 While I was heartily rooting for Emmanuel Lubezki to win the Oscar for cinematography, it’s hard to begrude Robert Richardson, because the cinematography of Hugo was incredibly impressive. If you’ve ever wondered how the camera actually captures the moments on film, First Showing has uncovered a fun behind the scenes video in which you can take ride on the Steadicam through the last shot of the film. It’s a great look into how the crew, camera, and actors interact during the filming of a movie with quick changing sets and a moving camera. Take a gander at the clip to witness the magic of movie making.
Read more on Take a ride with the camera in Behind the Scenes video from Hugo…
 It’s Friday. Oscars are on Sunday. I’ve rattled my brain for hours, days, weeks. It hurts. I can’t. I am fully ready to be wrong in many categories. I also chickened out in several categories.
I wanted to put Max Von Sydow instead of Christopher Plummer. Not happening. Can I get some type of credit if it happens? No? I thought so. I wanted to place “The Artist” winning Original Screenplay over Woody Allen and “Midnight in Paris.” Terrible. I’m usually good at taking the big stabs. I chose Amy Adams when everyone said it was Rachel Weisz. I acknowledged I was wrong but I still went for it. It happens. But I have called great things like “The Hurt Locker” in May or Alan Arkin over Eddie Murphy and when I was in high school and had no idea what I was talking about I said Marcia Gay Harden for “Pollock.” Maybe it’ll be a safe year, maybe it’ll be a complete mind-trip, but at least it’ll be over. And then we can start this painful process again on Monday morning with the Year-In-Advance predictions.
You can check out each category through the Oscar Prediction pages with commentary for each category and my Who Will Win/Should Win. If you read the Davis Awards 2011, then you know my dream nominations and winners. Collectively, they are after the jump.
Read more on Editor’s Final Oscar Predictions…
Categories: Article, Editor, Oscar Circuit Tags: Alexander Payne, AMPAS, Beginners, best picture, Christopher Plummer, Editor, Emmanuel Lubezski, Hugo, jean dujardin, Jim Rash, Michel Hazanavicius, Midnight in Paris, Nat Faxon, Octavia Spencer, oscar predictions, Oscars, Rango, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, the artist, The Descendants, The Help, The Muppets, The Tree of Life, Viola Davis, Woody Allen
 And the Nominees Are:
Guillaume Schiffman
“The Artist”
Oscar Scene: Waking up from the sound dream sequence
Jeff Cronenweth
“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”
Oscar Scene: Opening credits
Robert Richardson
“Hugo”
Oscar Scene: Traveling through the train station
Emmanuel Lubezski
“The Tree of Life”
Oscar Scene: Creation
Janusz Kaminski
“War Horse”
Oscar Scene: Joey running through the battle
Read more on Oscar Circuit: Best Cinematography…
Categories: Article, Editor, Oscar Circuit Tags: Cinematography, Editor, Emmanuel Lubezski, Hugo, Janusz Kaminski, Jeff Cronenweth, Oscar Circuit, Robert Richardson, the artist, The Tree of Life, war horse
 As you’re reading this, the Oscar voters have already made their final selections for each category of the Academy Awards, and there’s nothing left to do but wait for the results at the awards ceremony on Sunday. It got me to thinking, what kind of case has each Best Picture contender made for their shot at the award? Below are arguments that could be made, regardless of if I agree with them or not (I don’t completely, and obviously I personally am more or less fond of certain ones), as well as avoiding the precursor results. Later on, there will be a spot as usual for you to let us know the case you’d make for your personal picks in these groups (or all of them if you so desire), but for now, this is how I see it…as objectively as possible. In short, this how I think each film would pitch itself to voters at the last minute if they were standing on even ground going into the ceremony. Yes, I’m a bit bored in Florida (for those of you who know I’m temporarily out of New York City until sometime next month), but any writing is better than no writing. Anyway, here goes nothing…
Read more on Making the final case for each Best Picture nominee……
Categories: Article Tags: best picture, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, Hugo, Midnight in Paris, Moneyball, Oscar hopefuls, the artist, The Descendants, The Help, The Tree of Life, war horse
 The CAS awards have been announced and Martin Scorsese’s flick has emerged victorious, as you can see here with the full results:
Outstanding Sound in a Motion Picture: Hugo
Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for Television Movies and Mini-Series: TOO BIG TO FAIL
Outstanding Achievement in Sound Mixing for TV Movies & Mini-Series.. – Into the Wild
Technical Achievement Award for Post Production: AVID Pro Tools 10
Sound mixing for non-fiction variety show: DEADLIEST CATCH: NEW BLOOD!
