Tag Archives: awards season

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 Supporting Actress

January 24, 2017 Alex Brannan

Best Supporting Actress: another clear frontrunner already solidified for this 2017 Academy Award. The wiggle room for an upset is razor thin. As with all other acting categories, the SAG awards will influence the category, so nothing is set in stone yet. However, even if the SAG is an out-of-left-field upset, I still don’t see how this clear favorite could lose.

That clear favorite…

Best Supporting Actress:

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2017 Academy Awards, Award Ceremonies

Academy Awards Predictions 2017 – Best Actress

January 24, 2017 Alex Brannan

Perhaps the hardest category to call this early out, Best Actress will be one of the most exciting awards of the night at the 2017 Oscars. From this reviewer’s perspective, it is a hearty three-horse race. However, a recent video from the folks at GoldDerby featured a debate over the category and who could win. They suspect the field is more wide open than even that.