Here is the thing: when a conductor raises that skinny chopstick of his (or hers), you don't see him or her actually play an instrument. You are, however, assuming that the person, who is responsible for the operations of the whole orchestra, is capable of playing at least one instrument. And I bet you are right. More than that, actually, many of them are indeed multi-instrumentalists and often quite capable solo performers.
Another thing - play of film directors. I bet they can act, most of them. And many of them are former or still performing actors, too.
Not when it comes to directing art, oh, no.
I suggest a simple test: take a book, any book, and put it on a table. Put an orange, apple, or an office toy basketball on top of it. Now give your art director a pencil and a sheet of paper and make him draw the book and the object on top of it in perspective. Forget the shading, just the wireframe (that's even better test).
And even better one would be to draw from imagination, without that improvised still-life.
How many of us can guess the outcome?
Right.
I see this problem as very much computer-related. It's the very essence of a common mistake of substituting the tool for an ability. Just like stringing some prerecorded loops in GarageBand does not make you a composer, your virtuosity of applying the drop shadow in Photoshop makes you neither an artist, nor even a graphic designer. It makes you a fraud, who got the job because you have a "creative vision" and "attention to details" and "people skills" and you "can get the job done".
And guess what?
It's OK.
It is, because you probably have all of the above, or you believe you do, which for me is just as good.
I do not have a problem with you directing me.
I do not have a problem with you telling me what to do.
The problem I have is with you telling me HOW to do it. You can tell your chauffeur where you want to go. You can even tell him, what route to take, scenic or highway. But for the sake of anything sacred to you, do NOT tell him how to switch gears.
Especially if you never drove a stick shift.
P.S. if you care about your job security, however, you should perform the aforementioned drawing test in your imagination. You already know the result, right?
P.P.S. Good thing nobody ever reads this blog, too.
Another thing - play of film directors. I bet they can act, most of them. And many of them are former or still performing actors, too.
Not when it comes to directing art, oh, no.
I suggest a simple test: take a book, any book, and put it on a table. Put an orange, apple, or an office toy basketball on top of it. Now give your art director a pencil and a sheet of paper and make him draw the book and the object on top of it in perspective. Forget the shading, just the wireframe (that's even better test).
And even better one would be to draw from imagination, without that improvised still-life.
How many of us can guess the outcome?
Right.
I see this problem as very much computer-related. It's the very essence of a common mistake of substituting the tool for an ability. Just like stringing some prerecorded loops in GarageBand does not make you a composer, your virtuosity of applying the drop shadow in Photoshop makes you neither an artist, nor even a graphic designer. It makes you a fraud, who got the job because you have a "creative vision" and "attention to details" and "people skills" and you "can get the job done".
And guess what?
It's OK.
It is, because you probably have all of the above, or you believe you do, which for me is just as good.
I do not have a problem with you directing me.
I do not have a problem with you telling me what to do.
The problem I have is with you telling me HOW to do it. You can tell your chauffeur where you want to go. You can even tell him, what route to take, scenic or highway. But for the sake of anything sacred to you, do NOT tell him how to switch gears.
Especially if you never drove a stick shift.
P.S. if you care about your job security, however, you should perform the aforementioned drawing test in your imagination. You already know the result, right?
P.P.S. Good thing nobody ever reads this blog, too.