Oscars 2014: The overlooked eight? Winners for sound, editing, more
Some Oscar categories don’t get much respect. Cinematography and sound editing are vital to any film, but many critics say the TV show could do without the presentation of these awards and their behind-the-scenes brethren.
That said, the Academy Awards wouldn’t be the same if we didn’t have to consider who did the visual effects for “Gravity†or the hair and makeup for “Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa.â€
After the Oscars start to unfold at 5:30 p.m. Pacific on Sunday, check back for live updates of the winners in the following eight categories: cinematography, costume design, film editing, makeup and hairstyling, production design, sound editing, sound mixing and visual effects.
FULL COVERAGE: Oscars 2014 | Top nominees
PRODUCTION DESIGN
“The Great Gatsby†took home the Oscar, with Catherine Martin winning for production design and Beverley Dunn for set decoration. Martin is a six-time nominee and, earlier in the evening, was up for costume design on her husband Baz Luhrmann’s film; Dunn is a first-time Oscar nominee.
Other contenders included “Gravity’s†Andy Nicholson (production design) and Rosie Goodwin and Joanne Woollard (set decoration); “American Hustle’s†Judy Becker (production design) and Heather Loeffler (set decoration); “Her’s†K.K. Barrett (production design) and Gene Serdena (set decoration); and “12 Years a Slave’s†Adam Stockhausen (production design) and Alice Baker (set decoration).
At the Art Directors Guild awards last month, Nicholson of “Gravity†earned the honor in the fantasy film category, Barrett won for contemporary film for “Her†and Martin received the trophy for period film for “The Great Gatsby.â€
EDITINGAlfonso Cuarón and Mark Sanger won the Oscar for film editing in “Gravity.†This the first win for Cuarón, whose six career nominations include director and best picture for the space drama, and for first-time nominee Sanger.
The film editing field was rounded out by Christopher Rouse for “Captain Phillips,†Jay Cassidy, Crispin Struthers and Alan Baumgarten for “American Hustle,†John Mac McMurphy and Martin Pensa for “Dallas Buyers Club†and Joe Walker for “12 Years a Slave.â€
At the American Cinema Editors Eddie Awards in February, “American Hustle†was victorious in the comedy/musical category and “Captain Phillips†took the dramatic feature prize.
CINEMATOGRAPHY
For “Gravity†cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki, the sixth time was the charm. Lubezki won his first Oscar for cinematography, after being nominated five times previously for films such as “The Tree of Life†and “A Little Princess.â€
He also won the American Society of Cinematographers Award for feature film in February.
Lubezki beat out “The Grandmaster’s†Philippe Le Sourd, “Inside Llewyn Davis’ †Bruno Delbonnel, “Prisoners’ †Roger A. Deakins and “Nebraska’s†Phedon Papamichael. Deakins has been nominated for an Oscar 11 times but never won.
SOUND MIXING
The team behind “Gravity†has won the Oscar for sound mixing. Niv Adiri and Christopher Benstead both won on their first Oscar nominations, while this was the first win on six tries for Skip Lievsay. Chris Munro picked up his second Oscar, after having previously won for “Black Hawk Down.â€
Interestingly enough, Munro was also nominated this year for sound-mixing “Captain Phillips,†along with Chris Burdon, Mark Taylor, Mike Prestwood Smith. And Lievsay was nominated for “Inside Llewyn Davis†with Greg Orloff and Peter F. Kurland.
The other contenders in the category were “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug†(Christopher Boyes, Michael Hedges, Michael Semanick and Tony Johnson) and “Lone Survivor†(Andy Koyama, Beau Borders and David Brownlow).
At the Cinema Audio Society Awards last month, the team from “Gravity†won for sound mixing in a live-action motion picture.
SOUND EDITING
Glenn Freemantle has won the Oscar for sound editing for the film “Gravity,†starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney as astronauts on a mission gone haywire and a favorite to win the category. Freemantle was previously nominated for his work on “Slumdog Millionaire.â€
He bested “All Is Lost’s†Steve Boeddeker and Richard Hymns, “Captain Phillips’ †Oliver Tarney, “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug’s†Brent Burge and Chris Ward, and “Lone Survivor’s†Wylie Stateman.
At the Motion Picture Sound Editors’ Golden Reel Awards last month, “Gravity†won for sound editing in a feature film (sound effects and foley) and “Captain Phillips†for best sound editing in a feature film (dialogue and ADR).
VISUAL EFFECTS
The space drama “Gravity†caught the eye of Oscar voters, winning for visual effects. The award goes to Tim Webber, Chris Lawrence, Dave Shirk and Neil Corbould.
Lawrence and Shirk are first-time nominees, Webber got his first win on his second nomination, and four-time nominee Corbould followed up his win for “Gladiator.â€
The other visual effects nominees this year were the fantasy film “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug†(Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton and Eric Reynolds), the superhero film “Iron Man 3†(Christopher Townsend, Guy Williams, Erik Nash and Dan Sudick), the western reboot “The Lone Ranger†(Tim Alexander, Gary Brozenich, Edson Williams and John Frazier), and the sci-fi film “Star Trek Into Darkness†(Roger Guyett, Patrick Tubach, Ben Grossmann and Burt Dalton).
At the Visual Effects Society Awards in February, “Gravity†dominated with six awards.
COSTUME DESIGN “The Great Gatsby’s†Catherine Martin has her third Oscar win, this time for costume design on the film that her husband, Baz Luhrmann, directed. The couple’s collaboration has paid off before: She won for costume design and for art direction on the Luhrmann-helmed “Moulin Rouge!â€
In addition, Martin is also nominated this year for production design on “The Great Gatsby,†the latest adaptation of the F. Scott Fitzgerald novel. In all, she has been nominated for six Academy Awards.
PHOTOS: Costume design Oscar 2014 nominees
Martin bested “American Hustle’s†Michael Wilkinson, “The Grandmaster’s†William Chang Suk Ping, “The Invisible Woman’s†Michael O’Connor and “12 Years a Slave’s†Patricia Norris.
At the Costume Designer Guild Awards in February, Norris won in the period film category for “12 Years a Slave†and “Blue Jasmine†took the prize for contemporary film.
MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
“Dallas Buyers Club,†which featured transformative performances by Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto, won the Oscar for makeup and hairstyling. The award goes to first-time nominees Adruitha Lee and Robin Mathews.
The pair topped “The Lone Ranger’s†Joel Harlow and Gloria Pasqua-Casny, who made Johnny Depp into a 120-year-old Tonto on screen, and “Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa’s†Stephen Prouty, who turned Johnny Knoxville into an 86-year-old. (Read anecdotes about all three productions here.)
At the Make-Up Artists and Hair Stylists Guild Awards last month, “American Hustle†won the prize for period and/or character hairstyling, “Dallas Buyers Club†won for period and/or character makeup and “Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa†for special makeup effects.
For more winners, check back on The Envelope.
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