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Oscar Sound Contenders Bring the Chaos of Battle, the Tones of Unseen Strategy to the…

The pros behind 'Killers of the Flower Moon.' 'Napoleon' and 'The Zone of Interest' talk about when going big is necessary — and keeping quiet when…

Behind The Screen's Latest News

Oscar Sound Contenders Bring the Chaos of Battle, the Tones of Unseen Strategy to the Screen

Killers of the Flower Moon “I’m the first [listener], so I always pay attention to how the performances, the transitions, the arc will be experienced by the audience,” says veteran production sound mixer Mark Ulano. In the case of Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon for Apple/Paramount — about a series of murders that […]

‘The Zone of Interest’ DP Lukasz Zal on Depicting Evil Without the Emotional Manipulation

To work on The Zone of Interest, Jonathan Glazer’s harrowing Holocaust drama about the domestic life of an Auschwitz commandant and his family, Polish cinematographer Lukasz Zal said he had to “forget everything I was taught” about making “beautiful images.” Glazer’s film, loosely adapted from Martin Amis’ 2014 novel, follows the seemingly mundane activities of […]

How VFX Pros Transformed Worlds and Faces With Visual Effects

Without a juggernaut such as Avatar: The Way of Water in the running — and schedule changes that pushed big tentpoles, notably Dune 2, back to 2024 — this season’s visual effects Oscar race is shaping up to be a competitive one. The road to a nomination begins with a committee of branch members who […]

Creative Fusion on an Extra-Large Scale: Jennifer Lame on Editing ‘Oppenheimer’ and ‘Postcard From Earth’

Editor Jennifer Lame’s work has appeared on many of the world’s largest screens this year. Over the summer, her second movie with director Christopher Nolan, his historical epic Oppenheimer, for Universal, had moviegoers scrambling for tickets to Imax’s large-format theaters. And in October, the Lame-edited Postcard From Earth, from director Darren Aronofsky, became the first […]

Netflix Short ‘The After’ Depicts a Shocking Tragedy and a Father’s Grief

In Netflix’s live-action short The After, a man named Dayo (David Oyelowo, who also serves as executive producer) loses his wife and child in a brutal public display of violence. Describing his film’s intense and shocking opening scene, director Misan Harriman compares it to “an act of God” — one born out of the “collective […]

Kris Bowers Is the Busiest Composer in the World

Kris Bowers is one of the busiest multihyphenates working in Hollywood. This year, the Emmy-nominated Bridgerton composer returned to Shondaland and Netflix’s hit costume drama to compose its prequel series, Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story; he also composed the score for two Disney properties, the feature film Haunted Mansion and the Marvel series Secret Invasion. On […]

Walter Murch, Kate Amend to Receive ACE Editors Career Achievement Awards (Exclusive)

Renowned three-time Oscar-winning editor Walter Murch — known for films including Apocalypse Now, The Godfather Part II and The English Patient — and respected documentary editor Kate Amend—who cut Academy Award-winning docs Into the Arms of Strangers and The Long Way Home — will receive Career Achievement Awards at the 74th American Cinema Editors Eddie […]

“We Wanted to Paint With the Light and Write With the Camera”: The THR Cinematographer Roundtable

“I think it was a voice from the wider audience telling us that people wanted to go to the cinemas again and people wanted to join in with an event,” says Oppenheimer cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema of the summer’s Barbenheimer phenomenon. Rodrigo Prieto, who lensed Greta Gerwig’s Barbie as well as Martin Scorsese’s Killers of […]

David Barber Named Motion Picture Sound Editors President

Supervising sound editor and rerecording mixer David Barber has been elected to a two-year term as president of Motion Picture Sound Editors (MPSE), the organization that puts on the annual Golden Reel Awards for sound editing. He succeeds Mark Lanza, who reached his term limit after four years as president. Miguel Araujo was reelected secretary, […]

‘Kung Fu Panda 4′ Trailer Unveils Jack Black’s Po’s New Nemesis: Viola Davis’ Villain Chameleon

A newly-released trailer for Kung Fu Panda 4 features the return of Jack Black’s eponymous panda Po, and introduction of his new foe, the sorceress Chameleon, voiced by Viola Davis, a tiny lizard who can shapeshift into any creature. Chameleon is after Po’s Staff of Wisdom, which would give her the power to re-summon all […]

‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ Costume Designer Breaks Down Hidden Messages in Heirloom Patterns and ’20s-Era Suits

For Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, costume designer Jacqueline West immersed herself in researching early-1920s denizens of Osage County, Oklahoma. She visited museums commemorating plundering oil tycoons and watched rare black-and-white home movies commissioned by Osage families, wealthy from retaining mineral rights to their oil-rich reservation. Osage costume consultant Julie O’Keefe ensured the […]

How ‘Bram Stoker’s Dracula’ Inspired Yorgos Lanthimos’ ‘Poor Things’

Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things, photographed by DP Robbie Ryan, received an enthusiastic ovation as it opened the 31st EnergaCamerimage cinematography film festival Nov. 11. A familiar face at the annual event and an Oscar nominee for Lanthimos’ The Favourite, Ryan used an inventive range of film stocks and lenses to support the absurdist story (an adaptation […]

Brothel Chic: The Sexualized Costume Design of ‘Poor Things’

Well-versed in the modern period drama with a twist, director Yorgos Lanthimos (Dogtooth, The Favourite) had a simple edict for the costume design of Poor Things. As British costume designer Holly Waddington notes, “He didn’t want it to be like a period drama, he didn’t want it to be like a sci-fi film, and he didn’t […]

‘The Matrix’ Sound Editor and Designer to Receive Career Achievement Award

Supervising sound editor and designer Dane A. Davis — who won an Oscar for 1999’s The Matrix — will receive Motion Picture Sound Editors’ Career Achievement Award during the org’s 71st annual Golden Reel Awards, which will be held March 3 at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre in Los Angeles.   “With his work on The Matrix, Dane Davis set […]

VFX Veterans Mourn Death of Influential Softimage Founder Daniel Langlois

Veterans of the computer graphics industry are expressing shock and sadness over the death of Daniel Langlois, the influential founder of pioneering 3D computer graphics software developer Softimage, whose tools were used to create visual effects on countless notable films — among them, Jurassic Park, The Matrix, Men in Black, The Fifth Element and Titanic — during […]

‘Rocky’ Makeup Artist Michael Westmore to Receive Guild’s Vanguard Award

Oscar- and Emmy-winning makeup artist Michael Westmore will receive the Vanguard Award for contributions to the makeup and hairstyling industry during the 11th annual Make-Up Artists & Hair Stylists Guild (IATSE Local 706) Awards. Westmore won an Oscar in 1986 for the film Mask and earned three additional nominations. He also has received a record 45 […]