Role of the Original Score:
An original score is a substantial body of music that serves as original dramatic underscoring and is written specifically for the motion picture by the submitting composer.
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Eligibility:
Same eligibility as ‘Original Song’:
1. The work must be created specifically for the eligible feature-length motion picture.
2. The work must be the result of a creative interaction between the filmmaker(s) and the composer(s) and/or songwriter(s) who have been engaged to work directly on the motion picture.
3. The work’s eligibility shall be evaluated on its effectiveness, craftsmanship, creative substance and relevance to the dramatic whole.
4. The work must be recorded for use in the motion picture prior to any other usage, including public performance or exploitation through any media whatsoever.
5. Only the principal composer(s) or songwriter(s) responsible for the conception and execution of the work as a whole shall be eligible for an award.
6. No more than two statuettes will normally be given in the Original Song category. A third statuette may be awarded when there are three essentially equal contributors to a song.
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Voting Procedures:
A Reminder List of works submitted in the Original Score category (there were 97 scores submitted this year) shall be sent with a nominations ballot to all members of the Music Branch who shall vote in the order of their preference for not more than five achievements in each category.
In the Original Score category the five achievements receiving the highest number of votes on mail ballots will become the nominations for final voting for the award.
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Nominations:
· 46th nomination.
o John has won 5 academy awards: ‘Schindler’s List’, ‘E.T.” The Extra-Terrestrial’, ‘Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope’, ‘Jaws’, and ‘Fiddler on the Roof’.
John currently holds the record for the most nominated living person. And he is also the second most nominated person in Academy Award history. He trails Walt Disney, who was nominated for 59 Oscars. John also holds the record for the most wins within the Music Branch (5).
The Artist – Ludovic Bource
· 1st nomination.
Ludovic has already won six critic association awards… and he has a real shot at the Oscar… mainly because of the nature of the film. Without voices, music really drove this film.
Interestingly enough, Ludovic’s score has come under fire from Kim Novak of all people. In case you don’t remember, Kim was the star of Alfred Hitchcocks ‘Vertigo’ and upon viewing ‘The Artist’ Kim immediately noticed pieces of Vertigo’s score layered into Ludovic’s score for ‘The Artist’. Kim described it publically as ‘cinematic rape’.
Well… Ludovic isn’t even trying to deny it, which I thought was hilariously awesome. Ludovic went on to say that it was done intentionally and he had every right to use the music because he PAID for the rights to use it.
You see, while ‘The Artist’ pays homage to the silent film era, Ludovic’s vision for his score was to pay homage to music coming from great films of the past: sampling and repurposing and drawing inspiration from the work of, not only, Alfred Hitchcock, but also Fritz Lang, John Ford, Ernst Lubitsch, F.W. Murnau, and Billy Wilder.
That said… only 20% of Ludovic’s score fell into this category. 80% is complete original and that is what the Academy is judging him on.
Hugo – Howard Shore
· 4th nomination.
o 2 wins for ‘Score’: ‘TLOTR: Fellowship of the Ring’ and ‘TLOTR: Return of the King’
o 1 win for ‘Song’: ‘TLOTR: Fellowship of the Ring’
Howard is batting 100.00 right now. He has never lost at the Academy Awards. And all I can say is that his score for ‘Hugo’ is phenomenal
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – Alberto Iglesias
· 3rd nomination.
o Previously nominated for ‘The Constant Gardner’ and ‘The Kite Runner’
Alberto has some mad skills… and I certainly think an Oscar will be in his future… but his scores are always very subtle and written with a very light touch. While John Williams uses his music to push overwhelming emotion, Alberto tends to use a lighter hand, choosing to underscore scenes rather than score them… if that makes sense. Unfortunately, is a robust field like this years, Alberto has very little chance to push through.
That said, Albert is nominated by the British Academy as well… not really anything else. Oddly enough, he is getting more recognition this year for ‘The Skin I Live In’ which was totally snubbed from the ‘Foreign Film’ category.
