The 24th Annual Art Directors Guild Awards ceremony will take place on Saturday, February 1st, 2020.

As I have been doing for a few years, as we get into the awards season, I’ll post the fictional ballots for some of the guild awards, showing what my vote would be if I had one. I will, as a rule, abstain from my fictional vote if I haven’t seen at least half of the nominees. And to be perfectly clear, I’m not a member of any of these guilds and organizations.

The list of nominees can be seen here.

Here it goes:

Excellence in Production Design for a Feature Film – Period: Dennis Gassner, for 1917

Gassner and his team didn’t go for beauty in the usual sense. However, it is very detailed work, one that had to accommodate the way 1917 was shot, many times creating environments that would work seen from all directions. (Not seen: Jojo Rabbit.)

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Excellence in Production Design for a Feature Film – Fantasy: Rick Carter and Kevin Jenkins, for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

The team creates (and recreates) many sumptuously detailed and varied environments in the planet-hopping entry to the franchise.

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Excellence in Production Design for a Feature Film – Contemporary: Lee Ha-Jun, for Parasite

The two very distinct houses that appear in most of this story are not only very well built, but almost two additional characters in the film as well. (Not seen: Us.)

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Excellence in Production Design for a Feature Film – Animated Film: Bob Pauley, for Toy Story 4

This film has a number of beautiful and detailed sets, but one of them alone (the antique shop) is so detailed that it would justify the choice by itself. (Not seen: Abominable.)