WORD AND VISION

Arguably the most important Oscars reward those people who write the words we hear in movies, shoot the visual images we see on the screen and weave those together with the actors’ performances. There’s a lot of real drama in the writing, cinematography and directing races this year. Could a woman be nominated for cinematography for the first time? Could Batman and Iron Man break down other Oscar barriers?

DIRECTOR

Favorites

Darren Aronofsky, “The Wrestler”

Danny Boyle, “Slumdog Millionaire”

Stephen Daldry, “The Reader”

Jonathan Demme, “Rachel Getting Married”

David Fincher, “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”

Ron Howard, “Frost/Nixon”

Baz Luhrmann, “Australia”

Christopher Nolan, “The Dark Knight”

Sam Mendes, “Revolutionary Road”

John Patrick Shanley, “Doubt”

Gus Van Sant, “Milk”

Spotlight: Oscar voters love art-house darlings who cross over to prove they can helm popular hits. A standout this year is Christopher Nolan, who pulled off a big-budget blockbuster. And David Fincher’s film has potential to do the same. Danny Boyle went small but still managed broad appeal.

Possible

Woody Allen, “Vicky Cristina

Barcelona”

Laurent Cantet, “The Class”

Philippe Claudel, “I’ve Loved You So Long”

Clint Eastwood, “Changeling”

Clint Eastwood, “Gran Torino”

Matteo Garrone, “Gomorrah”

Mike Leigh, “Happy-Go-Lucky”

Thomas McCarthy, “The Visitor”

Gabriele Muccino, “Seven Pounds”

Steven Soderbergh, “Che”

Andrew Stanton, “Wall-E”

Edward Zwick, “Defiance”

Spotlight: The directors’ branch likes to nominate trendy directors of foreign-language films to remind us that, hey, the Oscar ain’t just a Hollywood prize. There are three serious candidates this year: Laurent Cantet, Philippe Claudel and Matteo Garrone. Cantet has the best shot since “The Class” won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival and he previously claimed Cesar and European Film Awards plus laurels from the Venice Film Festival.

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ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Favorites

“The Class,” Francois Begaudeau, Robin Campillo, Laurent Cantet

“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” Eric Roth, Robin Swicord

“The Dark Knight,” Christopher Nolan, Jonathan Nolan, David Goyer

“Doubt,” John Patrick Shanley

“Elegy,” Nicholas Meyer

“Frost/Nixon,” Peter Morgan

“Gomorrah,” Maurizio Braucci, Ugo Chiti, Gianni Di Gregorio, Matteo Garrone, Massimo Gaudioso, Roberto Saviano

“The Reader,” David Hare

“Revolutionary Road,” Justin Haythe

“Slumdog Millionaire,” Simon Beaufoy

Spotlight: Most curious about “Benjamin Button” is that the film bears so little resemblance to the original 1922 short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Should the film’s writers be penalized for that or hailed for taking Fitzgerald’s concept and imagining a whole new tale? If the latter, is the screenplay truly adapted or just inspired by the source material? Is it arguably an original screenplay?

Possible

“Cadillac Records,” Darnell Martin

“Che,” Peter Buchman

“Defiance,” Clayton Frohman, Edward Zwick

“The Duchess,” Jeffrey Hatcher, Anders Thomas Jensen, Saul Dibb

“Iron Man,” Mark Fergus, Hawk Ostby, Art Marcum, Matt Holloway

“Mamma Mia!,” Catherine Johnson

“Quantum of Solace,” Paul Haggis, Neal Purvis, Robert Wade

Spotlight: Superhero flicks can leap tall buildings in a single bound and crush Green Goblins, but they usually have little effect at the Oscars. Batman may break through this year thanks to the historic success of “The Dark Knight,” but can another one too? “Knight” was expected to be a hit, but “Iron Man” surprisingly proved his muscle. Doesn’t that deserve reward?

