Interview: Oscar-Winning Production Designer Patrice Vermette Discusses Crafting the Look and Feel of ‘Dune: Part Two’

When you watch Dune: Part Two, it’s impossible not to notice the tactile feel of the film. Much like with Dune before it, filmmaker Denis Villeneuve has made the science fiction epic have a realness to it that few others would even have attempted. A lot of credit for that goes to Villeneuve, of course, but also to his A-list crew, with production designer Patrice Vermette doing some real heavy lifting. Vermette won the Academy Award for Best Production Design last time around with Dune, so he’s certainly an early Oscar frontrunner this year as well. With Dune: Part Two coming home to 4K and Blu-ray on Tuesday, Vermette recently hopped on Zoom to talk with me about the production. Today, our chat comes your way.

In my review of Dune: Part Two (here), I had the following to say about the technical aspects of the film:

Director and co-writer Denis Villeneuve is in full command of his craft. The script he once again penned with Jon Spaihts feels both as part of a whole while also having its own structure. That being said, it’s technical wizardry and visuals on display that really sing. Once again, there’s impeccable work from cinematographer Greig Fraser, composer Hans Zimmer, editor Joe Walker, and production designer Patrice Vermette. The scale in Dune: Part Two is so much bigger feeling, and the first flick was plenty epic itself. Spaihts and Villeneuve have some complicated themes they’re working with but never dumb it down. Pacing wise, Villeneuve never lets up, almost as if he’s making sure we all know that he was just getting started last time around.

Below, you can see my conversation with Vermette. We get into crafting the look and feel of it all, since one of the most impressive aspects of the flicks to me is the tactile nature of what’s on display. All of my Dune interviews from the first film get into that as well, so it’s just continued here. Vermette is lovely and happy to chat, so this is a really good discussion about a really great movie…

Here now is my interview with Oscar winner and Dune: Part Two production designer Patrice Vermette. Enjoy:

Dune: Part Two comes to 4K and Blu-ray on Tuesday!