Category Archives: 2017 Academy Awards

2017 Academy Awards, Award Ceremonies

Academy Awards Predictions 2017 – Best Original Score

January 24, 2017 Alex Brannan

Certain Academy Award categories are hard to predict simply because each use of the given film technique can be so different. Best Original Score is one of these categories in my mind. A sonic complement to a film can be so unique to the experience of a given film that it is hard to compare that score to scores of other films. It is a qualitative comparison that can be quite difficult in Oscar predicting.

Luckily, this year’s Academy Awards has a strong musical.

Best Original Score:

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2017 Academy Awards, Award Ceremonies

Academy Awards Predictions 2017 – Best Original Song

January 24, 2017 Alex Brannan

Oscars 2017. Best Original Song. So…which La La Land is going to win?

Best Original Song:

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2017 Academy Awards, Award Ceremonies

Academy Awards Predictions 2017 – Best Documentary Feature

January 24, 2017 Alex Brannan

I am fascinated by the 2017 Academy Award Best Documentary race. In a normal year, a film like 13th would be the clear favorite. It is adherent to the talking-head documentary formula will having important and informative subject matter.

But then there’s ESPN…

Best Documentary Film:

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2017 Academy Awards, Award Ceremonies

Academy Awards Predictions 2017 – Best Film Editing

January 24, 2017 Alex Brannan

Cinematography may be the most fundamental aspect of filmmaking, but editing is its complementary rudimentary component. The shot and the edit work together to create the feeling of dynamism and movement in film (aside, of course, from the physical projection that creates the actual “movement” in a film image).

Editing is great. It is important to create a seamless experience, and it can be an excruciating task depending on the footage given. An edit can be subtle and incredibly meaningful, or a scene can be expertly sliced to create a fast paced action scene. In the case of the 2017 Oscars, we have examples of both.

Best Editing:

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2017 Academy Awards, Award Ceremonies

Academy Awards Predictions 2017 – Best Cinematography

January 24, 2017 Alex Brannan

The fundamental element of a film. Cinematography. What is captured and how it is captured. It’s basic, but some films make you forget that it’s basic. Some films project imagery that seems impossible to capture on camera.

Camera work is a beautiful thing, and the five films nominated for the Academy Award for Best Cinematography in 2017 are all visually stunning. Obviously, only one can take home the award. But how obvious are the odds?

Best Cinematography

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2017 Academy Awards, Award Ceremonies

Academy Awards Predictions 2017 – Best Costume Design

January 24, 2017 Alex Brannan

With the more mise-en-scene driven categories, every nominee seems to be a horse apiece. Perhaps I simply do not have an eye for makeup or costuming, but judging films against each other in these categories gets difficult.

In the case of Best Costume Design at the 2017 Oscars, though, I think I know where I’m going…

Best Costume Design

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2017 Academy Awards, Award Ceremonies

Academy Awards Predictions 2017 – Best Original Screenplay

January 24, 2017 Alex Brannan

Honoring original stories is incredibly important in an industry dictated by formula and franchise. Which is why I have a personal affinity for this Oscar category, because almost every year five films are rewarded in this category for trying something different.

What will be the winner this February in Best Adapted Screenplay?

Best Original Screenplay:

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2017 Academy Awards, Award Ceremonies

Academy Awards Predictions 2017 – Best Adapted Screenplay

January 24, 2017 Alex Brannan

There is a lot of strong writing output from the Best Adapted Screenplay class of 2017. I don’t know how clear cut this category appears to everyone else, but I think there is only two directions it can go. One of these directions is a clearly lit path. The other one: harder to see come about.

Best Adapted Screenplay:

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2017 Academy Awards, Award Ceremonies

Academy Awards Predictions 2017 – Best Director

January 24, 2017 Alex Brannan

Here’s what you hear every year about the Best Director Academy Awards category when it comes to Oscar pools: Best Director and Best Picture always go to the same film.

This is true to an extent, yes. Then again…2016, 2013, 2006…

So, on that note, will the clear favorite for Best Picture repeat with Best Director?

Best Director:

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2017 Academy Awards, Award Ceremonies

Academy Awards Predictions 2017 – Best Supporting Actor

January 24, 2017 Alex Brannan

Traversing the 2017 Academy Award category of Best Supporting Actor seems like walking through a minefield. Yes, I led you astray on the same category at the Golden Globes, but I think some slack should be cut for me. I mean, who would have guessed that Aaron Taylor-Johnson would upset?

Taylor-Johnson is notably absent from the Oscar running, which should hypothetically make this easier, as the Golden Globes cannot really be factored in. Still, anything could conceivably happen in this race without the SAG award around to give a prediction some evidential backing. Should I stick to my guns and keep the same path I hoed for the GGs, or adjust my choice accordingly?

Well…