The Art Directors Guild presents the best in production design in three categories covering period films, sci-fi and fantasy films and contemporary-set films. The period award is the most closely aligned with the Oscars.

ART DIRECTORS GUILD AWARDS

Best Period Art Direction

The Grand Budapest Hotel (Wesley, Peter, Tripp, Thomas)
The Imitation Game (RU:Wesley, RU:Peter, RU:Tripp, RU:Thomas)
Inherent Vice
The Theory of Everything
Unbroken

Wesley Lovell: This is one of the few slam-dunk predictions anyone will make this year. There is no competition for Wes Anderson’s masterful production.
Peter J. Patrick: Either film could win, but the more varied art direction of The Grand Budapest Hotel would seem likely to get more votes than The Imitation Game.
Tripp Burton: The Grand Budapest Hotel seems like a lock for most every award in this category this year: it is a popular film with detailed, period art direction. If it doesn’t win here, I’m guessing The Imitation Game would sneak in.
Thomas LaTourette: Wes Anderson’s films seem like they would be perfect fits for winning here, but I am not sure that one has been nominated before. This year I think one will go on to win, with the stylized sets of between-the-wars opulence in The Grand Budapest Hotel easily trumping the early computer world of The Imitation Game.

Best Fantasy Art Direction

Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Guardians of the Galaxy (RU:Wesley, RU:Thomas)
Interstellar (Peter, Thomas, RU:Tripp)
Into the Woods (Wesley, Tripp, RU:Peter)

Wesley Lovell: Will art directors support their digital counterparts or will they stick with tradition. There are three primary contenders for this award with any one of them possible to win. Interstellar is probably the more painterly of the two CGI film in the primary competition and might have a leg up on Guardians of the Galaxy if it weren’t for that film’s bountiful and colorful array of worlds and sets. Ultimately, though, I think they may go for traditional by picking Into the Woods, though it’s a weak front-runner to me.
Peter J. Patrick: I’m assuming they’ll go more for something altogether new here than for just new sets in sequels with the more elaborate Interstellar beating the inventive but closely contained set of Into the Woods.
Tripp Burton: For the past seven years, this award has gone to an Oscar nominee, so that would seem to eliminate the three Summer blockbusters in the category. Between the lush fairy tale world of Into the Woods and the space visions of Interstellar, my money would go on the fairy tales.
Thomas LaTourette: Christopher Nolan’s films have done well here in the past, so I could see Interstellar winning. Guardians of the Galaxy could pull an upset, but that does not seem too likely.

Best Contemporary Art Direction

American Sniper (Peter, Thomas, RU:Tripp)
Birdman (Tripp)
Foxcatcher
Gone Girl (Wesley)
Nightcrawler (RU:Wesley, RU:Peter, RU:Thomas)

Wesley Lovell: When you look at the sets of Gone Girl, they speak volumes about the film’s protagonists. It may seem like a clinical production, but it’s richly detailed down to the slightest smudge of blood in a tidy suburban dwelling to the shabbiness of a ramshackle childhood home. I can see a case being made for the dark, dingy Nightcrawler or the war-torn settings of American Sniper.
Peter J. Patrick: Just a hunch, but I have a feeling they’ll pass on the theatrical design of Birdman and go for either American Sniper or Nightcrawler, probably in that order.
Tripp Burton: This category almost never lines us with any other awards of the season, so there is always a lot of mystery around this list. If the new found surge of popularity of Birdman continues, it could find itself here. The Mideast setting of American Sniper, or the impeccably designed mansion of Foxcatcher could give it a run for its money, though.
Thomas LaTourette: American Sniper seems like it will have the most varied art direction which could lead to its winning. The stylish if creepy Nightcrawler may give it some decent competition. The backstage world of Birdman will probably be passed over for a movie that has more sets to work with, though it might prove to be in the mix.