2024 Oscars Best Production Design overview: Can any of the other 3 nominees surpass ‘Barbenheimer’?
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A critically important craft to filmmaking is production design. The production designer is responsible for the look of a film, which includes finding locations, designing and building sets, and running the art department. Although the name of this category has changed over the past nine-and-a-half decades, the general principle is the same, with this Oscar going both to a film’s production designer(s) and its set decorator(s).
This category doesn’t usually match the ultimate Best Picture winner; the last time that happened was in 2017 with Guillermo del Toro‘s “The Shape of Water,” and before that was Peter Jackson‘s “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” in 2003. One of this year’s nominees didn’t even receive a Best Picture nomination.
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“Barbie”
Production Design: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
Greenwood is the most nominated production designer in this category without a win. Her nomination for “Barbie” brings her to seven, and like the film’s costume designer, Jacqueline Durran, most of her work with director Joe Wright has garnered her Oscar nominations. Much of her contribution to director Greta Gerwig‘s mega-blockbuster was to design and build Barbie Land, including Barbie’s Dream House, but there were many other locations which frequently delved into the world of fantasy, a genre that always does well in this category, as well as real-world settings.
“Killers of the Flower Moon”
Production Design: Jack Fisk; Set Decoration: Adam Willis
To call Jack Fisk, who worked with Martin Scorsese for the first time on “Killers of the Flower Moon,” a legend would be an understatement, yet “Killers” is only his third Oscar nomination. The other two were for Alejandro G. Iñárritu‘s “The Revenant” and Paul Thomas Anderson‘s “There Will Be Blood,” both very outdoorsy films in a similar way to “Killers.” He has also collaborated with David Lynch, and he has worked as art director and production designer on some stone-cold classics: “Phantom of the Paradise,” “Carrie” and early Terrence Malick films “Badlands,” “Days of Heaven” and “The Thin Red Line.”
Set decorator Adam Willis is a first-time nominee, although he also worked on the team for “Oppenheimer” as well as on an earlier film from “Poor Things'” director Yorgos Lanthimos. His contribution in dressing many of the fantastic historical locations was key.
“Napoleon”
Production Design: Arthur Max; Set Decoration: Elli Griff
Some were probably a little surprised when Ridley Scott‘s historical epic was nominated in a number of below-the-line categories, including here, but there’s no denying the work of four-time Oscar nominee Arthur Max and set decorator Elli Griff, who have worked together going back to Scott’s Best Picture winner, “Gladiator,” in 2000. Like that film and many of the director’s films since, “Napoleon” shows off the enormous scale in which the filmmaker continues to work, creating grand battle sequences and impressive images, some that look like famous paintings of the French military leader. Griff is a first-time nominee, although her incredible work was also seen in Rian Johnson‘s “Glass Onion” from 2022.
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“Oppenheimer”
Production Design: Ruth De Jong; Set Decoration: Claire Kaufman
Christopher Nolan‘s blockbuster biopic was nominated in every single below-the-line category it was eligible for. Anyone who has seen the film on the big screen will have marveled at the vast Los Alamos, New Mexico environment where much of the title character’s work takes place. That’s contrasted with meeting rooms and Senate hearing halls where the story is also set.
Prior to this, production designer Ruth De Jong had designed David Lynch‘s 2017 “Twin Peaks” redux before going off to work with Jordan Peele on “Us” and “Nope.” (A lesser-known factoid is that De Jong is actually a longtime friend and collaborator of aforementioned “Flower Moon” production designer Fisk.) Set decorator Claire Kaufman previously worked with Gerwig and her partner Noah Baumbach, performing those duties for Gerwig’s “Little Women” and Baumbach’s “White Noise.”
“Poor Things”
Production Design: James Price and Shona Heath; Set Decoration: Zsuzsa Mihalek
If there’s one movie that can surprise in this category, taking down the bigger juggernauts, it’s this one from Yorgos Lanthimos, which scored 11 nominations this year, one more than his 2018 movie “The Favourite.” That movie only converted one of its nominations to a win — Best Actress for Olivia Colman — but “Poor Things” seems to have more momentum. Much of that has to do with the striking and unique look of the film, which marks the first Oscar nomination for all three of the artisans nominated in this category. What some may not realize is that this was the first time that the film’s two production designers, James Price and Shona Heath, ever worked together, but the work they’ve done is undeniable. Similarly, Hungarian set decorator Zsuzsa Mihalek populated the locations with many quirky items that greatly enhance the film’s overall look.
I’ve already written about this category essentially being between “Barbie” and “Poor Things,” but the best thing to do is keep an eye on the Art Directors Guild (ADG) Awards on Saturday, February 10. It’s one of the few precursors where “Barbie” and “Poor Things” are nominated in the same category (Best Fantasy Film Design). But bear in mind that the ADG Awards are voted on by production designers as opposed to the Oscars, where the entire academy will weigh in on this category. This is also a case of the Oscar newcomers behind “Poor Things” vs. the much-nominated artisan behind “Barbie” who might be due for an Oscar win.
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