OVP: Best Art Direction (2008)
The Nominees Were...
James J. Murakami and Gary Fettis, Changeling
Donald Graham Burt and Victor J. Zolfo, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Nathan Crowley and Peter Lando, The Dark Knight
Michael Carlin and Rebecca Alleway, The Duchess
Kristi Zea and Debra Schutt, Revolutionary Road
Donald Graham Burt and Victor J. Zolfo, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Nathan Crowley and Peter Lando, The Dark Knight
Michael Carlin and Rebecca Alleway, The Duchess
Kristi Zea and Debra Schutt, Revolutionary Road
My Thoughts: We finish off the Visual tech categories with Art Direction (now called Production Design), which typically has two things that distinguish it. One is that it almost always mirrors the Best Costume category (3/5 in 2008, which is actually lower than your average year but still a pretty high propensity) and the other is that it loves big lavish sets, particularly ones that feature drawing rooms and lush grounds. This last factor, however, particularly considering that the movies are 80% period dramas, is actually quite incorrect. In a nice twist of events only one of these nominees was from the European country-house bucket, and as a result we have a pretty diverse selection of nominees to choose from.
We'll start in that English nominee, since we're already on the subject and because I love a good segway: the costume-drama The Duchess. The sets of The Duchess aren't quite as ornate or lavish as the millinery, but we are not spared much expense in this department as well. Frequently we find ourselves in gaudy Baroque-style carriages and ballrooms, and the sets are actually quite impressive. I refuse to believe that bedrooms were as perfectly dusted as they are in films (one of the things I grade on is if the set direction is realistic in the world, as well as on aesthetics and overall immersive qualities of the set to the movie), but overall the sets don't actually have the same overpowering issue that the costumes in the film did, and the recreations of country houses are immaculate.
Like literally every category we have hit so far (we will have our first category where it's absent coming up in the next OVP write-up), Benjamin Button makes an appearance. Here we have a case not only of period and drawing rooms (though admittedly not always English), but also a case of the most sets being nominated. This isn't always a bad thing, and in particular I love the romantic ambience of the outdoor scenes and the way that the filmmakers utilize the set to show the passage of times (the doors seems to reflect time periods in a way that I didn't find instantly obvious), but occasionally we are left with gigantic rooms that don't feel lived-in, particularly when they should feel that way. The sets of the film are gorgeous, but they don't pop in a meaningful way, certainly not in the way I would hope from an Oscar-winning film (it's worth noting that this lived-in quality is going to be a tougher-and-tougher sell the further back we get, as it's actually something film has borrowed more from recent cable dramas than having always celebrated). Still, the sets are beautiful, it has to be said.
The Dark Knight is an interesting choice not only because it's a modern film in a category that loathes such things, but also because there really isn't any great new pieces to go with in the film. The movie is shot so frequently outdoors, and most of those sets are either bridges or buildings that we don't investigate. There's the batcave, of course, and the interiors of the police precinct, but the film doesn't do much in terms of traditional work for Art Direction, and I'm surprised it got cited because unlike a film like, say, Gravity, the sets aren't really compelling for their attention to detail and accuracy (Gravity's nomination was also a surprise, but a very pleasant one). Overall this is certainly the weirdest nomination and may have gained its inclusion both for being in a weak year and for the way it tries to juxtapose different lairs of the villains.
Revolutionary Road has that whole suburban repression thing going on that, again, would be so important to a show like Mad Men going forward. The strange thing about Revolutionary Road is how much the art direction actually stands out, and not just the obvious scenes but the rows of typewriters and the room where Frank's mistress lives, all filled with softness and femininity, while their suburban home is perfectly cleaned and immaculate, trying to create a world that cannot possibly be sustained. Revolutionary Road genuinely uses its set direction to prove a point with its characters, and you see the occasional messiness that erupts as their marriage starts to fall apart, subtly aiding the characters onscreen. Overall I think this is the sort of nomination that probably wouldn't have happened with more competition, but it's definitely one the Oscars should be proud of citing.
The final inclusion is Changeling, another film that really uses its surroundings well. The minimalist approach of the film aides us in trying to get inside of Christine, whose entire world is her son. We saw that in the fine Cinematography, but the set directors are no slouches here. They give us a home that is bare, really just surrounding Christine's love and adoration of her child, and I distinctly remember the flashback scene being carefully choreographed so that not only do we get a sense of where Walter might have been, but that the set and ambience gives us some sense of closure even if the movie doesn't. It's a great trick, and while occasionally the buildings don't feel quite real (the matte work in some scenes may have needed a touch-up), this is another strong citation by the Academy.
We'll start in that English nominee, since we're already on the subject and because I love a good segway: the costume-drama The Duchess. The sets of The Duchess aren't quite as ornate or lavish as the millinery, but we are not spared much expense in this department as well. Frequently we find ourselves in gaudy Baroque-style carriages and ballrooms, and the sets are actually quite impressive. I refuse to believe that bedrooms were as perfectly dusted as they are in films (one of the things I grade on is if the set direction is realistic in the world, as well as on aesthetics and overall immersive qualities of the set to the movie), but overall the sets don't actually have the same overpowering issue that the costumes in the film did, and the recreations of country houses are immaculate.
