There are lots of past Oscar winners and nominees in the mix this year. Among them are Martin Scorsese's frequent production designer Dante Ferreti and set dresser Franscesca Lo Shiavo (winners for
The Aviator and
Sweeney Todd). With Scorsese's
Hugo Cabret, they'll recreate 1930's Paris. With Rob Richardson behind the camera, you know the sets are gonna get the best possible presentation.
Will this finally be the year the Academy awards Stuart Craig for the
Harry Potter series? Having been nominated for three of the seven films thus far, including last year's installment, many are suggesting that AMPAS may want to tip their hat to the franchise with a win, and this upcoming year is their last chance to do it, and no category would be more appropriate than Art Direction.
Jack Fisk and Jim Erickson (nominated for
There Will Be Blood) are heading the production design and set decoration of
Water for Elephants, based on the bestseller set on a Depression era traveling circus. The period detail of 1930s America and the sparkly glitz of the Greatest Show on Earth might prove a winning combination with the art directors branch.
Finally, Mark Ricker and Rena DeAngelo will produce the look and feel of 1960s small-town Mississippi in
The Help. DeAngelo's Emmy-winning work on Mad Men proves she has the detail of the period down pat, and if it ends up a popular film, design nominations could fall into place.
War films don't intuitively come to mind when one thinks about art direction, but it requires just as much work and creativity. Rick Carter (who won two years ago for
Avatar) is designing the sets for Steven Spielberg's
War Horse. If the movie turns out to be a big hit with the Academy, a nomination here would not surprise me.
Predicted five:
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
The Help
Hugo Cabret
War Horse
Water for Elephants
Also consider: Albert Nobbs,
Captain America,
The Conspirator,
A Dangerous Method,
Jane Eyre,
Pirates 4,
Sherlock Holmes 2,
The Tree of Life.
