Harry Potter and the Oscars - My Two Cents
I don't know why but I'm going to through my movie making two cent in here.
Okay, on a professional stand point the only Oscars Harry Potter ever could of had a shot at winning are the technical awards (Art Directions, Vis Effects, Make Up and Custom Designs). They've had seven eight movies so they had seven eight attempts to get both the nominations and achieve an award.
Here's the the thing though. This is what they've been nominated for:
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's StoneBest Art Direction
Best Costume Design
Best Original ScoreStuart Craig and Stephanie McMillan
Judianna Makovsky
John Williams74th Academy AwardsHarry Potter and the Prisoner of AzkabanBest Original Score
Best Visual EffectsJohn Williams
Roger Guyett, Tim Burke, John Richardson and Bill George77th Academy AwardsHarry Potter and the Goblet of FireBest Art DirectionStuart Craig and Stephanie McMillan78th Academy AwardsHarry Potter and the Half-Blood PrinceBest CinematographyBruno Delbonnel82nd Academy AwardsHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
- Part 1Best Art Direction
Best Visual EffectsStuart Craig and Stephanie McMillan
Tim Burke, John Richardson, Christian Manz and Nicolas Aithadi83rd Academy AwardsHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
- Part 2Best Art Direction
Best Makeup
Best Visual EffectsStuart Craig and Stephanie McMillan
Nick Dudman, Amanda Knight and Lisa Tomblin
Tim Burke, David Vickery, Greg Butler and John Richardson84th Academy Awards
So, Chamber of Secrets didn't even get a nomination, nor did Order of the Phoenix. There goes two sets of awards right there. I do think it's a crying shame OotP didn't get a nom for Best Visual Effects but whatever.
So they've pretty much get the nom for the technical stuff. Which lets be honest is their strength, they have some really good people all the time on crews.
Here's the thing though, Art Direction by default will almost 98% of the time go to a musical or period piece. Rarely does it go to a fantasy movie. The same is said for Costume because its a lot harder to do period costumes then it is to do modern costumes and their costumes are nothing spectacular - which is why I'm guessing they never got the nomination again. On to Score. John Williams is the man, he will always get a nomination because they need to acknowledge that he is awesome, he has other Oscars and Oscars aren't that important to him because he's a musician Grammy's are his thing. So they nom him out of respect - a proper hat tip - and move on.
PoA for Vis Effects baffles me. It does. Its like they (the academy) were like oh damn we didn't nominate them last year lets throw them a bone. Cause that's just a weird nomination. Because nominations are there for acknowledging you've done something outstanding. There was nothing outstanding about PoA in terms of Vis Effects. Dementors were not that great and that was a shitty looking werewolf.
Anyway.
Back to Best Art Direction for Stuart Craig and Stephanie McMillan. I'll get to them in a bit but they were up against Memoir of a Geisha (Who won), King Kong, Good Night and Good Luck and Pride and Prejudice. Really this was between Memoirs of a Geisha and Pride and Prejudice. For the same reasons I said earlier.
Best Cinematography for Half Blood Prince.....yeah I'll get to that in a second cause I'm bitter about that and not because HP didn't win but because of who did win. Hold for a second.
Best Art Direction, see previous statement. Though I AM surprised it didn't go to The Kings Speech I am not surprised it went to Alice in Wonderland over Harry Potter. Best Vis Effects...dude one word, Inception. I know it doesn't look like a lot of Vis Effects in Inception but trust me its crazy the amount of shit they did in parts of it would blow your mind.
So for DHpt2 they got the noms for Art Directions - last time I'm mentioning it - Make Up and Vis Effects. Okay Iron Lady over HP may seem odd but period pieces are Oscar Bait. So are Bio Pics and movies released towards the end of the season and dramatic longer running pieces. Basically everything Iron Lady is and Harry Potter is not. In terms of Vis Effects, Hugo won and I respectfully disagree. Why? Because it is in 3D and nothing in 3D should be nominated in anything period because thats cheap tricks meant to distract you from the real point of the movie, to tell a damn good story. Sorry that's just how I feel. Hugo should have gotten the nomination and it should have gone to something like...Planet of the Apes. But whatever. Hugo does have some pretty spectacular stuff.
