This retrospective on the career of Academy Award-winning production designer Richard Sylbert takes readers behind the scenes of some of the most influential films of the past fifty years.
The Manchurian Candidate, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, The Graduate, Rosemary's Baby, Chinatown, Dick Tracy. The common factor behind these diverse, visually ground-breaking cinematic masterpieces is the work of legendary production designer Richard Sylbert. Basing the book in part on the late designer's Hollywood memoirs, writer Sylvia Townsend, with the participation of Sylbert's widow, screenwriter Sharmagne Sylbert, has enhanced the production designer's original manuscript with candid interviews from some of his most famous collaborators, including Warren Beatty, Roman Polanski, and Francis Ford Coppola. The result is a book that takes readers behind the scenes of some of the most influential and highly acclaimed films of the past fifty years.
This is a portrait of a highly driven, sometimes tempestuous visionary who wasn't afraid to fight for the artistic integrity of the worlds he created on screen. Movie lovers will find in-depth discussions of the making of such modern classics as Reds, Carnal Knowledge, Shampoo, and The Cotton Club. More than thirty illustrations capture Sylbert's creative process from early sketches to completed sets and locations.
Show moreThis retrospective on the career of Academy Award-winning production designer Richard Sylbert takes readers behind the scenes of some of the most influential films of the past fifty years.
The Manchurian Candidate, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, The Graduate, Rosemary's Baby, Chinatown, Dick Tracy. The common factor behind these diverse, visually ground-breaking cinematic masterpieces is the work of legendary production designer Richard Sylbert. Basing the book in part on the late designer's Hollywood memoirs, writer Sylvia Townsend, with the participation of Sylbert's widow, screenwriter Sharmagne Sylbert, has enhanced the production designer's original manuscript with candid interviews from some of his most famous collaborators, including Warren Beatty, Roman Polanski, and Francis Ford Coppola. The result is a book that takes readers behind the scenes of some of the most influential and highly acclaimed films of the past fifty years.
This is a portrait of a highly driven, sometimes tempestuous visionary who wasn't afraid to fight for the artistic integrity of the worlds he created on screen. Movie lovers will find in-depth discussions of the making of such modern classics as Reds, Carnal Knowledge, Shampoo, and The Cotton Club. More than thirty illustrations capture Sylbert's creative process from early sketches to completed sets and locations.
Show more"Dick Sylbert was arguably the most gifted production designer of his generation. When he died, he left the kernel of a memoir, which has been used as the basis for this riveting account of his life in the movies." -- Peter Biskind, author of Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex-Drugs-and-Rock 'N'Roll Generation Saved Hollywood
Preface and Acknowledgments Sylvia Townsend
1. Thoughts on Production Design
Richard Sylbert
2. Introduction to Richard Sylbert
Sylvia Townsend
3. New York in the 1950s and William Cameron Menzies
Richard Sylbert
4. A Chance to Design a Feature Film in Town
Richard Sylbert
5. Baby Doll
Richard Sylbert
6. The Fugitive Kind
Richard Sylbert
7. A Face in the Crowd
Richard Sylbert
8. Long Day's Journey into Night
Richard Sylbert
9. The Manchurian Candidate
Richard Sylbert
10. Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
Richard Sylbert
11. The Graduate
Richard Sylbert
12. Rosemary's Baby
Sylvia Townsend
13. Catch-22
Sylvia Townsend
14. The World of the 1970s
Richard Sylbert
15. Carnal Knowledge
Richard Sylbert
16. Chinatown
Richard Sylbert
17. Shampoo
Sylvia Townsend
18. Reds
Sylvia Townsend
19. The Cotton Club
Sylvia Townsend
20. Tequila Sunrise
Sylvia Townsend
21. Dick Tracy
Sylvia Townsend
22. Carlito's Way
Sylvia Townsend
23. My Best Friend's Wedding
Sylvia Townsend
Afterword
Sharmagne Leland-St. John-Sylbert
Notes
Index
Photo essay follows
Richard Sylbert was an Academy Award-winning production
designer. His credits include Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?,
Reds, Rosemary's Baby, Chinatown, The Cotton Club, and Dick
Tracy.
Sylvia Townsend is an editor and writer whose work has
appeared in the Los Angeles Times. She developed an interest the
film industry in the late 1970s, when she worked as an intern for
The Hollywood Reporter.
Sharmagne Leland-St. John-Sylbert is a poet, concert
performer, lyricist, artist, and filmmaker. She has worked as an
actress, production designer, and screenwriter, and is
Editor-in-Chief of the poetry e-zine Quill and Parchment.com. She
is author of Unsung Songs and Silver Tears and Time.
This intimate portrait is composed of Sylbert's unfinished memoirs
augmented by interviews with collaborators and leading directors
including Elia Kazan, Mike Nichols, Roman Polanski, and Warren
Beatty. Aficionados will enjoy the candid observations about this
talented, intellectual, often tempestuous designer and the
off-camera stories of the making of these films. The book is at its
best when Sylbert discusses his designs in terms of metaphor,
stylistic structure, restricted color palettes, and authenticity of
details….Extensive collections serving upper-division
undergraduates and above.
*Choice*
Sylbert was the late (d. 2002) Academy Award-winning production
designer for such films as Whose Afraid of Virginia Woolfe?, The
Graduate, Rosemary's Baby, and Chinatown. At his wife's request,
Hollywood writer/editor Townsend edited his unfinished memoir in
the third person. Included are his thoughts on production design
and art direction, and her assessment of his contributions which
went beyond design, and quirks. The book includes photos and
drawings of his film sets, and some character- revealing anecdotes
by his wife, Sharmagne Leland-St. John- Sylbert.
*Reference & Research Book News*
When director Roman Polanski was looking for the perfect location
for Rosemary's Baby, production-designer extraordinaire Richard
Sylbert immediately suggested The Dakota, a classy Upper West Side
apartment building. In Designing Movies: Portrait of a Hollywood
Artist (Praeger), Oscar-winner Sylbert (posthumously co-authored by
Sylvia Townsend, who expanded his memoir) neatly answers the
question, What does a production designer do? Townsend also
interviewed some of his famous collaborators, such as Francis Ford
Coppola and Warren Beatty, to garner a behind-the-scenes portrait
of a cinematic visionary. Considering the films Sylbert worked on,
such as The Graduate, Reds, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and the
exceptional Chinatown, there isn't a better candidate to explain
why design is so critical to a films success.
*Encore: The Performing Arts Magazine*
[A] finely written history and an elegant tribute to a great
man….[a] fascinating ride through the Hollywood glory days of the
''60s, '70s and early '80s--a candid, pungent, wonderfully detailed
tour.
*Hollywood Elsewhere*
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