We took final glances at the Sound Mixing, Sound Editing, Visual Effects and Makeup categories yesterday. Today we finish up the tech fields with last looks at the rest. Check back tomorrow for my full list of predictions.

Best Art Direction

The legendary Dante Ferretti seems a solid bet for his designing of “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street” this year. Meanwhile, with guild and BAFTA nominations behind them, I’d also say “Atonement”’s Sarah Greenwood and “Elizabeth: The Golden Age”’s Guy Dyas would appear in solid shape. Jack Fisk, also a guild and BAFTA nominee for “There Will Be Blood,” would seem like he is finally heading towards his first nomination. The outdoors nature of the film gives me pause, but the love it has been shown makes me cautiously optimistic.

As for the fifth spot, I feel it could go a lot of places, but I’d venture to guess it will go to a fantasy, especially considering at least one nominee every year in this category tends to be fantastical.

I thought that Dennis Gassner would be in great shape for “The Golden Compass,” but the film’s tanking makes me doubtful. Even so, he’s in genuine contention. He’ll likely have to fend off those trying to repeat nods from their series: Rick Heinrichs for “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End” and Stuart Craig for “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.”

“La Vie en Rose,” designed by Oliver Raoux, has a chance if the branch decides to go foreign. “American Gangster”’s Arthur Max, “300”’s James Bissell and “Hairspray”’s David Gropman remain outside possibilities in my opinion. A nomination for Harley Jessup for “Ratatouille” would be exceedingly cool, but I’m not banking on it.

Best Cinematography

The cinematographer’s guild, the ASC, went with what would have appeared to most to be the obvious nominees. “No Country for Old Men” is Roger Deakins working at his stark best. “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford,” on the other hand, is the more traditional, beautiful landscape work he has brought to us this year. I’d say a double nod is in the works.

“The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” ought to bring Janusz Kaminski back to the nominees after an almost decade-long absence. The photography in this film allowed us to enter into Jean-Dominique Bauby‘s world.
On “Atonement,” Seamus McGarvey combined pretty countryside with amazing shots of war-torn London and France. AMPAS loves these sorts of combos – and that tracking shot alone might earn him a nomination – then again, it has also drawn heat for being too showy.

And then there is Robert Elswit’s lensing of “There Will Be Blood,” where an array of painterly techniques went into crafting instantly iconic images not likely to be forgotten any time soon.

Ultimately, I think I’m going to predict a rare 5/5 match up with the guild, because all of the films seem so strong. If one of the films is bumped, I would suspect it would be for Eric Gautier’s work on “Into the Wild.” This branch loves pretty landscapes and Penn’s film is doing very well.

Dark horses would be Rodrigo Prieto for “Lust, Caution” and Dariusz Wolski for “Sweeney Todd,” but I’m not banking on them.

Best Costume Design

Given the sort of work on display from Colleen Atwood in “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street,” Alexandra Byrne in “Elizabeth: The Golden Age” and Jacqueline Durran in “Atonement,” all three former nominees would seem to be solid bets this year. Each have also received guild and BAFTA nominations, confirmation of their status in the category.

The guild and BAFTA awakened me to a possibility I should have considered long ago, however – Marit Allen’s creation of the wardrobe of Edith Piaf in “La Vie en Rose.” Allen passed away in November after a career stretching more than a quarter-century. This could very well turn into a way to tip the hat to a great costume designer.

But she’ll have to fend off other high profile guild nominees in Arianne Phillips (for fashioning the Old West in “3:10 to Yuma”), Ruth Myers (bringing the world of Philip Pullman to life in “The Golden Compass”) and Penny Rose (still searching for that elusive first nomination with “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End”).

But the nominees are rarely chosen strictly from guild choices, so I’d keep my eye on the consistently creative Mark Bridges (should “There Will Be Blood” really catch on), the showy threads of Rita Ryack (fashioned for “Hairspray”) and, perhaps most interestingly, the Asian period work of Lai Pan on “Lust, Caution,” who received a BAFTA nomination for Ang Lee’s latest effort.

Best Film Editing

Again, we look to the guild for guidance. A guild nomination is a huge bonus in this category, as is being a likely Best Picture nominee and being filled with action and/or suspense.

Guild nominee Roderick Jaynes is almost certain to get his second nomination for “No Country for Old Men.” (Roderick is, of course, a pseudonym for the Coen brothers, and will perhaps become the first fictional “person” to earn a second nomination).

Dylan Tichenor received the third guild nomination of his career for “There Will Be Blood” but he’s had difficulty to date garnering Oscar love. Nonetheless, given the excitement around this film as of late (which I find very deserved but nevertheless somewhat surprising), I’d say his time has finally come. Jay Cassidy and John Gilroy, who I both interviewed in December, will also be in the thick of the race for their first nominations for “Into the Wild” and “Michael Clayton,” respectively.

The last guild nominee on the drama side was Christopher Rouse for “The Bourne Ultimatum.” Guild and top ten list love has greeted Paul Greengrass’s latest film considerably this season. I find this very encouraging, and a nomination for Rouse, just coming off a nod last year for “United 93,” would not surprise me. Great action films do show up here with some frequency. But this could just as easily go the way of “Casino Royale” last season.
On the musical side of things, we have both “Sweeney Todd”’s Chris Lebenzon and “Hairspray”’s Michael Tronick coming off guild nominations. Musicals are loved in this category so I’d consider both, but primarily past nominee Lebenzon.

As Best Picture nominees must always be considered, we still should take into account Juliette Welfing for “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.” “Atonement”’s Paul Tothill did fine work and earned a BAFTA nod for it but the lack of guild support for his film will likely do him in. Pietro Scalia is a giant in the field and also earned a BAFTA nod for “American Gangster,” but the lack of a guild citation is very puzzling.

Best Original Score

While I may have had no idea on Best Sound Editing, I finish with the category in which I have the most conflicted ideas. I remain pretty confident that Dario Marianelli will be nominated for “Atonement” – they love work like this and he’s hit all the precursors.

Johnny Greenwood, BFCA winner and BAFTA nominee for his amazing compositions for “There Will Be Blood,” *should* be a lock as far as I’m concerned. But the work is unconventional and he is new to the crowd. So he is not a lock, though nevertheless a good bet. I’d also venture to say that Alberto Iglesias is probably a solid bet for his very present work on “The Kite Runner.”

Beyond that, things get really murky in my opinion. Michael Giacchino remains a possibility for “Ratatouille” but he failed to be nominated three years ago for a more acclaimed score (“The Incredibles”), so this is still a challenge in my opinion.

Also seeking a first nomination is Marco Beltrami, for his riveting “3:10 to Yuma” score. This film has shown up occasionally throughout the season. I don’t expect a shut-out Tuesday, so this could be where it gets rewarded.
Paramount Vantage always pushes its scores with passion, so Michael Brook is a real possibility for “Into the Wild.” But I still can’t help but wonder if people will think of the songs when they think of the music in this film.

Howard Shore could provide a past winner to the nominees for his Russian-influenced “Eastern Promises” score. This will be a test to see if Shore appeals to the branch outside of “Lord of the Rings.” Also in the realm of foreign-influenced scores is Alexandre Desplat’s gorgeous work on “Lust, Caution.” How much appeal to the music branch does Desplat have?

And if the music branch REALLY wants a ‘vet’ in there, Clint Eastwood is floating around for “Grace is Gone.” He has, after all, managed to grab BFCA and Globe nods for his work on the film.

Other titles showing up would not surprise me. Every year, we get some real surprises here.

Well that’s it if you can believe it. On Tuesday, we’ll find out the nominees.

Check out yesterday's rundown.