Two of last week’s Academy Award nominees offered seemingly diametrically opposing examples of building theme and character: the understated and the overstated. Consolata Boyle’s subtle but particular work on Stephen Frears’s “The Queen” was singled out by the costume designers’ branch, while Philip Glass’s rolling, tension-inducing score for Richard Eyre’s “Notes on a Scandal” ultimately out-lasted his more classic work on Neil Burger’s “The Illusionist.” I recently had the opportunity to speak with both artists about their Oscar-nominated work.

It goes without saying that costume design and music composition are different disciplines entirely, but every element of a filmmaking experience serves the whole above and beyond the part. Both Ms. Boyle and Mr. Glass had the challenge of crafting their work to suit the very different sides of the characters in their films; both encountered situations unique to these particular projects; and both of their achievements were clearly respected by their peers, as they now find themselves in the thick of an Academy Awards race.

Philip Glass, whose enthusiasm and love for music permeated our discussion, has been through the nomination experience before. He was previously cited for Martin Scorsese’s “Kundun” in 1997 (a year during which he was destined to lose to James Horner’s compositions for “Titanic”) and Stephen Daldry’s “The Hours” in 2002 (the year Elliot Goldenthal took the award home for “Frida”).

However, his claim to fame is not his cinematic filmography, but rather the classical work he has composed for symphonies, concertos and operas. He ultimately downplays the differences between these media.

“Producers and studios definitely have a role in composing for film,” he acknowledges. But he insists that this does not affect his approach to the work, rather stating that “the inspiration for the music will come from the imagery and the story, whether it’s dance or film or opera.”

In “Notes on a Scandal,” things are not always what they seem. As much as the inter-play of the characters is about deception, Glass’s work on the soundtrack is about reflecting that deceit. Judi Dench’s Barbara, for instance, was of particular importance, as the music surrounding the character had to have many different emotions to it, depending on the particular time in the narrative.

“The film is very much a story of revelation,” Glass says. “What you find out at the end is not what you see in the beginning. I always had to have that at the forefront of my mind.”

In similar fashion, Consolata Boyle had to be aware that the characters she was outfitting in “The Queen” held some cards to their chest, while showing precious few. She was tasked with balancing the private and public lives of some of the most photographed people in the world.

“They were recorded to a frightening degree,” she notes. But while in some instances the attempt was made to emulate archive footage as closely as possible, this was not the case for scenes in the Royal Family’s Scottish retreat, Balmoral.

“There was a need to create a very private world, so it was an act of imagination,” Boyle recollects. “But it also had to be coherent and ring true, so I had to speak to a lot of people.”

Boyle also explains that she could use these private lives to fashion threads which afforded insight into the characters. “Charles, for example, dresses in quite a formal way,” she says, “almost inclined to overdress, even in the country. His mother, on the other hand, dresses for comfort and for ease.”

An unabashedly friendly and humble woman, Boyle has received the first nomination of her career for her work on Stephen Frears’s critically acclaimed film. Like Glass, she has the rare distinction (rare at least in this category) of being nominated for a contemporary film. But she does not fixate on such matters when tackling a given project. As she explains it, “I approach each era as if I was from outer space and research in the same way, whether it’s contemporary or in the deep, distant past.”

Both artists spoke of the challenges involved in fine-tuning their work and getting inside the characters they were creatively dressing, in their respective ways.

Glass, for example, remembers having to do a lot of rewriting, often insisting on three or four different versions of music for a particular scene. He also mentions that particular pieces of music, such as the opening credits, were especially difficult to write.

Of Barbara’s bathtub scene, he ponders, “How does one write music to express the loneliness of an old lady in a bathtub? I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to use that music again, but I felt I pulled it off; that moment was an accomplishment for me.”

Boyle, on the other hand, had to feel as though she knew some of the most famous, yet most elusive, people in the world. “There is a uniqueness and eccentricity to the world of the royals,” she says. Ultimately, however, she still feels she remained out of tough with the characters, even in spite of extensive research and script analysis.

Ironically, Glass seemed to share a similar experience. “I looked at these characters for months,” he says, “I knew everything about them, but they remain the creation of artists. So in a funny way, I never get to meet them. It’s such a strange situation.”

It is further clear that both Boyle and Glass are immensely appreciative of the praise their work has received.

Boyle considers it “an absolute thrill” that the Beaufort jacket worn by the queen in the film was in hot demand in New York, selling for $365. “The whole experience has been a joy,” she says. “Stephen, Helen and everyone else made everything so wonderful, yet I’d like to think that, in a small way, I was able to help them.”

Glass, meanwhile, confesses that he is “star struck whenever I come to Hollywood.” He notes a desire to meet colleagues such as Danny Elfman and co-nominee Thomas Newman, offering that being in their company is a “huge deal.”

The 26th of this month will undoubtedly be an exciting day for these two artists. But regardless of what occurs in their categories, it is clear that Ms. Boyle and Mr. Glass are quite grateful of the attention they have already received, each having greatly enjoyed the processes that led to their first and third respective Academy Award nominations in 2006.