Art direction

I listened to an interview on Fresh Air with Sandi Tan, the director of the documentary Shirkers about the making of a movie that would have been called Shirkers if the film hadn't been stolen by the director.

Having already seen the movie, the thing that stood out to me was that she said that finally seeing the footage twenty years after it had been shot made her feel redeemed---that the film looked great, shot it primary colors. 

I read that, long ago, a film professor made a deal with Roger Corman. Corman would put up the money for him to make a movie with his students. Corman looked at the footage they shot, didn't like it and sent an art director to work with them. Even Roger Corman making an especially cheap movie realized the importance of art direction.

Something to bear in mind in this age when anybody can theoretically make some kind of a movie.

Two pictures that came up when I googled "art direction".