{"id":90516,"date":"2022-06-14T18:13:00","date_gmt":"2022-06-14T22:13:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/?post_type=bu-article&#038;p=90516"},"modified":"2022-11-01T12:28:20","modified_gmt":"2022-11-01T16:28:20","slug":"rick-heinrichs-magical-worlds","status":"publish","type":"bu-article","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/magazine\/articles\/2022\/rick-heinrichs-magical-worlds\/","title":{"rendered":"Rick Heinrichs\u2019 Magical Worlds"},"content":{"rendered":"\t<div class=\"wp-block-editorial-leadin magazine-block-editorial-leadin is-style-side-by-side has-media has-box has-media-focus-center-middle has-primary-theme\">\n\t\t<div class=\"container-lockup\">\n\n\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-leadin-media\">\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<img width=\"1707\" height=\"2560\" src=\"\/cfa\/files\/2022\/08\/22-1043-CFAHEINRICHS-001-scaled.jpg\" class=\"\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/08\/22-1043-CFAHEINRICHS-001-scaled.jpg 1707w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/08\/22-1043-CFAHEINRICHS-001-424x636.jpg 424w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/08\/22-1043-CFAHEINRICHS-001-683x1024.jpg 683w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/08\/22-1043-CFAHEINRICHS-001-768x1152.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/08\/22-1043-CFAHEINRICHS-001-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/08\/22-1043-CFAHEINRICHS-001-1365x2048.jpg 1365w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/08\/22-1043-CFAHEINRICHS-001-667x1000.jpg 667w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1707px) 100vw, 1707px\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"wp-block-editorial-leadin-caption wp-prepress-component-caption\"><strong>PHOTO BY PATRICK STRATTNER<\/strong><\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"container-words-outer\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"container-words-inner\">\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span class=\"wp-prepress-tag\">Visual Arts<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h1 class=\"head\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRick Heinrichs\u2019 Magical Worlds\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h4 class=\"deck\">The production designer and CFA alum has overseen the creation of some of cinema\u2019s most iconic places, from Gotham City to Halloween Town to a galaxy far, far away<\/h4>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar magazine-prepress-layout-metabar\">\n\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-date\">June 14, 2022<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-credits\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul data-credit-type=\"By\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/magazine\/authors\/marc-chalufour\/\">Marc Chalufour<\/a><\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"wp-prepress-component-metabar-share js-bu-prepress-share-tools\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-twitter\"><span>Twitter<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-facebook\"><span>Facebook<\/span><\/span>\n\t\t\t<span class=\"icon-action\"><\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\t\n\n\n<p><strong><em>Tim Burton\u2019s The Nightmare Before Christmas&nbsp;<\/em><\/strong>is a deeply macabre film. The star, a tuxedoed skeleton, has no eyes. His love interest tears her limbs off and sews them back on. A gang of trick-or-treaters kidnaps Santa Claus. A teddy bear gets dissected. Disney, concerned the creepiness wasn\u2019t appropriate for its child-friendly brand, released the film under a different studio banner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But the late film critic Roger Ebert saw magic. \u201cThe movies can create entirely new worlds for us, but that is one of their rarest gifts. More often, directors go for realism,\u201d he wrote in 1993. \u201cOne of [<em>Nightmare<\/em>\u2019s] many pleasures\u2026is that there is not a single recognizable landscape within it. Everything looks strange and haunting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"489\" height=\"636\" src=\"\/cfa\/files\/2022\/08\/jack-web-489x636-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-90601\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/08\/jack-web-489x636-1.jpg 489w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/08\/jack-web-489x636-1-335x435.jpg 335w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 489px) 100vw, 489px\" \/><figcaption>Heinrichs created this model of Jack Skellington, the protagonist of&nbsp;<em>Tim Burton\u2019s The Nightmare Before Christmas<\/em>. \u00a9 Disney<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Though the film was created by Tim Burton and directed by Henry Selick, visual consultant Rick Heinrichs was critical to creating the immersive world of&nbsp;<em>Nightmare<\/em>\u2019s Halloween Town. He translated Burton\u2019s sketches into the first sculpture of the film\u2019s protagonist, Jack Skellington, and was a visual consultant throughout production, helping to make Halloween Town a cohesive and believable setting for the stop-motion animated feature. The pair have partnered on 11 feature films\u2014often with Burton directing and Heinrichs (\u201976) in charge of art direction or production design\u2014including&nbsp;<em>Edward Scissorhands<\/em>&nbsp;(1990),&nbsp;<em>Batman Returns&nbsp;<\/em>(1992), and&nbsp;<em>Sleepy Hollow<\/em>&nbsp;(1999), for which Heinrichs won an Academy Award.