• The week started off with “How to Train Your Dragon” predictably dominating the slate of Annie Award nominations.
• Kris sat down with Leonardo DiCaprio and got Martin Scorsese on the phone for a large two–part piece on the actor and his impressive year.
• He also caught up with actor Ed Harris to talk “The Way Back” and director Peter Weir.
• It was good and bad news for The Weinstein Company as “Blue Valentine” won its ratings appeal with the MPAA, while “The King’s Speech”‘s was shot down.
It was cute of the Annies to throw “Tangled” and “Toy Story 3” a bone in the Best Animated Feature, directing and screenplay categories this year, but the absence of Disney product in virtually every other field is clearly evidence of a reaction to the studio withdrawing from the organization earlier this summer. Credibility: out the window.
As best as I can tell, “How to Train Your Dragon” led the way considerably with 15 nominations. And I think we can pretty well expect the film to triumph in quite a few of them, including Best Animated Feature, when the awards are handed out February 5.
A distant second with seven total bids was Universal’s “Despicable Me,” but fret not, DreamWorks was right back in there at third with six nods for “Shrek Forever After.”
Sound mixing has a lot in common with sound editing, but the distinctions are still critical. While both clearly relate to what we hear in the theater, sound editing specifically relates to the creation of artificial sounds (“sound effects”) while sound mixing brings everything together — from effects to music to dialogue (recorded on set or during post-production) to music – into the overall soundscape of a film.
Many of the same kinds of films that are nominated for Best Sound Editing are also frequently cited here – blockbusters, action films and war films. But musicals often pop up here, too. And as in most categories, being a Best Picture contender certainly helps titles that otherwise would not come close to this category. Though it is hardly determinative.
I said before and will say it again – I believe that Christopher Nolan’s “Inception” is leading the way here, at least in terms of likelihood of a nomination. I honestly expect a good half-dozen crafts category nominations for this title and this will be among them. And I expect the crew, including past nominee Gary Rizzo, to be firmly in the hunt for the statuette.
Last week we discussed how a movie’s soundtrack can be immeasurably improved by music. This week, we turn to the sound technicians. While next week will concentrate on sound mixing (the overall mix of effects, recorded sounds, dialogue and music), this week we look at sound editing, the creation of artificial sound effects to enhance a film’s aural impact.
Despite the difference between the two sound categories, the fact remains that usually no more than one or two of the nominees in the Best Sound Editing field are generally snubbed for mixing. And as always, Best Picture contenders do well, suggesting that the branch isn’t the most novel when seeking out nominees.
However, the category has shown a tendency to reward films that do not necessarily score in the major categories; blockbusters, fantasy films and animated films usually do very well here, likely because of the fact that so many sounds in these movies have to be manifested. So let’s start with animated titles.
I honestly didn’t expect the list to hit so soon on the heels of my item earlier this afternoon, but hit it has. And it actually appears that “The Dreams of Jinsha” was the other title submitted, not “Chico & Rita.”
Alas, there are only 15 titles that qualified, meaning we will only see three nominees in the category this year. “Yogi Bear,” predictably, did not qualify, while “Idiots and Angels,” it turns out, did. I’d LOVE to see Bill Plympton in an Oscar race.
The rest are the usual suspects, but it’s a real shame we can’t have a full slate this year. Speaking solely for myself, I’m liking a lot of feature animation in 2010. TheGolden Globes, however, could still see five nominees as long as 14 titles were submitted to the HFPA for consideration. Check out Oscar’s field of animated feature contenders after the jump.
The Academy will be announcing the list of qualifying films for this year’s Best Animated Feature Film Oscar some time this week. For now, we know of 16 titles that have submitted. They are indicated on our dedicated page.
