In Contention

Tag: Joe Klotz

  • TECH SUPPORT: Best Film Editing — Volume I

    I still remember when I was 12 and getting into the Oscars for the first time. My Dad said, “How can you tell if the film has good editing?” To a very large extent, I had to concede his point, as the best editing is often that which we don’t explicitly notice. Rather, it simply “becomes” the film as we become immersed in what is on the screen, not remembering that everything was staged from different angles on different days.

    Film Editing brings films to agreeable length, coherent narrative and appropriate pacing so as to engage the audience in accordance with the director’s vision.  The Academy Award for the art form has definitely shown a tendency toward “showy” editing in the past, though.  War films, musicals, action films and movies that are not told linearly all frequent this race. But perhaps the best predictor of the editing nominees is what is occurring in the Best Picture race.   Most of the nominees show up here.  Now that we have ten Best Picture nominees, I would think at least four nominees will also be there.

    All things considered, Lee Smith’s editing of Christopher Nolan’s “Inception” has got to be considered the leader in this race. The film was well received, is a Best Picture favorite, was certainly told in a “unique” manner and Smith was nominated last time he and Nolan worked together. I fully expect him to earn his third nomination this year.

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  • OSCAR GUIDE: Best Film Editing

    Gabourey Sidibe in PreciousThe Best Film Editing category tends to be a shadow of the Best Picture category in some ways. With there being 10 Best Picture nominees this year, however, the field was bound to nail down five of the contenders. So considering the old stand-by stat (no film has won Best Picture without an editing nomination since “Ordinary People”), this is a race to keep an eye on.

    In fact, it might be a bellwether for the rest of the show when the envelope is opened. Which means the competition has been boiled down to the same to films the media is keeping an eye on for Best Picture. In this instance, however, that reduction isn’t as ill-considered.

    The nominees are:

    “Avatar” (Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua and James Cameron)
    “District 9”     (Julian Clarke)
    “The Hurt Locker” (Bob Murawski and Chris Innis)
    “Inglourious Basterds” (Sally Menke)
    “Precious” (Joe Klotz)

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  • TECH SUPPORT: Best Film Editing — Volume II

    (from left) Daniel Day-Lewis and Marion Cotillard in NineAs I wrote in August, “Best Achievement in Film Editing” can be a difficult thing to define. Traditionally, we most notice film editing that is showy, usually in action films, musicals or movies that are not told chronologically. But does that make the editing better? If done well, it undoubtedly can add to the quality and innovation in a film.

    At the same time, however, a well-paced and effective film is often one where the transitions are seamless and I maintain that the best editing is often that which you don’t notice.  We will never know what “could have made it into the film,” which makes judging editing difficult at times. What is certain, however, is that in the absence of editors, our films would all be significantly too long, likely incoherent and/or tremendously boring.

    Personally speaking, I’m intrigued by this category this year. he editing field has historically displayed a strong correlation to the Best Picture line-up. Last year marked a return to a typical situation which we had seen from the mid-90s until early this decade: four of the five films nominated for Best Film Editing were also nominated for Best Picture, with the fifth being an action film. However, from 2005 through 2007, only two of the five nominees crossed over to the Best Picture category. This raises the question…what to expect this year?

    Some of the films I thought were contenders back in the summer have clearly fallen out of the running. Oscar winners Stephen Mirrione and Thelma Schoonmaker are now out the race as “Biutiful” and “Shutter Island” have been delayed until 2010. Allyson C. Johnson, on the other hand, is certainly not going to find herself nominated for “Amelia,” which is not getting near awards are far as anyone is concerned.

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