#141 Cinematography & Editing
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Cinematography & Editing is filmmaking. Oscar finally decided to include these important awards in the live telecast.
On February 12 the Academy announced it would not show four award categories to home viewers (to be presented during commercials at the event):
- Cinematography & Editing
- Live Action Short
- Makeup & Hair
As Nick Murphy (@nickmurftweets) tweeted:
By cutting Cinematography & Editing from the show, the Oscars declare themselves as nothing more than a celebrity & marketing circus.
Photography & editing is filmmaking. It’s as simple as that.
And from Alfonso Cuarón (@alfonsocuaron), who is nominated for producing, directing, writing & cinematography for his film Roma:
In the history of CINEMA, masterpieces have existed without sound, without color, without a story, without actors & without music. No one single film has ever existed without CINEMAtography & without editing.
More tweets here, some clever & amusing.
Mr. Cuarón has just described SILENT CINEMA!
We interrupt this article to take you back 100 years…
Alfonso Cuarón just described the basic elements of all filmmaking — cinematography & editing — & my friend Joe Rinaudo would agree that if you take away the camera & the editing block, you don’t have a film! In silent cinema there is no sound, there is no color, & sometimes there’s hardly a plot or story. But it is filmmaking, because there is cinematography & editing. (Simply deciding where to start a film & where to end it, even if it is one continuous scene, is editing.)
Joe is the founder of Silent Cinema Society. His vast collection of silent films, which he meticulously restores & presents to audiences on his 1909 hand-crank Powers Cameragraph Moving Picture Machine, is testament to the truth of Mr. Cuarón’s statement.
That’s Joe Rinaudo with his 1909 Powers Cameragraph, and to the right his American Fotoplayer
Joe Rinaudo’s passion & purpose is to keep silent cinema alive. It’s amazing how entertaining silent films are…& how dangerous the stunts were — in my opinion, that’s half the drama right there! Joe is thrilled when the younger members of the audience come up to him to ask about the films & check out his projector. (He also shows authentic glass lantern slides during reel changes.) This means he’s got future generations interested in the beginnings of Hollywood before there even was Hollywood.
Visit SilentCinemaSociety.org & subscribe — it’s free.
Spend some time on the website, as it is full of fascinating history & entertainment. Be sure to listen to Joe playing the American Fotoplayer—better turn down the volume first!
For another treat, take a look at this clip from last year’s Oscars. Joe Rinaudo was asked to set up a recreation of an itinerant moving picture show, which were shown in small town halls, churches & tents. This was a tent. (An elaborate one, of course, hosted by the Academy.) Joe hand-cranked several shorts throughout the evening, and a few celebrities took their hand at cranking the 1909 Powers Cameragraph.
Here’s Joe Rinaudo cranking & Robert Israel accompanying:
Next is Gary Oldfield cranking the vintage Powers Moving Picture Machine:
Back to the present: the 2019 Academy Awards
On February 12 the Academy announced it would not show four award categories to home viewers (presented during commercials at the event):
- Cinematography
- Editing
- Live Action Short
- Makeup & Hair
After the Academy’s announcement to exclude the four categories from the live telecast, there was quite an uproar—read these tweets, some of which are quite funny — which lead to the Academy to reverse its decision & include all the awards in the telecast.
I am glad Oscar decided to broadcast live, the professionals who bring movies to life through their technical & artistic expertise, not to mention their passion. Their families & friends can revel in pride (whether they win or not) as they watch along with millions of viewers who enjoy the fruits of their labors.
All of the awards are important, as they each add to the final production of the phenomenonal category of entertainment called cinema. But how—just how!—could they think to exclude cinematography & editing?
(It would be akin to my industry, graphic design & advertising, leaving out presentations for layout & copywriting in our award presentations — the Clios & Beldings. I woudn’t feel my work was worth anything, even if I didn’t have some awards already.)
I hope the winners & nominees at this year’s Academy Awards are proud of their achievements — including those who will be accepting the Oscar live on TV for Cinemaography, Editing, Live Action Short, & Makeup & Hair.
POST-AWARDS UPDATE
Full list of winners & nominees, 2019 Academy Awards
The 2019 Oscars aired live on Sunday, Feb. 24 at 9/8c on ABC.
Best Picture
Green Book (Jim Burke, Charles B. Wessler, Brian Currie, Peter Farrelly and Nick Vallelonga, Producers)
Black Panther (Kevin Feige, Producer)
BlacKkKlansman (Sean McKittrick, Jason Blum, Raymond Mansfield, Jordan Peele and Spike Lee, Producers)
Bohemian Rhapsody (Graham King, Producer)
The Favourite (Ceci Dempsey, Ed Guiney, Lee Magiday and Yorgos Lanthimos, Producers)
Roma (Gabriela Rodriguez and Alfonso Cuaron, Producers)
A Star Is Born (Bill Gerber, Bradley Cooper and Lynette Howell Taylor, Producers)
Vice (Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Adam McKay and Kevin Messick, Producers)
Actress in a Leading Role
Olivia Colman (The Favourite)
Glenn Close (The Wife)
Yalitza Aparicio (Roma)
Lady Gaga (A Star Is Born)
Melissa McCarthy (Can You Ever Forgive Me?)