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ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Favorites

“Australia,” Stuart Beattie, Richard Flanagan, Ronald Harwood, Baz Luhrmann

“Gran Torino,” Nick Schenk,

Dave Johannson

“Happy-Go-Lucky,” Mike Leigh

“I’ve Loved You So Long,” Philippe Claudel

“Last Chance Harvey,” Joel Hopkins

“Milk,” Dustin Lance Black

“Rachel Getting Married,” Jenny Lumet

“Seven Pounds,” Grant Nieporte

“Synecdoche, New York,”

Charlie Kaufman

“Vicky Cristina Barcelona,”

Woody Allen

“The Visitor,” Tom McCarthy

“Wall-E,” Pete Docter, Andrew Stanton

“The Wrestler,” Robert Siegel

Spotlight: Woody Allen’s a safe bet for a bid. He holds the record for most writing nominations -- 14, all in this category -- but oddly has won only twice (“Annie Hall,” “Hannah and Her Sisters”). Jenny Lumet looks strong too. She’s part of a Hollywood dynasty (daughter of director Sidney, a five-time nominee) and, arguably, this year’s Diablo Cody, who won last year for “Juno.” That is, she’s a first-time scripter who penned the defiant, wisecracking role of a likely lead-actress nominee.

Possible

“Bolt,” Dan Fogelman, Chris Williams

“Burn After Reading,” Ethan Coen,

Joel Coen

“Changeling,” J. Michael Straczynski

“Frozen River,” Courtney Hunt

“Kung Fu Panda,” Jonathan Aibel, Glenn Berger, Ethan Reiff, Cyrus Voris

“Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa,”

Etan Cohen, Eric Darnell, Tom McGrath

“Nothing but the Truth,” Rod Lurie

“Waltz With Bashir,” Ari Folman

Spotlight: The Oscars used to shun screenplays of animated hits, but voters are becoming more accepting, nominating four over the last decade (“Ratatouille,” “The Incredibles,” “Finding Nemo,” “Shrek”). “Wall-E” seems like a shoo-in now, but what about so many other options: “Kung Fu Panda,” “Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa,” “Bolt” and “Waltz With Bashir”?

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CINEMATOGRAPHY

Favorites

“Australia,” Mandy Walker

“Che,” Peter Andrews (a.k.a. Steven Soderbergh)

“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” Claudio Miranda

“The Dark Knight,” Wally Pfister

“Defiance,” Eduardo Serra

“Doubt,” Roger Deakins

“Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” Janusz Kaminski

“Milk,” Harris Savides

“The Reader,” Chris Menges

“Revolutionary Road,” Roger Deakins

“Slumdog Millionaire,” Anthony Dod Mantle

Spotlight: There’s an excellent chance that Mandy Walker (“Australia”) will become the first woman ever nominated in this category. She’ll be up against overdue veterans such as Roger Deakins, who must stop working so hard. Last year, he lost for the sixth and seventh times as his votes were split between two nominations (“No Country for Old Men,” “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford”) and the winner turned out to be Robert Elswit (“There Will Be Blood”). Now Deakins has two strong entries this year -- “Revolutionary Road” and “Doubt” -- but “Road” has an edge, having epic scope.

Possible

“Blindness,” Cesar Charlone

“Appaloosa,” Dean Semler

“Changeling,” Tom Stern

“Iron Man,” Matthew Libatique

“Quantum of Solace,” Roberto Schaefer

“Rachel Getting Married,” Declan Quinn

“Seven Pounds,” Philippe Le Sourd

“Synecdoche, New York,” Frederick Elmes

“Vicky Cristina Barcelona,” Javier Aguirresarobe

“Wall-E,” Jeremy Lasky, Danielle Feinberg

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THE PICKS

Gold Derby blogger Tom O’Neil predicts the Oscar season for The Envelope. For ongoing discussion of that race and other campaigns for gold -- Golden Globes, Grammys and more -- visit TheEnvelope.com.