How To Use Artistic License

When you consider being okay to use an 'artistic license'? Discussion In my own story, I take two artistic licenses, a character stay in jail for only 2 years for a crime should've got at very least 3, and another character has a scar caused by an accident that shouldn't be there consider how he got. Art licensing is the process by which an artist grants a license to a “licensee” to use her work in connection with a product, service, or promotional campaign. The terms of the license are contained in a licensing agreement. The agreement sets out the terms under which the licensee may use the art and the artist’s compensation for its use. You can apply artistic effects to a picture or a picture fill to make the picture look more like a sketch, drawing, or painting. You can also apply color effects and picture corrections. Artistic license means an artist is accorded leeway in his or her interpretation of something and is not held strictly accountable for accuracy. For example, the director of your local theatre group might decide it's high time Shakespeare's Hamlet was staged with the entire cast walking on stilts. Home Email marketing Artistic license: Using email metrics to fuel creativity Marketing analysts have been drilling it into us for years: It’s vital that we form our email marketing campaigns around the detailed information we’re gleaning about consumers.

By Sheila Curran Bernard

A teacher of screenwriting emailed me recently because he'd been asked to write a documentary. He didn't know where to start, and was trying to locate some completed scripts to study. While these might prove useful, I knew they wouldn't adequately convey the work ahead, or reveal important differences in the scripting process. How does one write a documentary?

To explain: Fiction screenwriters have long borrowed documentary techniques, and documentary filmmakers rely heavily on the tools of dramatic storytelling. As I wrote in an earlier article, Documentary Storytelling: The Drama of Real Life, both groups need to worry about protagonists and antagonists, rising stakes, and viewer investment in the outcome of a story. They both serve audiences that don't want to be preached at or talked down to, and they both seek to enthrall viewers by transporting them to new worlds and bringing them on emotional journeys. A key area where they differ, however, is that while storytellers working in fiction are free to invent characters and scenarios, those working in nonfiction are not. Nonfiction filmmakers can't take creative license with factual stories, but instead must limit their artistry to what media historian Erik Barnouw described as the creative arrangement of factual material. What's the difference?

Creative License

Creative (or 'artistic') license is generally understood to mean the freedom artists may take when handling factual material. From William Shakespeare to Peter Shaffer (Amadeus) and beyond, history has inspired, but not controlled, artists. Even when a dramatic feature is said to be based on actual events, audiences are generally aware that some liberties have likely been taken. Multiple actual characters may have been merged to simplify the storyline and reduce cast size. Invented characters may have been added, or the timeline of actual events shortened. (Still, as Dr. Linda Seger has noted in her book, The Art of Adaptation: Turning Fact and Fiction into Film, there may be ethical and legal considerations involved, especially when portraying recent events and featuring individuals who are still living.)

In general, the term 'creative license' doesn't apply to documentary filmmaking, because documentary filmmakers--who are something of a hybrid between artists and journalists--may not take liberties with the facts as they're generally acknowledged to be true. Arguably, the use of actors to recreate history might be seen as creative license. This is a complex subject, but the practice is usually accepted in documentary filmmaking as long as the recreations are done responsibly, the viewer is not misled about the nature of the recreations, and the recreation is used in service of a story that is otherwise factual. (For an interesting example of this, see Peter Watkins's Culloden, in which he adopts a black-and-white television reporting style to 'cover' the 1746 Battle of Culloden.)

Creative Arrangement

Creative arrangement broadly describes the use of storytelling tools available to documentary filmmakers, from an initial choice of subject and focus to decisions concerning tone, point of view, style (including recreations), and more. A documentary might open at the middle or end of the event being covered, and then work its way back to the chronological beginning. A film about science might be shaped as a mystery or an adventure. Multiple story threads might be interwoven. In making these choices, however, filmmakers must be careful not to violate the story's overall factual accuracy. Filmmakers may select details for inclusion or exclusion, for example, but they may not 'cherry pick' details in order to mislead viewers. They may play with the order in which they present the chronology, but may not misrepresent cause and effect. They must guard against the possibility of cutting factual material together in a way that leads audiences to a false conclusion.

It's worth noting that truthfulness in a documentary is based not on an absolute standard, but on the rules established and made clear to the audience by the filmmaker. For example, in his Academy Award-winning documentary, The Fog of War, filmmaker Erroll Morris did not set out to present a history of American military engagement in the 20th century. Instead, he offered a platform to the voice of one man, former secretary of defense Robert S. McNamara, as he offers his take on his role in that history. The audience is free to question, admire, or be outraged by McNamara's analysis, but it's clearly McNamara's, as edited into a film by Morris and his team. Documentary memoirs, likewise, reflect the unique perspectives of their authors.

