LiveDesignOnline: Michael Apostolos, a 25-year-old Chicago native, provides creative direction, production and lighting, and overall creative design services for some of Hollywood’s biggest entertainers. He founded fourline creative, a company which creates set designs for Chance the Rapper, the 2020 Democratic National Convention, and Jennifer Hudson’s “John Lewis: Celebrating A Hero” performance. His work has also been featured on award shows such as Billboard Music Awards, Grammys, ACM, BET, and the ESPYs. Live Design chats with Apostolos about his multi-faceted career and his advice during a pandemic.
2 comments:
First off, I just want to say wow Michael Apostolos has done some really cool things. One thing he mentions is the idea of the learning curve and I love this! I think this is important to remember next semester when things get even more difficult on production is that everyone is learning and how a team that collaborates and talks to each other well helps with the learning curve. It is interesting reading about closely this designer works with his big-name stars and how much they care about the design. It is kinda heartwarming to see this attention to detail and respect that these major celebrities give to Apostolos and other people working on these projects. Lastly, I love Apostolos’s advice a little bit but also wish he talked about how other not designer skills in the entertainment industry can help. I think focusing on getting jobs that can later apply to the entertainment industry as some data organizations have said that arts will come back with only 70% of the people they started with and young designers aren’t going to be the first people hired in the entertainment industry.
This article has so many interesting aspects. One small note I found fascinating was the use of the word set in terms of a concert. I had not previously considered the arrangement of a concert performance to fall under scenic design. It makes sense in a way, I just did not expect this classification to be used in that context. Michael Apostolos seems to be a very talented artist in a variety of areas. It was cool to see that he works so closely with Chance the Rapper to produce every look. Apostolos is clearly an accomplished designer from his work with Chance, Jimmy Kimmel, and more. I would have liked it if he expanded on his choices for lighting fixtures, but his points on symmetry and changing it up for different purposes were very interesting and beneficial to read. I am glad he has been able to execute his craft through cautious television work and testing in the pandemic.
-Ariel Bernhard
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