AMPAS snub Cinematography and Editing at the Oscars.

I don’t normally get involved in stuff like this, but this has me quite angry. While an Oscar will still be awarded for Cinematography as well as Editing the presentations will take place during a commercial break (the same for Live Action Short, and Makeup and Hairstyling).

Cinematography and Editing are at the very heart of every movie. If we go back to the very beginnings of Cinema it was all about the Cinematography. The word Cinema is a shortened form of the word Cinematography which means to write or record movement. There were often no actors, no special effects, no sound, just moving images images. perhaps a shot of a train or people in a street. Since then Cinematography has continued to advance both artistically and technically. At the same time Editing has become as important as the script writing. The Cinematography and editing determine the mood, look, pace, style of the film.

As Guillermo del Torro has commented: “Cinematography and Editing are at the very heart of our craft, they are not inherited from a theatrical tradition or literary tradition, they are cinema itself”. I completely agree, so the presentations for Cinematography and Editing deserve the same coverage and respect as every other category. Cinematographers and editors are often overlooked by film goers, they rarely make the mainstream headlines in the same way that leading actors do. So really it is only fair that AMPAS should try to address this and give both the credit and coverage deserved by those men and women that make cinema possible.

7 thoughts on “AMPAS snub Cinematography and Editing at the Oscars.”

  1. The entire awards culture rewards celebrity and flash over substance so this isn’t surprising. They struggle year after year to hold TV ratings… actors are looking increasingly foolish as they talk up their causes (many very noble and righteous BTW) pushing main stream audiences away.

    1. Unfortunately, Mom and Pop viewers will never get a glimpse into what it takes to make a quality movie. A few minutes of awards for these fine crafts people would at least introduce the concept. Life behind the camera… same as it ever was.

  2. Totally agree about camera and editing being snubbed at Oscars.
    That said, years ago those categories were bunched up with basic craft
    positions. However DP and Editor has garnered the coveted single graph screen credit status and rightfully so.
    Even though I’m a DP, I know that an editor can make or break a film. The editor in essence, is post directing the project. While I can put two scenes together, I would never call myself and editor. I’m a cutter! An editor is the disinterested party who works with the materials given. They know not, nor care not how hard it was to achieve a specific shot. All they know is it either works or it doesn’t.
    Years ago the “technical” awards were actually given at a banguet several nights before the Oscars. Not sure when they became part of the presentation but to add them and then subtract them from the main event is wrong on so many levels.
    Let’s see how many recepiants acknowledge that when they receive their awards.

    1. I would argue that Cinematography and Editing are not technical crafts anyway. Yes, technology is involved, but it is the artistry that people see.

      1. And your argument is valid. Camera and Editing is far more than a technical skill and has been recognized as such in the past. This year that seems to have been forgotten by the academy. I’m sure not by the recipients. Me thinks the Academy Awards has turned into a prime time entertainment show akin to Entertainment Tonight and may be running it’s course.
        I would personally covet a Golden Globe more than an Oscar.

Leave a Reply to Allen Facemire Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.