Nonfiction Screen Storytelling

Let's go back to our teacher of dramatic screenwriting, and the tricks of his trade: character, conflict, resolution, stakes, tension, and more. While these can also be found in top documentaries, another important difference between the two forms lies in when and how they're employed. Dramatic screenwriters create the world of the film on paper before it's made real by the cast and crew. Nonfiction screenwriters (usually the producer and/or director, working as or with a writer) identify the world of the film on paper. Both types of storytellers usually conduct at least some research--generally a lot, for the nonfiction storyteller. Both may write outlines, which set out a film's initial premise and potential storyline(s). From there, the fiction screenwriter may augment or replace reality with invention, including characters, plotlines, and dialogue. The dramatic film is then fully scripted, existing on paper as an early version of the film that will appear on screen.

In contrast, the nonfiction storyteller can usually be described as moving from the initial premise and outline back to research. Who are the people and what are the stories that best embody the ideas and themes the filmmaker has decided to explore? The creators of Murderball, for example, built a powerful drama from the combined (and related) stories of a handful of quadriplegic athletes. There is Joe Soares, a former star on America's quad rugby team who's now a hard-driving coaching for Canada. There is American player Mark Zupan, tough as nails, who has yet to come to terms with the friend who was driving on the night he was injured. And in addition to a range of other teammates, girlfriends, family members and doctors, there is Keith Cavill, just coming out of rehab--a young athlete at the start of a journey that for the others is already well under way.

Experienced documentary filmmakers, including those working in vérité, may also look for a naturally occurring narrative arc that can be anticipated and planned around, as a preliminary film structure. Weddings, school years, political campaigns, competitions, even single days or weeks all offer a beginning, middle, and end that can help to shape the storyline (and production schedule). Sometimes, the arc is created when filmmakers put themselves in the story, on a quest for answers or action.

How To Use Artistic License Plate

Writing a Treatment

Based on the research, casting, and story decisions made to date, the nonfiction screenwriter may write up a shooting outline or even a very detailed shooting treatment that serves as a blueprint for what will be filmed. These are quite different from dramatic screenplays. Documentary storytellers don't write dialogue for the people they'll film, but based on their research, they may write up questions to be asked or topics to be explored. They don't usually tell people how to behave or where to go, but they've learned enough about their subjects to anticipate key events and be prepared to film them. And by thinking through not only what's being shot but also why, nonfiction filmmakers can recognize the distractions and opportunities that are an inevitable part of filmmaking. With any luck, the story and structure that were anticipated will give way, during production, to a related but even more powerful version of themselves, which are further shaped in the editing room and eventually presented on screen.

Writing the Script

The nonfiction screenplay (or script), if there is one, isn't usually drafted until editing is under way, as the voices of people who've been filmed are transcribed and the material assembled, on paper and on screen. Narration or on-screen text, if there is any, is crafted around these voices. A final script is essentially a document of these efforts, a transcript of the finished film. I find them helpful to read (transcripts of American Experience, NOVA, and Frontline, for example, are available on their PBS websites) as a way of analyzing the films. But these scripts reveal only some of the process it took to write them.

The Who, What, Where, Why, How and How Much of Art Licensing

When artists first learn about the concept of art licensing, they are full of questions.They want to understand what it is, how it works, and if it is for them.We know you have these same questions, so here are the basics of art licensing to help you on your exploration to determine if this is the right path for you.

WHO

Artists who want to share in the “success or failure” of a product versus being paid for their time for the creation of art often choose to license their art.

Traditionally these artists are paid a royalty based on the sale price of a product and the quantity sold (similar to how a salesperson working on commission is paid).

For those individuals who are willing to work hard to create the necessary collections of art needed by manufacturers, to work with the legalities of a contract, who are willing to continually market themselves and their works, and willing to work under a system that does not guarantee immediate income for the work being done, art licensing may be the route to take.

WHAT

Art that works well for licensing is art that is relevant and relatable to both the manufacturer and the end use consumer who is willing to pay for products displaying that art.The role of the artwork on that product is to sell the product!

WHERE

Manufacturers and retailers from around the world may choose to get their art by licensing it.There really are not geographic boundaries!One has to be concerned of the legalities of working with manufacturers in foreign countries, but there are opportunities existing.A great place to connect with manufacturers are at trade show where artists exhibit their works, and manufacturers and retailers attend with the purpose of licensing artwork for their products.

