amazingly sick set design

post good set design itt please

https://pulpsongs.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/thic21.gif

From Avengers episode The House That Jack Built

thank you

will try to resist spamming the thread with Archers content but here is Black Narcissus:

http://www.rowthree.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Black-Narcissus-560x373.jpg

Quite a number of Avengers episodes were directed by Robert Fuest, who went on to make the Dr Phibes movies and The Final Programme (1973):

https://tommygirard.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/phibes2.jpg

https://nostalgiacentral.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/finalprogramme_001-1-640x394.jpg

Great thread. I love that Black Narcissus set so much.

Favourite ever (Schrader’s Mishima):
https://images.app.goo.gl/XRKtBeyvySf4PvKE9

love the pinball (?) one. Mishima looks amazing and reminded me of Kwaidan:

http://www.mondo-digital.com/kwaidan5big.jpg

I could fill a thread just with Kwaidan really

Oops, sorry. Mobile posting not effective

https://www.fanthatracks.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Mishima_COVER_GL_1.jpg

Wow I haven’t seen that - will address soon. Looks extremely impressive.

parasite's sets are incredible imo

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.indiewire.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2019%2F10%2FParasite_Parks_Garden-1.jpg&f=1&nofb=1
https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.newsapi.com.au%2Fimage%2Fv1%2Fda3582272cfe1fe5f989653e8033638c%3Fwidth%3D650&f=1&nofb=1

otm. obvs, I'm partial to maximal sets that call attention to their artificiality, but I also had Parasite in mind when starting this. btw, s/o to Brad for the thread title!

impossible to pick just one Playtime image:

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-A1qjoDvYExM/TYZ-ACK1ZAI/AAAAAAAAABM/spfZYTilEkI/s1600/a+playtime+jacques+tati+criterion+new+PLAYTIME-12.jpg

gotta make sure stalker is above the folder
https://i.imgur.com/quioo04.jpg

fold

Good thread.

Pretty junky as a movie but man oh man, if you get a chance to see the tuned-up version of Starcrash on Blu-ray its production design will make your heart sing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzfuNSpP0RA

panos cosmatos to thread

The Night of the Hunter:

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/DwlSrpMK3VA/maxresdefault.jpg

xpost: I don't know who that is!

I saw Peau d'Âne for the first time the other day and was blown away:

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-r0MafTH8exQ/Tx8SOwP7mAI/AAAAAAAAAM4/7mcpnI6QMRA/s1600/peau-d-ane-1970-17-g.jpg

all of my thoughts are the most normcore possible, sorry. like, i immediately think of 2001 and Barry Lyndon (a lot of Kubrick, actually) and stuff like that. it's like a "best songs" list filled with the beatles or something

Ikarie XB-1:

https://cca-glasgow.imgix.net/ikariweb2-l7xg.jpg
https://img.radio.cz/XH1vzr9s28Aa5XO2t7t1_kG2BMc=/fit-in/1800x1800/1147434304__pictures/umeni/datatransfer/ikarie.jpg

just wait until i ruin this thread with several paul w.s. anderson movies

but you know it's true

https://i.imgur.com/2m9oZXv.jpg

well, yeah

Aelita, Queen Of Mars:

https://walker-web.imgix.net/cms/Aelita_Protazanov_04_W.jpg
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-O1lLmX3w-lY/Vk916GGhiZI/AAAAAAAACzY/XqtzhZSqvkM/s640/aelita%2B2.jpg

Phantom of the Paradise 2 thread

https://66.media.tumblr.com/607e78a21eee59adb9d38a084045bb2d/tumblr_mzi0k2mNSi1shwkkbo1_400.jpg

panos cosmatos - beyond the black rainbow

Great thread btw, needs more Kwaidan though

despite really liking Mandy, i still haven't watched Beyond the Black Rainbow! looks as i would expect

just wait until i ruin this thread with several paul w.s. anderson movies

― american bradass (BradNelson), Monday, January 27, 2020 10:21 AM (two minutes ago)

oh hell yeah

keepin' it normcore with some ridley scott joints

https://screenrant.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/The-Tyrell-Corporation-Blade-Runner.jpg
https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fcinephiliabeyond.org%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2016%2F05%2F44-1.jpg%3Fx91765&f=1&nofb=1

beyond the black rainbow was ripped off really hard by several other movies! imo it's an amazingly crafted pastiche of tone that pumps all of the imagery/music to 11

