In Contention

Tag: Jess Gonchor

  • OSCAR GUIDE: Best Art Direction

    The art directors settled on a wonderful quintet to represent their form in 2010. Each of these films (okay, I haven’t seen one of them) manages to showcase art direction in organic ways, even when it comes to the contender with the most robust and vibrant design to offer.

    When it comes to the design categories, though, abundance can be an asset. There’s no question about it. The old joke is “Most Art Direction” or “Most Costume Design,” rather than “Best.” And unfortunately, that extends sometimes into the nominations process as nuanced, subtle work is disregarded each and every year. But even with that caveat, this is a handsome slate.

    The nominees are:

    “Alice in Wonderland” (Robert Stromberg; Karen O’Hara)
    “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1” (Stuart Craig; Stephanie McMillan)
    “Inception” (Guy Hendrix Dyas; Larry Dias, Doug Mowat)
    “The King’s Speech” (Eve Stewart; Judy Farr)
    “True Grit” (Jess Gonchor; Nancy Haigh)

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  • TECH SUPPORT: Final analysis, part two

    Yesterday I began a final look at the crafts categories. Today, a look at the four remaining fields: Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design and Best Film Editing.

    BEST ART DIRECTION

    The precursors of the BFCA, BAFTA and Art Directors Guild have been fairly consistent in citing four titles in this category. Last year’s winner, Robert Stromberg, seems poised to dip again for creation of a 3D world on Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland.” Eve Stewart, on the other hand, will likely be returning to the fold after an 11 year absence for “The King’s Speech.”

    Guy Hendrix Dyas and Jess Gonchor also have got all necessary precursors, and have fashioned surefire Best Picture nominees, in “Inception” and “True Grit” respectively. It is true that they have had difficulty being nominated in the past but Gonchor has also never had such an Oscar-friendly opportunity, whereas the impressive, integral-to-the-story nature of Dyas’s work has been especially embraced by the precursors.

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  • EXCLUSIVE: The production design of ‘True Grit’ (clip)

    A month ago we offered a week-long series of in-depth interviews with the below-the-line talent of Joel and Ethan Coen’s “True Grit.” One of them was a conversation with production designer Jess Gonchor, who is featured heavily in this brief featurette on the film’s design, provided exclusively to us by Paramount Pictures:

  • TECH SUPPORT INTERVIEW: ‘True Grit’ production designer Jess Gonchor

    We’re wrapping things up today with a final look at the below-the-line of Joel and Ethan Coen’s “True Grit” and a chat with production designer Jess Gonchor.

    You might recall our interview with Gonchor from last year when he mentioned how he first came to work with the Coens (on 2007’s “No Country for Old Men”).  The brothers had been very impressed with what they saw on Bennett Miller’s “Capote” and liked what he brought to the table.  Gonchor had already shown his value as art director on films like “Kate & Leopold” and “The Last Samurai,” but “Capote” was his first stab at being the head of the art department as production designer.

    Four films later the collaboration is still going strong as Gonchor has settled in nicely with the Coens’ family of craftsmen and women, and “True Grit” might be the apex of that work so far.  Any designer would delight in working on a western, but the attention to detail in Gonchor’s work, and particularly in the work of his set decorator, Nancy Haigh, is truly wonderful.

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  • The Coens’ no-frills ‘True Grit’ hearkens to western heyday

    I’ve seen the Coen brothers’ “True Grit” twice now, and it’s not because the film is some “Inception”-like, mind-bending narrative maze. Quite the opposite, actually. I saddled up to it a second time yesterday morning because I wasn’t quite anticipating what I got the first time around and I wanted to consider it further knowing what it was.

    You see, this isn’t really “a Coen brothers film” to me. Outside of an opening act bathed in their usual trappings, the film feels almost anonymous, lacking the fingerprint stirringly present in each and every one of their efforts. And it’s all very much by design, by the way.