· 47th nomination.
o Here he is again! Two nominations!
Actually, this double nomination does not bode well for John. This is the tenth time he has received two nominations for ‘Original Score’ in the same year… and out of those ten years he has only won once!
1970: ‘The Reivers’ and ‘Goodbye, Mr. Chips’ (LOST BOTH)
1973: ‘Images’ and ‘The Poseidon Adventure’ (LOST BOTH)
1974: ‘Cinderella Liberty’ and ‘Tom Sawyer’… plus he was nominated for ‘Original Song’ as well… (LAST ALL THREE).
1985: ‘Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom’ and ‘The River’ (LOST BOTH)
1988: ‘Empire of the Sun’ and ‘The Witches of Eastwick’ (LOST BOTH), which kills me… I LOVE the score of ‘Empire’.
1990: ‘Born on the 4th of July’ and ‘Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade’ (LOST BOTH)
1992: ‘JFK’ and ‘Hook’ (LOST BOTH)
1996: ‘Nixon’ and ‘Sabrina’ (LOST BOTH)
2002: ‘A.I. Artificial Intelligence’ and ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’ (LOST BOTH)
2006: ‘Memoirs of a Geisha’ and ‘Munich’
1978: ‘Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope’ and ‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind’… frankly, the Academy should have given his two Oscars for both movies, but alas, he only won for ‘Star Wars’… his only win during a multi-‘Original Score’ year.
Honestly, I just don’t see John Williams winning this year… and if he does, it won’t be for the heavy handed ‘War Horse’.
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Snubs:
The general consensus seems to be Atticus Ross and Trent Reznor for ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’… I have to agree. However, I understand why it is left out. Although it was flawless, I found the score’s style to be very similar ‘The Social Networks’… however… when John Williams gets his 47th nomination for ‘War Horse’… I’m guess their snub wasn’t due to being similar to their previous work.
The other big snub seems to be Cliff Marinez for his score form ‘Drive’. Cliff does most of the work for Steven Soderbergh, having scored ‘Traffic’ and ‘Contagion’. Like Alberto, Cliff is a very light handed composer… which isn’t normally honored by the Academy.
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Oscar Trends:
Boston Film Critics: ‘The Artist’, tied with ‘Drive’. This award for Music is only three years old; however they have a pretty good track record. Last year went to Oscar winner ‘The Social Network’ and the year before to ‘Crazy Heart’ which won the Oscar for ‘Original Song’. Something to keep in mind is that Boston doesn’t difference Score and Song… they only the use of music in its entirety and in all forms as one unit.
Golden Globes: ‘The Artist’ – Analyzing Golden Globe history, most of the time, their winner for Original Score does NOT go on to win the Oscar. However, for the last 4 years, the two Awards have matched… so perhaps there is a new trend, giving ‘The Artist’ an edge.
Phoenix Film Critics: ‘The Artist’ – Phoenix didn’t even nominate the other 4 Oscar nominees. These guys only get it write about half the time, however in the last 5 years they have alternated: loser, winner, loser, winner, loser… ‘The Artist’?
San Diego Film Critics: ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2’ – I love these guys!
Washington DC Critics: ‘The Artist’ – Both of the snubbed films I mentioned were also nominated, along with ‘Hugo’ and ‘War Horse’. That said, I can’t really draw any conclusions from these guys. This is only the second year they have honored scores this year and last year went to ‘Inception’… which was awesome… but not an Oscar winner… which is what I’m trying to predict.
Satellite Awards: ‘War Horse’ – The Satellite Awards seem to be a non-issue for this category. They have only matched the Oscars 5 times in the last 15 years.
Honestly, I would be very surprised if ‘The Artist’ didn’t win.
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Prediction:
· Winner: The Artist – Ludovic Bource
o Runner-Up: Hugo – Howard Shore
o Wild Card: War Horse – John Williams
o Unlikely: The Adventures of Tintin – John Williams
o No Chance in Hell: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – Alberto Iglesias
Click HERE for a full list of my Oscar predictions.
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