In Hollywood, it’s important that the lighting designer makes everyone look beautiful. That’s certainly the case when lighting the Oscars Greenroom, where celebrities wait before going on stage. And, in this case, it’s also important the lighting makes them feel at home, literally.
Designed and presented by Rolex each year since 2016, the 1,000-square-foot space is constructed completely from the ground up in the Dolby Theatre steps from the stage. Producer Event Eleven and Images by Lighting have been involved in the build-out and lighting of the Oscars Greenroom since 2015, even before Rolex was a sponsor.
The project is especially near and dear to Images by Lighting’s Senior Designer Ray Thompson who over his long lighting career has designed lighting for homes and offices. Lighting the Oscars greenroom is very similar. Architectural in nature, it features recessed and ambient lighting built into the environment and special accent lighting to highlight key architectural and design pieces.
Here’s a look at the room over the past decade.
Before Rolex began to sponsor the Oscars and the greenroom, came Architectural Digest who brought in guest designer actress Julianne Moore. The look was that of a cozy, indoor-outdoor Hollywood Hills home with a view. The large screen “windows” displayed a video with a view of L.A. timed to match the actual time backstage. Divided into two spaces, guests could be inside, or go “outside” onto a patio featuring a fountain.
In the first year that the Rolex design team took on this space, their design touch was apparent. In 2016, they created the look of a classic Hollywood penthouse. Lighting was installed in the ceiling to highlight certain showcase pieces such as wall art, an artistic glass chandelier in the “front hall” designed by a Venice artist, the main room’s Maxalto sofa, and the bar’s mirrored glassware rack framed in bronze. Ambient lighting also alluded to the world outside – a suggestion to a patio beyond the room and a floor-to-ceiling lightbox to give the illusion of a picture window looking out over Los Angeles.
The color scheme put forth by Rolex’s Geneva-based design team was that of Rolex green and gold with opulent velvet sofas and stools paired with lush greenery and brass accents, while photos of actors wearing Rolexes in their previous silver screen roles trace the walls. The “windows” filled with backlit images, made it clear that guests were high above the city in a treetop home.
The green room for the Oscars 2018 ceremony had Swiss luxury written all over it. Styled like an Alpine chalet, the walls of the 1,000-square-foot lounge were peppered with iconic moments in Oscar history, as well as a large image of the Matterhorn.
In 2019, guests were invited on a journey to the bottom of the sea – a theme that is linked to Rolex's Perpetual Planet campaign. The underwater journey started at a bronzed door, shaped like a hatch. Inside, guests found themselves in a vessel looking out through portholes to a world filled with denizens of the deep, photos made intensely real by backlight. From the color palette of oceanic blues to furniture that evoked the soft shapes of waves and starfish, the design echoed the theme in every aspect. Coral-shaped laser cut-outs on the walls and ceiling, backlit in blue, offered a version of the sea as we imagine it: a mysterious world apart.
The design was meant to reflect Rolex’s long history with polar exploration. The wood-paneled room was meant to feel like a very elegant observatory looking out on an icy landscape, depicted in photos embedded in the walls. Custom lighting for the space simulated sunrise and sunset. From the cozy space inside, guests could watch the sun rise and set on the icy tundra "outside." To simulate the passage of time in this icy landscape, lighting designer Ray Thompson designed the windows with an embedded LED effect. The programming was designed to repeat the sequence every 12 minutes. Just long enough for the presenters to take a few deep, calming breaths!
During Covid, the show did go on, only it moved under the vaulted ceiling of Union Station in downtown Los Angeles. The look was light and airy with lots of room for social distancing. Walls were adorned with fabric replicating the motif of Union Station with a "green wall" made entirely out of foliage, bringing a touch of nature to the interior. A selection of photos paid tribute to the creation of masterpieces, displaying emblematic Rolex watches and the making of unforgettable movies.
This year the greenroom was inspired by Los Angeles itself with a pair of murals in addition to groupings of plush seating and bar spaces in the wood-paneled room. Scenes from the Hollywood Hills and the iconic Santa Monica pier to silhouettes of buildings and landmarks adorned the walls. The lighting fixtures' rounded shape was meant to resemble the look of the date window on the Rolex and its magnified lens at a 3 o’clock position.
The greenroom underwent a sustainably minded update. Conveying the vibe of an eco-luxe lodge in a tropical locale, the exclusive Oscars Greenroom not only green front and center but also celebrates the natural world by using sustainably sourced materials in artisan-made design elements.
No matter what the design of the space is each year, one thing is constant when lighting the Oscars Greenroom -- Images by Lighting and Ray Thompson’s use of architectural LEDs and dimmers never fails to achieve a level of lighting that makes everyone feel and look fantastic ... which is always important in Hollywood!
Photos courtesy of Rolex