Browse the library
Deciding what the work looks like before anybody makes it. Read it in order or start anywhere. The first lesson of each module is free to read, and the rest come with a membership. The contents are also one markdown file.
The modules
Deciding what the work looks like and defending it. Briefing specialists, judging against the brief, and the four verbs the job is made of.
- 01.01What an art director actually doesFilmPlateTermsAI tip
- 01.02The difference between art direction and designPlateTermsMember
- 01.03Building a visual argumentPlateTermsMember
- 01.04Choosing a single idea and holding itPlateTermsAI tipMember
- 01.05Directing other people's craftPlateTermsMember
- 01.06Art direction across a whole campaignPlateTermsMember
- 01.07Working with a copywriterPlateTermsMember
- 01.08Presenting a look before it existsPlateTermsAI tipMember
- 01.09Feedback, and how to give it to a photographerDiagramPlateTermsMember
- 01.10The art director on setPlateTermsMember
- 01.11Judging the work against the brief rather than against tastePlateTermsMember
- 01.12Art direction with generated imagesPlateTermsMember
Reference as instruction rather than decoration. Finding what nobody else has, reading it properly, and the line between influence and copying.
- 02.01What a reference is for, and how to choose oneFilmPlateTerms
- 02.02The moodboard that is actually a briefPlateTermsAI tipMember
- 02.03Finding references that are not the obvious onesPlateTermsMember
- 02.04Collecting in a way you can find againDiagramPlateTermsMember
- 02.05Reading a reference properlyPlateTermsAI tipMember
- 02.06The difference between reference and plagiarismPlateTermsMember
- 02.07Boards for a client and boards for a crewPlateTermsAI tipMember
- 02.08Killing a board you lovePlateTermsMember
- 02.09Reference as a promptPlateTermsMember
- 02.10Keeping a library across projectsPlateTermsMember
Who is in the picture, which says more than the palette. Briefs, street casting, usage and buyouts, and what a generated face costs you.
- 03.01What casting decides about a brandFilmPlateTermsAI tip
- 03.02Writing a casting briefPlateTermsMember
- 03.03Street castingPlateTermsMember
- 03.04Agencies, and how a booking worksPlateTermsMember
- 03.05Reading a portfolio and a polaroidPlateTermsMember
- 03.06The callbackPlateTermsMember
- 03.07Usage, exclusivity and what you are buyingPlateTermsAI tipMember
- 03.08Rates, buyouts and the numbers that surprise peoplePlateTermsMember
- 03.09Diversity, and doing it without tokenismPlateTermsMember
- 03.10Children, animals and everything that needs a licencePlateTermsAI tipMember
- 03.11Casting a generated facePlateTermsMember
Fit, texture and the fitting that saves the shoot day. Prop styling, food styling, and continuity across a long day.
- 04.01What a stylist does on a shootFilmPlateTerms
- 04.02Building a lookPlateTermsMember
- 04.03Fit, and why it decides everythingPlateTermsMember
- 04.04Colour on a bodyPlateTermsMember
- 04.05Sourcing, borrowing and the returns problemPlateTermsAI tipMember
- 04.06Prop stylingPlateTermsMember
- 04.07Food stylingPlateTermsAI tipMember
- 04.08Hair and make-up directionPlateTermsMember
- 04.09The fittingPlateTermsMember
- 04.10Continuity across a dayPlateTermsAI tipMember
- 04.11Styling for a generated modelPlateTermsMember
What a set has to do. Ground, surface, scale, paint, practical effects, and the build day nobody budgets for.
- 05.01What a set has to do in a photographFilmPlateTermsAI tip
- 05.02Location or buildPlateTermsMember
- 05.03The cyclorama, the sweep and the tabletopPlateTermsMember
- 05.04Surfaces, and why they matter more than propsPlateTermsMember
- 05.05Colour and paint on setPlateTermsMember
- 05.06Scale, and what the camera does to itPlateTermsAI tipMember
- 05.07Props, and the difference between dressing and clutterPlateTermsMember
- 05.08Practical effects: water, smoke, windPlateTermsAI tipMember
- 05.09Budgets, crew and the build dayPlateTermsMember
- 05.10Striking a set and what happens to itPlateTermsMember
- 05.11Set design inside a promptDiagramPlateTermsMember
Running the day. Shot lists, call sheets, directing a model and a photographer, and what to fix now rather than in post.
- 06.01Planning a shoot with a shot listDiagramFilmPlateTermsAI tip
- 06.02Boards and previsualisationPlateTermsMember
- 06.03The call sheetPlateTermsAI tipMember
- 06.04Running a dayPlateTermsMember
- 06.05Directing a modelPlateTermsMember
- 06.06Directing a photographerPlateTermsAI tipMember
- 06.07Coverage, and the frames you will need laterDiagramPlateTermsMember
- 06.08Tethering, selects and the client on setPlateTermsMember
- 06.09What to fix now and what to fix afterPlateTermsMember
- 06.10Weather, delay and the plan that survives neitherPlateTermsMember
- 06.11The wrap, and what leaves with whomPlateTermsMember
Turning a brand into Reels and Shorts people watch to the end. The brand story, the founder story, the fifteen-second shape, the hook, two-column scripts, phone boards inside the safe zone, captions and creator briefs under India's ASCI rules, ending with No. 4's first reels and then yours.
- 07.01What a brand story actually isFilmTerms
- 07.02The founder story, and when to tell itTermsMember
- 07.03The shape of a fifteen-second storyFilmTermsMember
- 07.04The hook, and the first two secondsFilmTermsMember
- 07.05Scripting a reelDiagramFilmTermsAI tipMember
- 07.06The two-column scriptDiagramTermsMember
- 07.07Storyboarding for a phone screenDiagramTermsMember
- 07.08Captions and words on screenTermsAI tipMember
- 07.09Briefing a creatorTermsMember
- 07.10Thinking in seriesFilmTermsAI tipMember
- 07.11No. 4's first reels, worked through, then yoursTermsMember
One idea across forty assets. The line, the channel, the asset matrix, and the campaigns that ran too long.
- 08.01What turns an advertisement into a campaignFilmPlateTermsAI tip
- 08.02The idea that survives every formatPlateTermsMember
- 08.03Writing the campaign lineDiagramPlateTermsAI tipMember
- 08.04Channel, and what each one can carryPlateTermsMember
- 08.05Adapting without dilutingPlateTermsMember
- 08.06The asset matrixPlateTermsAI tipMember
- 08.07Launch sequencingPlateTermsMember
- 08.08Measuring a campaign honestlyPlateTermsMember
- 08.09Campaigns that ran too longPlateTermsMember
- 08.10Running a campaign with a generated asset basePlateTermsMember
The other courses