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Monday, December 19, 2005

Visual Effects Oscar Nominations

The Visual Effects Award nominations for the Academy Awards were announced on Friday:

For Revenge of the Sith:
John Knoll, Roger Guyett, Rob Coleman and Brian Gernand (TPM, AOTC).

War of the Worlds:
Dennis Muren (worked on - TPM, AOTC, IJTD, ROTJ, ROTLA, ESB, ANH, etc, etc), Pablo Helman (TPM, AOTC), Randal M. Dutra (ROTJ) and Daniel Sudick.

Batman:
Janek Sirrs, Dan Glass, Chris Corbould and Paul Franklin.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory:
Nick Davis, Nikki Penny, Chas Jarrett and Jon Thum.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire:
Jim Mitchell, Tim Alexander (TPM), Tim Webber and Jon Richardson.

Chronicles of Narnia:
Dean Wright, Bill Westenhofer, Jim Berney and Scott Farrar (ROTJ, TPM).King Kong:Joe Letteri (visual effects supervisor on ANH), Christian Rivers, Brian Van't Hul and Richard Taylor.

Any bets?

LM

17 comments:

Nerf-Herders Anonymous said...

Rayten
Rayten's Realm

date Posted: Dec 19, 2005 10:47 PM
Aren't those seven movies pre-nominees, and not nominees? They have to pick three out of those seven for the actual nominations

Nerf-Herders Anonymous said...

Grand Admiral Veers0

date Posted: Dec 19, 2005 10:57 PM
If Revenge of the Sith is passed over (which it most likely will) my bet is on King Kong. Not because of the superior effects, but because it seems Jackson can do no wrong in the eyes of the Academy.
In terms of actual quality I'm sorry to say it but, War of the Worlds gets my vote instead of Sith: The shear seemless effort that the intricate Tripods were blended into the real footage was stunning, not to mention the fanboy's dream of a realistic heat ray *drools* Whoops! *wipes off keyboard*

Nerf-Herders Anonymous said...

Rayten
Rayten's Realm

date Posted: Dec 19, 2005 11:05 PM
I've yet to see Charlie and Narnia, so I can't grade them. I would cross out Batman first and then Harry Potter from that list. Nothing special about their visuals. And if ROTS gets passed over, I will never care about the Oscars ever again.

Nerf-Herders Anonymous said...

NerfHerdersAnonymous
Life, the Star Wars Universe and Everything

date Posted: Dec 19, 2005 11:10 PM
These films are the final seven out of the 300 they went through. They are the official seven but yes they do have to be whittled down to the three slots. They are still nominations of consideration before the total nominations are set at the end of January.

Richard Edlund (ANH, ESB, ROTJ, ROTLA), who is visual effects branch governor for the VFX committee, says that the list has grown larger each year for the eleven years they had the slot. He's thinking that eventually the slots will grow to 5 and probably 7.

I have a tendency to think that the academy votes better when it comes to visual effects...compared to say, best picture, etc. I'd have a tough time choosing, though I have my bias.

LM

Nerf-Herders Anonymous said...

Rayten
Rayten's Realm

date Posted: Dec 19, 2005 11:13 PM
I have a tendency to think that the academy votes better when it comes to visual effects...compared to say, best picture, etc. I'd have a tough time choosing, though I have my bias.

I feel the same way too.

Nerf-Herders Anonymous said...

Son of a Bith
The Cantina Corner

date Posted: Dec 19, 2005 11:19 PM
You are on a roll tonight NHA!

Nerf-Herders Anonymous said...

Son of a Bith
The Cantina Corner

date Posted: Dec 19, 2005 11:23 PM
I sense much anti-Hollywood and Oscar sentiment. That is good.

The Oscars is just an exercise of Hollywood giving itself a brown nose.

Nerf-Herders Anonymous said...

NerfHerdersAnonymous
Life, the Star Wars Universe and Everything

date Posted: Dec 19, 2005 11:29 PM
"You are on a roll tonight"
A lot of news today. heheh

Some incredible work was produced for Narnia. And Charlie made Mr. Roy look real where ever they placed him....and the squirrel attack...amazing.

