 Hello everyone, I am James Milan, and this is an annual ritual that we enjoy very much here at ACMI. I am going to be talking to this year's Arlington International Film Festival, or AIFF poster contest winner. The poster for AIFF each year is the signature image that goes out with all publicity around the festival. It is also on banners and signs, and posters, of course, all around town and in surrounding towns, and it even makes its way globally. So, to have that distinction is no small thing, and I am talking with this year's winner today. Her name is Ariana Stoten, and she is a recent graduate of MassArt. Congratulations on that Ariana, and thanks for joining us. Thank you for having me. Yeah, no, we really appreciate it. I should let people know also that kind of artfully placed in the background here is a small portion of the winning poster that Ariana designed, which we will also provide a full image of at various times during the interview. So, Ariana, first of all, I love to start these chats with poster contest winners by just getting a little sense of, you as an artist, and how long that has been the case in your life, etc. So, if you don't mind, just pick whatever starting point you'd like. When you first realized how much you, I know your major is illustration, so when you first realized how much that particular medium appealed to you, how art entered your life, just give us a sense of how long this has been the case for you. Sure. I think I've been drawing like pretty much as long as I remember, but I think art really became like something that I wanted to do as a career. When I was probably in middle school, I was really into animation when I was young, and so I thought I wanted to be an animator for a really long time. And then in high school, I took AP art, which involved having like almost like a miniature thesis. And that was a process that I really enjoyed making illustrations for. And so after that, I decided that I wanted to go to college for illustration. And that's what I ended up doing. Uh-huh. So, in fact, you are one of those college students who went in with a pretty good sense of what you wanted to do. And lo and behold, that actually stayed true for your four years of college experience. That's cool in and of itself. And interesting for me, because although you don't know this, I was a high school teacher myself for more than 20 years. And I didn't realize that there was an AP art course available for folks. And so that is just a very cool thing that you took advantage of that opportunity. Also, I think a good illustration of just how seriously you've taken your art in that time. So you made your way to mass art. And how has that experience been for you now that you're looking back on it from this vantage point? Good. I really enjoyed my experience at mass art. It was a little rough with COVID regulations and having to move online for a few years. But it was still very enjoyable. And I feel like the education was actually really strong. So glad to hear that, because really I didn't put that in the preface to the question. But yeah, the shadow, the long, long shadow of COVID is really your, if you don't mind my using the phrase a poster child for just how much of a toll that took on a lot of people's college experience. And really the majority of your time in college has been spent in, you know, with everything being in response to and in the face of the pandemic. So nice to hear a kind of cheery review. I'm sure that you are, you know, that you also suffered impacts, like most of your peers, that, you know, frankly, we wish that, you know, could have been different for you. But sounds like you came through fine. All right, let's talk a little bit about the poster. Why don't we? It is a, again, as I said, it's quite a mark of distinction because there are always a number of very attractive, very compelling poster designs submitted. And as I mentioned at the outset, your work, you know, starting in your mind and moving to your screen or your tablet, your pad, whatever it was, is now going to be really broadcast globally. First question is, how does that feel? It feels really nice. Recently, somebody sent me a picture of the poster that they saw like hung up somewhere, and I think Jamaica Plain. I'm not certain about that, like where it was. But I thought it was really cool that like it's just like out and out there for people to see. Yeah, it really is going to be, you know, a situation in which, depending on how far flung your friends are and how much they want to do this, they will be able to send you kind of photos of that poster in all, you know, in all kinds of places. Again, even internationally, we know that obviously it's the International Film Festival, so there is reaching out done from the festival organizers to all parts of the globe, and your image will be part of that. So again, congratulations to you. But let's talk a little bit about how it is that you conceived of this particular design and what the elements are that you feel are kind of most reflective of your processing of, okay, Film Festival, poster, let's put those things together and see how, you know, what works best. Yeah, so when the poster project was pitched, it was, we did a Zoom call with April, and she asked if we had any questions, and somebody in the class had asked like, what, sorry, they were asking like what kind of cliches we should avoid, and she said that flags were kind of a big like, everyone always does flags to represent like internationality. So I was trying to think of something else that could represent, you know, the entire international spectrum of movies without including like, cliches like flags. And so I had done a lot of food illustration just throughout my time at MassArt, and I think that food is a really great way to like bring different cultures together. And I think, you know, different foods are really representative of the international landscape. And so I thought that, you know, doing a food illustration would be appropriate for the poster. And then I wanted to include the film iconography in there. So like, there's like some of the noodles are replaced with film strips. There's like a clapboard in there for filming. That was more or less the pop process behind it. Yeah, I mean, it's, you know, I think that it is a marvelously inventive kind of interpretation of, yeah, how do we bring this idea of international film in a way that seems fresh and new. And I think certainly I would imagine that the judges were responding, at least in part, to just kind of how well you did that. How about the, talk to us a little bit about the, about the, just kind of the choice of colors, the choice of proportions, the, you know, the fact that, yes, you've just indicated that the chopsticks, you know, pulling up noodles, which are in fact film strips are the prominent part of the image. But there