There was some confusion recently over which film was the 16th submission, but I’m told it was “Chico & Rita,” which bowed at this year’s Telluride film festival (it was the first film I saw at the fest, in fact). (CORRECTION: Turns out it was “The Dreams of Jinsha” instead, as noted here.) If all 16 films qualify, then we’ll be looking at a slate of five nominees after all. But if just one falls out, then it’s back to three.
The most dubious contenders could be “Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore” and “Yogi Bear,” which may not meet eligibility requirements. But the language is a bit loose, noting that “a significant number of the major characters must be animated, and animation must figure in no less than 75 percent of the picture’s running time.”
A great score can take a film from memorable to unforgettable. Whether it be Vangelis’s synthesizer on the beach in “Chariots of Fire,” Nino Rota’s haunting waltz from “The Godfather” or John Williams’s blaring, adventurous march from “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” scores can elevate amazing images to bring the director’s vision to even greater fruition.
The last time I discussed this category, I noted how it is very hard to predict in advance without having heard the scores. Synopses and stills give clues in other categories to an extent frequently not seen here. That said, most contenders have screened, if not opened, now, so we can make safe assumptions.
But I still think this can be one of the most difficult categories to predict. But in the way of patterns, films that feature noticeable, loud, memorable and often exotic music are usually contenders. And being in a Best Picture frontrunner never hurts matters, as always.
This branch certainly has its favorites, and I expect to see past nominees and winners prominent in the race this year. The composers don’t frequently embrace new nominees. Usually only one newcomer is welcomed per year.
A reader comment got me thinking on box office and Oscar as the usual blockbuster and genre fare led the way in ticket sales this weekend. It dawned on me that pickins might be extra slim when it comes to representing populist filmmaking in 2010’s Best Picture crop.
Box office and finding room for ratings-friendly titles have long been assumed considerations in the decision to expand the Best Picture category to 10 nominations last year. One year after Christopher Nolan’s “The Dark Knight” nearly reached “Titanic”-level numbers and was snubbed of a Best Picture nomination, there were suddenly five more spots to be filled, widening the net.
Academy members had seven films to choose from the $100 million-plus club in 2009 that had any legitimate excuse for being in the conversation. They were: “Avatar,” “The Blind Side,” “District 9,” “The Hangover,” “Inglourious Basterds,” “Star Trek” and “Up.” And some would consider “The Hangover” and “Star Trek” to be a stretch. As such, they missed, and the other five made it.
As we did last year, we’re going to bring you as many of the Best Original Song contenders as we can this season in these “listen to” posts. I’m going to aim for two or three per week, all leading up to the Best Original Song Tech Support column on December 9. By then, we should have a clearer idea of the category.
We kick things off with “Sticks & Stones,” a closing credits track from DreamWorks Animation’s “How to Train Your Dragon” by Sigur Rós front man Jónsi Birgisson. As we know, the Academy’s music branch views the original song contenders in the context of the films these days, so tunes that play over the closing credits have their work cut out for them.
Sometimes, if the credits are part of the story (i.e. “WALL-E” or “Waiting for Superman”), a song will have a fighting chance. That will be tough for Jónsi’s track, which just plays over a traditional credit roll (albeit accompanied by handsome storybook sketches of the film’s winged serpents).
Welcome to Oscar Talk.
In case you’re new to the site and/or the podcast, Oscar Talk is a weekly kudocast, your one-stop awards chat shop between yours truly and Anne Thompson of Thompson on Hollywood. The podcast is weekly, every Friday throughout the season, charting the ups and downs of contenders along the way. Plenty of things change en route to Oscar’s stage and we’re here to address it all as it unfolds.
After a week with four on the mic, it’s back to just Anne and myself as we mull over something of a slow news week. But there’s always some grist for the mill here and there, catch-up screenings, parties, etc., so let’s see what’s on the docket today…
Growing up in Atlanta, Georgia, Bonnie Arnold was a product of the Watergate generation of journalists, fired up by the state of current political affairs. She sought her undergraduate degree at the University of Georgia and soon took off to grad school at Boston University, where some dabbling in broadcasting was enough to light a fire of passion for the film business.
