My wife is an art director. She loves the entertainment industry. She manages to always get what she needs for any particular film she's working. Films are demanding collaborations and require various departments to work in tandem. Her department is often overlooked, though it's the first thing the audience sees. In fact, the art department makes such an impression that it can affect the audience on a subconscious level.

My wife is an art director. She loves the entertainment industry. She manages to always get what she needs for any particular film she's working. Films are demanding collaborations and require various departments to work in tandem. Her department is often overlooked, though it's the first thing the audience sees. In fact, the art department makes such an impression that it can affect the audience on a subconscious level.

Her latest credit was an independent horror film. Her budget was on the small size, given the scope of the special effects. Being crafty and determined, she made the best of her resources. During the middle of the shoot, her talents were put to the test. In the final scene (all movies are shot out of sequence to save money), the zombies are going head- to-head with the heroes of the film -- the set had to be perfect.

The location turned out to be a five bedroom mansion that belonged to a friend of one of the producers. Not only did the art department have to remember where all the home owners possessions belonged, they had to be extremely careful not to damage the home. Furthermore, she had to dress the set with the right kind of laboratory equipment -- zombie movies always seem to revolve around a laboratory experiment gone wrong.

The big problem was the fact she didn't plan for this scene because it wasn't on the shooting schedule. It had been added at the last minute. But the show had to go on, and my wife had to scramble to get the right decorations and props in place. After making a dozen phone calls to other art directors around town (none of them had what she needed), she had to come up with a miracle.

She called a local lab and asked if they could set aside some laboratory equipment. She sent her assistant to pick up all the equipment and began dressing the set in seconds flat. They shot the frantic finale in two nights. Going straight to the source can be the most efficient way to get what you need.