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TECH SUPPORT: Best Film Editing — Volume II
So important but so hard to notice. That’s how I would describe the work of our best film editors – those cutting artists who blend and juxtapose frames together to make films coherent, establish a...
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TECH SUPPORT: Best Makeup — Volume II
As I said last week (and have said several times before), no category is year-in and-year-out more perplexing than Best Makeup. Each year, this branch finds ways to turn otherwise dubious awards...
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TECH SUPPORT: Best Original Score — Volume II
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...
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TECH SUPPORT: Best Sound Editing — Volume II
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...
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TECH SUPPORT: Best Sound Mixing — Volume II
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...
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TECH SUPPORT: Best Visual Effects — Volume II
I find it somewhat appropriate to be ending my in-depth looks at the crafts categories with a discussion of Best Visual Effects. This is, after all, a category which awards the sort of...
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TECH SUPPORT: Best Original Song
I guess I’ve been pretty hard on the Best Original Song category this year. It’s not like any given year tends to have a deluge of impressive fodder up for consideration or anything, but on the whole,...
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TECH SUPPORT INTERVIEW: The look of ‘Inception’
Christopher Nolan has become known for making the Batman films look, and consequently feel, “real.” His latest film, “Inception,” despite being a visual treat, also seemed a far cry from the CGI...
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TECH SUPPORT INTERVIEW: ‘True Grit’ costume designer Mary Zophres
In lieu of a typical entry in our Tech Support interview series (which kicked off last week), and on the heels of Friday’s sit-down chat with the Coen brothers, we’re kicking off the week of “True...
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TECH SUPPORT INTERVIEW: ‘True Grit’ sound mixer Skip Lievsay
Continuing today with our week-long look at the below-the-line elements of the Coen brothers’ “True Grit,” we’re chatting with sound re-recording mixer Skip Lievsay. Along with Carter Burwell, Lievsay...
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TECH SUPPORT INTERVIEW: ‘True Grit’ cinematographer Roger Deakins
The Coen brothers’ “True Grit” opens nationwide today. And we’re continuing right along with our daily look at the below-the-line talent of the film with director of photography Roger Deakins. Deakins...
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TECH SUPPORT INTERVIEW: ‘True Grit’ composer Carter Burwell
Nearing the end of our week-long series of interviews with the below-the-line talent of Joel and Ethan Coen’s “True Grit,” we’re talking today with the film’s composer Carter Burwell. Of the entire...
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TECH SUPPORT INTERVIEW: ‘True Grit’ production designer Jess Gonchor
We’re wrapping things up today with a final look at the below-the-line of Joel and Ethan Coen’s “True Grit” and a chat with production designer Jess Gonchor. You might recall our interview with Gonchor...
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TECH SUPPORT INTERVIEW: The design of ‘Alice in Wonderland’
Tim Burton and Johnny Depp may well be poised to go down in film history as one of the famous actor-director duets. Seven collaborations to date have delighted audiences for the past 20 years. They...
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TECH SUPPORT INTERVIEW: The construction of ‘The Social Network’
One of the immediately striking things about Aaron Sorkin’s screenplay for “The Social Network” is its assemblage, the manner in which he chose to tell the story with cascading elements of the...
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TECH SUPPORT INTERVIEW: The wizardry of ‘TRON Legacy’
It’s somewhat intriguing to note how far the visual effects side of filmmaking has come in the last three decades. When “TRON” was released in 1982, it’s FX wizardry was disqualified from Academy...
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TECH SUPPORT: Final analysis, part one
It seems hard to believe that it’s been more than six months since I wrote this year’s introductory Tech Support column ( a dissection of the art direction race). Much has changed since then,...
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TECH SUPPORT: Final analysis, part two
Yesterday I began a final look at the crafts categories. Today, a look at the four remaining fields: Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design and Best Film Editing. BEST ART...
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TECH SUPPORT: Analyzing the nominees
So the 83rd Annual Academy Award nominations were finally announced this week, and I did fairly well in handicapping the nominees. Outside of Best Sound Mixing, I never missed more than one nominee in...
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TECH SUPPORT INTERVIEW: ‘Salt’ sound re-recording mixer Greg P. Russell and...
When Oscar voters spoke up last Tuesday, two intriguing craft category nominations stuck out, both coming from the same branch: Mark P. Stoeckinger’s third bid to date for the sound editing of...
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TECH SUPPORT INTERVIEW: The makeup of ‘Barney’s Version,’‘The Way Back’ and...
As we have noted a number of times, the makeup branch is one of the Academy’s most independently minded. While many people have criticized them in the past for bestowing the moniker “Oscar nominee” on...
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TECH SUPPORT INTERVIEW: ‘Toy Story 3’ composer and songwriter Randy Newman
When the Oscar nominations were announced last month, composer Alan Menken almost tied Randy Newman for third-most nominations among living artists. But Newman inched away, nabbing his own nomination...
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TECH SUPPORT: Final analysis, part one
So this is it. Over the last seven-plus months here at Tech Support, we have tried to illuminate and analyze the craft races as they unfolded. On Sunday, the winners will be revealed, ushering some new...
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TECH SUPPORT: Final analysis, part two
Yesterday we began our final look at the 10 crafts categories. Check out part one here. Today, the conclusion. Meanwhile, you can find my final predictions in all categories here. Best Music...
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TECH SUPPORT: ‘Inception’ dominates below the line
So, the morning after a terrible prediction record at this year’s Oscars, I’ll try to make some sense of what the Academy told us, and what it means for the crafts artists we got to know along the...
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