Forecasting the Oscars ® since 2003

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TECHNICALLY SPEAKING: A FINAL LOOK AT THE ARTISTIC & TECH CATEGORIES

Transformers is likely to win Best Visual Effects and Sound Mixing/Editing

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By Danny West

Technically, the movies are there so you can escape your daily life. If you’re watching a film and are fully aware of technical aspects of things, you’re a) watching a horrible waste of film stock or b) a pretentious film analyst. I am Danny. I am b). The Big 8 are all but wrapped up. Get interested in technical garb because there’s nowhere left for other surprises.

Costuming:

The garments adorned in Atonement are as beautiful as the rest of the film, however, they’re complimentary nature to the composition of the onscreen objects and lighting gives them a severe disadvantage. Costumes that standout on their own have a much better chance at the gold I say. It’s a toss up, but I’m going to opt for Sweeney Todd.

Art Direction:

Call me crazy, but I’m all for Sweeney Todd here as well. Atonement stands a great chance here as well, as does There Will Be Blood. But Blood was a bit too blank in places and too strictly character driven to be about the big picture. Tim Burton films are known for their gothic insanity and they are too few times rewarded. Here’s to The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.

Cinematography:

I’m out on a limb a bit, but the direction of Schnabel won’t be rewarded, but undoubtedly there will be minds that feel it was too incredible an achievement not to reward with something. I feel Atonement should win this category, but I fear it may become The Diving Bell’s consolation prize for being unrecognized every place else, including France.

Editing:

No Country For Old Men deserves this award, not to mention all the others it’s going to win. Interweaving the stories and characters in NCfoM was no small task, nor was making barren landscapes and nowherevilles pop with intrigue. This film is pieced together expertly and I can’t imagine it losing to a camera shake earthquake popcorn and nausea feast like The Bourne Ultimatum.

Make-Up:

Norbit! Okay, La Vie en Rose. But seriously, Norbit winning an Oscar? How wonderful would that be? Eddie Murphy would throw up...

Sound Editing:

I’m the minority here, but I’ve got to take a chance somewhere. I love Ratatouille in this category. The time and effort it takes to produce authentic and magical sounds in an animated feature is so unfairly undocumented. In “real” movies, there is always some semblance of the blueprint of the real world to guide sound technicians. In animated features, the imagination can go anywhere it wants to with the process. Upset please.

Sound Mixing and Visual Effects:

Transformers by a landslide. The machines were visually as seamless as their racket.

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