Art Director Yue Zhou Talks About Her Most-Celebrated Project ‘El Perro’ Sets Sights on a Prolific 2024 with Exciting New Projects
Yue Zhou’s art direction has seen momentous progress over the years. Today, as 2023 concluded successfully for Yue, she is among the top art directors who have made it from scratch in Hollywood. The Chineseart director made her entrance into filmmaking on her first-ever voluntary project with her friends. Over the years, she has skillfully orchestrated captivating scenes for films, TV shows, music videos, and advertisements, showcasing her talent behind the camera. Yue acted as the art director for the acclaimed film, Hello, Goodbye, which received six highly sought-after awards including three IndieFEST Film Awards, two Festigious International Film Festival Awards, a Los Angeles Film Award, and a nomination for an Oniros Film Award. The film was also shortlisted for the notable PRISMA Independent Film Festival in Italy. Yue also acted as the art director for The Day I Met Joshua, a notable film that received five esteemed awards and eleven nominations including four Top Indie Film Awards and a nomination, three Hollywood Gold Awards, two European Cinematography Awards nominations, a Florence Film Awards nomination, a New York Cinematography Awards nomination, two Canadian Cinematography Awards nominations, and a Sicily Independent Film Awards nomination. The substantial critical acclaim of the films she has worked on is certainly indicative of Yue’s incomparable skills as an art director.
Apart from working on highly acclaimed films, Yue has also worked on several popular music videos including the music video for the song, El Perro, by Gerardo Ortiz, which has so far generated an outstanding 15 million views on YouTube,as well as rave reviews, solidifying its ever-growing popularity. The meticulous coordination between the set-up, backdrop, and color scheme has garnered high praise from critics, as they seamlessly align with the theme of the song. It was truly astonishing for the viewers to discover that the mastermind behind the creation of the horrifying, gruesome, and blood-soaked scenes was a woman. This revelation particularly influenced Yue’s sudden and phenomenal rise to fame. Her work was highly acclaimed, representing a major step forward in the entertainment industry’s efforts towards gender equality.
When developing the music video for El Perro, Yue worked closely with the entire team from pre-production to completion. ‘I managed the entire art department from start to finish, created the schedule, attended production meetings, consulted with production designers, researched props and set decor, and led team members during set dressing for the location,” shared Yue while speaking to the local media.
Working on El Perrowas a stimulating experience for her, as it was the first opportunity to push her creative abilities beyond her comfort zone. The project’s demands, deadlines, and budget placed her in a precarious position where even the smallest mishap could jeopardize the entire endeavor. She expresses her gratitude to the entire cast and crew for their professionalism and greatly admires the American work ethic, which prioritizes delivering on promises.
The most draining part of being an art director for this song was creating the opening scene of a butcher house. The scene demanded real meat to keep it as close to reality as possible. Using a mixture to make blood like the consistency and texture of real blood was a tedious task for Yue, who did hours of research, trials, and errors to get everything in place. ‘We also used fake blood to cover the meat. We also used it for a closeup of blood dripping down. This shot was particularly difficult to capture and required a lot of resetting and trying again,’ added the award-winning art director. The unfavorable temperature needed a quick change of props, and there was no margin for error. She generally finds the prop management part of her job quite challenging, as it can be difficult to stay within budget when it comes to scenes that require a commercial setting.
The art director is responsible for bringing to life the production team’s artistic vision. Yue understands that achieving success in this field requires patience. She actively participates in constructive discussions with her team to bring ideas to life, ensuring everyone’s artistic views are aligned. ‘Communication is key to working with the director and other departments. Everyone has their understanding and opinion on what this project is, and that’s why communication is essential to ensure we all are working towards the same goal,’ she concluded.
For more details and information, please head over to Yue Zhou at IMDb Listen to El Perro at Gerardo Ortiz’s El Perro (official video).
Contact Information
Email: emmazhou414@gmail.com
Writer: Sherry Lee, GTK PR Agency
email: gtkprtalent@gmail.com
