In Contention

Tag: Rick Carter

  • OSCAR GUIDE: Best Art Direction

    The Imaginarium of Doctor ParnassusOver the weekend the Art Directors Guild handed out their awards in three categories: period, fantasy and contemporary.  And it’s a good thing they have the contemporary field since the Academy recognizing that kind of work is like Haley’s Comet.

    The Best Art Direction category recognizes both the production designer and the set decorator of a given film, while the art director – an actual role on a film, mind you – isn’t recognized at all.  It’s very strange.  At some point they really need to change the name of the category to “Best Production Design,” but when you think of the changes the Academy needs to make — well, get in line.

    The nominees are:

    “Avatar” (Rick Carter and Robert Stromberg; Kim Sinclair)
    “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” (Dave Warren and Anastasia Masaro; Caroline Smith)
    “Nine” (John Myhre; Gordon Sim)
    “Sherlock Holmes” (Sarah Greenwood; Katie Spencer)
    “The Young Victoria” (Patrice Vermette; Maggie Gray)

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  • Friendly competition

    I would put it on the Lennon-McCartney level. Look how healthy that competition was even when it was unhealthy. Look at the results of it. Different approaches and personalities and each makes the other better. There’s this dialogue right now and I would throw Spielberg into it too. There’s a dialogue among a generation of filmmakers. I would say Spielberg is out ahead of it at the forefront, I’d say, being older and with what he carved out with George Lucas and the creation of the summer blockbuster. But to answer your question, of course, between Zemeckis and Cameron, yes, there’s a tremendous awareness of what the other is doing. It’s like Beatles and the Stones. And I’m so pleased that they are doing this; to be in their 50s and forging new avenues, to be taking risks and putting this much work in to it — and to be taking a certain amount of flack. Both Cameron and Zemeckis have remained true to their visions and gone places that people would rather they not go…

    From this Geoff Boucher interview with production designer Rick Carter, one of the creative minds behind many of the most successful works from Spielberg, Zemeckis and now, with “Avatar,” James Cameron.

  • TECH SUPPORT: Best Art Direction — Volume I

    Michael Gambon in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood PrinceSets and props can create a time period, an era or simply the feel of a scene.  And the individuals involved in this process are awarded by the Academy in the category of Best Art Direction.

    Ironically, the art director of a film is not recognized here. Rather, the production designer – the art department and design head – is awarded alongside the set decorator, who is in charge of the props and overall dressing of the set.

    Like Best Costume Design, which I covered a few weeks ago, this category has a tendency to reward period pieces. Even so, fantastical features do tend to show up more often, with nominees frequently overlapping the two genres, seen in a winner such as “Pan’s Labyrinth.”

    John Myrhe has triumphed in this category for both of his collaborations with Rob Marshall, and I fully expect him to earn his fifth nomination this year for “Nine.” Recreating the Italy of Federico Fellini will put his talents to the test.

    Janet Patterson has found herself a three-time nominee for her costume work. This year, she is also acting as production designer of Jane Campion’s “Bright Star.” Every indication we have from the film so far is that both her work and the film will be the sort that this branch will embrace.

    Sarah Greenwood has managed two nominations in recent years for collaborating with Joe Wright, both for “Atonement” and “Pride & Prejudice.” With “Sherlock Holmes,” she will once again be recreating a period England, albeit on a much larger scale. If the film proves popular, I fully expect Greenwood to be in the hunt.

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  • 8/20 Web Round-up

    Jude Law and Haley Joel Osment in A.I.: Artificial Intelligence• Production designer Rick Carter (“A.I.: Artificial Intelligence,” “Avatar”) to be feted at Hollywood Awards. [Variety]

    • Making the “prawns” of “District 9” look alien but sympathetic. [Hero Complex]

    • Robert Rehme elected to head of Academy Foundation. [The Wrap]

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