Art Directors Guild Nominations

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Zahveed
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Post by Zahveed »

I've heard a lot more people talk about The Road than Lovely Bones though.
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Post by dws1982 »

Damien wrote:How the stunning production design of The Road missed out here is beyond me.
Remember what you said about The Lovely Bones in the WGA Nominations thread? You can replace The Lovely Bones with The Road just as easily.
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Post by Damien »

How the stunning production design of The Road missed out here is beyond me.
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Post by Big Magilla »

Hollywood Z wrote:I'm thinking that whichever realm the story mainly takes place on (i.e. - The Lovely Bones primarily in a suburban setting, albeit a 70s suburb, and District 9 taking place in a completely fabricated slum that had to be reminiscent of Apartheid slums) or whichever seemed the most prominent (I'm pretty sure people want to remember Julie and Julia more for the Meryl Streep story and not the Amy Adams story).
Good analysis. You may be right.
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Post by Big Magilla »

In regards to Milk, that film was clearly and authentically set in the 1970s so period was indeed the proper categorization.

I've not seen The Lovely Bones so I don't know if the film-makers retained the 1970s time frame or if it is set in the present allowing for more contemporary designs.




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Post by Hollywood Z »

I'm thinking that whichever realm the story mainly takes place on (i.e. - The Lovely Bones primarily in a suburban setting, albeit a 70s suburb, and District 9 taking place in a completely fabricated slum that had to be reminiscent of Apartheid slums) or whichever seemed the most prominent (I'm pretty sure people want to remember Julie and Julia more for the Meryl Streep story and not the Amy Adams story).

Whichever the setting, the guild's choices are always bizarre, but it's where they lump the movies that seems to reflect how their settings seemed to be viewed. And generally, their good for about three or four of the nominees, so I'll wager that Art Direction will look like this:

- Avatar
- District 9
- Inglorious Basterds
- Nine
- Sherlock Holmes

Yes, I'll hold onto predicting Nine for a Best Art Direction nomination, if only because of the weight that the team of John Myhre/Gordon Sim (2 wins & 2 nominations/1 win) carry with them and that I can't think of a more showier time period setting. The only other ones that could upseat them would be The Lovely Bones, Where the Wild Things Are, Public Enemies or Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

At this point, Avatar, Inglorious Basterds and Sherlock Holmes are guaranteed spots in this category. District 9 could slip in with the sudden rush of steam that it's been picking up with it's PGA nomination and the slum/alien setting could be too Richard III/The Dark Knight for this branch to pass up in that the film used one setting to represent another in a contemporary venue. As stated before, I'll stick with Nine for now, but the other films I mentioned could easily sneak in, especially Where the Wild Things Are.
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Post by Big Magilla »

I'm thinking that since The Lovely Bones takes place in both a fantasy world and the real world that was eligible in both categories.

Julie & Julia, which takes place both in contemporary New York and post-World War II Paris is another film that could have qualified in both categories.

What are the rules? Is a film nominated in the category in which it secures the most votes, such as actors at the Oscars, or the producers or does the guild itself dictate which category a film is eligible in?
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Post by OscarGuy »

Which is unusual since Milk, which takes place in roughly the same period as The Lovely Bones was nominated in Period previously. And why is District 9 fantasy and The Lovely Bones isn't? Doesn't make a lot of sense, IMO.

And wrt the animateds not getting nominated, both WALL-E and Ratatouille have been nominated in Fantasy by the ADG, so it can happen. My guess is with so many artsy animated features and so many fantasy features in general, the voters just couldn't figure out which to honor and ended up leaving off all three (Up inclusive)




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Post by The Original BJ »

Well, Nine is the most obvious omission here, though I can't say it much disappoints me -- its design was kind of empty, IMO. But it is the kind of big period-y movie which would still normally get nominated here. I'm starting to wonder just how badly Nine is going to tank with Oscar.

Obviously my plot to get animated films recognized in Art Direction is failing -- both Fantastic Mr. Fox and Coraline are far more impressive than a lot of the fantasy contenders.

It's odd what's considered period vs. contemporary vs. fantasy. Julie & Julia, half of which takes place in the aughts, is recognized as a period piece. But The Lovely Bones, all of which takes place in the '70's, and which also contains significant fantasy elements, is recognized as contemporary.
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Post by Sabin »

There's usually about four of these that figure into the nominations. I'm guessing Avatar, Inglourious Basterds, Sherlock Holmes, and I guess either Harry Potter or District 9.

Totally confused w/r/t The Lovely Bones as well.
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Post by flipp525 »

How does The Lovely Bones, largely set in either the 1970's or a fantasy netherworld Heaven, end up in the Contemporary category? I'd think it would either end up in Fantasy or Period.

Period Art Direction
A Serious Man
Inglourious Basterds
Julie & Julia
Public Enemies
Sherlock Holmes

Fantasy Art Direction
Avatar
District 9
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Star Trek
Where the Wild Things Are

Contemporary Art Direction
Angels & Demons
The Hangover
The Hurt Locker
The Lovely Bones
Up in the Air
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Post by OscarGuy »

Posted at the link below:

http://www.oscarguy.com/2010....nations
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