Who will be nominated for Production Design?

by Nathaniel R

As we did with Costume Design, let's look at the most likely Oscar contenders in its sister Eye Candy category (i.e. the "Moulin Rouge!" categories), Best Production Design. The following nine films are not ranked but grouped in 'types'-- in fact I don't think the last two have much of a prayer but in a just world, they would! Oscar voters vote solely on the category achievement itself (as they should) but on all sorts of things first and foremost being whether they like the film itself. It also helps to belong to the right genre and, in the case of craft categories, to have a showy "Most" feeling... 

OPULENCE. O-P-U-L-E-N-C-E. OPULENCE

BABYLON
While it's theoretically possible that Damien Chazelle's Old Hollywood set Babylon will be a clunker, his track record suggests that isn't likely.  And in the craft categories Oscar voters *really* go for this sort of thing. Sight unseen this feels like the film's best shot at a win. Florencia Martin has yet to be Oscar nominated but her work has been strong to date whether set in the past (production design on Licorice Pizza) or future (set dressing on Her)

BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER
As with Costume Design, the original film won this category. Can Hannah Beachler win a second Oscar for designing for this world again? One of the under-discussed reasons that Black Panther stood so tall in the MCU was that it was far more elaborately and specifically designed (from the craft perspective) than the other films which tend to opt for far more generic environments with the action taking place in parking garages, on airport tarmacs, in personality free buildings, or in vast grubby CG wastelands. 

AVATAR: THE WAY OF THE WATER
The 2009 blockbuster won this category for designer Rick Carter but that came in a two year stretch wherein  Oscar was absolutely besotted by CGI films in this category (Eyesore in Wonderland was the follow up winner). After that duo --and we know it's gross to compare them since Avatar was brilliantly designed and the other... never mind -- voters largely went back to their usual preferences involving more tangible sets... though heavily CG films are still somewhat common in the nominations. Can Avatar The Way of the Water , with production design by Dylan Cole (Maleficent) and Ben Procter (Ender's Game), wow voters in this branch the way the original did? If history is any indication, it will look very expensive and be memorable and that can count for a lot. 

PRODUCTION DESIGN AS ONE OF THE MAIN CAST MEMBERS

GLASS ONION
The title of this sequel to Knives Out, refers to a piece of architecture in Greece at the private island home of billionaire Miles Bron (Edward Norton). As with Knives Out, the home that we spend most of the movie in is rich with character only this time it's showier as A MOVIE SET since Miles Bron is big on showing off his extravagant wealth through palatial over-designed everything. Oscar winner Rick Heinrichs, a favourite of Tim Burton, is quite used to his work being a showy focal point within his movies. But will the branch notice? This branch does have trouble noticing contemporary-set films, no matter how well designed they are or how grandiose.

THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN
Which way will this go? Martin McDonagh's latest dark comedy is easy to picture as a film that only shows up in the headlining categories. But because it's all around superb and likey to be loved by all types of people, it's also easy to picture it surprising with multiple craft nominations. The sets and look here are much less wealthy than they usually go for in this category but the simplicity goes a long way and the humble houses where the leads live and the bar where the townies often meet have a lot of personality. The very talented Mark Tildesley (No Time To Die, High-Rise, Phantom Thread), who has somehow never been nominated, also designed Empire of Light this year. 

BEST PICTURE HOPEFUL

THE FABELMANS
How high exactly will the nomination tally go for Steven Spielberg's memoir about his childhood and adolescence? Though the work here isn't particularly showy, it is beautiful, a period film (which is very important to voters) and serves the movie well as the family moves from home to home in different times and states. Plus Oscar voters love the work of Rick Carter who won for Avatar and Lincoln in addition to nominations for Forrest Gump and War Horse. 

ELVIS
Elvis feels like a wildcard this season. Will it pick up just 2 nods (Costume & Best Actor) or a ton of craft citations with a Best Picture bid thrown in? This isn't a lock but it could definitely happen. Production Designer Catherine Martin received her first nomination in this category for Romeo + Juliet and won on both of her follow up nods (Moulin Rouge!, The Great Gatbsy). Here she's designing with Karen Murphy (promoted from her "associate designer" work on The Great Gatbsy). In the interim Murphy has been the lead designer on  great looking films like True History of the Kelly Gang and A Star is Born. 

LOVEABLE LONG SHOTS

AFTER YANG
While it's highly unlikely that After Yang will get a substantial campaign or be seen by enough voters to make a run for anything we have to shout it out the MVP below the line: Alexandra Schaller for her rich and thoughtful production design. The home of the family Yang works for is never less than stunning and immersive. After Yang is one of those movies where all of the design elements feel purposeful without being either showy or distracting. Instead we get futurism with both rich aesthetics and deep humanity.

NOPE
Jordan Peele's latest thriller is the one summer blockbuster that took actual care with its production design instead of you know, throwing greenscreens everywhere and dropping you in generic feeling places. Both of the main environments, Haywood Ranch and Jupiter's Claim have enough personality to hold their own with the charismatic actors running about within them.

White Noise

Other period possibilities
Christian M Goldbeck for All Quiet on the Western Front  (set in the 1910s)
Catherine Martin and Karen Murphy for Elvis (set in the 1950s and 1960s)
Helen Scott for Living (set in the 1950s)
Craig Lathrop for The Northman  (set in the early 900s)
Akin McKenzie for The Woman King (set in the early 1800s)
Ann Roth for White Noise (set in the 1980s)
Mark Tildesley for Empire of Light (set in the 1980s)
Eugenio Cabellero for Bardo (multiple time periods)

Decision to Leave

Three more contemporary-set films to consider (...not that they often consider present-tense films here)
Jacqueline Durran, Glyn Dillon, and David Crossman for The Batman
Bina Daigeler for TÁR
Ryu Seong-hie for Decision to Leave

UPDATED PRODUCTION DESIGN OSCAR PREDICTION CHART | ALL CHARTS

Comments

[cal roth]

Everything Everywhere is not even a long shot? It's GREAT production design, and also MOST. It's contemporary, but it's fantasy, too. I think they'll notice it.

Also, I hate the movie, but the recreation of Marilyn's world in Blonde is too die for.

[Finbar McBride]

I am looking to see recent Emmy winning production designer Curt Beech (Only Murders in the Building) be recognized for Till. The design clearly delineates the economic status of the Till home in Chicago’s established Woodlawn community and the dilapidated buildings of the Mississippi Delta where Till’s extended family struggled to survive as cotton pickers.

While Beech’s design seeks to contrast the strong shift in socio-economic status that defined Southern Blacks from Northern Blacks in the 1950s, details are true to the era. Beech relies on the trend for pastels and bold prints in wallpaper that is period specific while peeling paint and heat warped wood identified the ramshackle edifices of the South.

In interviews Beech has spoken that authenticity of the period was not the priority, “Historically, it is not completely accurate on every single thing that we did. We did not make a documentary, but we made something that feels rich emotionally and tells the story that everyone should know, a story that’s hard to hear.”