About the Exhibition

The 1939 film The Wizard of Oz was a production of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), a giant in the Classic Hollywood studio system. Emblematic of an era in which movie magic was created in factory-like settings, MGM’s distinct studio departments represent a cross-section of cinematic crafts.

The Art of Moviemaking: The Wizard of Oz offered a behind-the-curtain look at both the challenges faced by the film’s makers, as well as the ingenious solutions crafted by MGM’s thousands of creative and professional team members. The gallery explored the contributions of all these cinematic crafts through its material culture, such as original script drafts, drawings, props, costumes, and a Technicolor camera, as well as interoffice communications and production photography. In some instances—as with Dorothy’s ruby slippers—what began with one designer’s imagination has since become a timeless icon of the silver screen.

It takes a village to make a movie. Using a single movie as a case study, The Art of Moviemaking gallery explores the importance of each role on and off set, in front of the camera and behind it––revealing individual cinematic contributions in screenwriting, casting, hair and makeup, costumes, production design, special effects, sound, music, cinematography, editing, and publicity, not to mention the work of actors, directors, producers, and executives.