1. 12 Years a Slave2. The Great Gatsby3. Gravity4. Her5. Inside Llewyn Davis(Alt: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug) Period pieces that require historically accurate sets are usually safe bets in this category, and if they happen to be one of the leading contenders for Best Picture, all the better. This means 12 Years a Slave can safely count Best Production Design as one of its inevitably many nominations. Baz Luhrmann's films typically do pretty well in this category, and there's no reason to believe the impressive production design of The Great Gatsby will be any different. Given its likely domination of most of the below the line categories, it would appear that Gravity is a likely nominee in this category, but I do wonder if the heavy visual effects in the film will detract from its chances. It hasn't hurt recent VFX-packed films in this category, so there is no real reason to think Gravity will be an exception, but you never know. The next safe bet would probably be The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, given the intricate fantasy detail in the film's sets, but I wonder if the aesthetic repetitiveness of The Lord of the Rings series may wear down on the branch. The excellent near-future work of Her definitely deserves to be rewarded, but this type of subtle contemporary work usually doesn't play well with the branch. However, given the big role that production design plays in selling the concept of Her, I think they may surprise a few people and do the right thing and nominate Her. Then there is the semi-period piece work of Inside Llewyn Davis. Usually the branch likes its periods older than the 1960's (or the 1970's for possible contender American Hustle), but the aesthetics of Inside Llweyn Davis are one of the most commonly praised aspects of the movie, so I think it just makes it in (although they could easy go with American Hustle as well).
A film fanatic at a very young age, starting with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle movies and gradually moving up to more sophisticated fare, at around the age of ten he became inexplicably obsessed with all things Oscar. With the incredibly trivial power of being able to chronologically name every Best Picture winner from memory, his lifelong goal is to see every Oscar nominated film, in every major category, in the history of the Academy Awards.
