The Panem we knew was one of glossy, high-tech tyranny. But 'The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes' faced a unique challenge: winding the clock back 64 years to build a world that was just as oppressive, but far less polished.
A Brutalist, Post-War Vision
When audiences first entered Panem
with Katniss Everdeen, they saw a nation defined by extremes: the glittering, garish Capitol and the impoverished, soot-covered Districts. For 'The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes,' the task was to show the roots of that reality. Set just ten years after the brutal civil war that led to the Games, this is a Panem in reconstruction. Director Francis Lawrence and Production Designer Uli Hanisch envisioned a world shaped by its recent trauma. Hanisch, a Berlin-based designer, drew heavily from post-war European history to create the film's aesthetic. The core idea was to blend architectural styles from authoritarian regimes, including Soviet Russia and 1940s Germany, to create a Capitol that felt both imposing and scarred. This wasn't the decadent city of the 74th Hunger Games; this was a capital city still bearing the marks of conflict, a place where rubble still lined some streets and the dominant architecture was Brutalism—a style prioritizing raw, imposing concrete structures over ornamentation.
Rebuilding the Capitol
The Capitol of Coriolanus Snow's youth is a city caught between past and future. It's a world of 'reconstruction-era' austerity. To achieve this look, the production team utilized real locations in Berlin and Wrocław, Poland, whose histories are baked into their very foundations. Locations like Berlin's Karl-Marx-Allee provided the grand, intimidating scale needed for the city's avenues, which were then digitally enhanced with war-torn patinas and half-finished buildings. The goal, according to Hanisch, was to find a balance between intimidation and seduction—the very forces pulling at the young Snow. The interiors reflect this duality. While the Snow family apartment is stately, it's also noticeably drab and faded, hinting at their fallen fortunes in a post-war economy. This approach extended to the technology. The drones, for instance, were given a 'Steampunk, Art Deco' look with warm brass colors, feeling more rudimentary and mechanical than the sleek, invisible tech of Katniss's time.
A More Rudimentary Games
The 10th Hunger Games were a far cry from the sophisticated, bio-engineered arenas of the later trilogies. This was a more primitive and arguably more brutal affair, and its design had to reflect that. Instead of a high-tech control room, the Gamemakers operate in a more grounded environment. The arena itself is a battered, enclosed stadium, not a sprawling, simulated wilderness. Tributes are housed not in a luxurious tower but in the monkey house at the Capitol Zoo, a decision made to explicitly dehumanize them. This rawness was a deliberate choice. Director Francis Lawrence wanted the film to feel grounded and tactile, moving away from an over-reliance on green screens. The threats are less fantastical, too. The rainbow-colored snakes created by Dr. Gaul are a form of early genetic mutation, but their horror comes from their slithering, physical presence, a monumental task for the visual effects team to make feel real and interactive. The entire event is broadcast in black-and white, a stylistic choice that firmly plants this early version of the Games in a bygone era.
Costumes of Controlled Americana
Just as the sets told a story of a nation rebuilding, the costumes, designed by Trish Summerville (who also worked on 'Catching Fire'), had to reflect a different era of Capitol fashion. Summerville and Lawrence decided on a look inspired by 1940s and '50s postwar Americana. The opulence is toned down, replaced by a much more classic, controlled, and almost communistic style, especially in group settings like the Academy uniforms. This Panem is not yet the peacocking society it will become. Characters like Tigris Snow represent the old money families trying to maintain appearances; her clothes are wellmade but have a mended quality, signaling their financial decline. For the Districts, the look is even more stark. District 12 was meant to evoke the feel of 1930s and '40s Appalachia, with muted,
coal dusted colors. Lucy Gray Baird's iconic rainbow dress stands out,
a splash of Vaudeville inspired color against a grim backdrop.
Even this costume,
however,
was designed with purpose,
featuring nods to Katniss and Primrose flowers,
creating a visual thread that connects the two eras.