“I got an internship at WGBH and started to get a little taste of what was going on and what other jobs might be available,” she says over lunch on the DreamWorks campus (as they call the Google-esque environment, with its health initiatives, yoga classes and mind-settling landscaping) in Glendale, California. That job led her back to a job in Atlanta with a television station and producer David Picker, who was working on the first season of “American Playhouse.” As soon as she set foot on location, Arnold knew this business was for her.
“The minute I saw what went on behind the scenes of a film production, any menial job on that set was exciting to me,” she says. “Now it seems there are film commissions in every city in every state in the country. At that time there just weren’t. But Atlanta being a major airport, and Burt Reynolds bringing a lot of work there, Georgia’s a big state with mountains and the beach, there were a lot of advantages. I felt like I could be a bigger fish in a smaller pond.”
If you haven’t heard by now, Paramount Pictures is launching full speed into a Best Picture campaign for the animated hit “How to Train Your Dragon,” and why not? When you’re talking about Pixar-level acclaim and a highly respectable box office take, it’s worth it to test those waters.
A lovely soiree last night toasting the forthcoming Blu-ray and DVD release of the film was an early stop on that journey. Last year you’ll recall the studio put together a similar event for the “Star Trek” home video release.
The party was held at the new Red O restaurant on Melrose and among those in attendance were DreamWorks honcho Jeffrey Katzenberg and voice talents Craig Ferguson and America Ferrera. Ferrera was a delight to chat with, eager to dive into the recently announced sequel. I also had a nice talk with her fiancee, Ryan Piers Williams, a film buff and himself a filmmaker (Edinburgh hit “The Dry Land”). The film’s directors, Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders, were also in the crowd, as well as, randomly, actor Robert Forster. Mostly though it was a room full of BFCA, LAFCA and HFPA members, so the aim was clear.
I’ve been making notes on this in the comments section of yesterday’s Off the Carpet column throughout the morning, but it’s looking more and more like the magic number of 16 won’t be reached in this year’s animated feature film race. By my count, we have 12 titles.
One of them, Bill Plympton’s “Idiots and Angels,” may not have submitted the proper paperwork (I’m unsure at the moment). But it opened last week in New York regardless and will hit Los Angeles screens on October 29. Wouldn’t it be great to see Plympton in the mix, though?
I had originally though the Japanese “Tales from Earthsea” would be eligible, but while opening in a foreign territory one year prior is permitted (more of this arbitrary nonsense — it’s scattered throughout AMPAS rules and regs), more than that is not. The film opened in 2006 in Japan.
Last week, while discussing the sound editing category, I explained the difference between that art form and sound mixing. The Oscar for the latter is shared between two (or more) persons who construct the soundtrack of a movie. The re-recording mixers bring together everything – dialogue, sound effects, music – into what we hear in the theater. The production sound mixer is also awarded for capturing the sounds during shooting, an undoubtedly arduous task.
Many of the films nominated here are also nominated for Best Sound Editing. In fact, rarely is there more than one film showcased for only one field. Both categories like loud films, blockbusters and, as always, being a Best Picture contender certainly helps.
That said, some trends are noticeable between the two categories. Firstly, the branch has a love of musicals when it comes to sound mixing. That makes sense, of course, because a musical is fully made by its mix. Meanwhile, animated films consistently fare better in the sound editing category, which also makes sense given that so much of the sound scape is created separately from production.
I don’t remember there being an earlier “For Your Consideration” ad than September 1 before, but nevertheless, DreamWorks Animation has seized an opportunity to surge out in front of the fray on behalf of “How to Train Your Dragon” with the first ad of the season, as well as the first FYC site. The ad primes the film for not just an animated push, but an all out Best Picture push as well, and it hits at a time when toon competitor “Toy Story 3” is bringing in record-breaking box office.
