Insiders Share What You're Going to See at the Oscars and the Details Will Surprise You

The 95th Academy Awards are nearly here, meaning you only have so many hours left to brush up on all of the Oscar nominees before the winners are announced. Honoring films released in 2022, the awards show is scheduled to take place on Sunday, March 12. While so many incredible movie sets graced the big screen last year (and we’ve spotlighted our favorites!), only five films received nominations for production design: All Quiet on the Western Front, Avatar: The Way of Water, Babylon, Elvis, and The Fabelmans. Each film offers quite a different visual look. Ahead, learn everything you need to know about each nominee ahead of the Oscars.

All Quiet on the Western Front

War drama All Quiet on the Western Front, which is currently streaming on Netflix, takes viewers to the battlefield thanks to production design by Christian M. Goldbeck and set decoration by Ernestine Hipper. “Outside Prague, we had a large area where we could build the German and French trenches, the no man's land in between and the hinterland behind, including the barbed wire, the bomb craters, animal carcasses, and the corpses,” producer Malte Grunert said in a press brief.

Avatar: The Way of Water

The long-awaited Avatar sequel—with production design by Dylan Cole and Ben Procter and set decoration by Vanessa Cole—features an entire sci-fi universe. Creating many of the CGI-oriented sets involved heavy science and engineering to complete a coherent world. "We fabricated an awful lot of furniture and contacted scientists and laboratories in New Zealand to put some facts and credibility behind them," Cole told TheWrap.

Babylon

Babylon showcases the lavish homes and outdoor production stages of 1920s Hollywood, led by production designer Florencia Martin (who also worked on Blonde) and set decorator Anthony Carlino. It's meant to feel chaotic and historic. "Damien [Chazelle, the director,] and I really wanted to create a terrifying experience for when they’re coming into sound, this sarcophagus of a studio,” Martin told the Los Angeles Times. “So, you step into sound, dark with big giant lights and this spider web of microphones over your head."

Elvis

For Elvis, production designers Catherine Martin and Karen Murphy and set decorator Bev Dunn recreated Graceland with meticulous detail. “Baz wanted Elvis's kind of meteoric rise to fame and his rags to riches story to be echoed in the evolution of both the interior and the exterior,” Martin tells House Beautiful of the home recreation, which was built on what was once a horse paddock in Queensland, Australia.

The Fabelmans

The Fabelmans required sets that act as invisible art to keep the focus on Steven Spielberg's journey to becoming an iconic filmmaker, which were brought to life by production designer Rick Carter and set decorator Karen O'Hara. "With big spectacles I’ve designed, like ‘Avatar,’ it’s hard to ignore the production design because you know it’s not real,” Carter told Variety. “Fabelmans is the opposite: The work was designed to not be seen. If you notice production design too much, it takes you out of the movie.”

In 2022, the Oscar nominations for best production design were Dune, Nightmare Alley, The Power of the Dog, The Tragedy of Macbeth, and West Side Story. Dune took home various awards—including the award for best production design thanks to the work of production designer Patrice Vermette and set decorator Zsuzsanna Sipos. Only time will tell who receives the Oscar this year. We're sure it'll be a tough call!

You love production design. So do we. Let’s obsess over them together.

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