Best Production Design
The Cabin in the Woods
Cloud Atlas
Django Unchained
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Skyfall
Cloud Atlas would get a lot of below-the-line nominations from me, given just how much the crew had to do to bring six different stories and periods to life. Nowhere is that more apparent than in the Production Design, where enough great work was done to fill six different movies. Similarly, Django Unchained is a technical marvel across the board, but excels most clearly in the inventive and period-accurate sets that impress from start to finish. The Hobbit recreated Middle Earth, one of cinema’s greatest fantasy landscapes, in fine form, and The Cabin in the Woods deserves recognition for several great sets, including the cabin itself and the control room, that do a great deal to ground a zany and ambitious story.
But for me, the clear winner is Skyfall, which features one creative, stylish, and unforgettable set after another. Think of MI6’s special underground headquarters, or the vacated island where Raoul Silva makes his base, or the Shanghai Casino where Bond first meets Severine. The list goes on and on, and makes Skyfall stand out as the best designed film of 2012.
Dream Winner: Skyfall
Tough Omissions: The Master; Looper; Lincoln; The Dark Knight Rises; The Hunger Games; Prometheus
Best Visual Effects
The Avengers
Cloud Atlas
The Dark Knight Rises
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Life of Pi
Another strong batch, and one where the dream winner is especially hard to pick. I like the effects work in Life of Pi enough to put it here – I could never once tell when the tiger, for instance, was real or fake – but do not feel it quite stacks up to the other titles, and basically feel the same about Cloud Atlas (which, again, deserves the nod for seamlessly creating so many different settings). The Hobbit arguably features some of the most technically proficient blends of CGI and live-action to date, but I also think the Orc-leader Azog looks rather terrible, and cannot give the film the win for that miscalculation alone. It comes down, for me, to The Dark Knight Rises – with effects so good they are practically invisible – and The Avengers, and I give the edge to The Avengers for the sheer scale of the final act and the visual splendor with which it was achieved.
Dream Winner: The Avengers
Tough Omissions: The Grey; Prometheus; The Amazing Spider-Man; Flight
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