OVP: Best Production Design (2018)
The Nominees Were...
Hannah Beachler & Jay Hart, Black Panther
Fiona Crombie & Alice Felton, The Favourite
Nathan Crowley & Kathy Lucas, First Man
John Myhre & Gordon Sim, Mary Poppins Returns
Eugenio Caballero & Barbara Enriquez, Roma
My Thoughts: We are finishing up our visual tech categories today with Best Production Design (am I the only person who still calls it "Art Direction" in their head?), which like Cinematography earlier this week, is a solid lineup. I don't want to get too ahead of myself here, but the criticisms I levy below are honestly more nitpicking than anything else as this is a strong quintet, and one that showed that while the Academy was paying attention to the films at the top of its heap (many of these movies were cited in other places), it also was being choosy about what movies actually got cited here (unlike, say, the editing branch).
The best example of this might be Roma. Roma is at once an easy nomination & a surprising one. It's a Best Picture nominee, one with a hefty Oscar haul, but it's a movie that also doesn't have a lot of obvious hooks in terms of cinematography-we aren't walking through ornate palaces or recreating children's books. But instead, by citing this, we get to recognize the true genius of what Cuaron is trying to accomplish in recreating an authentic-looking Mexico City circa 1970. The detailing in the house (which becomes a character onto itself) or the way that we see rows & rows of clothing racks in the department store sequence-it's mesmerizing. The film feels like it had to have been shot in 1970 based solely on so much grand detailing in the set work. If this was a coattails nomination, it was the best kind of coattail-one that was well-earned.
All of the remaining nominees are for more traditional fare for this branch, perhaps none more so than The Favourite, which shows a meticulous recreation of the Court of Queen Anne. No detail feels too spare, whether it's the gigantic book-littered drawing rooms or the long, desolate hallways or even the servants quarters which feel appropriately sparse. The Favourite is a very visual film-it's well-acted, but a lot of the movie's comedy comes from the absurd grandeur that the three leading ladies find themselves battling for supremacy in, detached from the real-world troubles they have tangential control over. You find that having these obscene displays of wealth as a backdrop to such a conflict is particularly well-considered.
Black Panther does something that art directors have long loved at the Oscars-it world builds. More than any MCU film, Black Panther's strength is treating itself as if it's a separate film, one on its own from the rest of the increasingly interconnected pictures, and part of how it does that is by having Wakanda feel so special. Combining a technological curve to the entire design of the country, but still paying homage to its African roots, we get a world that instantly feels like you can say "that's Wakanda" even in still photos. That's not easy to do, particularly in a Hollywood where we're constantly reinventing the same stories & tales.
Mary Poppins Returns is a good example of how you can't always succeed on that front. The movie is not ugly, by any means, but in comparison to some of these great examples it shows that there's not enough "there" to warrant such company. The movie borrows heavily from the look of the original, and some of the additions in this movie (particularly Topsy's lair) are a bit garish compared to the good taste motif of the original. As I said above, this is nitpicking, as this is hardly an example of "bad" set design, but when you're competing for an Oscar in a strong field, you have to get choosy.
After all, it's hard to compare Mary Poppins with something like First Man. This movie might be the best in terms of its actual art direction of the many recent "realistic" prestige space films (Gravity, Interstellar, The Martian, Ad Astra). I loved the way the moon landing felt totally authentic, with the attention-to-detail on the ships themselves. The movie also doesn't phone in the scenes on earth-we get a sense of personality in the order of the Armstrong home, what things are out-of-place & unique-to-them rather than just pulling together a house filled with stereotypical 1960's touches. This is what I look for in a category like this-specific attention to detail that not only looks good, but drives the character & story in ways that we can't get to without exposition. Film is a visual medium, and First Man understands that.
Other Precursor Contenders: The Art Directors Guild in 2006 broke their nominees into Contemporary, Fantasy, and Period Film. Contemporary went to Crazy Rich Asians over A Quiet Place, A Star is Born, Mission: Impossible-Fallout, and Welcome to Marwen, while Fantasy Film picked Black Panther against Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, Mary Poppins Returns, Ready Player One, and The House with Clocks in its Walls (which is a great movie if you haven't seen it). The Favourite took Period Film, here over Bohemian Rhapsody, First Man, Roma, and The Ballad of Buster Scruggs. The Favourite took the BAFTA, over Fantastic Beasts, First Man, Mary Poppins Returns, and Roma. Of the contenders, I have to assume that Fantastic Beasts and the Academy's crush on Stuart Craig was in sixth place, though if you want to make an argument for Bohemian Rhapsody it would have a lot of logic.
Films I Would Have Nominated: As I mentioned above, I like set design that is about storytelling, and I think it's worth noticing even if it's small details that really drive forward a movie. The best example I have of that is Shoplifters, which is not ornate, but the tiny little box of a house this family lives in, giving us a complete view of their world in a way that few films are able to achieve (and it totally pays off for the characters in the picture itself).
Oscar’s Choice: Black Panther broke new ground here, besting The Favourite and First Man in what I have to assume was a relatively tight race.
My Choice: I'm going to go with Roma, which is an unconventional choice, but one that I think makes the most sense since it feels like it's the most immersive. First Man, The Favourite, Black Panther, and Mary Poppins follow in a tightly-contested race (I seriously considered any of my Top 4 here).
Those are my thoughts-how about yours? Is everyone backing Black Panther, or does someone want to join me over in the world of Roma? How long do you think the "prestige space drama" train can last in this category, or is it over after Ad Astra & Midnight Sky's snubs? And who do you think was in sixth place? Share your thoughts below!
Also in 2018: Cinematography, Costume, Film Editing, Visual Effects, Makeup & Hairstyling, Previously in 2018
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