Technical Achievement Award for Production: ZAXCOM: Nomad Production Sound System
Read more on ‘Hugo’ wins with the Cinema Audio Society!…
 Much like Kris Tapley over at In Contention does his list of the 10 best shots of each year, I like to do something similar as well here at The Awards Circuit. The wrinkle for me is that I go with the best/most memorable scenes of the year. It’s also kind of a tie in/companion piece with my article on what films from 2011 will stand the test of time. I couldn’t limit it to just 10, so I included 5 of the 15 runners-up and came up with 15 different scenes that were my personal favorites. 8 of my 10 favorite films of 2011 are on the final cut of the list (all wound up in the piece though when you factor in the honorable mentions), but overall I think these are going to be widely considered some of the best scenes of the year. Of course, I’m eager to read what you all have to say/view as the best of the year as well, so we’ll get to that at the end. For now, let’s get on with it and talk about the best scenes from 2011!
Read more on Which Scenes from 2011 will you remember?…
Categories: Article Tags: Another Earth, Bellflower, Best of the year, Bridesmaids, Crazy Stupid Love, Drive, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, Hugo, Like Crazy, lists, Margaret, Midnight in Paris, Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol, Moneyball, random, Red State, Shame, Super 8, the artist, The Beaver, The Descendants, the girl with the dragon tattoo, The Ides of March, The Muppets, The Tree of Life, Warrior, We Bought a Zoo
 And the Nominees Are:
The Artist – Laurence Bennett and Robert Gould
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 – Stuart Craig and Stephanie McMillan
Hugo – Dante Ferretti and Francesca Lo Schiavo
Midnight in Paris – Anne Seibel and Hélène Dubreuil
War Horse – Rick Carter and Lee Sandales
So where I began with Sizing Up has ended with four of my five “Pole Position” contenders (with Midnight in Paris being the sole “Second Tier” to make it from the outside) being nominated for this award. And, rather tediously, the film that I had predicted would the whole thing outright is still way out in front on a seemingly unstoppable course to victory. Barring a huge upset, this will be the third consecutive garishly colorful, CGI-filled spectacle to win this award. I’m starting to feel a little down on this category in the wake of just how show-offy their preferences have become, especially since recent years have yielded some truly creative visual design choices that consistently get passed over. Will future big-budget epics just take the hint and follow suit with less and less subtle visual choices? *Sigh*…okay, enough complaining. Let’s take a look at the nominees:
Read more on Oscar Circuit: Art Direction…
 The 2011 Awards Circuit Community Awards was one of the most diverse and hottest choices this side of the internet. This is the only site that gives its readership a voice to name his/her favorite films and performances of the year. With a wide open Oscar race, the ACCA race followed suit as you will see from the winners.
“The Artist” led the nomination tally with eleven while Nicolas Winding Refn’s “Drive” and David Yates’ “Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows Part 2″ both scored nine nominations each. It looked like it was anyone’s game.
Check out the winners on the 2011 ACCA page (with pictures) and make sure to comment either here or on the ACCA page. Read more on 2011 ACCA Winners Announced!…
 The screenplay categories have a strong correlation with past Best Picture winners. In the past few years, “Slumdog Millionaire,” “No Country for Old Men,” and “The Departed” have all won the Adapted Screenplay race that translated to a Best Picture statue. Other winners such as “The Social Network,” “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire,” and “Brokeback Mountain” have lost Best Picture to an Original work. 2004 was the only year that a triumph occurred here that didn’t align with Oscar. Funny enough it was Alexander Payne’s “Sideways” which triumphed over Clint Eastwood’s winner “Million Dollar Baby.” With this year’s Best Picture race likely going to Michel Hazanavicius’ “The Artist” whoever wins in this category will likely be considered a “consolation” prize. Three out of the five films (The Descendants, Hugo, Moneyball), are nominated for Best Picture. ”Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy” had a strong showing on nomination morning when many considered the film dead in the water. Lastly, “The Ides of March” pulled in a last minute mention, likely riding the coattails of George Clooney acting work in “The Descendants,” and made a well-deserved showing.