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Over the past two years, he has&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Lord-Rings-Power-Season\/dp\/B09QH98YG1\">helped filmmakers create J. R. R. Tolkien\u2019s Middle-earth for&nbsp;<em>The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power<\/em><\/a>&nbsp;(Heinrichs helped launch the series, then departed) and transform a Grecian island into the set of a murder mystery for&nbsp;<em>Knives Out 2<\/em>\u2014both scheduled for release this year. Heinrichs\u2019 credits also include work on some of the most memorable worlds in film, including&nbsp;<em>Star Wars<\/em>&nbsp;(<em>Star Wars:<\/em>&nbsp;<em>The Last Jedi<\/em>) and Marvel (<em>Captain America: The First Avenger<\/em>).&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cMy fascination has always been the creation of an environment and trying to instill it with expressive quality and emotional content,\u201d Heinrichs says. Few in Hollywood have been as successful. After working his way up through the art departments on both animated and live-action films, Heinrichs has become one of the most sought-after production designers in the business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-editorial-parallax magazine-block-editorial-parallax alignfull has-content-box has-box-color-secondary has-object-cover-left-top is-style-overlay\"><div class=\"wp-block-editorial-parallax-media\"><div class=\"wp-block-editorial-parallax-background-image\"><\/div><figure class=\"wp-block-editorial-parallax-figure js-block-editorial-parallax-active\" data-rellax-speed=\"-5\" data-rellax-percentage=\"0.5\"><picture class=\"wp-block-editorial-parallax-picture\"><source media=\"(max-height: 480px)\" srcset=\"\/cfa\/files\/2022\/08\/P82-1-11-Vincent-854x480.jpg\"\/><source media=\"(max-height: 720px)\" srcset=\"\/cfa\/files\/2022\/08\/P82-1-11-Vincent-1280x720.jpg\"\/><source media=\"(max-height: 768px)\" srcset=\"\/cfa\/files\/2022\/08\/P82-1-11-Vincent-1366x768.jpg\"\/><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" class=\"wp-block-editorial-parallax-image wp-image-90613\" src=\"\/cfa\/files\/2022\/08\/P82-1-11-Vincent-1920x1080.jpg\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/08\/P82-1-11-Vincent-1920x1080.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/08\/P82-1-11-Vincent-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/08\/P82-1-11-Vincent-992x558.jpg 992w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/08\/P82-1-11-Vincent-1500x844.jpg 1500w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/08\/P82-1-11-Vincent-1984x1116.jpg 1984w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/08\/P82-1-11-Vincent-1600x900.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/08\/P82-1-11-Vincent-1366x768.jpg 1366w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/08\/P82-1-11-Vincent-1280x720.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/08\/P82-1-11-Vincent-854x480.jpg 854w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" \/><\/picture><\/figure><\/div><div class=\"wp-block-editorial-parallax-content-outer\"><div class=\"wp-block-editorial-parallax-content-inner\">\n<p class=\"has-text-color has-black-color\">Heinrichs first collaborated with Tim Burton on the short film&nbsp;<em>Vincent<\/em>, about a young boy obsessed with horror actor Vincent Price. \u00a9 1982 Disney<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3>HOLDING THE FABRIC TOGETHER<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>A production designer guides a project\u2019s transformation, from an idea to a three-dimensional world filled with actors, sets, costumes, and lighting. Done well, the result can immerse audiences in a fantasy world. The job requires a photographer\u2019s eye, a sculptor\u2019s hands, and a painter\u2019s sense of color. The more fantastical the world, the greater the challenge in making it believable. \u201cThe writers, directors, producers, and actors\u2014it\u2019s pretty easy to figure out who does what,\u201d Heinrichs says. \u201cThe rest of a film\u2019s credits are a little bit harder to understand. They\u2019re not directly related to getting butts in the seats. Our contributions are more diffusely woven into the fabric of the film itself.\u201d The production designer must make sure that fabric holds together.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWith Tim, and with all of the other filmmakers I\u2019ve worked with, it\u2019s always been about the director and their vision,\u201d Heinrichs says. \u201cIt\u2019s just so powerful, seeing something which coheres around a vision that\u2019s propelled by the storytelling of the director.\u201d And Heinrichs has worked with some of the best, such as Terry Gilliam, Ang Lee, and Joel and Ethan Coen.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3>ANIMATED DREAMS<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignleft size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"585\" height=\"636\" src=\"\/cfa\/files\/2022\/08\/Sally-sketch-and-photo-585x636-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-90604\"\/><figcaption>An annotated sketch and sculpture Heinrichs created of&nbsp;<em>Nightmare<\/em>&nbsp;character Sally. \u00a9 Disney<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>As a kid, Heinrichs loved films, especially Disney and&nbsp;Warner Bros. cartoons. Art became an escape from the rigid structure of school. \u201cWhen I was, like, 10, I would draw these imaginary projects with situational themes\u2014like a haunted house where every room had a horrible murder going on in it,\u201d he says. \u201cI think my parents were both amused and concerned.