Anything can happen with the Art Directors Guild. Sure, they are an adequate precursor, but sometimes they go out on a limb (as in the case of Oscar non-nominee The Curse of the Golden Flower). This year, however, I think they’ll stick with more Oscar-friendly fare and give us a preview of what could win the Oscar.

ART DIRECTORS GUILD (ADG) AWARDS

Best Period Art Direction

Anonymous
The Artist (RU:Wesley / Tripp)
The Help
Hugo (Wesley / RU:Tripp / RU:Peter)
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (Peter)

Wesley Lovell: This is one category I would be shocked if Hugo loses. Recreating the sets and props of Georges Méliès’ workshop is enough to snag it the trophy, but the beautiful train station and dark, oily clockworks are fantastical enough to elevate it far above the competition (but why isn’t this competing in Fantasy Art Direction?). While I’d like to say Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy could upset, the design work is far too subdued to appeal to a group that loves its opulence. Which is why I’m surprised I didn’t choose Anonymous for the runner-up. It’s got all the earmarks of a classic Art Direction winner. However it, like Tinker was not nominated at the Oscars. The same goes for The Help. This leads me to believe that they may not be as favored as we would normally expect. I think the black-and-white recreations of familiar locations and styles of the silent era could appeal to nostalgic voters. But Hugo should to since it was set just prior to The Artist in film history chronography.

Best Fantasy Art Direction

The Adventures of Tintin (Peter)
Captain America: The First Avenger (RU:Wesley / RU:Tripp / RU:Peter)
Cowboys & Aliens
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 (Wesley / Tripp)
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

Wesley Lovell: This is the last chance voters will have to honor the vast originality of Harry Potter. The ability to retain stylistic elemetns across 8 feature films is staggering and this could be one of the few tribute awards the film receives this year. The Adventures of Tintin suffers for being animated and Pirates of the Caribbean is inventive, but not as storied as Potter. Cowboys & Aliens‘s western settings mixed with alien motifs could be a champion here, but I think Captain America‘s World War II ambience will appeal more to the ADG.

Best Contemporary Art Direction

Bridesmaids (RU:Wesley / RU:Tripp)
The Descendants
Drive (Peter)
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Wesley / Tripp / RU:Peter)

Wesley Lovell: Although Costume Design is a much easier category to predict for the guilds, the Art Directors make it very challening with their contemporary design. The design work in The Descendants is probably the most pretty and varied, but none of these contenders really scream award winner. I’m probably the most out of sorts trying to figure out who should or will win this category. I can’t exactly decide, so I’m going with the most stylized and glossy film of the bunch: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with the estate, bridal shop and other locations of Bridesmaids as the runner-up. But, it could easily go to any of the others. The Descendants has a lot of gorgeous locales to look at and Drive is stylized like Tattoo, but a bit more muted. As for Extremely Loud, unless they’ve recreated some physical locations of the 9/11 tragedy, I don’t think they have much of a shot.