Oscars Best Production Design nominees: 4 veterans, 7 rookies

Table Of Content

• An Inside Look at This Year’s Oscar Nominees for Best Production Design
• 'Challengers' Heats Up: How Zendaya's Star Power and a Sexy Love Triangle Could Give Gen Z Its Next Movie Obsession
• The Live 2023 Oscar Nominations Announcement
• Oscars: Best Production Design Predictions
• Oscars 2023: Best Production Design Predictions
• Winner of Best Production Design
• ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

Pinnock has been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Production Design five times but her only win was this one for Budapest. This video explains how production designer extraordinaires David Wasco and Sandy Reynolds-Wasco built the “look of love” we see throughout La La Land. Lost Horizon isn’t just famous for its brilliant production design though; as Capra explains in the clip above, he had to cut the film’s first two reels after a catastrophic first showing. At the time of its production, Frank Capra’sLost Horizon was the most expensive film ever made – and it’s clear that a lot of the budget went to the film’s extravagant production design, which was headed by Stephen Goosson.

An Inside Look at This Year’s Oscar Nominees for Best Production Design

The film’s visual style, choreography, and musical performances contribute to its nostalgic and enchanting atmosphere. The film provides a sweeping and visually stunning depiction of Chinese history and culture, capturing the grandeur of the imperial court and the transformative years that followed. “The Last Emperor” portrays Pu Yi’s life beyond his reign, following his time as a puppet emperor under Japanese occupation during World War II and his subsequent reeducation as a “commoner” by the Chinese Communist Party. “The Return of the King” is known for its breathtaking visuals, epic battle sequences, and emotional depth. It explores themes of heroism, friendship, loyalty, and the corrupting influence of power. The film showcases multiple storylines and characters, including Aragorn (played by Viggo Mortensen), Gandalf (played by Ian McKellen), Legolas (played by Orlando Bloom), Gimli (played by John Rhys-Davies), and many others.

'Challengers' Heats Up: How Zendaya's Star Power and a Sexy Love Triangle Could Give Gen Z Its Next Movie Obsession

As twisted as Poor Things is, there’s something that leaves your jaw on the floor regarding its imagination and scope of brilliance. Every place — from God’s house to the phallic-windowed brothel — has such character and creativity put into it. There is extensive world-building in Poor Things that takes sci-fi-fantasy concepts and make them a reality that I was dying to explore throughout the film (let’s not forget the infrastructure of the cruise ship as well). In a tough year with strong candidates, I still feel like Poor Things runs away with this category; if Barbie makes our childhood creativity come to life, then Poor Things takes us to a place that feels impossible to conjure up. It goes without saying, but seeing the dream houses being brought to life in Barbie is quite something. Every house has its own identity (even amidst all the pink) that makes you want to check out all of the internal and external inaccuracies, as you wonder how each doll lives.

The Live 2023 Oscar Nominations Announcement

To view the complete list of 2022 Oscar nominations and winners you can find them below. The recognition for “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” makes this the first production design roster since 2015 to include two different pairs of women. What appealed to Martin was visually conveying the historical context amidst the explosion of youth culture during a very prosperous yet segregated ’50s America. To view the complete list of 2023 Oscar nominations and winners you can find them below.

Oscars 2024: Final predictions (96th Academy Awards) - updated - The Gold Knight

Oscars 2024: Final predictions (96th Academy Awards) - updated.

Posted: Sat, 09 Mar 2024 08:00:00 GMT [source]

The film tells the story of a mysterious and disfigured musical genius known as the Phantom, who haunts the Paris Opera House. Behind every memorable film scene is a tapestry woven with creativity, imagination, and meticulous attention to detail—this is the realm of production design. This article is a part of the Academy Awards Project, where Andreas Babiolakis from Films Fatale ranks every Oscar nominee from worst to best, and goes through every category once a day five days a week. Forgive my diatribe, but it’s true – there’s no way a studio today would “okay” a massive set piece like the Roman square in Cleopatra.

Oscars 2023: Best Production Design Predictions

We see this reverence throughout the film, like in Mia’s bedroom where her wall is adorned with a mural of Ingrid Bergman, and in the epilogue which was clearly inspired by director Damien Chazelle’s favorite musical The Umbrellas of Cherbourg. Amadeus is one of those movies you watch and think “wow that was a visual treat.” Patrizia von Brandenstein and Karel Cerny should be commended for not only recreating 18th-century Vienna, but for adding visual flair to the era with color and neo-baroque detail. See the latest film predictions, in all 23 categories, in one place on Variety’s Oscars Collective. The nominations were announced today just after 8AM ET, hosted by actors Leslie Jordan and Tracee Ellis Ross.