Like literally every category we have hit so far (we will have our first category where it's absent coming up in the next OVP write-up), Benjamin Button makes an appearance. Here we have a case not only of period and drawing rooms (though admittedly not always English), but also a case of the most sets being nominated. This isn't always a bad thing, and in particular I love the romantic ambience of the outdoor scenes and the way that the filmmakers utilize the set to show the passage of times (the doors seems to reflect time periods in a way that I didn't find instantly obvious), but occasionally we are left with gigantic rooms that don't feel lived-in, particularly when they should feel that way. The sets of the film are gorgeous, but they don't pop in a meaningful way, certainly not in the way I would hope from an Oscar-winning film (it's worth noting that this lived-in quality is going to be a tougher-and-tougher sell the further back we get, as it's actually something film has borrowed more from recent cable dramas than having always celebrated). Still, the sets are beautiful, it has to be said.
The Dark Knight is an interesting choice not only because it's a modern film in a category that loathes such things, but also because there really isn't any great new pieces to go with in the film. The movie is shot so frequently outdoors, and most of those sets are either bridges or buildings that we don't investigate. There's the batcave, of course, and the interiors of the police precinct, but the film doesn't do much in terms of traditional work for Art Direction, and I'm surprised it got cited because unlike a film like, say, Gravity, the sets aren't really compelling for their attention to detail and accuracy (Gravity's nomination was also a surprise, but a very pleasant one). Overall this is certainly the weirdest nomination and may have gained its inclusion both for being in a weak year and for the way it tries to juxtapose different lairs of the villains.
Revolutionary Road has that whole suburban repression thing going on that, again, would be so important to a show like Mad Men going forward. The strange thing about Revolutionary Road is how much the art direction actually stands out, and not just the obvious scenes but the rows of typewriters and the room where Frank's mistress lives, all filled with softness and femininity, while their suburban home is perfectly cleaned and immaculate, trying to create a world that cannot possibly be sustained. Revolutionary Road genuinely uses its set direction to prove a point with its characters, and you see the occasional messiness that erupts as their marriage starts to fall apart, subtly aiding the characters onscreen. Overall I think this is the sort of nomination that probably wouldn't have happened with more competition, but it's definitely one the Oscars should be proud of citing.
The final inclusion is Changeling, another film that really uses its surroundings well. The minimalist approach of the film aides us in trying to get inside of Christine, whose entire world is her son. We saw that in the fine Cinematography, but the set directors are no slouches here. They give us a home that is bare, really just surrounding Christine's love and adoration of her child, and I distinctly remember the flashback scene being carefully choreographed so that not only do we get a sense of where Walter might have been, but that the set and ambience gives us some sense of closure even if the movie doesn't. It's a great trick, and while occasionally the buildings don't feel quite real (the matte work in some scenes may have needed a touch-up), this is another strong citation by the Academy.
Other Precursor Contenders: The Art Directors Guild gives us fifteen nominees to sort through, in three separate categories: contemporary, fantasy, and period. Frequently the Period nominees are where you find the bulk of the nominees, but that's actually not as much the case here as only Changeling and the victorious Benjamin Button made the list, with Doubt, Frost/Nixon, and Milk also being nominated. Fantasy had The Dark Knight on-top, besting WALL-E, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and The Spiderwick Chronicles, while Contemporary honored Slumdog Millionaire over Gran Torino, The Wrestler, Burn After Reading, and Quantum of Solace. The BAFTA Awards were much more similar to the Oscars, giving Benjamin Button the top prize and including all but The Duchess (in favor of Slumdog Millionaire) amongst Oscar's nominees. As you can tell, Slumdog was probably in sixth place (and quite frankly I'm kind of stunned it didn't land the nomination considering the constantly changing sets). It's worth noting, though, that at the time Costume/Art Direction were voted on by the same branch which may be why the much-lauded costumes of The Duchess could have translated over to a surprise nomination here.
Films I Would Have Nominated: This list begins and ends with WALL-E, which is an art directors' dream, and actually has a fascinating slew of sets. If this film had been live-action instead of animated it would have been a slam dunk in this category. I also would have included the busy sets of Milk, as the recreations of San Francisco offices and the Castro feel deeply realistic. There's also something to be said for the storybook magic of The Spiderwick Chronicles, which I might have included as well (I loved the way that it juxtaposed the Nickelodeon-style expectations of a suburban house with the crazy wonder of the Black/DiTerlizzi series), though the film's childlike nature was never going to sell with Oscar.
Oscar’s Choice: The bigger the better with Oscar, so Benjamin Button and its decades of ornate houses was no match for runners-up The Duchess and Changeling.
My Choice: A tough decision actually-I think WALL-E or Milk could have topped all of these nominations in my mind, but since AMPAS didn't want to go there, I'm going to select Revolutionary Road, a film not only with great set design, but also one that didn't need to be as good as it did. I'll follow that with The Duchess, Changeling, Benjamin Button, and in its first last place, The Dark Knight.
Those are my thoughts-how about yours? Are you on my team with giving the suburban perfection of Revolutionary Road the Oscar or are you jumping on the Benjamin Button wagon? Do you wish that animated films would be better considered by AMPAS in visual tech categories? And does anyone else remember The Spiderwick Chronicles? Share your thoughts on these questions (and your vote for Best Art Direction 2008) in the comments!
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