SEASON 2 - EPISODE 136 - Judy Becker - Production Designer

In this episode of the Team Deakins Podcast, we speak with production designer Judy Becker (THE BRUTALIST, CAROL, BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN). Judy’s love for art and collaboration began at the age of 3 and developed throughout her childhood, and after discovering the theatre department in high school, she found her way into the New York filmmaking scene. Having worked in a number of projects across many different periods of history, Judy shares how she approaches bringing those spaces to life, and we reflect on the fact that absolute accuracy to a period doesn’t always look real on the screen. Later, during our discussion of her work on THE BRUTALIST, Judy reflects on the challenges of communicating with a crew whose language is nothing like her own, and she reveals how they fought for scraps of plywood and found (and built) post-war America in Hungary. Judy also shares how she approached designing The Institute—the architectural centerpiece of the film—and she reveals how they used the scale model they built in the actual shoot. We also discuss the differences between working on location and in a stage, and Judy shares the creative attraction to working on producer Ryan Murphy’s many television shows.

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This episode is sponsored by Aputure

SEASON 2 - EPISODE 135 - Simon Hayes - Production Sound Mixer

In this episode of the Team Deakins Podcast, we speak with production sound mixer Simon Hayes (WICKED, LES MISERABLES, SHAUN OF THE DEAD). At 14, Simon followed his father to set to learn sound. At 15, he then won the European BMX Championship. And at 16, he quit school, immersed himself in the industry, and honed his skills during the boom times of British commercials. Simon shares how early-career nights at Soho bars led to his professional relationships with directors Guy Ritchie and Matthew Vaughn, and we discuss the lessons he learned about protecting live performances on those early films. Simon reveals how an idea from Meryl Streep changed the approach to recording the songs of MAMMA MIA!, and he later shares his own views on the effectiveness of boom mics and radio mics. Simon also reveals how they actually recorded the live vocals of LES MISERABLES without pre-recorded backing tracks, and he reflects on how his experiences in recording studios enabled him and his team to coordinate the complex musical numbers in WICKED with seasoned recording artists and leading actresses Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande. Plus, Simon reveals where he hid Elphaba’s radio mic.

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This episode is sponsored by Aputure

SEASON 2 - EPISODE 134 - Nathan Crowley - Production Designer

In this episode of the Team Deakins Podcast, we speak with production designer Nathan Crowley (WICKED, DUNKIRK, INTERSTELLAR). After growing up in England, Nathan’s dreams of selling secondhand sports cars in LA were cut short after a run in with set designer and fellow countryman Joe Hodges at a bar outside Paramount, and we learn how Nathan dove headfirst into the art department after assisting Joe on HOOK. Nathan later shares how he made the jump to heading the department himself, and we discuss his approach to production design throughout the episode. We uncover the reasoning behind the aesthetic choices of DUNKIRK, and Nathan shares how he accounted for the practicalities of filmmaking during a globetrotting location scout to help realize the vision of INTERSTELLAR. In the back half of the episode, we discuss Nathan’s recent work on WICKED, and he shares what attracted him to the film and what scared him about designing one of the most well-known worlds in the American imagination, and he reveals how Donna Langley, the head of the studio, helped convince production to plant millions of tulips for the film. Plus, Nathan shares a key lesson he learned while working with director Michael Mann about following his instincts.

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This episode is sponsored by Aputure