Topic summary
Art Direction
Extracted from the Wikipedia article Art director.
In film
The term "art director" was first used in 1914 by Wilfred Buckland when this title was used to denote the head of the art department (hence the Academy Award for Best Art Direction), which also included the set decorator. Now the award includes the production designer and set decorator. On the movie Gone with the Wind, David O. Selznick felt that William Cameron Menzies had such a significant role in the look of the film that the title art director was not sufficient, and so he gave Menzies the title of production designer. This title is now commonly used as the title for the head of the art department, although the title actually implies control over every visual aspect of a film, including costumes.