Let’s break down the nominees:
Read more on Oscar Circuit: Adapted Screenplay…
Categories: Editor, Oscar Circuit Tags: Alexander Payne, Beau Willimon, Editor, George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Hugo, Jim Rash, John Logan, Moneyball, Nat Faxon, Oscar Circuit, predictions, Stan Chervin, Steven Zaillian, The Descendants, The Ides of March, tinker tailor soldier spy
 And the Nominees Are:
The Artist
The Descendants
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
Moneyball
Tied into the Best Picture race more than any other tech category is Best Film Editing. Scoring a Best Picture win without at least a nomination here, if not a win, is incredibly rare and almost unheard of. Of late, the field has been almost entirely filled with nominees for the top prize, but at times the Academy has seen fit to cite top notch action here as well. This year, 4 of the 5 nominees are also Best Picture contenders, and that makes this part of the race pretty interesting. We have last year’s winners in play again too (that’s the picture right here to the right, in case you were wondering), plus a legend in the industry at what she does. All this makes for a lot to take in and analyze, but I’m going to do my best! What may seem somewhat clear cut is not quite so, which makes this more fun, of course. Anyway, before we get too deep into it, let’s settle down for a bit of history, shall we?
Read more on Oscar Circuit: Best Film Editing…
 The Visual Effects Society gave out their awards yesterday and pretty much confirmed my earlier suspicions in my Oscar Circuit piece on the Best Visual Effects category (found here if you missed it) that it’s a race between Hugo and Rise of the Planet of the Apes for the gold. Here are the full winners from the awards ceremony:
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects-Driven Feature: “Rise of the Planet of the Apes”
Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Feature Motion Picture: “Hugo”
Outstanding Visual Effects in an Animated Feature Motion Picture: “Rango”
Read more on Winners from the 10th annual VES Awards!…
 I would love to wake up every morning and already have my wardrobe picked out for me. I guess that’s the beauty of working in the movies. You get to wear all types of amazing outfits and they are all tailored for you and everything. It must be an even better feeling when the costume designers wake up on Oscar morning to find out that the hard work they put in paid off.
It is the job for the costume designer to properly come up with outfits that symbolize who a particular character is and to set the mood right for a certain scene. I think the following nominees did a fantastic job in completing this task.
And the nominees are:
• Anonymous- Lisy Christl
• The Artist- Mark Bridges
• Hugo- Sandy Powell
• Jane Eyre- Michael O’Connor
• W.E.- Arianne Phillips Read more on Oscar Circuit: Best Costume Design…
 Take a gander:
Feature Film, Period: Hugo
Feature Film, Contemporary: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Feature Film, Fantasy: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Episode of a Multi-Camera, Variety, or Unscripted Series: Saturday Night Live
Awards, Music, or Game Shows: 83rd ANNUAL ACADEMY AWARDS
Episode of a Half Hour Single-Camera Television Series: Modern Family
One-Hour Single Camera Television Series: Boardwalk Empire
Television Movie or Mini-Series: Mildred Pierce
Read more on Here are the results from the Art Director Awards!…
 And the Nominees Are:
Drive
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
War Horse
Just as my colleague and friend Mike Ward detailed the Best Sound Mixing race (the excellent write up can be found here), I’m diving right in and tackling the Best Sound Editing race. I know that there’s often some confusion about which category is which and what exactly they both do. In short, the Mixing category deals with recording and re-recording, while Editing literally has to do with editing or design in terms of sound. This is in some ways the “sexier” category, but both obviously have their place in terms of importance. I’ll freely admit that I sometimes have a hard time predicting this category, though oddly enough my overall percentage is pretty high for Sound Editing in the end. I guess it just takes me a bit longer than in some other categories to come around to the winner. Will it be the same this year or do I already have the race figured out? Well, let’s find out…
Read more on Oscar Circuit: Best Sound Editing…
 Every year, even though the vast majority of movie releases are all but instantly forgettable, we have some films come out that you just know will be still remembered fondly 25 years later. 2011 was no exception. It’s a bit early to know which will survive the test of time, but I’m willing to bet that a number of them will. As much as anything, it’s a situation where you have to imagine what films will be talked about in film school, among scholars, or even just over some dinner among family and/or friends. For example, last year I look at The Social Network and Inception as two films that definitely will be remembered, and they’re hardly the only ons from 2010. For 2011, there’s a half dozen that spring to mind for me, and not all of them are films I particularly love. For example, I love Red State, and while I think it will forever remain a notable entry into Kevin Smith’s oeuvre, for the general film community it’s of little note. There are also films like Bellflower and Margin Call that announced interesting new filmmakers, but likely will be looked back on to a lesser degree than the films to come. I have a half dozen contenders for the “test of time” throne from 2011. Let’s get started, shall we?
