McAlpine Stylish By Design

The international career of Waiuku-born, Elam-educated film designer Andrew McAlpine continues to unfurl in ever-larger circles. McAlpine’s most recently-designed film, An Education (produced by Wellington-born Finola Dwyer) is nominated for Best Picture at the 2010 Academy Awards. The film, starring Carey Mulligan as a young woman swept up by an unsuitable suitor, recreates early 1960s London (“61 was more like the 1950s” says McAlpine). And a commercial he designed for British television has been named ITV’s “Best Commercial of the Decade.” Go On Lad for Hovis bread follows the journey of a young boy taking a condensed trip through over a century of British history. McAlpine won a BAFTA for The Piano and has designed numerous feature films including Clockers, Sid and Nancy, The Beach and the Best 2009 New Zealand Film Dean Spanley. A recent event at the British Film Institute brought McAlpine and Oscar-winning film designer Eugenio Caballero together to discuss the role of the production designer and the close relationship designers have with both producers and directors to develop the visual concept for films.
(February 2010)