How Bob Dylan’s New Biopic Recreated New York City Of The ‘60s

Bob Dylan’s latest release, A Complete Unknown, looks like something straight out of the ‘60s, and specifically New York back then. It is set to hit theaters on Christmas Day and promises to induce nostalgia in the older generation looking forward to it.

Production designer François Audouy gets credit for recreating Dylan’s Greenwich Village haunts as it were six decades ago, in collaboration with director James Mangold. Audouy discussed the challenges he faced while creating a set for the biopic and how he finally got it right.

‘A Complete Unknown’ was shot in New Jersey

Over the years, downtown Manhattan has undergone tremendous change, although some spots from the ‘60s have remained intact. Audouy explained that businesses were going to charge up to $1 million to shoot a movie in the street, aside from the fact that the ambiance he needed was missing.

Mangold saved the day by shooting scenes in Jersey City and Hoboken in New Jersey. Audouy admitted that using real buildings was much better than using Artificial Intelligence in some studios. His standard was for the movie to be as real as possible, and not with actors staring into a green screen for a window instead of an actual street with passers-by.

New York City in the 1960s.
by inTheWayWeWere

 

Bob Dylan’s first apartment got a revamp for ‘A Complete Unknown’

Upon getting to Dylan’s first apartment at 161 W. Fourth St. looked unusable at first until Audouy restored it to something similar to the original using shots by Don Hunstein and never-before-seen negatives from Ted Russell.

According to the production designer, they erected a new fully functioning kitchen complete with a stove, coffee maker, fridge, and a few other amenities. Timothee Chalamet, who portrayed Dylan, reportedly hung around the space a lot to get into character. The space was like a time machine for the actor to switch between the 2020s and 1960s as he pleased.