The Oscars 2009: Predictions in Visuals

Oscar.com tells me there are just nine days left 'til the big show, so I'd better get moving on this whole prediction thing. On to the visual categories.

Costume Design
Pretty self-explanatory, this one.

Nominees

• “Australia” (20th Century Fox), Catherine Martin
• “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), Jacqueline West
• “The Duchess” (Paramount Vantage, Pathé and BBC Films), Michael O’Connor
• “Milk” (Focus Features), Danny Glicker
• “Revolutionary Road” (DreamWorks, Distributed by Paramount Vantage), Albert Wolsky

✔Predicted Winner: “The Duchess” (Paramount Vantage, Pathé and BBC Films), Michael O’Connor
One of the things the title character was known for was her trend-setting ways. Unsurprisingly, the costumes were intricate and gorgeous. The other nominees all did a nice job as well, but the designers for The Duchess had the most work cut out for them, and they succeeded beautifully.

Art Direction
Again, from my limited research, Art Direction appears to encompass the overall look of the physical aspects of the movie (most notably, the sets).

Nominees

• “Changeling” (Universal), Art Direction: James J. Murakami, Set Decoration: Gary Fettis
• “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), Art Direction: Donald Graham Burt, Set Decoration: Victor J. Zolfo
• “The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.), Art Direction: Nathan Crowley, Set Decoration: Peter Lando
• “The Duchess” (Paramount Vantage, Pathé and BBC Films), Art Direction: Michael Carlin, Set Decoration: Rebecca Alleway
• “Revolutionary Road” (DreamWorks, Distributed by Paramount Vantage), Art Direction: Kristi Zea, Set Decoration: Debra Schutt

✔Predicted Winner: “The Duchess” (Paramount Vantage, Pathé and BBC Films), Art Direction: Michael Carlin, Set Decoration: Rebecca Alleway
I haven't seen Changeling quite yet, so it's possible (though doubtful) that it will yet blow my mind and I'll have to come back and change this. But, for now, I'm giving this one to The Duchess as well. All other nominees were entirely adequate, but the sets and overall look of The Duchess was, again, gorgeous.

Make-up
Another self-explanatory category.

Nominees

• “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), Greg Cannom
• “The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.), John Caglione, Jr. and Conor O’Sullivan
• “Hellboy II: The Golden Army” (Universal), Mike Elizalde and Thom Floutz

✔Predicted Winner: “Hellboy II: The Golden Army” (Universal), Mike Elizalde and Thom Floutz
I know the Academy doesn't like to give awards to comic book movies, but I think this really has to be the fair winner. It appeared to me that a grand portion of Benjamin Button's aging effects were done with CGI (and a lot of the time, you could tell). Hellboy II was a true spectacle for the art of make-up.

Visual Effects
And here we have the special effects category.

Nominees

• “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton and Craig Barron
• “The Dark Knight” (Warner Bros.), Nick Davis, Chris Corbould, Tim Webber and Paul Franklin
• “Iron Man” (Paramount and Marvel Entertainment), John Nelson, Ben Snow, Dan Sudick and Shane Mahan

✔Predicted Winner: “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (Paramount and Warner Bros.), Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton and Craig Barron
This was a tough one. Part of me thinks that Iron Man deserves it, but, despite the fact that I knew I was watching CGI effects, I really was rather impressed by what they managed to do with Benjamin Button. I think this one could really go either way and still be fair, but I think Oscar will lean toward the bait, and that's Benjamin Button.