Bernardo Villela is like a mallrat except at the movies. He is a writer, director, editor and film enthusiast who seeks to continue to explore and learn about cinema, chronicle the journey and share his findings.
I will not purport to be a sound guy, which us quite different than knowing something about it. I did learn it and study it. I have my tastes and know some rules of the game and tricks of the trade. However, I did not include a sound category before I had studied it. It was originally called merely Best Sound Design. If you pay attention at the Oscars you’ll note that Mixing and Editing will usually go to the same film. They are separate and distinct skills and prizes but there is a definite link. I will not pretend that I can split the hairs necessary to sub-divide the category so I will keep it as one. This past year (2010) was when the slash was added to the prize.
Firstly, the parentheses in the headline are meant to indicate that the winner has not always been a song written specifically for the film. Therefore in some years the word “original” has dropped out of the category heading. However, the qualification is still virtually the same: the song must appear in a film and under a new orchestration. I define orchestration rather loosely meaning someone doing a cover can qualify.
Secondly, I saw a lot of chatter on Twitter during the Oscars indicating that this category should be dropped. Whether or not the Oscars will I don’t know. I doubt it. The Academy has too much tradition and potential production value invested in this category. As for me I’m only really interested in aesthetics and don’t have a show to put on I see no reason to scratch it. I’ve heard no valid argument against its inclusion, many say “Not every film has one” but not every film uses visual effects heavily or is animated or foreign but the categories remain. The ubiquity of an element is helpful but unnecessary. All the songs below are memorable, catchy and capture the essence of the film in which they are contained. And, yes, there is an art to either selecting, placing, orchestrating and/or writing that song so the category will remain.
It’s more prevalent here than elsewhere so I will state it now: TV movies are not excluded from inclusion in the BAMs as a rule so you will find one in here amidst the eclectic mix.
2020“Mother” Courtney Love & The Turning The Turning
This is another category that is one of the newer generation. It also took a break in 2008 when lack of notes and laziness lead to a temporary pairing down of awarded categories. At the Academy Awards this category almost invariably goes to a period piece. I tend to try and award either combination fashions or outright fantasy. When the proclivity for period is acknowledged by a winner who uncouthly also adds she’s not giving up her award voting and nomination practices should be re-examined. The bottom line is that Costume Design is so much more than historical accuracy, as every film needs its cast dressed and all choices reflect plot and character.
Firstly, welcome to the first short film Saturday of the new year. I wanted to have a new one up last weekend, but amongst other things having all my BAM posts needing to go up, and my Best of the Year in general and horror took out much of my screening time.
Frosty Man and the BMX Kid is a very quick, quirky, funny tale featuring some heavy Kiwi accents (so listen close) and a mysterious stranger. This was a finalist in the Your Big Break Competitions run by New Zealand Tourism.
The Movie Rat 