Actor in a Leading Role
Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody)
Christian Bale (Vice)
Bradley Cooper (A Star Is Born)
Willem Dafoe (At Eternity’s Gate)
Viggo Mortensen (Green Book)
Actress in a Supporting Role
Regina King (If Beale Street Could Talk)
Amy Adams (Vice)
Marina de Tavira (Roma)
Emma Stone (The Favourite)
Rachel Weisz (The Favourite)
Actor in a Supporting Role
Mahershala Ali (Green Book)
Adam Driver (BlacKkKlansman)
Sam Elliott (A Star Is Born)
Richard E. Grant (Can You Ever Forgive Me?)
Sam Rockwell (Vice)
Directing
Alfonso Cuaron (Roma)
Yorgos Lanthimos (The Favourite)
Spike Lee (BlacKkKlansman)
Adam McKay (Vice)
Pawel Pawlikowski (Cold War)
Animated Feature Film
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller)
Incredibles 2 (Brad Bird, John Walker and Nicole Paradis Grindle)
Isle of Dogs (Wes Anderson, Scott Rudin, Steven Rales and Jeremy Dawson)
Mirai (Mamoru Hosoda and Yuichiro Saito)
Ralph Breaks the Internet (Rich Moore, Phil Johnston and Clark Spencer)
Cinematography
Roma (Alfonso Cuaron)
The Favourite (Robbie Ryan)
Never Look Away (Caleb Deschanel)
A Star Is Born (Matty Libatique)
Cold War (Lukasz Zal)
Costume Design
Black Panther (Ruth E. Carter)
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (Mary Zophres)
The Favourite (Sandy Powell)
Mary Poppins Returns (Sandy Powell)
Mary Queen of Scots (Alexandra Byrne)
Documentary (Feature)
Free Solo (Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin, Evan Hayes and Shannon Dill)
Hale County This Morning, This Evening (RaMell Ross, Joslyn Barnes and Su Kim)
Minding the Gap (Bing Liu and Diane Quon)
Of Fathers and Sons (Talal Derki, Ansgar Frerich, Eva Kemme and Tobias N. Siebert)
RBG (Betsy West and Julie Cohen)
Documentary (Short)
Period. End of Sentence. (Rayka Zehtabchi and Melissa Berton)
Black Sheep (Ed Perkins and Jonathan Chinn)
End Game (Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman)
Lifeboat (Skye Fitzgerald and Bryn Mooser)
A Night at the Garden (Marshall Curry)
Film Editing
Bohemian Rhapsody (John Ottman)
BlacKkKlansman (Barry Alexander Brown)
The Favourite (Yorgos Mavropsaridis)
Green Book (Patrick J. Don Vito)
Vice (Hank Corwin)
Foreign Language Film
Roma (Mexico)
Capernaum (Lebanon)
Cold War (Poland)
Never Look Away (Germany)
Shoplifters (Japan)
Makeup & Hairstyling
Vice (Greg Cannom, Kate Biscoe and Patricia DeHaney)
Border (Goran Lundstrom and Pamela Goldammer)
Mary Queen of Scots (Jenny Shircore, Marc Pilcher and Jessica Brooks)
Music (Original Score)
Black Panther (Ludwig Goransson)
BlacKkKlansman (Terence Blanchard)
If Beale Street Could Talk (Nicholas Britell)
Isle of Dogs (Alexandre Desplat)
Mary Poppins Returns (Marc Shaiman)
Music (Original Song)
“Shallow” (A Star Is Born)
Music and Lyrics by Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando and Andrew Wyatt
“All the Stars” (Black Panther)
Music by Mark Spears, Kendrick Lamar Duckworth and Anthony Tiffith
Lyric by Kendrick Lamar Duckworth, Anthony Tiffith and Solana Rowe
“I’ll Fight” (RBG)
Music and Lyric by Diane Warren
“The Place Where Lost Things Go” (Mary Poppins Returns)
Music by Marc Shaiman
Lyric by Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman
“When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs for Wings” (The Ballad of Buster Scruggs)
Music and Lyric by David Rawlings and Gillian Welch
Production Design
Black Panther (Hannah Beachler and Jay Hart)
The Favourite (Fiona Crombie and Alice Felton)
First Man (Nathan Crowley and Kathy Lucas)
Mary Poppins Returns (John Myhre and Gordon Sim)
Roma (Eugenio Caballero and Barbara Enriquez)
Short Film (Animated)
Bao (Domee Shi and Becky Neiman-Cobb)
Animal Behaviour (Alison Snowden and David Fine)
Late Afternoon (Louise Bagnall and Nuria González Blanco)
One Small Step (Andrew Chesworth and Bobby Pontillas)
Weekends (Trevor Jimenez)
Short Film (Live Action)
Skin (Guy Nattiv and Jaime Ray Newman)
Detainment (Vincent Lambe and Darren Maho)
Fauve (Jeremy Comte and Maria Gracia Turgeon)
Marguerite (Marianne Farley and Marie-Helene Panisset)
Mother (Rodrigo Sorogoyen and María del Puy Alvarado)
Sound Editing
Bohemian Rhapsody (John Warhurst and Nina Hartstone)
Black Panther (Benjamin A. Burtt and Steve Boeddeker)
First Man (Ai-Ling Lee and Mildred Iatrou Morgan)
A Quiet Place (Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl)
Roma (Sergio Diaz and Skip Lievsay)
Sound Mixing
