Well, the 82nd Oscar nominations were announced today - on Groundhog Day. I’m sure there’s a joke in there somewhere about “If Oscar sees his shadow…” Congratulations to the nominees in all 24 categories! The ABC telecast on Sunday, March 7th should be a real doozy!
Has the Best Picture category ever had 10 nominees before? That’s right, TEN! Avatar, The Blind Side, District 9, An Education, The Hurt Locker, Inglorious Basterds, Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire (is that really the actual title?!), A Serious Man, Up, and Up in the Air. I think this is a first; for many, many years - going all the way back to the first Academy Awards in 1927, I think - the top number of nominees in any category has been 5.
That is, unless you count Makeup and Visual Effects. Only three each. Why is that? As I wrote in my blog about Oscar nominations back in December, 2009, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) has returned to three possible names on the nomination ticket (for the Makeup category) from two names in recent years past. And, as I wrote then, Leonard Engleman, governor of the Makeup Artists and Hairstyles Branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is quoted as saying the reason is because “the area of makeup and hairstyling is now so spread out.” I have no idea what that is supposed to mean.
In addition to the three nominated films for makeup - Il Divo, Stark Trek and The Young Victoria - there seems to have been a larger than usual number of impressive makeup contenders that were left out, including Amelia, Avatar, District 9, Inglorious Basterds, Public Enemies, Taking Woodstock, Terminator Salvation, The Vampire’s Assistant, Watchmen, and Wolverine. This category could easily have supported five nominees. None-the-less, my heartfelt congratulations to Aldo Signoretti and Vittorio Sodano for their work in Il Divo, to Barney Burman, Mindy Hall and Joel Harlow for Star Trek, and to Jon Henry Gordon and Jenny Shircore for their beautiful work in The Young Victoria! Their nominations are well deserved.
The Visual Effects category also has only 3 nominated films: Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham and Andrew R. Jones for Avatar; Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, Robert Habros and Matt Aitken for District 9; and Roger Guyett, Russell Earl, Paul Kavanagh and Burt Dalton for Star Trek. These were not the only three movies with great VFX, and you can’t convince me that there could only be three nominated films for Makeup or for Visual Effects because there were so many people responsible for the work. Just not enough statues to go around… Not to single any one category out, but that didn’t prevent the categories of Sound Editing or Sound Mixing from receiving five nominated films each.
The Academy claims to have made strides to improve the selection process, but I don’t think they’ve gone far enough. If the Best Picture category can double the number of nominees to select from, a 40% increase in the number of nominees for Makeup and for Visual Effects isn’t asking for too much.
This month’s issue of Make-Up Artist Magazine features a piece on yours truly. Our mother would be so proud…grab your copy today and tell all your friends!
Until this summer Philip Flores of Hemet was working as a lowly production assistant in Hollywood.
Now, the aspiring filmmaker is shooting his first movie in L.A., “Touchback,” an indie drama about a high school freshman who reluctantly engages in a contest to see who can score with the most girls.
Flores’ reversal of fortune came courtesy of an unexpected benefactor: the online movie rental firm Netflix. Flores was the recent winner of the “Netflix Find Your Voice” competition, which awards grants to first-time filmmakers.
How can a mass of bits and bytes stomp its heavy metal feet on a sand dune filmed by Michael Bay? Or, how can an elegant combination of ones and zeroes touch an actor filmed by James Cameron? It starts with layout artists.”Layout artists are the unsung heroes,” says Industrial Light & Magic’s Scott Farrar, visual effects supervisor for “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.” “Once you scan a shot filmed on location into the computer, it’s just a 2D photograph. Layout artists are the key to putting characters in place.”
Make-Up Artist magazine’s new, exciting and ongoing Web feature “Tales from the Set” features candid videos of award-winning make-up artists telling the good, the bad and the ugly details of working behind the scenes. In our fifth installment, we feature Oscar® and Emmy®-winning artist Bill Corso, who talks about receiving the Academy Award® for Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events. Corso will be a keynote speaker at the 2010 London IMATS.
Still recovering from “Avatar“? Garrett Warren can relate. The stunt coordinator for the film is now a self-proclaimed expert in the tricky art of banshee riding, and he’s also an in-demand man in Hollywood with credits on some of the biggest upcoming releases, including “Iron Man 2,” “The Adventures of Tintin” and “Alice in Wonderland.” Our Yvonne Villarreal caught up with the 21st century fall guy to get the lowdown on his rough-and-tumble trade.
While the cutoff date for Oscar nomination submissions has come and gone - it was August, 31, 2009 - there is still great speculation and anticipation as to which films will make the cut when the nominations for the 82nd Academy Awards for Best Achievement in Makeup are announced on February 2, 2010; the awards will be telecast on Sunday, March 7, 2010. And there seems to be a larger than usual number of impressive contenders too, including Amelia, Avatar, District 9, Inglorious Basterds, Public Enemies, Star Trek, Taking Woodstock, Terminator Salvation, The Vampire’s Assistant, Watchmen, Wolverine, and The Young Victoria. Perhaps this time around, the Academy will allow voters 5 choices instead of the three nominations that have become standard in years past. With at least 12 potential films to choose from, it would seem a shame to have only three choices when almost every other category has a choice of 5 nominees to select from.
But perhaps even more interesting than the wealth of films to nominate from is the fact that the rules for selecting a makeup Oscar have changed. The Academy has returned to three possible names on the nomination ticket from two names in recent years past. This doesn’t mean that there will be three names, only the possibility; there will be three names when it becomes necessary, because - according to Leonard Engleman, governor of the Makeup Artists ad Hairstyles Branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences - “the area of makeup and hairstyling is now so spread out.” Joe Nazzaro has written a fine article describing the rules change and the selection process in Makeup Artist Magazine (Gold Standard, Number 81) if you’re interested in learning more.
Special effects legend Steve Johnson bounces back from obscurity with his Youtube series “Rubber Rules”. Take a behind the scenes look at some of your favorite movies with the people who actually MADE them! With a Hunter Thompson approach, Steve host these short and very entertaining segments. Whether you are into effects or not, Steve will suck you in. Take a glimpse at the Steve Johnson experience. Hats off to a good friend.
Comcast Corp. and General Electric Co have agreed to make NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker the head of their proposed joint venture, but the structure of a new board is still being negotiated, sources familiar with the matter said.
The two sides have been in talks to reach a deal that would give Comcast a 51% stake in the NBC Universal venture, which would also house the cable networks now belonging to Comcast. They recently agreed to value NBC Universal at about $30 billion, sources previously told Reuters.
The presidents of SAG, the WGA and the Hollywood Teamsters have asked Congress to back off a proposed tax that would hit the “Cadillac” health plans that cover members of their unions. The letter sent to House and Senate reps earlier this month was signed by SAG’s Ken Howard, WGA West’s John Wells, WGA East’s Michael Winship and Teamsters Local 399’s Leo Reed.