*puts on plain black shirt*

i like these things

Great thread btw, needs more Kwaidan though

― it's after the end of the world (Matt #2), Monday, January 27, 2020 10:24 AM (nineteen seconds ago) bookmarkflaglink

Seeeeee, this is the obstacle I'm tripping over here. I keep thinking of movies with mindbogglingly-amazing production design in general (thought of this and also of Hausu) but I wasn't sure that I could single out the sets as particularly worthy of note. It's more the overall visual gestalt.

keepin' it normcore with some ridley scott joints

― chapoquidditch (bizarro gazzara), Monday, January 27, 2020 10:24 AM (one minute ago) bookmarkflaglink

Nothing at all normcore about Trumbull, dude is a visionary and everything he touches looks like magic. I have been DYING for someone to finally wise up and issue a massive coffee table book of his work.

Flash Gordon (1980)

http://www.ferdyonfilms.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/flash_gordon101.jpg

I think set design is an underappreciated enough art that there isn't really a boring/normcore move to make here...on second thought though, please don't post a bunch of star wars images lol

exactly! i mean that's a sick set though, that's the thing

anyway, great thread idea. i will keep it in mind as new amazingly sick sets appear in the future

Seeeeee, this is the obstacle I'm tripping over here. I keep thinking of movies with mindbogglingly-amazing production design in general (thought of this and also of Hausu) but I wasn't sure that I could single out the sets as particularly worthy of note. It's more the overall visual gestalt.

Yeah, guess you could be right. By the way, is it just me or do big-budget fantasy flicks all look the same nowadays? All very impressive but a little boilerplate.

I was going to do exactly what rob said

BRING ON THE STAR WAR

I did immediately image search THX-1138 after posting that

The ladies man
https://trailersfromhell.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/1385383644-529346dcd3ea1-050-the-ladies-man-theredlist-870x490.png

Was gonna mention Flash Gordon, Matt! It and the aforementioned Starcrash are very much of a 'cutrate discofied garish neon space opera' piece.

https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/71NjtJannrL._SX450_.jpg

https://www.indiewire.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/ex-machina-1.jpg

good thread, what was that colourful italian horror film

Is that Caligari, Ward? Just recently watched that for the first time, sets are doooope.

i dunno how strictly we're defining 'set design' here but i just worked my way through the extras on the criterion edition of do the right thing and it's clear that it's kind of a quiet masterpiece of set and production design - sal's diner and the korean store were built from scratch on the block, and the bed-stuy mural was designed and painted by the crew

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fcinephilefix.files.wordpress.com%2F2014%2F10%2Fdotherightthing10.jpg&f=1&nofb=1
https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.complex.com%2Fcomplex%2Fimage%2Fupload%2Fc_limit%2Cw_680%2Ffl_lossy%2Cpg_1%2Cq_auto%2Fi9fwra7et2ra9scc5oye.jpg&f=1&nofb=1

and of course one of the greatest red walls in cinema history was a production decision

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2F1.bp.blogspot.com%2F-WIhlYsHNYe8%2FV2miGGHXX_I%2FAAAAAAAAlOs%2FJ5GnIs7_NrovSP8ovPvcWhCyuz9nNPbqgCLcB%2Fs1600%2Fdo-the-right-thing-spike-lee-photo1.jpg&f=1&nofb=1

err

https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2F1.bp.blogspot.com%2F-WIhlYsHNYe8%2FV2miGGHXX_I%2FAAAAAAAAlOs%2FJ5GnIs7_NrovSP8ovPvcWhCyuz9nNPbqgCLcB%2Fs1600%2Fdo-the-right-thing-spike-lee-photo1.jpg&f=1&nofb=1

HAUSU

https://www.syfy.com/sites/syfy/files/styles/1200x680/public/syfywire_blog_post/2018/10/hausu.jpg

inspired by the Kwaidan post above, I'm going to watch tonight! for those who have seen it, would it be completely wrong of me to only watch 3/4 of it tonight? it's a horror anthology with 4 stories, totaling 3 hours, and I'm not sure if the people coming over to watch will be able to stay for the whole thing, so I thought I might cut it off after the third story.

