelors, wondering where to go, she tried other things too like interiors and worked for a year in an architecture office. She then took a break as she found it a bit monotonous and got into movies. She says, “It was by chance, I was looking into other streams in which I could be interested or what could work for me. Shivam, production designer of Mahanati was looking for architects for his project and I applied for the position. He was an interior designer and he preferred architects so that it would be easy to communicate about spaces and stuff like that, basically the design language. My first project was as an intern for Mahanati. I didn’t have any expectations, it was all new for me. I wanted to see where I be, I was just searching where I could fit in and how I would contribute.”
She further shares her experiences with the Mahanati team and tells us the difference between designing buildings and movie sets, “We were a team of five people and three of us were interns and it was our first film. The other two were experienced. It was a new world for me and I was beginning to know how people think behind the screen and it wasn’t an easy job. Designing as an architect is about designing spaces for a client as per requirement of living, kitchen, bedroom etc. if it is a house and so on. Whereas when you think about a space for a film you think about how a person lives , what are his likes, dislikes, activities. The innovation is how much space a person needs and a family needs depending on the weather, location etc. Every site is a new site. Architecture stops there, you don’t think how a person lives there. Interior is a personal touch. I worked for some interior projects too and that also stops at a point. Budget issues are a constraint but every where there is an issue as such, there is scope for innovation. Movies teach you not to complain about it but apply your mind on that. The quality is what is what a camera sees and not how strong it is. You can even manage a structure with a thermocol, it is just that the finish matters. Movies have taught me how spaces can be personalised, who is living and what he does. It is more of living a person’s life. It kept me busy and on a high.”
Chandrika is still learning and states that there are many challenges when you work independently. She is candid when she says she is still dependent on the team for technical issues. Chandrika adds, “I have done Oh Baby and Jati Ratnalu. I handled Jati Ratnalu as an art director and it is along with Ali. I am assisting a production designer for a project and also doing art direction independently. I like challenges and waiting for a big one. Handling an interior set is a task as everything is in a controlled environment and you think about too many things which has to look like a real space.” Ask the young and articulate director what the right qualities needed for an art director are and she says, “It is more or less the planning you do before execution. Sometimes the team gives an amazing solution and it is just not instructions, it is borrowing ideas and working together. Art direction or something here is an amazing job if you are a person who can handle the rush and chaos. You challenge yourself every time when there is a shoot going on and you discover yourself. Nothing is a problem, it falls in place when you figure out what to do.”
For her a project value is about the story, about how interesting the story is for the audience who are coming to see it. It isn’t about a film or a web series. She states, “True, the story should excite me and challenge me. When I get a narration or I read a story I get a glimpse of how I see the movie/picture. If that excites me I am on board. Not all stories fall in line. Art direction also tells a story. Visuals are aesthetically appealing and subconsciously you are being fed the story.” Are you going to be a production designer soon? “I see myself in that role. I heard about many females in this field but I don’t exactly know the numbers. So whatever projects I worked for..be it with Shivam or Jayashree, it has been an amazing experience. I am open to working for OTT too. I do relax but the design is always on my mind, it keeps running on and off. You never know when an idea pops in. About plagiarism, yes…visuals can be stolen or there is stealing of ideas but I can’t think of anything like that at the moment. It happens when there is a film which is completely imaginative or if it is a fantasy, there is scope for copying but most of it is customised or for a native audience. At the end of the day, I think you take inspiration or observation from there and how you beautify it.” Chandrika lauds the contribution of yester year art directors to cinema who were more planned and organised and as a result there would be no changes. She however states, today, there is scope for improvising in the last minute and digitalising helps. Everything has its advantages and disadvantages.