And why not? It was one of the most critically and popular films of the first half of the year, even if its accomplishments have been eclipsed by Pixar’s this summer. I sometimes go back and forth on which film I like better. I’ll bet there are Academy members who’ll be doing the same. And will Disney be as aggressive with its campaign? Will the studio even feel a need to be? Time will tell.
The ad and site also promote upcoming screenings for the film in Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and London, all of them happening in the next two months. So, start your engines. It looks like we’re already off to the races. Check out the full ad after the jump (and note the “visual consultant,” who seems to be making the animated rounds lately.)
So nine years ago yesterday I started a crappy, embarrassing little amateur site on Yahoo!’s now defunct Geocities platform and called it Oscar Central. It was a way to blow off steam in film school, maybe fold an offline hobby (Oscar-watching, predicting, obsessing) into an online community that seemed to already have healthy numbers. Plus, hey, it was the early years. I figured some low tech internet training was far from the worst thing I could be doing.
That’s a long way of saying today kicks off my 10th season of Oscar coverage online, and in that decade, plenty has changed. One thing has remained the same, however, and that is a focused interest, both from myself and a growing readership, in the admittedly arbitrary and somewhat solipsistic process of awarding the “best” in filmed art and entertainment.
To put it more succinctly: Here we go again.
The 2010-2011 Oscar season takes its first real steps Wednesday as the 67th annual Venice Film Festival sets sail on the Lido. That opening night will see Darren Aronofsky’s “Black Swan” get its toes wet as Fox Searchlight tests the season’s waters, perhaps with a worthy follow-up to the director’s 2008 awards title “The Wrestler,” perhaps not. Two days later the 37th annual Telluride Film Festival lifts its curtain in the mountains of Colorado, bringing any number of “surprise” bows (we all know what they’ll be but, again, I’ll respect the fest’s wishes in this space), before Toronto’s media circus fills in the cracks and brings us to mid-September and the fiery beginnings of Oscar’s 83rd barbecue.
Now matter how many times I watch the Oscars, someone will always ask, “So what is the difference between the two sound categories?”
The difference is quite significant. It is so important that the sound branch is only one of two “tech” branches in the Academy (the other being music) that gives out two separate awards. Best Sound Mixing awards the individuals who bring the entire soundscape – music, dialogue, effects – together into a balanced mix.
Best Sound Editing, on the other hand (perhaps better described by its previous name, Best Sound Effects Editing), rewards the artificial creation of sounds to be inserted into the film, but were not captured during the shoot.
The category, despite its very specific nature, is nevertheless like many other “tech” categories. Both “loud” films (often war films) and blockbusters are among this category’s favorite fetishes. And like virtually all categories, being a Best Picture contender can be a big help.
I am marveled by the accomplishments of all the crafts artists who elevate our films, but this is particularly the case with respect to music composers. Composing equals genius as far as I am concerned.These musicians join the film at the end, when usually only the director, editor and perhaps the sound mixers are still working. But capturing the mood and feel of a film that has been created in your absence must be extraordinarily difficult.And I do not need to count the ways in which a brilliant score can make a good film truly unforgettable.
The category of Best Original Score is one of the hardest to predict in my opinion, even shortly before the nominations are announced. So what sort of music is rewarded by this branch? Certainly being noticeable in the film helps. Loud music and/or music which plays for lengthy parts of the film with minimal dialogue can do well, too. Being an animated film or a Best Picture contender hardly hurts either.
For years, we could count on John Williams to take a spot among the nominees. But given that Williams is only composing for Steven Spielberg these days, his name has been absent from the nominees for five straight years now. (I suspect we’ll see him finally move past Alfred Newman on the all-time list next year.)
Nevertheless, while the branch is not quite as insular as it was in the earlier part of last decade, it remains a fairly exclusive club. Seldom do composers get first trips to the Kodak – usually only one a year. In fact, of the past 11 years, only three have seen two new nominees, and only one has seen three.