FROM WORDS TO IMAGES

AFTER the award for best picture, the most important Oscars are for directing and writing. In fact, those prizes often go to the movie that wins the top race, underscoring how important voters consider the basics of plotting, dialogue and helming when declaring a film’s greatness. Ace acting is key too, of course, but two-time Oscar champ Spencer Tracy once put that into cruel perspective by summing up the actor’s job this way: “Show up on time, know your lines and don’t bump into the furniture.”

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Favorites

BEST DIRECTOR

Paul Thomas Anderson, “There Will Be Blood”

Tim Burton, “Sweeney Todd”

Ethan and Joel Coen, “No Country for Old Men”

Marc Forster, “The Kite Runner”

Tony Gilroy, “Michael Clayton”

Tamara Jenkins, “The Savages”

Sidney Lumet, “Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead”

James Mangold, “3:10 to Yuma”

Sean Penn, “Into the Wild”

Jason Reitman, “Juno”

Julian Schnabel, “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly”

Ridley Scott, “American Gangster”

Denzel Washington, “The Great Debaters”

Joe Wright, “Atonement”

Spotlight: This award is often bestowed on directors as payback for past snubs, as Martin Scorsese (“The Departed”) discovered last year. Now “Atonement” may benefit from the widespread belief that director Joe Wright should’ve been nominated for “Pride & Prejudice” in 2005. Tim Burton holds the biggest IOU. He’s never been nominated for director despite helming such great films over two decades as “Beetlejuice,” “Batman,” “Edward Scissorhands,” “Ed Wood” and “Big Fish.” If “Sweeney Todd” is successful, it could be hailed as his greatest accomplishment: Not only did he hold the creative reins, he dared to reimagine the classic Broadway musical as a Hollywood horror flick.

Possible

Ben Affleck, “Gone Baby Gone”

John Carney, “Once”

David Cronenberg, “Eastern Promises”

Todd Haynes, “I’m Not There”

Ang Lee, “Lust, Caution”

Mira Nair, “The Namesake”

Mike Nichols, “Charlie Wilson’s War”

Rob Reiner, “The Bucket List”

Adam Shankman, “Hairspray”

Robert Zemeckis, “Beowulf”

SPOTLIGHT: It took Ang Lee (“Lust, Caution”) a long time to be embraced by the academy. He was snubbed for a directing nom in 1995 when his “Sense and Sensibility” was up for best picture, but he’s been nominated since (“Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” in 2000) and even won (“Brokeback Mountain” in 2005). Now Lee may even be one of those esteemed veterans who gets nominated in the directors’ race even though his film doesn’t make the best picture list, as with Mike Leigh (“Vera Drake”) and Pedro Almodovar (“Talk to Her”).

Longshots

Fatih Akin, “The Edge of Heaven”

Brad Bird, Jan Pinkava, “Ratatouille”

Olivier Dahan, “La Vie en Rose”

David Fincher, “Zodiac”

Eran Kolirin, “The Band’s Visit”

Cristian Mungiu, “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days”

Vincent Paronnaud, Marjane Satrapi, “Persepolis”

Sarah Polley, “Away From Her”

Julie Taymor, “Across the Universe”

SPOTLIGHT: Members of the directors’ branch like to hail obscure helmers of artsy foreign films praised by critics. That’s how Brazilian Fernando Meirelles scored a nomination for 2002’s “City of God.” This year, Cristian Mungiu’s “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days” won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, and now the brusque drama about illegal abortions in Romania is a top Oscar contender for foreign-language film.

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ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Favorites

“Atonement,” Christopher Hampton, based on the novel by Ian McEwan

“Charlie Wilson’s War,” Aaron Sorkin, based on the book by George Crile

“The Diving Bell and the Butterfly,” Ronald Harwood, based on the book by Jean-Dominique Bauby

“Into the Wild,” Sean Penn, based on the book by Jon Krakauer

“The Kite Runner,” David Benioff, based on the novel by Khaled Hosseini

“The Namesake,” Sooni Taraporevala, based on the novel by Jhumpa Lahiri

“No Country for Old Men,” Ethan Coen, Joel Coen, based on the novel by Cormac McCarthy

“Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street,” John Logan, based on the stage musical by Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler

“There Will Be Blood,” Paul Thomas Anderson, based on the novel “Oil!” by Upton Sinclair

SPOTLIGHT: Over the last half-century, 24 best picture champs won adapted screenplay (with another eight competing in this category unsuccessfully). Fifteen of the winners were, like “Atonement,” based on novels. Its screenwriter, Christopher Hampton, took home an Oscar in 1988 for adapting his Broadway play “Dangerous Liaisons.” He tried several approaches to McEwan’s complex story, including one that employed the heavy use of a narrator, but ultimately retooled it in such a way that, if you haven’t read the book, you don’t foresee the whopper of an ending.