Bohemian Rhapsody (Paul Massey, Tim Cavagin and John Casali)
Black Panther (Steve Boeddeker, Brandon Proctor and Peter Devlin)
First Man (Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño, Ai-Ling Lee and Mary H. Ellis)
Roma (Skip Lievsay, Craig Henighan and Jose Antonio Garcia)
A Star Is Born (Tom Ozanich, Dean Zupancic, Jason Ruder and Steve Morrow)
Visual Effects
First Man (Paul Lambert, Ian Hunter, Tristan Myles and J.D. Schwalm)
Avengers: Infinity War (Dan DeLeeuw, Kelly Port, Russell Earl and Dan Sudick)
Christopher Robin (Christopher Lawrence, Michael Eames, Theo Jones and Chris Corbould)
Ready Player One (Roger Guyett, Grady Cofer, Matthew E. Butler and David Shirk)
Solo: A Star Wars Story (Rob Bredow, Patrick Tubach, Neal Scanlan and Dominic Tuohy)
Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
BlacKkKlansman (Charlie Wachtel, David Rabinowitz, Kevin Willmott and Spike Lee)
A Star Is Born (Eric Roth, Will Fetters and Bradley Cooper)
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (Joel Coen and Ethan Coen)
If Beale Street Could Talk (Barry Jenkins)
Can You Ever Forgive Me? (Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty)
Writing (Original Screenplay)
Green Book (Nick Vallelonga, Brian Hayes Currie and Peter Farrelly)
The Favourite (Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara)
First Reformed (Paul Schrader)
Roma (Alfonso Cuaron)
Vice (Adam McKay)
Here’s another category that has been excluded every single year — ever since its one & only presentation at the first Academy Awards:
Best Unique and Artistic Quality of Production
The Academy Award ceremony was organized for the first time in the year 1929. Later on, with the passing time, it underwent many changes. “Oscar for Best Unique and Artistic Quality of Production” is one of the categories of awards that had a very short existence in the award ceremony. This category was also known as “Best Artistic Quality of Production.” It was only awarded, for the first and last time, during the first Oscar ceremony, and may be regarded an unnecessary variation of Best Picture.
In 1929, “Oscar for Best Unique and Artistic Quality of Production” was given to Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans, also known as Sunrise, an American film directed by German film director F. W. Murnau. The central idea of the movie was adapted by Carl Mayer, from the short story Die Reise nach Tilsit — by Hermann Sudermann. In 1989, this film was reckoned “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” by the United States Library of Congress and chosen for preservation in their National Film Registry. In 2002 critics’ poll for the British Film Institute, Sunrise was named the 7th-best film in the history of Motion Pictures.
—article from Awards & Shows where you’ll find information about Oscar Awards, Filmfare Awards, Zee Cine Awards, Star Screen Awards, Grammy Awards, IIFA Awards, and Golden Globe Awards
Concept & Design
This poster was a lot of fun! I was able to pull from my collection of “Golden Age” movie titles which were, for the most part, hand-lettered, & when color was introduced, shown in vivid hues. I selected a period font, Arcadia, and paired it with my own hand-lettered version of a “cinematic title ampersand”— based on what would normally be written as “Produced by” or “Directed by” in hand-lettered script.
I added a bit of motion blur to the background, and over-saturated the colors in true Technicolor style.
As you can see, the background image is inspired by a horror scene — a typical highway in rush-hour traffic.
Enjoy the Oscars
Please comment here.
Production notes for #141 Cinematography & Editing:
Original size: 20x30 inches
Program: Adobe Photoshop
Font: Arcadia
Ampersand: Chaz DeSimone, hand-drawn (Photoshop)
Credits:
Stock image: aerial view of I‑40 highway in N. Carolina from Blue Ridge Parkway by digidream / depositphotos.com (altered by Chaz DeSimone)
Twitter feeds: article at Time.com
Other editorial credits as noted in article.
“&” replaces “and” in all text, including quotations, headlines & titles.
You may repost the image & article. Please credit AmperArt.com.
To download a full-size high-resolution 11x17-inch poster, click on the image.
For professional graphic design, please visit Desimone Design.
Wow! I feel like I just took a short course in the history of Oscars and your cinematic design is a treat! Danke!