Cinefantastique Online

Given the many outstanding visual effect films that come out every year, l  suggested last year that the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences and it’s somewhat slow-moving Board of Governors might consider nominating FIVE films for “Best Visual Effects” each and every year. This year, the issue seems to be more obvious than ever, as the Academy itself has just named 15 finalists for the best visual effects Oscar.

The 15 finalists are listed below, as determined by the expert members of the visual effects branch of the Academy. I have taken the liberty of placing the films in the order of how (in my own personal opinion) they rate as overall movies, since with the exception of Australia, they all fall into the category of the Cinefantastique. I realize, of course, that this somewhat defeats the purpose of the category, since presumably a truly terrible movie like Journey To the Center of the Earth could have much better effects than a much better movie, such as The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

However, since even effects work finally boils down to a matter of personal opinion, I thought I’d make a statement on how the visual effects of each of these 15 films works in the overall design of the movie.

1. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

2. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

3. The Dark Knight

4. Iron Man

5. The Incredible Hulk

6. Australia

7. Cloverfield

8. Hancock

9. The Day the Earth Stood Still

10. Quantum of Solace

11. Hellboy II: The Golden Army

12. The Spiderwick Chronicles

13. The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

14. Journey to the Center of the Earth

15. The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor

Now, notice that of these 15 films, only three have a serious chance of also being named as “Best Picture” ( Benjamin Button, The Dark Knight and Australia.)

But what is even more curious is the rules the Academy applies to narrow down the final three effects nominees. Pixar’s Wall+E is not even among them, presumably because it is a CGI animated film. But isn’t that what most of today’s best effects movies use for their state of the art work, CGI?

Somewhat perplexed, I looked up the Academy’s very arcane rules about awarding the visual effects Oscar, as well as their rules for best Animated Feature.

The Animated Feature Oscar rules state:

The award is only given if there are at least eight animated feature films (with a theatrical release in Los Angeles). For the purposes of the award, only films over 70 minutes long are considered to be “feature films”. If there are 16 or more films submitted for the category, the winner will be voted from a shortlist of five films, otherwise there will only be three films on the shortlist.

Now, given that there are clearly 16 visual effects films worthy of consideration this year, as there were last year and the year before that, why should the animated feature category get five slots, and visual effects artists only three? If I were one of the less than 300 members who make up the visual effects branch, I’d say this was discrimination and call it patently unfair.

Millimeter magazine asked this same question in 2006:

http://digitalcontentproducer.com/dcc/revfeat/video_best_effects/

Since this can be considered a somewhat obscure argument, I present without comment, the very specialized rules the Academy uses to select the Visual Effects Award. Judge for yourself if you think they are unduly complex or completely fair.

Special Rules for the Visual Effects Award

1. The Academy President shall appoint a chairman who will form a committee from active and life members from the Visual Effects Branch. An executive committee on rules, a steering committee and a nominating committee shall constitute the Visual Effects Award Committee.

2. The Visual Effects Branch Executive Committee shall select members of a Steering Committee from members of the Visual Effects Branch to review a reminder list of all eligible motion pictures and shall cast secret ballots to select a maximum of seven productions for further consideration. Achievements shall be judged within the parameters defined by the Visual Effects Branch Executive Committee and on the basis of:

(a) consideration of the contribution the visual effects make to the overall production and

(b) the artistry, skill and fidelity with which the visual illusions are achieved.

3. The producers of the films selected for award consideration (or their designees) shall be requested to provide the committee with:

(a) written descriptions explaining the procedures used to create the effects,

(b) excerpts from film composite release prints — not to exceed fifteen minutes (1,350 feet) in total running time — showing the effects described (producers wishing to present a matching digital version of their film excerpt reel may do so at the discretion of the Visual Effects Branch Executive Committee) and

(c) the names and titles of the primary individuals – not to exceed four in number – directly involved with, and principally responsible for, the visual effects achieved and a description of their contributions. Additional names will not be considered. The Visual Effects Award is a craft award. Producers, coordinators and other executives are not eligible for this award unless they are also craftpeople with primary creative responsibility for the achievement.

4. Visual Effects, as an achievement or a craft, shall be determined by the Visual Effects Branch Executive Committee. Eligibility of the contributor(s) to the achievement, for nomination purposes, shall be determined by the Visual Effects Branch Executive Committee.

5. Qualified active members of the Visual Effects Branch will be eligible to serve on the Visual Effects Award Nominating Committee and shall attend a meeting to view the film excerpts and vote upon the achievements. Written descriptions of the effects shall be sent to the committee prior to the meeting.

6. The producers (or their designees) may attend the meeting of the nominating committee, however, only the potential nominees will be allowed to address the nominating committee.

7. Following the running of film excerpts and discussion relative to the achievements, voting shall be conducted as follows:

(a) a ballot shall be cast by all members of the Visual Effects Nominating Committee present, who shall vote in the order of their preference for not more than three of the seven productions.

(b) The three productions receiving the highest number of votes shall become the nominations for final voting for the Visual Effects Award.

(c) Final voting for the Visual Effects Award shall be restricted to active and life Academy members.

8. Excerpt reels (both film and digital) shall become the property of the Academy and placed in the Academy Film Archive, with the proviso that the Academy will not use these reels for commercial gain.

9. Such other rules or procedures necessary for the proper conduct of this award shall be adopted by the Visual Effects Branch Executive Committee, subject to the approval of the Academy Board of Governors.