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Heinrichs wanted to study animation in college, but there weren\u2019t many programs available in the mid-1970s. He opted for a broad background in fine arts. \u201cI spent my late teens and early 20s getting my hands dirty in drawing and painting and sculpture, graphic design, printmaking,\u201d he says. He appreciates how that background continues to benefit his work. \u201cYou gain some mastery over depicting the human form in light\u2014that\u2019s a discipline you can apply to many other things.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>By the time Heinrichs graduated, animation programs were beginning to pop up\u2014including one at the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), where a number of Disney animators taught. \u201cThere was this whole group of like-minded individuals there,\u201d he says. He met Brad Bird, John Lasseter, and John Musker (if you\u2019ve watched a Disney or Pixar film in the past 35 years, you\u2019re familiar with their work). He also met Tim Burton.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The two worked together on Disney\u2019s 1981 film&nbsp;<em>The<\/em>&nbsp;<em>Fox and the Hound<\/em>,where they were responsible for drawing inbetweens\u2014repetitive frames that create the illusion of motion following an animator\u2019s key frame. \u201cIt was a bit depressing,\u201d Heinrichs says. \u201cYou go to school and you\u2019re told how amazingly inventive and creative you are\u2014then you\u2019re on an assembly line.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While Disney didn\u2019t wind up using Burton\u2019s quirky, gothic sketches for their next project,&nbsp;<em>The Black Cauldron<\/em>, Heinrichs was inspired and began to sculpt the characters in three dimensions. \u201cI thought they were very dimensional, but had that wonderful aspect of being very graphic and expressive at the same time,\u201d he says. \u201cIn the work I\u2019ve done with Tim, it\u2019s turning graphic work into a kind of immersive world.\u201d Their first film was the 1982 stop-motion animation short&nbsp;<em>Vincent<\/em>, based on a Burton poem.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The six-minute film tells the story of a young boy obsessed with horror actor Vincent Price. It\u2019s dark and brooding and immediately identifiable as a Tim Burton work, with quirky characters and off-kilter structures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A few years later, the two were sharing a studio in Pasadena when Burton began sketching scenes from a holiday poem he had written. \u201cI saw this one drawing and almost immediately did a sculpture of Jack [Skellington],\u201d Heinrichs says. He showed it to a stop-motion armature builder, who told him the legs were too thin. \u201cSo, I beefed everything up a little bit until he agreed he could make it. It was designed by everybody,\u201d Heinrichs says. \u201cAs a result, you\u2019ve got something never quite seen before, and that was a big part of the appeal. I want to work on a movie with other people. The fun is collaborating with them and coming up with something bigger than I could come up with on my own.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3>EXPANDING THE GALAXY<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"454\" height=\"636\" src=\"\/cfa\/files\/2022\/08\/Sleepy-Hollow-454x636-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-90606\"\/><figcaption>Heinrichs won the Academy Award for Best Production Design for&nbsp;<em>Sleepy Hollow<\/em>. He created this sketch of the titular town (above). Courtesy of Rick Heinrichs (sketch); Entertainment Pictures\/Alamy Stock Photo<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>While Burton\u2019s films tend to occupy a world that is distinctively his, an increasing number of movies build upon existing fictional universes. Sequels, prequels, and reboots are big business, and Heinrichs has helped design some of the biggest\u2014none more prominent than 2017\u2019s&nbsp;<em>Star Wars: The Last Jedi<\/em>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Heinrichs spent days in the Lucasfilm archives to prepare. He studied sketches and paintings done by the late Ralph McQuarrie, the conceptual artist who helped define the look of the original&nbsp;<em>Star Wars<\/em>&nbsp;trilogy in the 1970s and 1980s. \u201cThere\u2019s a very identifiable look to the world he created. A simplicity of shape and color and lighting. It felt very modern and futuristic\u2014but also weirdly retro at the same time,\u201d Heinrichs says. His job was to carry that inspiration through a project that included 125 soundstage sets and locations in four countries. \u201cThat was the thing that was most exciting\u2014coming up with elements that felt familiar and yet futuristic and cool.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the film\u2019s signature scenes unfolds on the planet Crait. It\u2019s a classic&nbsp;<em>Star Wars<\/em>&nbsp;battle\u2014good taking on evil against the backdrop of a unique landscape. Rickety Resistance ski speeders charge toward a menacing line of First Order AT-M6 Walkers. Laser blasts and shrapnel slice into the white mineral crust of Crait\u2019s surface, sending red soil exploding into the air. The planet seems to bleed. The scene is reminiscent of the snowy battle on Hoth at the beginning of&nbsp;<em>Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back<\/em>, but it also recalls a moment from another Heinrichs film: the blood-covered snow in&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/ew.com\/article\/2016\/03\/08\/fargo-20th-anniversary-wood-chipper-oral-history\/\"><em>Fargo<\/em>\u2019s infamous woodchipper scene<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Heinrichs values his CFA education and the way it helps him interpret a range of artistic influences. For&nbsp;<em>Captain America: The First Avenger<\/em>, he had decades of Marvel comics to draw on, as well as World War II photographs and propaganda. The challenge, he says, was \u201cthe idea of visually presenting this confrontation between fascism and democracy\u2014what are the colors and the shapes that attend to those opposing forces?