Ridley Scott, 88, Still Draws Every Movie by Hand Before Filming: ‘Art School Is the Most Useful Time in My Life’ (Exclusive)

Ridley Scott says he still draws every movie by hand before filming, crediting art school and advertising with shaping his visual process.

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NEED TO KNOW

Ridley Scott credits his art school training with shaping his visual approach to filmmaking and storytelling

His new film The Dog Stars, starring Jacob Elordi and Josh Brolin, released in theaters on Aug. 28

Scott is preparing to direct Treasure Island with Hugh Jackman as Long John Silver, with production starting in November 2026

Ridley Scott has spent more than five decades bringing some of Hollywood’s most memorable worlds to the big screen. But long before Alien, Blade Runner and Gladiator, he was an art student learning how to draw, design and think visually.

At 88, that training is still a major part of his filmmaking process.

Scott tells PEOPLE that he begins visualizing a movie long before cameras roll — and then starts drawing.

“I’m filming on paper in my head, but then it goes onto the paper because my time at art school is the most useful time in my life,” he says. “I use everything at an art school today.”

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For Scott, the work begins well before he gets on set. He wants to have a clear idea of the movie he is making before cameras start rolling, a habit he traces directly back to his years in art school.

That approach is on display in The Dog Stars, Scott’s adaptation of Peter Heller’s post-apocalyptic novel. The film stars Jacob Elordi as Hig, a young pilot trying to survive after a pandemic devastates society, with Josh Brolin as Bangley, his tough survivalist companion, and Margaret Qualley as Cima.

The project came to Scott from the studio at a time when he was looking for his next film. He says he began reading the script and was quickly hooked.

“Very few films land on my desk. Usually I develop most of my stuff. Occasionally, one will land,” he says.

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Scott’s visual education began in the United Kingdom, first at West Hartlepool College of Art, where he studied design and painting, and later at the Royal College of Art in London. He entered the RCA in 1958 and finished in 1961, focusing on graphic design at a time when photography, television and film were beginning to open up new creative possibilities.

“This was the school of everything. You just had to be pushy and go for it. That’s what all students must understand from day one,” he previously told the RCA in 2012.

Scott never attended traditional film school. Instead, after leaving the RCA, he moved into commercial filmmaking and eventually became one of the defining directors of the British advertising world.

He credits those years with teaching him how to communicate visually and quickly.

“The advertising was my film school,” he says.

Mark Rogers/Twentieth Century Fox/ Courtesy Everett Collection

Scott estimates that he directed around 2,000 commercials himself, while his production company made many more. The work took him around the world and forced him to tell complete stories in 30 or 60 seconds.

That experience, he says, changed the way he thought about editing, lighting, casting and storytelling. Among his most famous commercials was Apple’s 1984 ad, which he directed for the launch of the Macintosh.

The influence of that period eventually followed him into feature filmmaking. His work became known for its meticulous visual design, from the grimy industrial corridors of Alien to the neon-soaked future of Blade Runner. But Scott still wants to know what the movie looks like before he makes it.

“I’m a very quick decision maker. And most importantly, I always turn up knowing exactly what I’m going to do,” he says.

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His next movie is already on paper, too. Scott says he is preparing to make Treasure Island next.

“As soon as I knew what I wanted to do, I started to draw,” he says.

The Dog Stars is in theaters now. Treasure Island does not yet have an official release date. Production is currently scheduled to begin Nov. 1, 2026, with Hugh Jackman attached to star as Long John Silver.

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