So here we go again.

As readers may recall from last year, “Tech Support” at In Contention attempts to make up for the rather appalling lack of coverage that normally greets the categories deemed by the media to be “technical categories.”

I invite you to try to imagine “Star Wars” without John Williams’s thunderous score. I bet you can’t. Would “2001: A Space Odyssey” have been the same experience if it were not for Stanley Kubrick’s ingenious use of visual effects? How about “Citizen Kane” in the absence of Gregg Tolland’s revolutionary cinematography? (This is not to mention the number of years that the development of cinema would have been delayed had it not been for this achievement.)

From disciplines as varied as art direction and costume design, sound and visual effects, editing and cinematography, makeup and music, the technical artists quite simply bring movies to life. But seldom do they get the front page attention the “stars” of the business enjoy as the awards season pushes ahead, full steam.

Members of these branches form a huge block of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ voting core. Therefore they undoubtedly factor into the awards race as a whole. Considering this, I feel that exploration of the awards process for these disciplines becomes an even more worthy pursuit.

This column is, hopefully, a step to correcting the absence of knowledge or recognition that greets these categories in the media and, hopefully, in the household of the casual awards watcher.

Throughout the fall, weekly columns will appear, covering each of the categories that fit into this description. It is my goal to provide insight into the dynamics and trends seen within each branch, and to give a fair shake to each of the individuals who appear to be in contention in this year’s race. Every few weeks, expect a special column on a varying subject.

Some questions are already starting to emerge this year, notably among the contenders that have already seen a release.

The well-reviewed “Hairspray” and “Ratatouille” could easily find themselves in the running in multiple categories. The Pixar film will almost certainly be in contention for Best Sound Editing and Best Original Score, while the musical ought to be in the hunt in the design arenas of art direction, costume design, makeup, as well as original song, at the very least.

I also have my fingers crossed that the small, critical favorite “Once” could emerge as a contender in the always questionable original song category. And while Paul Greengrass’s superb “The Bourne Ultimatum” may struggle in the sound and editing categories, given the previous films’ failure to be nominated anywhere, the film does have phenomenal reviews and Greengrass’s growing reputation on its side.

The mammoth blockbusters “Spider-Man 3,” “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” and “Transformers” will all, at the very least, be in the thick of the Best Visual Effects category, always a blockbuster-friendly zone. In fact, there is a reasonable possibility they could fill up that category’s three available slots. This is not to mention that all three films will be in the hunt in the two sound categories as well, with “Pirates” having some chance at Best Art Direction and Best Costume Design.

It’s worth noting that “Spider-Man 3” and, especially, “Transformers” will be where the famed sound mixers Kevin O’Connell and Greg P. Russell will be hanging their hopes yet again, trying to win the statuette which has eluded them despite thirty nominations between them. You may recall the media whirlwind around this statistic of sorts at the end of last season that left an Oscar-winning sound mixer apologizing publicly for unwarranted backstage comments.

On the note of veterans who have yet to win, I would be remiss not to mention Roger Deakins. The extremely talented director of photography will have not one but three opportunities to get his long overdue statuette this year, lensing Andrew Dominik’s “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford,” “In the Valley of Elah” from the AMPAS-loved and snob-hated Paul Haggis and “No Country for Old Men” by the Coen Brothers, the filmmakers who made him famous. All three seem like ripe opportunities for luscious cinematography. The question of which one, or ones, will emerge as his best awards vehicle is already on my mind. Then again, Best Cinematography is always a category with an abundance of riches.

Then there is the question of who will be “welcomed into the club” this year. For example, and keeping cinematography on the brain, Seamus McGarvey (“Atonement”) and Darius Wolski (“Sweeney Todd”) will have the most awards-friendly projects of their careers to date after previous notable efforts. Similarly, composers Michael Giacchino (“Ratatouille”) and Jon Brion (“There Will Be Blood”) will see if their reunions with the filmmakers who first brought them to notoriety (Brad Bird and Paul Thomas Anderson, respectively) will bring them their first nominations.

But specifics in the individual categories are still to come, and the purpose of future columns. SO I’ll cease my pondering for now.

Many of the first clues of the season will arrive shortly as films are received at the Venice and Toronto International Film Festivals. Despite the latter event’s taking place in my hometown, I will, unfortunately, not be able to cover it this year as I move to Kingston, Ontario this weekend. I am sure that John Foote will give excellent coverage of the event and am equally certain that he’ll have a great time while doing it. In the meantime, I wish you all a happy movie-going Fall; keep checking in on “Tech Support” every Thursday.

Next week, we dig in.