\u201d For the 2019 live-action adaptation of&nbsp;<em>Dumbo<\/em>\u2014another Burton collaboration\u2014he cites the painter Edward Hopper as an inspiration. \u201cUnderstanding how he paints and composes his designs\u2014those things live in your head and they combine with other ideas, and they ultimately come out in a completely different form as design ideas for film.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-editorial-parallax magazine-block-editorial-parallax alignfull has-content-box has-box-color-tertiary has-object-cover-center-middle is-style-content-right-overlay\"><div class=\"wp-block-editorial-parallax-media\"><div class=\"wp-block-editorial-parallax-background-image\"><\/div><figure class=\"wp-block-editorial-parallax-figure js-block-editorial-parallax-active\" data-rellax-speed=\"-5\" data-rellax-percentage=\"0.5\"><picture class=\"wp-block-editorial-parallax-picture\"><source media=\"(max-height: 480px)\" srcset=\"\/cfa\/files\/2022\/08\/HIRES_Dumbo5b2198d8ede00-854x480.jpg\"\/><source media=\"(max-height: 720px)\" srcset=\"\/cfa\/files\/2022\/08\/HIRES_Dumbo5b2198d8ede00-1280x720.jpg\"\/><source media=\"(max-height: 768px)\" srcset=\"\/cfa\/files\/2022\/08\/HIRES_Dumbo5b2198d8ede00-1366x768.jpg\"\/><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1080\" class=\"wp-block-editorial-parallax-image wp-image-90615\" src=\"\/cfa\/files\/2022\/08\/HIRES_Dumbo5b2198d8ede00-1920x1080.jpg\" alt=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/08\/HIRES_Dumbo5b2198d8ede00-1920x1080.jpg 1920w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/08\/HIRES_Dumbo5b2198d8ede00-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/08\/HIRES_Dumbo5b2198d8ede00-992x558.jpg 992w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/08\/HIRES_Dumbo5b2198d8ede00-1500x844.jpg 1500w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/08\/HIRES_Dumbo5b2198d8ede00-1984x1116.jpg 1984w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/08\/HIRES_Dumbo5b2198d8ede00-1600x900.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/08\/HIRES_Dumbo5b2198d8ede00-1366x768.jpg 1366w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/08\/HIRES_Dumbo5b2198d8ede00-1280x720.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/files\/2022\/08\/HIRES_Dumbo5b2198d8ede00-854x480.jpg 854w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\" \/><\/picture><\/figure><\/div><div class=\"wp-block-editorial-parallax-content-outer\"><div class=\"wp-block-editorial-parallax-content-inner\">\n<p>Heinrichs also worked with Burton on the 2019 live-action adaptation of&nbsp;<em>Dumbo<\/em>.&nbsp;\u00a9 2019 Disney<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3>YOUNG AT HEART<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>As formative as BU, CalArts, and Disney were, it\u2019s been his ability to hold on to his childhood passion for creating that continues to fuel Heinrichs. \u201cNothing compares to your first discoveries and explorations as a kid,\u201d he says. \u201cTim [Burton] would say that everybody\u2019s an artist when they\u2019re six years old. There is a purity and na\u00efvet\u00e9 and passion to the work you do then. And he would joke, \u2018It just gets beaten out of you over time.\u2019\u201d For the partners, success is avoiding that fate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:250px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer has-primary-background-color overlap-bottom-150 alignfull\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube alignwide wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<div class=\"responsive-video responsive-youtube\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power \u2013 Teaser Trailer | Prime Video\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/v7v1hIkYH24?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption>Heinrichs served as a production designer on the upcoming Amazon Prime Video series&nbsp;<em>The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power<\/em>. Watch a teaser trailer here. Video courtesy of Prime Video<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Heinrichs can\u2019t say much about his latest projects,&nbsp;<em>Knives Out 2<\/em>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<em>The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power<\/em>\u2014both are in postproduction and scheduled for release later this year\u2014but he continues to revel in world building. \u201cIt\u2019s difficult to explain to other people how amazing it is to walk onto the sets and see what you\u2019ve been imagining,\u201d Heinrichs says. \u201cIt\u2019s one of the reasons I love what I do.