For the eighth year, Swarovski has dressed the Dolby Digital Theatre® in Los Angeles for the annual Academy Awards® last February 2015. Working with Tony Award®-winning production designer Derek McLane for the third year running, a total of 95,000 Swarovski crystals were used to bring unprecedented sparkle to the event, which was watched by 36.6 million viewers around the globe.
Inspired by the old school Hollywood glamour of movie director and musical choreographer Busby Berkeley’s work, Derek McLane’s production designs included a gigantic crystal closedown wall featuring 22,200 Swarovski crystals.
The wall was created by nine artisans who spent 580 hours assembling the 80ft by 40ft frame and the 250lbs of crystal. In addition, Swarovski provided 50,100 crystals for the three separate stage curtains, and a further 23,000 crystals for the theater’s eighteen crystallized opera boxes.
Since 2007, over 675,300 Swarovski crystals have been used in the set design for the Academy Awards® and more than one million crystals have been incorporated into the costume design.
Hosted by Neil Patrick Harris, this year’s ceremony saw Hollywood’s leading lights take to the stage, with performances from stars including Anna Kendrick, Lady Gaga and Jennifer Hudson, as well as Tegan and Sara and The Lonely Island who sang ‘Everything Is Awesome’ from The Lego Movie.
Derek McLane, Production Designer commented “My inspiration for this year’s crystal closedown wall was to create a Busby Berkeley-inspired field of radiated crystals, taking 22,000 crystals from Swarovski emanating out from the center, almost like an explosion. When it came to the stage curtains, I wanted to create a feeling that the entire Dolby® stage was a forest made out of Swarovski crystals”
At the Oscars:
2015 OSCARS® SWAROVSKI CRYSTAL DÉCOR OVERVIEW
- Since 2007, over 675,300 Swarovski crystals have been used in set design and more than one million crystals have been incorporated into the costume design
- 2015 marks Production Designer Derek McLane’s third year designing the look of the show
- It took 7 women and 2 men, over 580 hours of fabrication to create the unique Crystal Closedown Wall set piece for the 2015 Oscars decor
- In 2015, there are over 95,000 Swarovski crystals used in the decorative elements
- There are a total of 22 set pieces comprised of Swarovski crystal
CRYSTAL CLOSEDOWN WALL OVERVIEW
- An 80’ x 40’ wall created with 149 individual pie sized panels
- Panels are made of aluminum with a plastic core hung on scenery framework
- Crystals are applied to the panels ranging in sizes: 20mm to 30mm flatback square crystals
22,200 crystal used - Crystal alone weighs nearly 250 lbs
- The Closedown Wall weighs just over 7700 lbs
- 7 women and 2 men took over 580 hours to create this set piece
CRYSTAL CURTAINS OVERVIEW
- 3 separate curtains
- Each curtain contains a number of strands each 40’ long
- The up-stage curtain is made with 78 strands
- The mid-stage curtain is made in two facings with 30 strands stage left and 28 strands stage right
- The down-stage curtain is made in two facings of 32 strands stage left and 28 strands stage right
- 50,100 crystals used
- Crystal strands weighing 760 pounds
- Total weight for three curtains is 1295 lbs
CRYSTALLIZED OPERA BOX COVERS OVERVIEW
- 18 crystallized opera boxes
- 70 panels produced
- Four crystallized panels per opera box
- Approximately 330 crystals cover each panel
- Approximately 23,00 crystals used (25mm flatback square crystals)
Photos courtesy of Swarovski
Behind the Scenes