Behold: The 2023 Oscar Nominations for Best Production Design

Lightsabers, blasters and X-wings are some of the most famous pieces of production design that have ever been made – and they were all introduced in the original Star Wars. I went back and forth between putting Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and La La Land here – both are stylistic renderings of Los Angeles and both feature some excellent production design – but I decided to go with the latter because of its brilliant use of color. There are monolithic buildings, gothic staircases, and captivating statues/gargoyles all over the place – not to mention how great the rest of the production design was too.

The film captures the epic scope of the Russian Revolution and showcases the beauty and tragedy of the characters’ lives amid the tumultuous historical events. As the Russian Revolution unfolds, Yuri’s life is intertwined with the political upheavals and social changes of the time, impacting his personal relationships and his artistic pursuits. It became the first sequel to win the Academy Award for Best Picture and received a total of six Oscars, including Best Director for Francis Ford Coppola, Best Supporting Actor for Robert De Niro, and Best Adapted Screenplay. “Titanic” was a massive commercial success and became the highest-grossing film of all time upon its release. Rose, engaged to a wealthy but arrogant man, Cal Hockley, feels trapped in her privileged life.

It depicts the life of Cleopatra, the legendary queen of Egypt, and her relationships with Julius Caesar and Mark Antony. “La La Land” is a romantic musical film released in 2016, written and directed by Damien Chazelle. The film pays homage to the classic Hollywood musicals of the past while presenting a modern love story set in Los Angeles. It won eleven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay. The film masterfully captures the vast scope of Tolkien’s fantasy world and brings it to life on the big screen with remarkable attention to detail and visual effects. “The Aviator” serves as a compelling exploration of Howard Hughes’ life, showcasing his triumphs and personal struggles in the face of immense wealth and fame.

“This location allowed us to create the illusion of a castle at the top of the hill surrounded by the desert landscape of undeveloped Los Angeles,” says Martin. “Through relentless location searching, I came across a stone Gothic castle built in 1926 in the California desert.” A Spanish Gothic castle, at that. Welcome to the decadent years of showbiz in 1920s Los Angeles, as silent-era Hollywood was transitioning to talkies in Damien Chazelle’s Babylon. Fading movie star Jack Conrad (Brad Pitt) and up-and-coming actress Nellie LaRoy (Margot Robbie) are ambitious dreamers who are caught up in a milieu of outrageous excess and forced to change with the times. Theirs is a firmament of gilded ballrooms, opulent furnishings, and lush paneled bedrooms contrasted with a barren, undeveloped desert landscape just beyond.

It tells the story of a group of people who find themselves in the remote and mythical land of Shangri-La, a utopian paradise hidden high in the mountains of Tibet. “The Last Emperor” won nine Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director for Bertolucci, and Best Cinematography for Vittorio Storaro. The film chronicles Pu Yi’s life from his childhood, when he ascended to the throne as a toddler in 1908, to his adult years and the tumultuous events that shaped China in the 20th century. Tolkien’s novel “The Lord of the Rings.” Directed by Peter Jackson, the film concludes the story of Frodo Baggins (played by Elijah Wood) and his quest to destroy the One Ring and defeat the Dark Lord Sauron.

The film was nominated for 11 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and won five, including Best Supporting Actress for Cate Blanchett’s portrayal of Katharine Hepburn. The film’s attention to detail in recreating the time period and its stunning cinematography were also widely praised. “The Aviator” is a biographical drama film released in 2004, directed by Martin Scorsese. The film depicts the life of Howard Hughes, a famous aviator, filmmaker, and industrialist.

The performance space at the International Hotel in Las Vegas, where Elvis had his seven-year residency. “We ended up with literally kilometers of carpet that Bev had printed to match the actual carpet that existed in the late ’60s and early ’70s,” the production designer tells us. Wilfred Shingleton and John Bryan were recognized for their work on "Great Expectations," a black and white film, while Alfred Junge won an Oscar for the color film "Black Narcissus." Richard Day Joseph Wright Thomas Little won for two films, This Above All, which was in black and white, and My Gal Sal, which was in color. The film’s success solidified Wes Anderson’s reputation as a distinctive filmmaker with a unique visual and narrative style. The performances, particularly that of Ralph Fiennes as Gustave H., garnered critical acclaim and added to the film’s charm and humor.