    “True Grit,” in its second screen iteration, is a classic western cut from traditional cloth. With its wide vistas, simple narrative and focus on character dynamics (as well as a handful of unrefined horse-back riding effects shots), it’s fair to say it bears more of a resemblance to the work of Anthony Mann, John Ford and Budd Boetticher than it does that of the Coens. The film isn’t focused on being as tight and complete as most of their films, and indeed, inchoate was very much a goal here.

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  • TECH SUPPORT: Best Art Direction — Volume II

    Oh how things have changed since I last wrote in this space. In the past four weeks, Tech Support has taken a break, allowing the dust from the festival circuit to settle, and other titles to open. Over the next 10 weeks, we’ll take a second look at each of the crafts categories, finishing in mid-December – just as awards circuit takes hold.

    Today, we take a second glance at Best Art Direction. As stated last time, this category tends to reward period and fantasy films.The branch  has some favorites, but it’s not overly incestuous. And while being a Best Picture contender certainly helps, nominees can often come from the surrounding fray.

    Perhaps I’ll start with a film that I thought would score here, but came out of Toronto in even greater shape than I expected: Tom Hooper’s “The King’s Speech.” With prestige and period attached, I am virtually certain Eve Stewart, who was nominated in this category 11 years ago for Mike Leigh’s “Topsy-Turvy,” will be heading to the Kodak. Not only am I confident she’ll be nominated again, I think she has excellent potential to win.

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  • TECH SUPPORT INTERVIEW: The crafts of ‘A Serious Man’

    Aaron Wolff in A Serious ManThe Coen brothers’ latest film “A Serious Man” opens with a quote from French Rabbi Shlomo Yitzhaki (better known as Rashi):  “Accept with simplicity everything that happens to you.”

    It’s obviously quite applicable to the themes of fatalism and inevitability strewn throughout the film.  But that word, “simple,” also comes up over and over again when discussing below-the-line elements with the directors’ collaborators.

    Jess Gonchor is the newest craftsman to join the Coens’ party, having first jumped on board with 2007’s “No Country for Old Men.” When the sibling directors got a look at “Capote” two years earlier, they were quite taken by the stark, understated look of the production design and wanted to meet with Gonchor about potentially designing their Cormac McCarthy adaptation.

    “I guess I just talked about it intelligently enough,” Gonchor remembers, with an air of humility.  “We were on the same page never having met each other.  And also, I come from making movies that are low budget if any budget.  You can do anything with money.”

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  • TECH SUPPORT: Best Art Direction — Volume II

    Michael Stuhlbarg in A Serious ManWhen I first addressed the race for Best Art Direction in August, I spoke of how the branch tends to favor period pieces and fantasy films. Considering the research involved in the former and the often showy creativity on display in the latter, this is hardly surprising.

    That said, I often feel badly for exceptional contemporary films that have been slighted here in the past. Examples from this decade immediately popping to mind include David Wasco’s tremendously clever sets for “The Royal Tenenbaums” and Alex McDowell’s ultra-realistic airport design on “The Terminal.”

    While many of the titles in contention are the same over two months later, the race has nevertheless undergone some significant changes. Primarily this is because many of the films have opened, been unveiled at festivals and/or revealed glimpses via trailers and other materials.

    At the top of the list, still, is Rob Marshall’s “Nine.” John Myhre won this category on both of his previous two collaborations with Marshall. Dabbling in the world of Fellini seems like the perfect opportunity to grab his fifth nomination.

    While the “Sherlock Holmes” trailer has been around for a while, the verdict is still out on the latest film from Guy Ritchie – a director whose work to date has hardly been typical AMPAS fodder. Nevertheless, Sarah Greenwood has been nominated twice before for capturing period England, Joe Wright’s “Pride & Prejudice” and “Atonement” doing the trick. She’ll be doing the same here, albeit on a much larger scale. A nomination seems a distinct possibility in my opinion.

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