Set in the thriving music scene of 1960s New York City, A Complete Unknown chronicles Bob Dylan’s (Timothée Chalamet) early rise, from his arrival in Greenwich Village in 1961 to his historic performance at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival. Directed by James Mangold and based on the book Dylan Goes Electric! by Elijah Wald, the film captures a pivotal period in American history from which a young songwriter emerged as the voice of his generation. Production Designer François Audouy’s meticulous attention to detail was instrumental in recreating Dylan’s gritty, vibrant New York City. Although the film was primarily shot in New Jersey—on location and at Palisade Stages, Kearny—he and his team ensured every element felt true to the period and place. In this article, Audouy shares his creative vision and how Rosco backdrops helped craft the early 1960s New York City look that supported the authenticity of Dylan’s story.
“The goal was to authentically recreate iconic New York City environments from the early 1960s—settings that shaped Bob Dylan’s formative years," said Audouy. "We needed to evoke the era with texture and nuance, capturing a sense of realism and authenticity.” This involved building historically accurate interior sets, including Dylan’s apartment, the Viking Motel, and the Hotel Chelsea, using Rosco backdrops to deliver realistic backgrounds.
The interior of Dylan's Greenwich Village apartment was faithfully recreated down to the smallest detail. The studio set included a 54' x 22' (16m x 7m) Custom Day/Night Rosco SoftDrop, and partial constructions of neighbouring apartments visible through the windows.
Bob Dylan’s apartment set featuring Rosco SoftDrop and hard scenery elements.
Phil Greenstreet, Rosco’s Head of Technical Development, captured the window view at an exterior filming location on Jersey Avenue in Hoboken, New Jersey. The image was then digitally manipulated by RDI to reflect the accurate 1960s New York City skyline.
The final artwork used to produce the Day/Night Rosco SoftDrop for Bob Dylan’s apartment set.
Audouy highlighted the importance of the apartment in the film, describing it as “an extension of Bob Dylan’s character.” He said: “We decided to recreate his apartment exactly as it was, matching every item he owned and transforming the space into a fully interactive environment. You could turn on the stove, make coffee, wash the dishes, and look out the window at the neighbours. The goal was to create a time machine – so that when you stepped inside, you were transported to Bob Dylan’s apartment in 1962.”
Rosco SoftDrop creates views of NYC outside Bob Dylan's apartment set.
Dylan’s suite at the Newport–based Viking Motel was built on a soundstage using a 60' x 18' (18 m x 5 m) Custom Day/Night SoftDrop. Phil Greenstreet photographed the view from the Victorian Motel in Cape May, New Jersey—the location used for the exterior shots of the Viking Motel.
The RDI team digitally edited the image, seamlessly integrating 1960s-era vehicles, signage, furniture, and other period-appropriate details provided by the filmmakers to evoke the atmosphere of a bygone era.
Rosco SoftDrop provides a view of the motel’s courtyard and surrounding area outside Bob Dylan’s Viking Motel room set.
Another key location in Dylan’s narrative is the Hotel Chelsea. While the hotel’s exterior was filmed at the real location in New York City, the interior was created on a soundstage featuring a 69'-2'' x 20'-0'' (21.08m x 6.10m) Rental Day/Night Rosco Backdrop and a neon “OTE” (“HOTEL”) sign mounted to a bay window.
Rosco Rental Backdrop installed inside Dylan’s Hotel Chelsea room set.
The Hotel Chelsea embodied the gritty, bohemian spirit that made the Chelsea neighbourhood of Manhattan in New York City a haven for artists like Dylan Thomas, Arthur Miller, Leonard Cohen, and Andy Warhol. Filmmakers aimed to honor that legacy in every detail. “The hotel’s interior is very chic now, but at the time it was quite grungy and gritty. We wanted to capture that authentic feel, so we recreated it on a soundstage,” Audouy explained.
Rosco Rental Backdrop creates the view of NYC as seen from the windows of Bob Dylan’s room at the Hotel Chelsea.
Audouy shared why they chose Rosco backdrops for this project: “We selected Rosco SoftDrop because of its remarkable photographic fidelity and its ability to maintain a soft, naturalistic feel on camera. The drops needed to integrate seamlessly into our lighting and lensing strategies, and SoftDrop delivered exactly that—blending beautifully into our period sets without ever feeling artificial. They also gave our DP Phedon Papamichael a great degree of control in lighting the backings and bouncing light off of the backings into the interior sets.”
Rosco Backdrops create views outside Bob Dylan’s apartment, the Viking Motel, and
the Hotel Chelsea.
“All three backings performed flawlessly,” said Audouy. “The print quality and fabric texture gave us exactly the depth and realism we needed under varied lighting conditions. Funny story…. I had a great moment with our editor, Andrew Buckland. While chatting about the apartment scenes at one of the early screenings, Drew casually remarked how natural the set looked—he had no idea those scenes were shot on a soundstage. I couldn’t believe it! For me, that’s the highest compliment I could receive. If the editor couldn’t tell, we did our job right.”
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Do you need a New York City background for your next production? The backdrops used in A Complete Unknown are now available for rent from our Madrid, Spain warehouse! |
A Complete Unknown was honored with the Set Decorators Society of America Award for Best Achievement in Décor/Design of a Period Feature Film. The film also received eight Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, and an Art Directors Guild (ADG) nomination for Excellence in Production Design.
Watch A Complete Unknown in cinemas and online.
For more information about François Audouy’s work, visit his website www.audouy.com or follow @audouy on Instagram. To learn more about the product the filmmakers used to create realistic 1960s New York City settings for A Complete Unknown, please visit the SoftDrop product page on our website.
Tatiana Massano August 14, 2025 Questions?
Content Marketing Specialist: Based in the Madrid office, Tatiana is ideally positioned to share inspiring stories of how customers use Rosco products to accomplish their ideas in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