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<aside class=\"wp-block-editorial-aside magazine-block-editorial-aside has-tertiary-background\">\n<h3 class=\"has-text-align-left\">HEINRICHS\u2019&nbsp;HIGHLIGHTS<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left\">Rick Heinrichs got his start as an animation artist at Disney, but his big break came when he and Tim Burton produced a stop-motion animated short,&nbsp;<em>Vincent<\/em>, in 1982. The pair have since collaborated on 11 feature films. Heinrichs has worked his way up the creative ranks on both animated and live-action movies, and his design work and direction have enhanced some of the most memorable worlds in film. Here are some of the films that define Heinrichs\u2019 career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left\"><strong><em>Vincent<\/em>&nbsp;<\/strong>(Short, 1982) \u2022 Producer, designer, sculptor<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left\"><strong><em>Hansel and Gretel<\/em>&nbsp;<\/strong>(TV movie, 1983) \u2022 Producer, model sculptor<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left\"><em><strong>Pee-wee\u2019s Big Adventure<\/strong><\/em>&nbsp;(1985) \u2022 Animator, animated effects supervisor<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left\"><em><strong>Beetlejuice<\/strong><\/em>&nbsp;(1988) \u2022 Visual effects consultant<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left\"><em><strong>Ghostbusters II<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/em>(1989) \u2022 Set designer<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left\"><em><strong>Edward Scissorhands<\/strong><\/em>&nbsp;(1990) \u2022 Set designer<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left\"><em><strong>Batman Returns<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/em>(1992) \u2022 Art director<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left\"><em><strong>Tim Burton\u2019s The Nightmare Before Christmas<\/strong><\/em>&nbsp;(1993) \u2022 Visual consultant<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left\"><em><strong>Fargo<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/em>(1996) \u2022 Production designer<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left\"><em><strong>Sleepy Hollow<\/strong><\/em>&nbsp;(1999) \u2022 Production designer, Academy Award winner for production design<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left\"><em><strong>A Series of Unfortunate Events<\/strong><\/em>&nbsp;(2004) \u2022 Production designer, Academy Award nominee for art direction<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left\"><em><strong>Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man\u2019s Chest<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/em>(2006) \u2022 Production designer, Academy Award nominee for art direction<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left\"><em><strong>Captain America: The First Avenger<\/strong><\/em>&nbsp;(2011) \u2022 Production designer<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left\"><em><strong>Star Wars: The Last Jedi<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/em>(2017) \u2022 Production designer<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left\"><em><strong>Dumbo<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/em>(2019) \u2022 Production designer<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left\"><em><strong>The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/em>(TV series, 2022) \u2022 Production designer<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left\"><em><strong>Knives Out 2<\/strong><\/em>&nbsp;(2022) \u2022 Production designer<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tim Burton\u2019s The Nightmare Before Christmas&nbsp;is a deeply macabre film. The star, a tuxedoed skeleton, has no eyes. His love interest tears her limbs off and sews them back on. A gang of trick-or-treaters kidnaps Santa Claus. A teddy bear gets dissected. Disney, concerned the creepiness wasn\u2019t appropriate for its child-friendly brand, released the film [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3324,"featured_media":90517,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"bu_prepress_billboard":"","_bu_prepress_primary_term":"","_bu_prepress_primary_term_manual":""},"tags":[],"bu-publication":[191],"magazine-article-category":[372,379],"magazine-topic":[],"news-article-category":[],"news-topic":[],"bu_edition":[362],"media_type":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/90516"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/bu-article"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3324"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90516"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/90516\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":95016,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/90516\/revisions\/95016"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90517"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90516"},{"taxonomy":"bu-publication","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-publication?post=90516"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-article-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/magazine-article-category?post=90516"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/magazine-topic?post=90516"},{"taxonomy":"news-article-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-article-category?post=90516"},{"taxonomy":"news-topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-topic?post=90516"},{"taxonomy":"bu_edition","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu_edition?post=90516"},{"taxonomy":"media_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cfa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media_type?post=90516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}