So those are my feelings on why Harry Potter never won an Oscar.
Okay now back to that Best Cinematography nom
I am SUPER BITTER they gave Avatar the win for best Cinematography. Cause thats some bullshit. Avatar over Hurt Locker? *le sigh* What were they thinking? Avatar didn't deserve a DAMN THING PERIOD. Except maybe best Vis Effects - but again 3D is some bullshit. Or hell maybe best animated but then Up won best animated so lets leave that alone because Up is fucking awesome. But seriously Harry Potter didn't stand a chance for best cine that year. It was really a Hurt Locker or Avatar vote. Inglourious Basterds is a what the fuck I don't even know nomination its cause its Tarantino and they need to remind him that he's not hated. I don't know but yeah.
Now about Stuart Craig and Stephanie McMillan
Stuart Craig and Stephanie McMillan got the Art Director Guild Award for their work on HP - which in the industry is what actually matters because you know its voted by people who do the same stuff as them as opposed to the general Academy which is a whole mess of people that has its own internal politics. So yeah I'm sure they're happy.
Anyway, the Academy Awards aren't really about the people. That's why its the Academy Awards not the People's Choice Awards. Its not about what PEOPLE think should win but what the Academy - a collective group of their peers - thinks deserves recognition and praise. Which is what counts. Because they have a set of criteria that shows what make people good at their jobs and the people don't know what that is. And I know people are all like but I'm the one watching the movie I know whats good or not, yeah know liked something but from a professional stand point thats about the same as showing you're art work in class and either people like it or hate it, that's all opinion. Thats why your teachers/boss/etc has a list of criteria on how to grade you if you did well or not. They have history, knowledge, experience to judge you on. Which may or may not be a good thing but its there and its better than nothing.
*kanye shrug*
Okay, on a professional stand point the only Oscars Harry Potter ever could of had a shot at winning are the technical awards (Art Directions, Vis Effects, Make Up and Custom Designs). They've had seven eight movies so they had seven eight attempts to get both the nominations and achieve an award.
Here's the the thing though. This is what they've been nominated for:
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's StoneBest Art Direction
Best Costume Design
Best Original ScoreStuart Craig and Stephanie McMillan
Judianna Makovsky
John Williams74th Academy AwardsHarry Potter and the Prisoner of AzkabanBest Original Score
Best Visual EffectsJohn Williams
Roger Guyett, Tim Burke, John Richardson and Bill George77th Academy AwardsHarry Potter and the Goblet of FireBest Art DirectionStuart Craig and Stephanie McMillan78th Academy AwardsHarry Potter and the Half-Blood PrinceBest CinematographyBruno Delbonnel82nd Academy AwardsHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
- Part 1Best Art Direction
Best Visual EffectsStuart Craig and Stephanie McMillan
Tim Burke, John Richardson, Christian Manz and Nicolas Aithadi83rd Academy AwardsHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
- Part 2Best Art Direction
Best Makeup
Best Visual EffectsStuart Craig and Stephanie McMillan
Nick Dudman, Amanda Knight and Lisa Tomblin
Tim Burke, David Vickery, Greg Butler and John Richardson84th Academy Awards
So, Chamber of Secrets didn't even get a nomination, nor did Order of the Phoenix. There goes two sets of awards right there. I do think it's a crying shame OotP didn't get a nom for Best Visual Effects but whatever.
So they've pretty much get the nom for the technical stuff. Which lets be honest is their strength, they have some really good people all the time on crews.
