Of all the technical categories, this might be my favorite, mostly because it's the one I could basically never do. I mean, my days of high school A/V class and eventually college taught me a thing or two about how to operate a camera. Hell, I even worked for my school's video department taping classes … Continue reading Oscar Gold 2020 – Cinematography
When I did my very first Blitz on this blog two years ago, I started with this category as the simplest way to explain my thought process, as at the time it was the only Oscar field that defaulted to three nominees, with four or two on rare occasions. But no more. This year, the … Continue reading Oscar Gold 2020 – Makeup & Hairstyling
The orchestral score of a film is one of the subtlest, yet most essential elements. Sometimes, if the composer is doing his or her job right, you don't even notice it's there, as it simply complements the action on the screen. At times, the perfect scene gets the perfect little bit of punctuation with a … Continue reading Oscar Gold 2020 – Original Score
Every year I feel like I have to explain the difference between Sound Editing and Sound Mixing, and why the categories have near-identical nominees. The simple TL;DR is that Editing happens in post, while Mixing happens live on set in most cases. The slightly deeper dive is to say that Editing is much more about … Continue reading Oscar Gold 2020 – Sound Mixing
Editing is more than just piecing all the various shots together. It's about incorporating video, sound, special effects, music, and color into one seamless whole. Whatever disparate elements go in to a production, it all comes together in the edit room. I know this first-hand, as I've done professional edit work since 2006, mostly in … Continue reading Oscar Gold 2020 – Film Editing
The moment has come at last. Over 300 films were submitted for this year's Oscars, and now the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has had their say. After weeks and months of anticipation, conjecture, campaigning, and outright nail-biting on my part, we finally have our list of contenders across 24 categories. Issa Rae … Continue reading Put on Your Blitzin’ Shoes! – 92nd Academy Awards Nominations Announced!
Last year the total was 111 new movies. This year it's 134. Part of the tally is because I basically didn't work for the first seven months of 2019, and even when I did start working, I didn't get full time hours on any job until November. Quite frankly, I nearly went bankrupt. But oddly … Continue reading The Best (and Worst) of 2019
The Academy Award nominations are just under a week away, and as the final preview, we now have the list of contenders for the major Hollywood labor unions and the British Film Academy! There's a lot to sift through, and as the results trickle in over the next few weeks, we'll get a lot of … Continue reading Unions, Jack! – BAFTA and Guild Nominations Announced!
I'm on record as very much NOT being a fan of the Golden Globes. The nomination process is a sham that borders on bribery, the entire ceremony is a glorified cocktail party so less than 100 journalists can rub elbows with celebrities and pretend they're part of the creative process, and the whole affair is … Continue reading Hey Netflix, Your Check Bounced – 77th Golden Globe Winners Revealed!
The next phase of Awards Season is on! This afternoon, the Academy announced its shortlists for nine categories, repeating the efficient method they started last year, rather than staggering out the lists like they had before. Not only do we get to see how far the fields have narrowed for International Feature, Documentary Feature, and … Continue reading Shorties Watching Shorties! – 92nd Academy Awards Shortlists Announced!
I Actually Paid To See This 