are a lot of other elements as well. Just talk to us a little bit about those. Sure. So for the composition itself, I did like a couple different sketches. I wanted to make sure that there was room at the top for there to be like text for the, for the festival title in a place for there to be like the date and the time. And so I did a couple sketches and had them, you know, reviewed by my professor to see which ones that he liked. And he and I both agreed on this composition, the one that I went with, because it was just the one that we both liked the best. And as far as color palette goes, it was sort of, I wanted to include like very primary colors, like red, yellow, blue. But in my personal work, I don't do a ton of super bright colors. So I wanted to use something a little more muted and a little, a little less in your face. So it's more of like a mustard yellow and like a dark teal and a maroon. And I think that that worked out. I think it's still eye catching without being garish. Yeah, I think you've got that right. And also, I don't know, I'm not sure if I can really put into words, but it feels like it is a color palette itself that is more in line with what I think of as film, as the kind of the physical properties of film, whether it's the, there's almost a sense of the sepia tones of old film. And just the fact that film itself, film strips are kind of run this range from black to gray to maroonish, brownish, etc. A lot of the parts of the color palette that you've included there. So yeah, it's really, it just obviously it works really well. How about it looks to me, if I remember correctly, that the the elements. So again, we've referred to the film strip noodles. Are there any other things that because it looks like on another plate, there, to me, it looks like actual food. But maybe I'm just missing what the Yeah, so the dishes that I chose to include were different dishes from around the world. So the film strip noodles are like a Chinese flat noodle soup. The plate in the left hand side is like an English breakfast. But I had replaced the toast with the the clapboard. And then there's a bowl of soup in the background that's supposed to be lots of ball soup. There's a director's chair in there. And then I just kind of included like a generic beverage where you might have like lemon slices, but replace those with like film strip wheels. Yeah, again, really nice. I think maybe you tell me if this is in line with the rest of the art that you that you produce your your style, so to speak. What I like here is that it doesn't hit you over the head like you were saying earlier. It instead invites you to pay attention and to start looking at the details to find the kind of touches that you were just describing. I assume that that's deliberate. And again, is that part of your overall aesthetic? Yeah, I think so. I like to leave things like a little bit subtle. I try not to make things as on the nose as they can be. Although sometimes I do struggle with that. But I do like I think there's it can be fun to like approach a subject and like figure out how to illustrate it in such a way that it's not beating you over the head with the point. And actually like invite the viewer to you know figure out the meaning for themselves. Yeah, I think I mean you're you're a young person and I'm sure you have you know studied art in your life as well as practicing it. My my feeling about it as a long time appreciator not an artist myself is that there is a you know especially in what I would say good art or good art experiences. There is a conversation going on. There is an element of interactivity so that the audience member the audience the person who is taking that in is also again contributing in some way being being an active participant in this either dialogue or dynamic rather than simply again just kind of oh you know the message is so blunt or whatever that you just kind of you're just a receptacle. And again I appreciate that about your your particular piece here. It really is it rewards close viewing. So congratulations again on that. Let me ask you before we let you go the folks might be curious about what your plans are. Again we've just been talking about your views on art. We've looked at a piece a really nice piece illustrating your talents and wondering okay so you just graduated. What's next? Well I'm hoping to get a job in the narrative illustration field. Most of my portfolio is geared towards like children's book illustration or like graphic novel illustration any kind of sequential art. So I'm really hoping to be able to work in that field. Right now I'm trying to work on my portfolio and strengthen it a little bit more by adding things like book covers to them so I'm hoping you know I'll get a job somewhere in there. Well we wish you obviously the best of luck with that. It's never easy to be looking for a job. It's a job unto itself as many of us know very well. And particularly in a field such as yours where the opportunities may not be as abundant as the talent is there to provide them. So we wish you the best of luck. We certainly think that and I imagine that this is going to help right? The fact that it's not just part of your resume but you have this piece among the others to show that has really kind of a distinctive kind of varnish to it in terms of being really the the single image selected for this contest this year. So I mean well done. Thank you. All right anything that you would like to add before again we sign off? I guess I'll say that you can see my work online. I have an online portfolio. The website is arianawillow.art. That's kind of my only online social media presence. Looking forward to going to the festival in November. I hope that I can go at least but I'm looking forward to it. It'll be fun. Great yes obviously your job search will take you you know will determine where it is that you are this coming fall I imagine but let's hope you are in this area with a job and able to come and come to the festival and really kind of bask in both the you know the abundance of excellent cinematic art on display but also the fact that you'll see your work all you know everywhere you turn you'll look and see it. So I look forward to that opportunity to meet you at the festival this year in person and until then one last time we wish you good luck with your job search and we congratulate you on this particular distinction. I hope you enjoy it. I have been speaking with Ariana Stoten. She is the winner of this year's poster contest for the Arlington International Film Festival or AIFF and it will just to remind you becoming your way in the middle of the fall and early November I believe. I don't have the exact dates but it's it will be this fall. Stay tuned for it. It is always worth a visit. So with that I thank you and I thank Ariana for joining us today. I'm James Malan. We'll see you again.