BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- The Academy Awards' art department is plastered with geometric and architectural images. Sketches show the stage setup in various forms. A sample of the show's crystal curtain hangs in one corner. Copper-colored circles, squares and rectangles dangle from a cork board.

``We commissioned, with every great intention, the most complicated automated set the Oscars have ever had,'' says Adam Shankman, half of the production team putting on this year's Academy Awards. ``We've had to add additional technical days now, just to make sure that it's all going to work together. So there's a mixed bag of excitement-slash-fear that's coming with that because, if it works, it will be the most beautiful thing the audience has ever seen on the Oscars.''

Shankman and Bill Mechanic have been crafting the March 7 telecast since October. They've planned their production numbers, designed the stage and come up with a clever way to present the 10 best-picture nominees. They've hired the hosts (Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin), booked a bunch of presenters and sketched out the show's 13 acts.

Now, all they need are the nominees.

``By and large, we know the layout of the show,'' Shankman says from the Academy Awards production office, tucked inside a quiet office building in Beverly Hills. ``But there is a huge piece of content that is yet to be decided, which is the most significant piece of the content.''

``We can't finish the show until we know,'' Mechanic says.

The two men say they're a well-matched team. Mechanic is ``the true film historian and the insane fan,'' Shankman says, ``and I'm a little bit more of the P.T. Barnum energy.''

So what kind of film-focused circus magic are the two planning?

The show will be funnier, shorter and more inclusive than past telecasts, Mechanic says. It'll feature not just nominated films but also popular movies from throughout the year. Music and performance will be integrated in a way that's ``really spot-on,'' Shankman says, and the newly expanded best-picture category will ``create some consistency'' in the traditionally long telecast.

Expect ``fun'' presenters, Mechanic says. Look for lively, emotional and educational moments, Shankman says: ``You want to feel either like you're learning or you're getting to know people.'' And expect an homage to the best year in box-office history.