Batman Begins effects didn't overwhelm the picture but they were great. And the effects for Harry Potter were integrated with the live action very credibly. I'd wouldn't say they were "nothing special", out of 300 films you have to have something extra to make it down to the 7 they chose. But compared to the others I think you're right, Rayten.

I wonder how often the committee has to watch the 15 minute effects reels for each picture.

LM

Nerf-Herders Anonymous said...

NerfHerdersAnonymous
Life, the Star Wars Universe and Everything

date Posted: Dec 19, 2005 11:44 PM
The Oscars is just an exercise of Hollywood giving itself a brown nose
Considering that Return of the King kicked some major booty last year is a good sign, wouldn't you think? Hardly an act of nepotism.

I've not agreed with quite a few of their "bests" over the years. But I feel the films picked are, overall, excellent quality films and deserve an Oscar as much as any other nominees and even those which didn't get nominated.

The Academy members are getting out of the old mold and embracing more of the new and previously looked over genres and indies. There's a way to go yet.

Funny, the SF/Fantasy genre has practically had the stigma of "sci-fi bad" glued to its backside for so long they just can't shake it off.

Nerf-Herders Anonymous said...

macewindu882
Wookiee want a cookie?

date Posted: Dec 19, 2005 11:50 PM
Hey, what does ROTLA stand for?

Nerf-Herders Anonymous said...

NerfHerdersAnonymous
Life, the Star Wars Universe and Everything

date Posted: Dec 19, 2005 11:52 PM
ROTLA - Raiders of the Lost Ark

Nerf-Herders Anonymous said...

macewindu882
Wookiee want a cookie?

date Posted: Dec 20, 2005 12:06 AM
OH, OK mega thanks

Nerf-Herders Anonymous said...

macewindu882
Wookiee want a cookie?

date Posted: Dec 20, 2005 12:09 AM
I saw all of them except Harry Potter

Nerf-Herders Anonymous said...

Son of a Bith
The Cantina Corner

date Posted: Dec 20, 2005 9:58 AM
Hey, that one year Titanic swept the Oscars. That movie, IMHO, was a major SFX vehicle. It wasn't that strong storywise, which is OK because we already know what is going to happen, and there isn't much one can write about when it comes to a sinking ship. And the romance was delightfully sappy like AOTC. When I say Hollywood is brownnosing itlself, it is in the sense that the Oscars are overhyped with unneccessary pomp and cir####tance. And Joan Rivers is very annoying!

Nerf-Herders Anonymous said...

janlomona
Smugglers Rants

date Posted: Dec 20, 2005 10:19 AM
One thing is guaranteed. If an ILM film occupied 9 out of 10 nominations, then the other one would win. ILM hasn't won an Oscar since Forrest Gump, which I find ridiculous given the advances that have happened since then. But look at what did win.
A talking pig.
A sinking ship.
An alien invasion.
All in years when Twister missed out, when The Lost World was passed over. The digital backlot of TPM lost out to bullet time, a one-off special effect that is so 90's no one uses it anymore.
One thing's for sure - ILM won't win the Oscar this year, be it WOTW, Potter, Narnia, Charlie or Sith.

Nerf-Herders Anonymous said...

janlomona
Smugglers Rants

date Posted: Dec 20, 2005 10:21 AM
Of course, the Oscar is written all over King Kong this year, which will pick up mopst of the technical awards (and deservedly so, it's spectacular to look at), although I think Sith is nailed on for Costume, art design (neck and neck with Kong) and hopefully McDiarmid for best supporting actor.
How you getting on with those interview questions m'lady?

Nerf-Herders Anonymous said...

NerfHerdersAnonymous
Life, the Star Wars Universe and Everything

date Posted: Dec 20, 2005 3:04 PM
"When I say Hollywood is brownnosing itlself, it is in the sense that the Oscars are overhyped with unneccessary pomp and cir####tance. And Joan Rivers is very annoying!"
Ah, ok.


"ILM hasn't won an Oscar since Forrest Gump"
Strange, isn't it? Some thing's amiss!

Interview...I'm nearing the finish line, sir!

LM