THE OSCARS

The first award of the evening was also the first to be given out with the new "firing line" format, in which all the nominees were onstage as the winner of the award was announced.

Dante Ferretti and Francesca Lo Schiavo

The first award of the evening was also the first to be given out with the new "firing line" format, in which all the nominees were onstage as the winner of the award was announced.

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The film with the most nominations overall has historically had a slight edge in the category of art direction, and this gave the advantage to the winners, Dante Ferretti (art direction) and Francesca Lo Schiavo (set decoration) for "The Aviator."

Their work on the film, for which Ferretti received his eighth nomination and his wife, Lo Schiavo, her sixth, included building a replica of the famous Grauman's Chinese Theatre and re-creations of the legendary Cocoanut Grove nightclub and Howard Hughes' enormous "Spruce Goose" aircraft.

The other nominees were Gemma Jackson (art direction) and Trisha Edwards (set decoration) for "Finding Neverland," Anthony Pratt (art direction) and Celia Bobak (set decoration) for "The Phantom of the Opera," Rick Heinrichs (art director) and Cheryl A. Carasik (set decorator) for "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events" and Aline Bonetto (art direction) for "A Very Long Engagement."