Here's the thing though, Art Direction by default will almost 98% of the time go to a musical or period piece. Rarely does it go to a fantasy movie. The same is said for Costume because its a lot harder to do period costumes then it is to do modern costumes and their costumes are nothing spectacular - which is why I'm guessing they never got the nomination again. On to Score. John Williams is the man, he will always get a nomination because they need to acknowledge that he is awesome, he has other Oscars and Oscars aren't that important to him because he's a musician Grammy's are his thing. So they nom him out of respect - a proper hat tip - and move on.
PoA for Vis Effects baffles me. It does. Its like they (the academy) were like oh damn we didn't nominate them last year lets throw them a bone. Cause that's just a weird nomination. Because nominations are there for acknowledging you've done something outstanding. There was nothing outstanding about PoA in terms of Vis Effects. Dementors were not that great and that was a shitty looking werewolf.
Anyway.
Back to Best Art Direction for Stuart Craig and Stephanie McMillan. I'll get to them in a bit but they were up against Memoir of a Geisha (Who won), King Kong, Good Night and Good Luck and Pride and Prejudice. Really this was between Memoirs of a Geisha and Pride and Prejudice. For the same reasons I said earlier.
Best Cinematography for Half Blood Prince.....yeah I'll get to that in a second cause I'm bitter about that and not because HP didn't win but because of who did win. Hold for a second.
Best Art Direction, see previous statement. Though I AM surprised it didn't go to The Kings Speech I am not surprised it went to Alice in Wonderland over Harry Potter. Best Vis Effects...dude one word, Inception. I know it doesn't look like a lot of Vis Effects in Inception but trust me its crazy the amount of shit they did in parts of it would blow your mind.
So for DHpt2 they got the noms for Art Directions - last time I'm mentioning it - Make Up and Vis Effects. Okay Iron Lady over HP may seem odd but period pieces are Oscar Bait. So are Bio Pics and movies released towards the end of the season and dramatic longer running pieces. Basically everything Iron Lady is and Harry Potter is not. In terms of Vis Effects, Hugo won and I respectfully disagree. Why? Because it is in 3D and nothing in 3D should be nominated in anything period because thats cheap tricks meant to distract you from the real point of the movie, to tell a damn good story. Sorry that's just how I feel. Hugo should have gotten the nomination and it should have gone to something like...Planet of the Apes. But whatever. Hugo does have some pretty spectacular stuff.
So those are my feelings on why Harry Potter never won an Oscar.
Okay now back to that Best Cinematography nom
I am SUPER BITTER they gave Avatar the win for best Cinematography. Cause thats some bullshit. Avatar over Hurt Locker? *le sigh* What were they thinking? Avatar didn't deserve a DAMN THING PERIOD. Except maybe best Vis Effects - but again 3D is some bullshit. Or hell maybe best animated but then Up won best animated so lets leave that alone because Up is fucking awesome. But seriously Harry Potter didn't stand a chance for best cine that year. It was really a Hurt Locker or Avatar vote. Inglourious Basterds is a what the fuck I don't even know nomination its cause its Tarantino and they need to remind him that he's not hated. I don't know but yeah.
Now about Stuart Craig and Stephanie McMillan
Stuart Craig and Stephanie McMillan got the Art Director Guild Award for their work on HP - which in the industry is what actually matters because you know its voted by people who do the same stuff as them as opposed to the general Academy which is a whole mess of people that has its own internal politics. So yeah I'm sure they're happy.
Anyway, the Academy Awards aren't really about the people. That's why its the Academy Awards not the People's Choice Awards. Its not about what PEOPLE think should win but what the Academy - a collective group of their peers - thinks deserves recognition and praise. Which is what counts. Because they have a set of criteria that shows what make people good at their jobs and the people don't know what that is. And I know people are all like but I'm the one watching the movie I know whats good or not, yeah know liked something but from a professional stand point thats about the same as showing you're art work in class and either people like it or hate it, that's all opinion. Thats why your teachers/boss/etc has a list of criteria on how to grade you if you did well or not. They have history, knowledge, experience to judge you on. Which may or may not be a good thing but its there and its better than nothing.
*kanye shrug*