As we move closer towards awards season, studios are busy finalizing which of their films to push in which categories in order to give them the best shot at winning.  Given that the Best Picture snub for The Dark Knight in 2008 is widely considered a large reason why the Academy subsequently expanded the category to a larger number of nominees, we knew Warner Bros. would be launching a campaign for The Dark Knight Rises.  Alas, the “For Your Consideration” campaign for Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy closer is off and running, and we’ve got a look at which categories WB is pulling for.  Hit the jump for more.

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Image via Warner Bros.

It’s pretty standard for major studios to put their big films under consideration for a large number of categories, and that’s exactly what Warner Bros. has done with The Dark Knight Rises.  Honestly, the film is really only a player in the technical categories for Oscar, as a Best Picture or Best Director nomination seems like a longshot. 2012 has been a banner year for film and there’s a lot of competition, so it makes it a lot harder for a blockbuster like The Dark Knight Rises to break into the major categories.

Nevertheless, Wally Pfister has a fair chance at being nominated for Best Cinematography, and I expect the film will pick up a good number of nominations in the other technical categories.

Take a look at the full slate of categories in which Warner Bros. is offering The Dark Knight Rises up for consideration below.  The nominations for the 85th Academy Awards will be announced on January 10th.

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Via the film's awards site.

BEST PICTURE

EMMA THOMAS

CHRISTOPHER NOLAN

CHARLES ROVEN

BEST DIRECTOR

CHRISTOPHER NOLAN

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Screenplay by

JONATHAN NOLAN and

CHRISTOPHER NOLAN

Story by

CHRISTOPHER NOLAN & DAVID S. GOYER

BEST ACTOR

CHRISTIAN BALE

BEST ACTRESS

ANNE HATHAWAY

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

MICHAEL CAINE

GARY OLDMAN

TOM HARDY

JOSEPH GORDON-LEVITT

MORGAN FREEMAN

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

MARION COTILLARD

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

WALLY PFISTER, ASC

BEST ART DIRECTION

Production Designers

NATHAN CROWLEY

KEVIN KAVANAUGH

Set Decorator

PAKI SMITH

BEST FILM EDITING

LEE SMITH, A.C.E.

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

LINDY HEMMING

BEST MAKEUP

Makeup Department Head

LUISA ABEL

Hair Department Head

JANICE ALEXANDER

BEST SOUND MIXING

Production Sound Mixer

ED NOVICK

Re-Recording Mixers

GARY A. RIZZO

GREGG LANDAKER

BEST SOUND EDITING

RICHARD KING

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

PAUL FRANKLIN

CHRIS CORBOULD

PETER BEBB

ANDREW LOCKLEY

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

HANS ZIMMER

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