Iirc they're totally unrelated stories, so it's probably ok.

The original American cut of Kwaidan chopped out one of the stories entirely!

For exquisitely coloured Japanese cinema, would also recommend Gates of Hell btw

thanks to you both! ward, do you happen to know which one of the stories was originally dropped?

Hi Karl, this is what Wikipedia sez:

Kwaidan was reedited to 125 minutes in the United States for its theatrical release which eliminated the segment "The Woman of the Snow" after the film's Los Angeles premiere

The initial pressing of the Region 2 DVD of Kwaidan from Masters of Cinema came with a massive, excellent booklet with lots of production info etc, including reprinting the Lafacadio Hearn short stories that the film adapts - worth hunting down if you can find it. It's the full version, of course.

excellent, thank you!

"In A Bowl of Soup", the last segment of Kwaidan, is probably the weakest. Not bad, but kind of jokey. Anyone who thought dropping the Snow Woman segment was a better idea is a disgusting savage imo.

Also, whatever anyone says about the movie, these sets were SICK.

https://zombiewoodproductions.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/event-horizon-antrieb.jpg

No one ever believes me when I say Tobe Hooper's Eaten Alive but

https://rjxp.files.wordpress.com/2012/07/eaten_alive_hotel.jpg

Eliza, what is that last one from?

looks like.. Event Horizon?

correct

Further to the Kwaidan chat, Eureka/MOC have just announced a blu ray release with lots of extras:

https://eurekavideo.co.uk/movie/kwaidan-limited-edition-box-set/?fbclid=IwAR0In-vrw6gj0FJo2gQDvwFK_DJsfhmYMFGDS2tflfUdqUOvBurItnPXC3w

Speaking of offices, this set is so sick I always forget it's a set:

https://scrapsfromtheloft.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/presidents_men.jpg

I was really struck by all of the sets on Legion:
https://wegotthiscovered.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/LEGION_0011.jpg
https://www.motionpictures.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Legion_CH_106_1769_rgb-1400x933.jpg

I can't find a decent still of the Chronicle set in Zodiac, but that is another unbelievably good newsroom set

xps

Also, whatever anyone says about the movie, these sets were SICK.

lol i was gonna post both event horizon and resident evil here, thanks liz

https://nofilmschool.com/sites/default/files/styles/article_superwide/public/perspective-l.jpg

paul w.s. anderson's command of complex shifting geometric structures is unparalleled xp

I love the unfinished-ness of the computer control room in Jurassic Park. The hanging wires! The ladder on it's side!
https://i.4pcdn.org/tv/1433967196939.png

There's a whole subset of sets set in construction zones or industrial locations.

Like "Die Hard."

Hearkening back to the question of animation, what do we think of digital sets? Or mattes, for that matter? Does the set have to be tactile? How much of it? Zodiac, for example, a lot of those sets were digital ...

in a way, isn't my living room a "set" upon which i act out my life? and are my thoughts of my "set" at home any less real than the actual objects?

Makes you think.

am absolute sucker for anything Moebius put's his hand to tbf

https://66.media.tumblr.com/2933d9b3ba3294611b5f6819115a7f3d/tumblr_pg3mgwaR121t0uq7uo1_1280.jpg

I'm not thread mayor or anything, but my idea of what the thread is about does not include digital anything, but does include painted mattes (my first post was one of those). I don't how defensible this distinction is though

I don't think I'm canny enough to tell the difference half the time

This might be more an instance of great-looking production design generally than a great set in particular, but since I learned of its existence and saw some clips not too long ago I've been looking forward to someday seeing DeMille's Madame Satan:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJh4RTy-Lkg

very cool, made me think of Busy Berkeley:

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=busby+berkeley&t=ffab&iax=images&ia=images&iai=http%3A%2F%2F2.bp.blogspot.com%2F-fgLFKP7MKt4%2FUbOydMZY7pI%2FAAAAAAAAKk4%2F9Wm3Fhx1hvQ%2Fs1600%2FBUSBY-BERKELEY-MUSICAL-1.jpg

ugh double fuckup

Busby Berkeley that is:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fgLFKP7MKt4/UbOydMZY7pI/AAAAAAAAKk4/9Wm3Fhx1hvQ/s1600/BUSBY-BERKELEY-MUSICAL-1.jpg

What I was thinking of specifically was this:

https://miro.medium.com/max/1900/1*0bp-n9cJxSd0KIV_iG1tqQ.jpeg

Obviously some part of it is a "set," but the vast majority of it is a matte painting.