Here are the main U.S. shows to consider for exhibiting, as well as a couple of foreign shows if you are inclined to be participate . . .

Links to trade shows

SURTEX – http://www.surtex.com/
Licensing Expo – http://www.licensingexpo.com/
Atlanta Gift Show – https://www.americasmart.com/
Brand Licensing Europe – http://www.brandlicensing.eu/brand-licensing-europe
Springfair –http://www.springfair.com/
Licensing World Russia – http://www.licensingworld.ru/conf2014/
China Licensing Expo – http://www.chinalicensingexpo.com/en/

WHY

Manufacturers and retailers use art and “properties” on products as an added mechanism to help sell to consumers.They know that if a consumer is a fan of a brand or a property (movie, television show, etc.), and artwork from the brand or property is on a product, the chance for a purchase by that customer is significantly greater.

So how do manufacturers and retailers get art for their products?There are four primary ways:

The use of their own in-house art departments
The outright purchase of art from artists/designers (copyrights and all!)
The use of stock art from studios and factories who create their products
The licensing of art (either traditional royalty based Agreement, or a flat fee Agreement – both Agreements to define term of use, products in which the art will be used, and the territory of use, where the artist retains the copyrights to the art).

Manufacturers often choose licensing for the following reasons:

Exclusivity – by licensing art, a manufacturer can negotiate exclusive use of an artist’s design for their products; ensuring their competitors won’t bring the same thing to market.
Flexibility – by licensing art, manufacturers can work with artists with a wide variety of styles that they might not be able to create with a group of in-house artists.
Cost savings – when a manufacturer licenses art, they pay the artist based on how well the product sells.So while their expense can vary, they are always directly related to the income from sales of the product.
Design Support – many artists who license their work become like a part of the manufacturer’s design team – working together to get the art just right and often setting it up to templates for production.This saves the manufacturer the labor expense of having their own graphics team doing the work, or at least lightens the load on the in-house team.
Brand Recognition – manufacturers are always looking to mitigate their risks when making products.Using art from an artist who is well known and has a great following (generally realized by social media statistics) insures some level of guaranteed sales of a product.

HOW

When all is said and done, art licensing is a business; and as such, has to be managed as a business, with all of its nuances and specifics.One of these nuances is in the legal nature of the engagement.Art licensing is conducted through legal contracts between the manufacturer (Licensee) and the artist (Licensor).An agreement is structured around about what art is being licensed, for use on what products, to be sold in what territory and for what time frame (among other legal details – including how you are paid your share of the royalties/fees, duration of the agreement, what happens when a decision is made to terminate the agreement, etc.).

To learn more about the legal arena of contracts, check out our eBook “How to Understand Art Licensing Contracts” by Tara Reed and Maria Brophy.

Artists can and should do their own marketing, and can choose to work directly with licensees; or, they may choose to engage the services of an art licensing agent to manage that side of the business.

To learn more about the working relationship with agencies, check out our eBook “How to Find an Art Licensing Agent.”

The “HOW” part of art licensing is quite extensive, with many parts to make up the puzzle; including how to create art for licensing, how to connect with the people who license art, how to negotiate a win-win agreement with a manufacturer, and how to market yourself properly and effectively.

To get a more detailed perspective of the “HOW” of art licensing, we recommend our series of eBooks available on this website and/or attending one of our Art Licensing Academies held throughout the year.

HOW MUCH

The standard question of most artists is the “How much can I make from art licensing, and how long will it take?’’Unfortunately, this question is impossible to answer.There are so many factors that go into art licensing, including, but not limited to . . .

How much art does an artist need to create for consideration for licensing?

How many “eyes” can you get to see your artwork – the relationship an artist develops with licensees?

How well your art will fit the market, the product, the manufacturers needs, etc. Are you relevant and relatable to the consumer?

How well the product sells, where it sells and at what price point.

How much you make in royalties or flat fees.

The range of annual income for artists who pursue art licensing varies greatly – some artists who make $1,000 per year, and some who make mid to high six figures.This is both good and bad – the sky is the limit for potential earnings (that’s good!), but there is no silver bullet or easy step to take to create success overnight.

You have to take a long term mindset if you jump into licensing your art.This is a marathon, and not a sprint.While nobody can guess what you will make, you can be pretty sure it won’t be fast money.It can take 12 – 18 months after signing an agreement before you will see any revenues, and 2 – 5 years for a licensing relationship to mature enough to start earning the kind of consistent income you desire.

Used Artistic License

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