Cedric Gibbons
After graduating from New York's Art Students League he worked for his architect father, then started film work at Edison Studios in 1915 assisting Hugo Ballin. In 1918 he moved to Goldwyn as art director and, in 1924, began his 32 year stint as supervising art director for some 1500 MGM films, with direct responsibility in well over 150 of those. He designed the Oscar itself, winning it 11 of the 37 times he was nominated for it. Some of his designs influenced American interiors, and it has been argued that he was the most important art director in the history of American cinema.
According to the book "Let's Go to the Movies!" by Lester Gordon published by Santa Monica Press in 1992, the reason his name appears in over 1500 film credits is as follows: "His 1924 contract stated that every film released by MGM in the USA would give him the credit of Art Director, even though others did the majority of the work."
Practically every film classic made by M-G-M between 1924 and 1956 bears his name as art director.
The Wizard of Oz was one of the first films that began in black and white and finished in color.
The transition from black and white to color communicates more than just an appearance it is a metaphor for the film. The story in black and white portrays a time of conflict and the mood is dark and dreary. The color part of the film has overly saturated colors, the mood is lively and depicts alternate reality.
