The 26th Annual Art Directors Guild Awards ceremony will take place on Saturday, March 5th, 2022.
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:
Period Feature Film: Adam Stockhausen, for The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening SunThe French Dispatch
The work here is meticulous and varied, and it’s a full and rich work of design beyond set decoration proper, as is usually the case with Wes Anderson films.
Fantasy Feature Film: Jade Healy, for The Green Knight
Going beyond “simple” set decoration, the production design of The Green Knight presented a rich visual language that is an important element in creating the world and telling the story. (Not seen: Ghostbusters: Afterlife.)
Contemporary Feature Film: Nelson Coates, for In the Heights
Recreating a hyper-realistic and colorful neighborhood that could easily be transformed into almost magical sets for the musical numbers is no small feat. (Not seen: Candyman.)
Animated Feature Film: Paul Felix, Mingjue Helen Chen, Cory Loftis, for Raya and the Last Dragon
A very tough category, as Encanto would be as worthy a winner. But at the end of the day, the variety of environments, all of them wonderfully brought to life, is what tipped the scale in favor of Raya and the Last Dragon. (Not seen: Sing 2.)