What is awarded in best cinematography or editing? We explain some of the categories of the Oscar Awards

One week from the 2022 Oscar Awards, we review those categories sometimes misunderstood by the publicso you can deliver an informed verdict.

best cinematography

The work of the director of photography, who gives the look and feel of the movie. “Together with the director decides what types of lenses will they use, what type of lighting will they have. It is like when you take a photo on Instagram and decide which filter to use”, comments the Guayaquil filmmaker Andrés Sierra. In some cases, he explains, the planes that will be used when filming are also defined.

“An example of excellent cinematography is the film Children of men, from Alfonso Cuaronwhere the director of photography, Emmanuel Lubezkidecide tell the story through some spectacular sequence shots. What makes it not counted as a traditional film”, adds Marco Vera, film and television director.

Definitely, without cinematography direction there would not be a differentiated visual experience between one film and another. All movies would look the same, and even, within the same movie, there would be no variation from one scene to another. Then, What should you look for when evaluating cinematography? note the light and how it interacts with the charactersHe too type of coloration that the images have and how lighting contributes to generating emotions.

best edit

“When you shoot a movie, it is recorded in disorder, it begins in the middle, it continues with the end. Even from the same scene, different takes may have been shot in disorder. Who puts that puzzle in order?: the editor (the editor)”Sierra explains.

But it’s not just about put the scenes together in a logical sequencebut of express the vision of the director and to design ‘the trip’ that the spectator will have when watching the movie. “A good editor is an artist who selects the best shot and knows precisely at what second to cut it to have the desired effect.”

“An excellent example is mementofrom Christopher Nolanwhere the protagonist only remembers five minutes of his life and jot down important things before those five minutes are up and you forget. Then, the director makes us feel that we are living in those five minutes along with the protagonist, making let’s watch five minute snippets, going back in timeuntil discovering why the protagonist is in that situation”, adds Vera.

If a movie is poorly edited, the audience is lost in history. Even if you have good material, it only flows correctly if a way is found to tell it with the images and their duration on the screen. And that’s how you can personally evaluate it.

better sound

The sound you hear in movies is often not the same as what was recorded directly on the set of a scene, but is built later. But also, sound is also part of the atmosphere that helps you experience a movie and the task of the sound editor will be to choose which sounds to highlight and which moments, so too, when is the time to privilege dialogues.

“Gravityby Alfonso Cuaron it is a film told entirely in space, but recorded on Earth. So the sound is so well thought out and put together that it makes the viewer feel as if it had been filmed in space”Vera points out.

So how do you know that a movie has a good sound? If you feel that what you hear helps you feel inside the scene. “The audio it also guides the viewer and conveys what the film wants them to feel at a certain moment”, adds Sierra.

Better visual effects

Although it sounds like an easier category to qualify, specialists define it in a simple way: the best visual effects work is the one that goes unnoticed. “Yes They don’t know what’s real and what’s not, there are good visual effectsSierra emphasizes. Otherwisethe film could end up becoming a parody of itself.

“While it is true the viewer relate visual effects to science fiction (or adventure) movieson visual effects are implemented in almost every movie nowadays to tell the story as real as possible. A good example of well-applied effects was 1917from Sam Mendeswhere everything that explodes was done with the help of technology”.

The work here is bring to life what never existed on set of recording.

Best Production Design

The production designer is who coordinates costume design, makeup, hair and set design and props (the objects that interact with the actors) so that the film reflects the aesthetic vision of the director. “He even knows how to transmit parts of the film, which are not spoken, through the sets where the characters live, or how they dress”, specifies Sierra.

The key to success will be that everything looks real around the characters even if it’s fantastic worlds What The Lord of the rings or Avatar. “All of those elements should help us understand who our character is or what the story is about,” adds Vera.

best director

What does it really mean to direct a film and what does that responsibility entail? The director is the mastermind behind each film and who you clearly know what you want the end result to look like and coordinate the whole team to get it. “He doesn’t just direct actors,” Sierra clarifies. “A film begins with a script, the director takes that script and turns it into a story told in pictures and his version will be unique. If another director took the same script, a different movie would come out.”

How do you know you saw a movie with a good direction? “If when leaving the cinema you feel that blow of having returned to realitySierra emphasizes. “A good direction makes the film take us to another place where everything has been coordinated to keep us immersed in the story being toldisolating ourselves from everything that happens outside”.