Read more on Which Films Can Stand the Test of Time?…
Last year's Oscar winners for Best Sound Mixing for "Inception" (L to R – Lora Hirschberg, Gary Rizzo and Ed Novick). Novick is a nominee again this year for "Moneyball".
The 2011 Nominees For Best Sound Mixing Are…
• THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO
• HUGO
• MONEYBALL
• TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON
• WAR HORSE
At my annual Oscar party, invariably some assemblage of attendees always ask questions such as “What is Cinematography?” “How do they judge Art Direction?” and a rather common one, at least in my circles… “What is the difference between Sound Editing and Sound Mixing? How are we supposed to know the difference?”
To the lay movie fan, below-the-line work is often taken for granted and/or rarely, if ever, thought about. If a movie looks great, it looks great, but few people ever remark that the Director of Photography or Cinematographer’s work was fantastic. Sure the movie may look fantastic and the settings quite glorious, but who amongst your friends and loved ones have ever proclaimed that the art direction and set decoration work of [insert name] was exceptional.
And make no mistake, all of that is fine in a general sense. At the end of the day, people go to the movies to escape, to live another life or decompress from their daily affairs. People paying to see Transformers: Dark Of The Moon or Jack And Jill, or even a conventional dramatic Oscar contending film will simply not be concerned with how a film was lensed, how the sets were constructed, or possibly even be aware that the pacing and rhythm and sequencing of shots they enjoy are meticulously planned out and performed by an editor. At the end of the day, people just want to be entertained and not analyze every moment of the story they just experienced.
Read more on Oscar Circuit: Best Sound Mixing…
And the Nominees Are:
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2″
Oscar scene: The climactic battle between Harry and Voldemort
“Hugo”
Oscar scene: The train crash
“Real Steel”
Oscar scene: The final robot boxing match
“Rise of the Planet of the Apes”
Oscar scene: The apes rising
“Transformers: Dark of the Moon”
Oscar scene: The Decepticon wraps around a building
One of the more interesting categories out there for Oscar is Best Visual Effects. Many of the other technical categories are harder for the layman to comprehend and as such feel more exclusionary (Film Editing or Sound Mixing, for example), whereas this particular category is a lot simpler to wrap your head around. This year, we don’t especially have a lower key nominee as in years past (just look at Hereafter scoring a nod last year), so it’s pretty much going to be which film was the best feast for the eyes. Of the 5 nominees, it seems like a 3 horse race to me. Which 3 are they, you ask? Well, let’s dive right in and find out!
Read more on Oscar Circuit: Best Visual Effects…
 And the Nominees Are:
Ludovic Bource – “The Artist”
Oscar Scene: “Bang!” (in the home theater)
John Williams – “The Adventures of Tintin”
Oscar Scene: Tintin and the big chase through the town square.
Howard Shore – “Hugo”
Oscar Scene: Georges Méliès’ movie
Alberto Iglesias – “Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy”
Oscar Scene: Opening Credits
John Williams – “War Horse”
Oscar Scene: Joey running through the war.
