Karen Murphy is an Australian production designer, now based in the United States. Murphy has had a longstanding collaboration with Baz Luhrmann and Catherine Martin, working on Moulin Rouge, The Great Gatsby and Elvis. Her production design credits extend to films like A Star Is Born, Queen & Slim, The Light Between Oceans and Chevalier. Most recently, she worked on Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Bride!
Drawing on work across films including The Bride!, A Star Is Born and her collaborations with Baz Luhrmann and Catherine Martin, Karen Murphy talks with Apotheosis host Alex Whittenberg about how a film’s visual world comes together.
Murphy shares that, within her own process, unexpected inspirations ranging from architecture to philosophy and beyond that she discovers during research help her structure the visual language of a project.
She also discusses setting clear rules for materials and design can give an art department more creative freedom, but also knowing when to choose between following or breaking the rules because the right choices can make a world feel both grounded and surprising.
The estate of Dr. Euphronius in The Bride!
"You need to know what the rules are in order to break them."
Elvis (Austin Butler) takes a moment at the Hollywood sign in Elvis.
The home of Jackson Maine (Bradley Cooper) and Ally (Lady Gaga) in A Star is Born.
“I wasn’t building sets. I was conceptualizing the way we were going to make the film.”
Queen (Jodie Turner-Smith) and Slim (Daniel Kaluuya) in Queen & Slim.
