Today we’d like to introduce you to Tess Tarses.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I apparently have always had an opinion on where things should go with the nature of set design. I was told recently that, as a kid, I used to rearrange all my stuffed animals in different configurations, like a stage audience. I was four.
I’ve always preferred working with my hands, but I didn’t realize it until I transferred to a private school and quickly became one of the weakest students. I got an opportunity to take a technical theatre class and used a drill for the first time. This quickly spiraled into a haven where I forgot I wasn’t the strongest student and felt capable of doing anything I could think up. In college, I became interested not just in theatre, but in film. I was excited at the idea of people seeing the work closer than fifty feet away. Coming to SCAD, I found more people trying to tell stories worth telling to the best of their ability. I became particularly interested in film, theatre, stop-motion, and a bit of illustration. I spent most of my weekends working on as many film projects as possible. If I wasn’t doing that, I was working as a florist helping set up weddings. I was joining the army of the many invisible people it took to make anything that immersed others into a different world.
When I graduated college, I didn’t feel a calling to New York, Los Angeles, or Atlanta in the way that my friends did. I felt that it would always be there; I wanted to explore a part of the country I knew nothing about. So I moved to Austin with my newly found husband about a year and a half ago. I worked a florist job I didn’t really like because of the monotony and did some freelance work for a TV show. However, I got the opportunity to do production design on a feature film in Savannah this summer, and it felt like my eyes opened again. I came back to Austin, quit my job, and recently started working as a fabricator and scenic painter for an event company that builds something different for every project. Without film and entertainment, I wouldn’t be put in positions I realized I needed.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I’m not one to say my road has been smoother or rougher than another’s. Everyone is dealt very different cards. From an outside perspective, I’ve created a lot of the obstacles myself. I’ve had trouble saying no to anything since I can remember, so keeping a balance in my life tends to be hard. I found that I often wouldn’t make enough time for myself and what I wanted to create because I was helping others. I struggled to ask for help for a long time. I believed I should know how to do everything and felt inferior if I didn’t. It’s taken years to overcome this crutch, and since reaching out to others, I have noticed such a difference in the quality and scale of the work I can achieve.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I specialize in the Art Department for Film Production. Being on the construction crew and art directing is what makes me feel like I’m on a road trip with my head out the window. To do something so time-consuming, you have to love it so much that the work’s easy to do. The nature of the Art Department needing to work one step ahead and be invisible is a fun, impossible mission that makes a twelve-hour day feel like four.
I am also a designer who doesn’t necessarily want everything to be pretty. I want things to feel just as authentic as they are stimulating. I design differently every time because every project deserves a different approach. Growing up in a family that got their start in showbiz, mostly as writers, naturally makes me give a script extra attention. My mom is also an English teacher, and although writing may not be my “schtick”, it’s something I greatly appreciate and cannot live without. Growing up involuntarily at a writers’ table(the dinner table) has this effect that whatever you’re doing should matter and carry momentum. I’m only just now starting to really get a sense that I can do this and that I belong at the table, and that’s still not every day. What sets me apart is my dedication to keep working for a seat at the table.
Any big plans?
I have definitely had a big change moving to a new city where I know very few people and starting a job that challenges my skills and perspective every day. I’m looking forward to bettering my craft in every sense of the word. I plan to really improve my construction skills and learn more about materials. If I can build better, I can also design better. I plan to continue practicing my software skills to develop more complex projects. I will travel and live anywhere to make that dream possible. Production Design is knowing a little bit about everything. I believe living in as many different places and connecting with as many people as I can will improve my ability. I hope to one day play a part in a film that amazes people and helps to create wonder.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://tesstarses.com/work
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tt_oddbird/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tess-tarses/
