Oscar Nominees Shine Light on Design Styles

The Artist (production design: Laurence Bennett; set decoration: Robert Gould)

This dialogue-free film about the advent of sound in cinema is rooted in Art Deco design. A stark reaction to Art Nouveau and the austerity imposed by World War I, Art Deco is defined by geometric shapes, symmetrical composition, gleaming décor and a celebration of all things forward thinking, flamboyant and glamorous.

A bespoke and linear speaker tower next to a gleaming sunburst light sconce, along with the Josef Koffman–inspired club armchair, roots this screening room in the Art Deco period.

The bold, stained glass–inspired artwork and lavish gold statuette panels flanking the screen make this media room ready for an Art Deco–style showing.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 (production design: Stuart Craig; set decoration: Stephenie McMillan)

Add moving and speaking portraits of dead professors to this stairway scene and it could pass for a set in Harry Potter's fictional school, Hogwarts. The school's set design is largely Gothic, with its candlelit hallways, rich upholstery in dark colors and ecclesiastical design roots.

Midnight in Paris (production design: Anne Siebel; set decoration: Hélène Dubreuil)

Although Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris spans three distinct design styles, let's focus on Art Nouveau, which exploded onto the Paris and London design scene at the turn of the 20th century.

The florals, peacock feathers, curved shapes and forms, and hues of bronze, sage, olive, brown and gold in this bedroom all whisper Art Nouveau, a decorative style that became prominent in Paris' Belle Epoque. All you really need is some absinthe and, like lead character Gil, you could time travel as well.

Stylized natural forms like the leaves and vines framing this multicolored dragonfly are iterations of Art Nouveau.

Another take on the exposed-beams style.