Some nominees savor a series of fortunate events

While all eyes seemed to be on Oscar’s Big Six -- best picture, best director and the acting categories -- there were plenty of people with non-household names who woke up bright and early Tuesday to learn what the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences thought of their work.

Film editors and makeup artists, costume designers and sound mixers as well as creators of short films, animated and live action, all viewed their Oscar nods with the same enthusiasm as the celebrity nominees.

For some, it was the big First Time.

Sharen Davis was surprised by her best costume design nomination for “Ray.” “I am thrilled,” she said, “but shocked because we had about $10 for each costume.”

Davis described rooting through the odd lot bins of upholstery stores in downtown L.A. to save money, making gowns with no lining -- “great on film, impossible to actually wear” -- and scouring the country for vintage stores that could fill bulk orders of men’s suits from the ‘50s.

“I spent all my money on Jamie [Foxx],” Davis said. “On him, we didn’t scrimp.”

She is grateful for the honor not just for herself but for the genre her film represents. “I’m so happy the academy recognized this gritty film in which the clothes were realistic.”

Jim Miller, nominated along with Paul Rubell for the film editing of “Collateral,” says that after years of tolerating his “career infidelities,” his wife is especially pleased by the nomination. “First one I’ve had in 45 years,” he said, crediting director Michael Mann for creating the film’s brooding and realistic nocturnal Los Angeles.

It has been a two-time first for Bill Corso. He and Valli O’Reilly earned nominations for makeup for “Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events.” And he was recently inducted into the academy. “So I was there for the bakeoff,” he said, referring to the judging process among makeup artists. “Frankly, I was very surprised by the nomination. I thought some of the other pies tasted better. But, of course, I’m thrilled.”

And “Everything in This Country Must” is not just Gary McKendry’s first nomination for live-action short; it’s his first film, period.

After years of directing television, McKendry decided to try something more artistic, so he started looking for a story he could turn into a short film. “I didn’t want to use other people’s money or other people’s ideas,” he says. “But I was timid. It’s a long reach from 30 seconds to 130 pages.”

He found the story in a collection that he salvaged from a discount bin, wrote his own script and shot it in two months. The nomination seems unreal to the New Yorker. He said he missed the L.A. academy screening of his film because he had to get back to shooting commercials to pay for his venture into artistry.

For other nominees, those early morning calls were not a completely new experience.

This is costume designer Colleen Atwood’s fifth nomination, “but who’s counting?” she said. Also up this year for “Lemony Snicket,” she won the category for 2002’s “Chicago.”

“I’m fortunate to be considered for the films that I am,” she said. “They get more attention than modern, everyday sort of movies, even though the work on those is just as hard.”

Soundman Randy Thom got four nominations this year, for sound editing and/or mixing on “The Incredibles” and “The Polar Express.” This brings his career total to 12 nominations and one win (for sound editing “The Right Stuff”) and beats his previous record of three nominations in one year. But, he says, it’s always a thrill.

“If you ever get jaded about Oscar nominations, you should check yourself into a mental institution,” he said.

His work on “The Incredibles,” for which he and Michael Silvers did the sound editing, was the most challenging film of his career, he said. “It had more sounds, and more variety of sounds, than any other movie I’ve worked on. And we tried to make most of them new sounds, rather than renting them from a sound library.”

Art director Dante Ferretti learned that he and his wife, set decorator Francesca Lo Schiavo, were both nominated for “The Aviator” while driving in Bulgaria, where he is working on Brian De Palma’s “Black Dahlia.” Although it is his eighth nomination, he had to pull over to say “thank you” out loud.

“I have worked with Martin Scorsese on nine films,” he said. “He is a great director and this is a great film. For me to do a movie about Hollywood during the Golden Age was a dream come true.”

Animator Bill Plympton got his second nod this year, for his short film “Guard Dog.” His first was a nod for “Your Face.” “I’m very grateful,” he said. “It’s been 20 years between them.”

He wasn’t totally surprised, though. “At the screening [of all the shorts], mine got the most applause. I figured that was a good sign.”