Possible

“Away From Her,” Sarah Polley, based on the novel by Alice Munro

“Gone Baby Gone,” Ben Affleck, Aaron Stockard, based on the novel by Dennis Lehane

“Hairspray,” Leslie Dixon, based on the musical by Mark O’Donnell, Thomas Meehan, Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman

“Lust, Caution,” Wang Hui Ling, James Schamus, based on the short story by Eileen Chang

“A Mighty Heart,” John Orloff, based on the book by Mariane Pearl

“Persepolis,” Vincent Paronnaud, Marjane Satrapi, based on the novel by Marjane Satrapi

“3:10 to Yuma,” Halsted Welles, Michael Brandt, Derek Haas, based on the short story by Elmore Leonard

“Zodiac,” James Vanderbilt, based on the book by Robert Graysmith

SPOTLIGHT: “Hairspray” is adapted from a stage musical that was adapted from a movie -- just like “Chicago,” the best picture winner of 2002. Back then, Bill Condon’s madcap script lost to the serious-minded words of Ronald Harwood for “The Pianist.” The only musical to win best picture plus this screenplay category over the last 50 years was “Gigi,” which was adapted directly from the novel by Colette, rather than from a Broadway show.

Long shots

“The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford,” Andrew Dominik, based on the novel by Ron Hansen

“Control,” Matt Greenhalgh, adapted from the book “Touching From a Distance” by Deborah Curtis

“The Golden Compass,” Chris Weitz, based on the novel by Philip Pullman

“I Am Legend,” Mark Protosevich, Akiva Goldsman, based on the novel by Richard Matheson

“300,” Zack Snyder & Kurt Johnstad and Michael B. Gordon, based on the graphic novel by Frank Miller and Lynn Varley

SPOTLIGHT: Much of “I Am Legend” was adapted by Akiva Goldsman, who won an Oscar in 2001 for scripting the screen version of a beloved book, “A Beautiful Mind.” Though sci-fi doesn’t normally get writing nominations (rare exceptions include the original “Star Wars” script and “2001: A Space Odyssey”), “I Am Legend” is based on a classic book by Richard Matheson made into two previous films: “The Last Man on Earth” (1964) with Vincent Price and “The Omega Man” (1971) starring Charlton Heston. This time the man who battles vampires after a virus outbreak is Will Smith, who’s being given a serious Oscar push by Warner Bros. because studio execs believe so strongly in the film.

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ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Favorites

“American Gangster,” Steven Zaillian

“Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead,” Kelly Masterson

“In the Valley of Elah,” Paul Haggis

“The Great Debaters,” Robert Eisele, Jeffrey Porro

“Juno,” Diablo Cody

“Lars and the Real Girl,” Nancy Oliver

“Michael Clayton,” Tony Gilroy

“Once,” John Carney

“Ratatouille,” Brad Bird, Jan Pinkava

“The Savages,” Tamara Jenkins

SPOTLIGHT: Hollywood loves Diablo Cody’s back story, which is even more saucy than her “Juno” screenplay about a smart-aleck pregnant teen. She was discovered by a persistent Hollywood agent smitten with her sassy blog about being a pole-dancing stripper in Minnesota. When he begged her to write a screenplay, she told him to buzz off, but the agent persisted and now she’s the toast of the indie scene and working on a new TV series with Steven Spielberg.

Possible

“The Band’s Visit,” Eran Kolirin

“The Bucket List,” Justin Zackham

“Eastern Promises,” Steve Knight

“Enchanted,” Bill Kelly

“4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days,” Cristian Mungiu

“Grace Is Gone,” James C. Strouse

“I’m Not There,” Todd Haynes, Oren Moverman

“Knocked Up,” Judd Apatow

“The Orphanage,” Sergio G. Sanchez

“La Vie en Rose,” Olivier Dahan, Isabelle Sobelman

“Margot at the Wedding,” Noah Baumbach

“Waitress,” Adrienne Shelly

SPOTLIGHT: How appropriate if “The Band’s Visit” gets sympathy votes in this words category after being ousted from the foreign-film race due to language issues. Israel declared this movie about an Egyptian brass band lost in an Israeli town to be its official Oscar submission, but the academy rejected it because it contains too much English dialogue. Irate supporters may blast their trumpets here.

Long shots

“The Brave One,” Roderick Taylor, Bruce A. Taylor, Cynthia Mort “Cassandra’s Dream,” Woody Allen

“The Darjeeling Limited,” Wes Anderson

“The Edge of Heaven,” Fatih Akin

“Talk to Me,” Michael Genet, Rick Famuyiwa

“Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story,” Judd Apatow, Jake Kasdan

SPOTLIGHT: “Cassandra’s Dream” got mixed reviews after debuting at the Venice Film Festival (Variety said it “sends out more mixed signals than an inebriated telegraphist”), but Oscar gurus should never write off Woody Allen in the writing categories. With 14 screenplay nominations in 28 years, Allen is batting .500 and could well make it 15 over 30 for the crime drama “Cassandra’s Dream.” While he has not been nominated for directing since 1994, Allen has had three writing nods since then, including two years ago for the first of his London dramas, “Match Point.”

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THE PICKS

Gold Derby blogger Tom O’Neil prognosticates the award season for The Envelope. For ongoing discussion of the many races for gold -- Oscars, Golden Globes, Grammys and more -- visit TheEnvelope.com.