J. Don Birnam

United States v. Billie Holiday Production Designer Daniel Dorrance on Recreating Café Society and More

March 2, 2021 J. Don Birnam Comments Off

In Lee Daniels’ new film, The United States v. Billie Holiday, we catch a glimpse into the life of the iconic jazz singer during the 1930s and 40s, as she descends into drug abuse and despair while targeted by federal law enforcement officials. Starring Andra Day as Holiday, the period piece required Daniels and his crew to recreate not just a bygone time, but many nightclubs in styles that no […]

Borat Subsequent Moviefilm’s Editing Team on Cutting Footage Capturing COVID and U.S. Political History

March 1, 2021 J. Don Birnam Comments Off

As far as pandemic films go, we have heard of movies that were postponed entirely because of COVID, and those that were made entirely after the shutdown began. One film perhaps will occupy a special place in the historical pantheon—a film that was shot both before, during, and after the epidemic began. A three-time Golden Globe nominee – it won two– Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (Borat 2, for short) was originally […]

Promising Young Woman Costume Designer Nancy Steiner on Creating a Character’s Persona Entirely with Clothing

February 23, 2021 J. Don Birnam Comments Off

Newcomer writer/director Emerald Fennell has received widespread acclaim—including a Best Director Golden Globe nomination—for her feature directorial debut, Promising Young Woman, and rightly so. It’s a film that stuns viewers with its daring, original, and unexpected take on the hot button but fraught issue of sexual abuse. The movie is anchored by an arguably career-best performance by Carey Mulligan, who stars as Cassie, a seemingly troubled woman who roams the […]

Sound of Metal Editor Mikkel E.G. Nielsen on Creating an Immersive Audience Experience

February 22, 2021 J. Don Birnam Comments Off

Darius Marder’s Sound of Metal, about a rock drummer who loses his hearing, has earned deserved praise this awards season for, among other things, the impressive sound techniques it uses to recreate for the audience the experience of being unable to hear. Starring Riz Ahmed as recovering addict Ruben, the Amazon Studios film has impressed viewers in part with scenes that toggle volume and sharpness to make it seem as […]

Review: Andra Day’s Powerful, Passionate Performance Lifts The United States v. Billie Holiday

February 19, 2021 J. Don Birnam Comments Off

Lee Daniels became a mainstay as a director after his powerful Precious garnered awards attention in 2009. In that film, Daniels told the difficult story about a young girl’s oppression at the hands of a villainous mother, who was herself the product of an evil system of inequality and injustice that has for so long repressed African-Americans in the United States. In his upcoming film, The United States v. Billie Holiday, […]

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom Production Designer Mark Ricker on Constructing a Split-Level Recording Studio

February 16, 2021 J. Don Birnam Comments Off

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, the Denzel Washington-produced film based on the August Wilson play, is a technical delight in addition to an acting powerhouse. As previously reported, the film covers a particular episode in the famed singer’s life (played by Viola Davis), as she was trying to make a record in a Chicago studio in the summer of 1927, although the movie was actually shot in Pittsburgh. To help, she enlists […]

Artist Profile: Costume Designer Trish Summerville Discusses Her Work on David Fincher’s Mank

February 12, 2021 J. Don Birnam Comments Off

David Fincher’s Mank focuses on screenwriter Herman Mankiewicz as he puts the final touches on the script for Citizen Kane. The action, set in 1930s Hollywood, features luminaries from Irving Thalberg, William Randolph Hearts, and, of course, Orson Welles. Mank’s plot, however, it focuses on Gary Oldman as the principal character and on a magnetic performance by Amanda Seyfried as screen legend Marion Davies. Given the setting—Hollywood on Hollywood—it is […]

Craft Spotlight: One Night in Miami… Production Designer on Those Hotel Rooms and Working with Regina King

February 12, 2021 J. Don Birnam Comments Off

Oscar winner and now director Regina King has already garnered a Golden Globe nomination for her work on One Night in Miami…, about a fictionalized meeting between four crucial figures in American history in 1964. Set mostly in a cramped hotel room in Florida, the story features Malcolm X (Kingsley Ben-Adir), the boxer who would become known as Muhammad Ali (Eli Goree), groundbreaking NFL player Jim Brown (Aldis Hodge), and […]

Editor Kristan Sprague on Creating Tense Drama for Judas and the Black Messiah

February 11, 2021 J. Don Birnam Comments Off

Threatened with prosecution by the FBI, William O’Neal (Lakeith Stanfield) instead becomes a turncoat infiltrating the Black Panther party in the 1960s. His mission? To help bring down the leader of the Illinois chapter, Fred Hampton (Daniel Kaluuya). The two actors — who collaborated together in the Oscar-winning Get Out — steal the show as two difficult and complex individuals—one whose motivations are never entirely sympathetic, the other whose approach […]

Craft Spotlight: Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom Makeup, Hair Team Discuss Viola’s Wigs, All that Sweat, Working With Denzel

February 8, 2021 J. Don Birnam Comments Off

Based on the August Wilson play of the same name, George C. Wolfe’s film adaptation of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom has quickly become a force to contend with during this awards season. Having scored a leading three SAG nominations, as well as two Golden Globe nods, the well-reviewed movie about the imperious blues singer in the title (played by Viola Davis) also serves up a crafts cornucopia. From carefully constructed […]