Completed Category: Production Design

And this is the other category that I completed on Nominations day, by seeing Nosferatu that evening!

Production Design

The Brutalist
Conclave
Dune: Part Two
Nosferatu
Wicked

I am pretty much #TeamWicked here, but I suppose I'll say something good about each nominee... 

Let's start with our old friend The Brutal-est which might win, especially if it sweeps everything on its way to Best Picture. The collaboration between Production Designer Judy Becker (previously nominated for American Hustle) and Set Decorator Patricia Cuccia is honestly some amazing work.  I won't even be mad, like not really really mad anyway, if they win. You can watch a cool interview with them here about working on the flick, with interesting little details like "OK, we can ship a container from Toronto to Budapest; what can we bring?" and she's driving all around Ontario buying pieces from random people. On top of its intensity and favored-to-win-stuff status, The Brutalist is clearly a staggering accomplishments in certain ways, and the Production Design is one of them. 

What about Conclave? This is another film that has had some might-win-a-lot buzz, but also simply might not be able to triumph over the stiff competition.  Here is an interview with the Conclave nominees, Cynthia Sleiter and Suzie Davies (the latter previously nominated for Mr. Turner). I noticed that Cynthia worked in the art department for Angels and Demons, so she has a bit of experience with papal conclaves, eh?!  And as Suzie put it, why pass up a chance to live in Rome for six months!  (Cynthia already lives there.)  While they did a lot of incredible work to recreate the Sistine Chapel, among other sets, as they were not allowed to film in the real place, they did have some flats from a warehouse from a previous Sistine Chapel set. But, they did have to refurbish and redo the whole thing, and I'm not trying to say it wasn't a ton of work. Basically - I'd be happy if they win, too. 

Will Dune: Part Two steal the statuette from either of those two intense productions? Similar to some other awards, the first Dune already won this category, and I really think that might mentally free people up to vote for something else.  It's like, sorry Production Designer Patrice Vermette, but we already rewarded you and heard your speech a couple of years ago!  Set Decorator Shane Vieau apparently didn't work on the first Dune? but he did win previously for The Shape of Water, which was a weird-ass movie.  They said that for Dune: Part Two, little details like the fabric of the stilltents that collect the planet's scarce moisture could take months of production design work. While Dune is amazing and beautiful, and I actually liked Part Two a fair amount, I just think as an Academy voter I might reward something else over this. But here's an interview with them. 

As I've mentioned, I completed this category with Nosferatu.  I will admit that Nosferatu looks really, really cool, and I dig that dark, scary castle a whole lot.  I think the chances are slimmer for Craig Lathrop and Beatrice Brentnerova to win but they definitely have the whole weird, historical, but also fantastical, stunning, intense vibe going for them. In addition to the castle, there were homes and streets and ships and inns and the cemetery - these are no slouches, that's for sure. 

But let's talk about Wicked, shall we?  I mean, I just love it: the absolute joy of the visuals of this film, the creation of a vibrant world with a slew of invented locales, plus the mighty task of re-inventing the Emerald City, the yellow brick road, and things that we all hold in our hearts from years of being alive on an Earth where The Wizard of Oz exists. If you have any doubt about the sheer number of brilliant details in this work, watch this interview with Nathan Crowley and Lee Sandales who in my opinion knocked it out of the park. They say that they were gobsmacked and it was one of the best challenges they were ever given. They had been working on Wonka before this and they talk about the interesting process of combining texture and sets with CGI to create these fantastical worlds. But what they do with colors and with sets and with details to immerse us is pure magic. They take simple concepts like  dorm, luggage, farm and transform them for us into visual marvels.  Bonus points for them talking about using the maps in the books as initial source and guide. When I watched Wicked, Part One, I immediately wanted it to win everything, which I sadly know it won't do, but this might be the category in which I will cheer for it the hardest. 

Order I want them to win: Wicked, Conclave  or The Brutalist, Nosferatu  or Dune: Part Two. 

Order I think they might win: Wicked, The Brutalist, Conclave, Dune: Part Two, Nosferatu.