Or this:

https://cms-assets.theasc.com/Thing-Ship.jpg?mtime=20171028153540

Or some other Albert Whitlock matte specials. Like:

Cat People
https://usercontent1.hubstatic.com/5127234_f520.jpg
Or The Sting:
https://usercontent1.hubstatic.com/5127090_f520.jpg
Or 1979's Dracula:
https://usercontent1.hubstatic.com/5127456_f1024.jpg

But of course many of the awesome sets we've posted feature some element of mattes or backdrops as well. I suppose it's a fine line.

(matte paintings are rad!)

I'm fine with excluding digital sets

Obviously some part of it is a "set," but the vast majority of it is a matte painting.

https://i0.wp.com/www.academiac10.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Pangrazio_Raiders2_LARGE.jpg

(my Scorsese one above is a matte too)

A Matter of Life and Death

https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UTkz3v1MfPc/W101efKBsLI/AAAAAAAAJOc/6JDSGks51AItSiGI_F5rdiitI5ic6yUkgCEwYBhgL/s1600/e67375688b868ad4110810bbf367f400.jpeg

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/27/df/9d/27df9d5dd7f5d4591f9a384c41610930.jpg

All their movies were soundstage, right?

not completely

a lot of I Know Where I'm Going! was shot on location for example

and there are bits and pieces in all their films i think

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BZjk2ZTdiOTMtYjJiMS00YmM3LWE0YzMtMTQ1NjQ5N2Y0ODNjXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMjUyNDk2ODc@._V1_.jpg

xp

all the kings men set reminds me of the newsroom on the wire s5, which, when i saw it i was like they nailed it! that's what it's like! as someone who worked too long in a room like that and who still has too many revisitation dreams mired in that room, i feel seen.

all the kings men

wrong film

oopth! president's! but with the way things are going it may be kings if we don't rise up! amirite. sigh. don't even feel like joking about it.

Love these especially night of the Hunter

https://antiscribe.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/the-monster-in-the-graveyard.jpg
Bride of Frankenstein

I watched Le Petit Poucet (aka Tom Thumb, 2001) last night and thought about this thread for the first time in a while. I'm not sure what I thought of the movie exactly—it's an odd bird: an adaptation of Perrault's original story, so it's effing bleak and violent and thus not suitable for young children, but it's still a fairy tale so the story is extremely simple and the characterization is threadbare. Still, it looks striking: deliberately theatrical/artificial sets; you can see the paper texture in the backgrounds of model shots. The ogre and his wife's costumes are great too.

https://www.rarefilmfinder.com/photos/4870/images/04d7f08bfb733e8eff8d5e512d8e2ad1.jpg

This dude would ruin your childhood:

http://fr.web.img5.acsta.net/r_1280_720/medias/nmedia/00/02/30/46/69216310_ph13.jpg

weird that I thought to bump this exactly one year later

So much location/sets stuff in the Leone westerns seems so lived in and real though much is a combination of existing and built stuff.

http://www.imfdb.org/images/thumb/b/be/GBUshotgun-howdah.jpg/600px-GBUshotgun-howdah.jpg

https://haphazardstuff.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Good-Bad-Ugly-Sergio-Leone-western-Sad-Hill-Unearthed-documentary-2017.jpg

I suppose really a triumph of location production design. Did I see this first on ILX?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjDBUL_zhqs

yeah I almost posted the recent Emmma. on this thread but impossible to say how much was set design versus location scouting. very visually striking film nonetheless

delete one "m" there

I finally caught Barbarella for the first time last night. Better than I expected in some ways, especially the amazingly sick set design

https://www.penccil.com/files/U_60_214064752766_barbarella_102.jpg

https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tGF1rxoF9pM/UNQmihKCJ_I/AAAAAAACI0I/GP9IyBAPHq8/s1600/02+The+set+of+Barbarella,+1968.jpg