The Academy Award nominations for Art Direction have been announced! Stuart Craig was once again nominated for his very thorough work on Harry Potter. Laurence Bennett and Anne Seibel are both coming into the race with impressive past work. Dante Feretti has already won two Oscars for Art Direction on The Aviator (2004) and Sweeney Todd (2007). If we’re to judge the future on the past, Rick Carter is probably the favorite – and I especially like the use of horse race metaphors for the art director of a movie about a horse – but with his winning the Oscar last year for Avatar and his track record (oops, I did it again) of nominations and amazing sets for movies like Forrest Gump, it wouldn’t be a shock if he won. Although, if I’m going to make my pick, I choose Anne Seibel for Midnight in Paris. I’m a sucker for period set designs and the richness of her design transported Owen Wilson and the audience directly into the Golden Age of 1920s Paris.
The Artist
Laurence Bennett (Production Design); Robert Gould (Set Decoration)
Jean Dujardin as George Valentin in The Artist
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
Stuart Craig (Production Design); Stephenie McMillan (Set Decoration)
Matthew Lewis as Neville Longbottom in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
Hugo
Dante Ferretti (Production Design); Francesca Lo Schiavo (Set Decoration)
Asa Butterfield as Hugo Cabret in Hugo
Midnight in Paris
Anne Seibel (Production Design); Hélène Dubreuil (Set Decoration)
Marion Cotillard and Owen Wilson as Adriana and Gil in Midnight in Paris
War Horse
Rick Carter (Production Design); Lee Sandales (Set Decoration)
Celine Buckens as Emilie in War Horse
Upstaged by Design 