Read more on Oscar Circuit: Best Original Score…
Categories: Editor, Oscar Circuit Tags: Best Original Score, howard shore, Hugo, John Williams, Oscars, oscars 2012, The Adventures Of Tintin, the artist, tinker tailor soldier spy, war horse
 If you still weren’t willing to call the Oscar for “The Artist,” you should now. Not sure if this will necessarily translate to an automatic Directing win for the French director but the film is signed, sealed, and delivered for Oscar gold. Here’s the press release:
Read more on Michel Hazanavicius wins DGA Award!…
Categories: News, Precursors Tags: Alexander Payne, Best Director, David Fincher, DGA, Directors Guild of America, Hugo, Martin Scorsese, Michel Hazanavicius, Midnight in Paris, news, Precursors, the artist, The Descendants, the girl with the dragon tattoo, Woody Allen
 The Nominees Are:
Michel Hazanavicius – “The Artist”
Alexander Payne – “The Descendants”
David Fincher – “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”
Martin Scorsese – “Hugo”
Woody Allen – “Midnight in Paris”
Prediction: Michel Hazanavicius for “The Artist”
Alternate: Martin Scorsese for “Hugo”
Read more on Directors Guild of America Predictions…
Categories: News Tags: Alexander Payne, David Fincher, Directors Guild of America, Hugo, Martin Scorsese, Michel Hazanavicius, Midnight in Paris, news, Precursors, the artist, The Descendants, the girl with the dragon tattoo, Woody Allen
 I am deeply honored to have been nominated by the Academy for my work on Hugo. Every picture is a challenge, and this one – where I was working with 3D, HD and Sacha Baron Cohen for the first time – was no exception. It’s a wonderful feeling to know that you’ve been recognized by the people in your industry. I congratulate my fellow nominees. It’s an impressive list, and I’m in excellent company.
- Martin Scorsese, Producer/Director of HUGO
Read more on Oscar Nominees Reactions…
 Thanks to Sasha Stone @ Awards Daily
FEATURE FILMS CATEGORY
BEST SOUND EDITING: SOUND EFFECTS AND FOLEY IN A FEATURE FILM
- Drive
- Fast Five
- The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
- Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol
Read more on MPSE Sound Editors Nominees…
Categories: News, Precursors Tags: Drive, Fast Five, Hop, Hugo, Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol, news, Precursors, Priest, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, sound, Sound Editing, Super 8, the girl with the dragon tattoo, The Tree of Life, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, war horse
 Now that we’re just one week away from the Academy Award nominee announcements, some categories are becoming narrowed down in a more literal sense. Best Makeup and Visual Effects have a “Bake-Off,” where only a few eligible contenders are squeezed into a small group until being squeezed further into the final set of nominees. It’s one of those arbitrarily weird competition rules that strikes me as unnecessary and even a little douchey, especially in Visual Effects, since inspired and creative minimal uses of special effects are grouped in with films that are crammed with varying qualities of CGI and are almost always the ones that suffer (see: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World for last year’s ceremony). “Hey guys, good job making the finali-oops, you didn’t get nominated LOL!” Luckily, Makeup’s Bake-Off had many sighing a breath of relief with their choices, or, more perhaps more accurately, omissions… Read more on Sizing Up the “Bake-Off” Fields…
Categories: Article Tags: anonymous, Best Makeup, Best Visual Effects, captain america, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2, Hugo, Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol, Real Steel, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Sizing Up series, the artist, The Iron Lady, The Tree of Life, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, X-Men: First Class
 Excellence in Period Film:
“The Artist” (Mark Bridges)
“Jane Eyre” (Michael O’Connor)
“The Help” (Sharen Davis)
“Hugo” (Sandy Powell)
“W.E.” (Arianne Phillips)
Excellence in Fantasy Film:
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2″ (Jany Temime)
“Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” (Penny Rose)
“Red Riding Hood” (Cindy Evans)
“Thor” (Alexandra Byrne)
“X-Men: First Class” (Sammy Sheldon)
Excellence in Contemporary Film:
“Bridesmaids” (Leesa Evans & Christine Wada)
“The Descendants (Wendy Chuck)
“Drive” (Erin Benach)
“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” (Trish Summerville)
“Melancholia” (Manon Rasmussen) Read more on Costume Design Guild Nominations…
Categories: News, Precursors Tags: Best Costume Design, Bridesmaids, Drive, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2, Hugo, Jane Eyre, Melancholia, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Precursors, the artist, The Descendants, the girl with the dragon tattoo, The Help, Thor, W.E., X-Men: First Class
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While I was heartily rooting for Emmanuel Lubezki to win the Oscar for cinematography, it’s hard to begrude Robert Richardson, because the cinematography of Hugo was incredibly impressive. If you’ve ever wondered how the camera actually captures the moments on film, First Showing has uncovered a fun behind the scenes video in which you can take ride on the Steadicam through the last shot of the film. It’s a great look into how the crew, camera, and actors interact during the filming of a movie with quick changing sets and a moving camera. Take a gander at the clip to witness the magic of movie making.
