There are no big surprises in this morning’s list of Art Directors Guild nominees — though I guess leaving “Oz the Great and Powerful” out of the Fantasy category is an unexpected display of good taste. All the expected Oscar contenders for Best Production Design showed up in one of the Guild’s three categories, notably the Period field, where Judy Becker’s lurid 70s decor for “American Hustle,” Catherine Martin’s Jazz Age excess for “The Great Gatsby” and Adam Stockhausen’s tangibly weathered plantation sets for “12 Years a Slave” will presumably duke it out for the win. (Nice, too, to see Jess Gonchor’s gorgeously faded recreation of early-60s New York in “Inside Llewyn Davis” make the cut.)
If there’s a spoiler from the Contemporary category, it’ll be the sleek IKEA-style futurism of K.K. Barrett’s work on “Her” — which some will argue belongs more accurately in the Fantasy field. Then again, that category looks likely to be won by Andy Nicholson’s remarkable space-station recreations in “Gravity” — which some will argue belongs motre accurately in the Contemporary field, given that the film is not a fantasy. So I guess it all evens out. Among its rivals in that category, I’m particularly pleased to see Darren Gilford nominated for the oh-so-chic sci-fi environment of “Oblivion” — say what you like about the film, but it presents a future I practically want to eat.
No egregious omissions then, though how I wish the rickety, labyrinthine funhouse of “The Conjuring” could have shown up in the period category. Neither would I have complained if Gonchor had been a double nominees for his chalk-and-cheese work in “Inside Llewyn Davis” and “The Lone Ranger.” So much good work in the category this year.
The awards will be presented on February 8. Full list of film and TV nominees below — including the awards show category, where last year’s Oscar are not nominated. Ha.
Excellence in Production Design – Period Film
“American Hustle” (Judy Becker)
“The Great Gatsby” (Catherine Martin)
“Inside Llewyn Davis (Jess Gonchor)
“Saving Mr. Banks” (Michael Corenblith)
“12 Years a Slave” (Adam Stockhausen)
Excellence in Production Design – Contemporary Film
“August: Osage County” (David Gropman)
“Blue Jasmine” (Santo Loquasto)
“Captain Phillips” (Paul Kirby)
“Her” (K.K. Barrett)
“The Wolf of Wall Street” (Bob Shaw)
Excellence in Production Design – Fantasy Film
“Elysium” (Philip Ivey)
“Gravity” (Andy Nicholson)
“The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” (Dan Hennah)
“Oblivion” (Darrel Gilford)
“Star Trek Into Darkness” (Scott Chambliss)
Excellence in Production Design – TV Movie or Miniseries
“American Horror Story: Coven” (Mark Worthington)
“Behind the Candelabra” (Howard Cummings)
“Bonnie and Clyde” (Derek R. Hill)
“Mob City” (Gregory Melton)
“Phil Spector” (Patrizia von Brandenstein)
Excellence in Production Design – One-Hour Single-Camera Series
“Boardwalk Empire” (Bill Groom)
“Breaking Bad” (Mark Freeborn)
“Downton Abbey” (Donal Woods)
“Game of Thrones” (Gemma Jackson)
“Mad Men” (Dan Bishop)
Excellence in Production Design – Half-Hour Single-Camera Series
“Arrested Development” (Dan Butts)
“Californication” (Ray Yamagata)
“Modern Family (Richard Berg)
“Parks and Recreation” (Ian Phillips)
“Veep” (Jim Gloster)
Excellence in Production Design – Multi-Camera, Variety or Unscripted Series
“The Big Bang Theory” (John Shaffner)
“How I Met Your Mother” (Steve Olson)
“Portlandia” (Tyler Robinson)
“Saturday Night Live” (Akira Yoshimura, Eugene Lee, Keith Ian Raywood, N. Joseph Detullio)
“The Voice” (Anton Goss, James Pearse Connelly)
Excellence in Production Design – Awards, Music or Game Shows
“American Music Awards 2013” (Joe Stewart)
2013 Billboard Music Awards” (Brian Stonestreet)
“65th Primetimne Emmy Awards” (Brian Stonestreet)
“67th Annual Tony Awards” (Steve Bass)
“Superbowl XLVII Halftime Show Starring Beyonce” (Bruce Rodgers)
Excellence in Production Design – Short Format Live-Action Series
“Battlestar Galactica: Blood and Chrome” (Bryan Kane)
“Blue” (Rachel Myers)
“Daybreak” (Stuart Blatt)
“H+: The Digital Series” (Andres Cubillan)
“10,000 Days” (Mimi Gramatky)
Excellence in Production Design – Commercials, PSAs, Promos or Music Videos
Arcade Fire: “Reflektor” (Anastasia Masaro)
Call of Duty: Ghosts: “Epic Night Out” (Todd Cherniawsky)
Diehard: “The Getaway” (Tom Wilkins)
Infiniti: “Factory of Life” (Chistopher Glass)
Justin Timberlake ft. Jay-Z: “Suit and Tie” (Richard Bridgland)