Film Bitch Awards Continue: VFX, Animation, Makeup
Thursday, January 19, 2012 at 10:16AM 
Film has always been a collaborative artform but the computer seems to be the great unifier these days. Is there any contribution that isn't tweaked these days in post? Maybe costumes? It's hard to know where the disciplines of stunt work, visual effects, performance capture, animation, prop and makeup effects begin and end these days but that's all right. It's always been hard to separate the film disciplines. A great many art direction nominations have happened because a cinematographer maximized the beauty of the sets and so on. What matters is that everything works in harmony to serve the movie.
We haven't really discussed The Adventures of Tintin and I'd love to hear your opinion. I was continually startled by the dense complexity of the imagery and effects but I also found the movie utterly exhausting, the movie equivalent of certain film scores by certain uh composers that begin with a climax and climax in each and every scene. I like a little more contours of beginning, middle and crescendo endings. But I had to credit its technical marvels somewhere.
My personal ballots for Visual Effects, Animated Feature and Makeup ... (the latter of which I treat more like Bafta and less like Oscar, considering hair and non-fx based makeup as well)
The Skin I Live In, Rango, The Tree of Life, Captain America: The First Avenger, Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Reader Comments (9)
Glad that you included Coriolanus in your #6 spot. It's not really a make-up type of movie, but its one centerpiece-- that bloody face on Fiennes during the battle scene (and in the trailer) is AMAZING. Whoever did that deserves the most honorable of mentions.
cool choices, but no mention of melancholia effects?
well, nice descriptions overall, but a very weak year for animated movies non?
Chico & Rita sounds fascinating on paper. Apparently it's an animated musical set to samba beats and ballroom dances. Shame that so many foreign animated films went with the LA and done qualifying runs. That's a recipe for surprise nominations no matter how you slice it. Secret of Kells did the same thing, right?
Did any stars of the 20's silents have the facial features similar to Bejo? Or am I nitpicking her casting?
I recently saw "Chico & Rita" believing I would love it, but to be honest I didn't. The animation is feisty and the soundtrack is also great, but I never felt quite involved with the characters. It might get a chance considering the lack of real competition.
Yoyo from the stills and trailers I saw, I thought Bejo stuck out like a sore thumb compared to her co-star; just too contemporary for me, although maybe in context she's wonderful. She certainly doesn't have a '20's look (although what I've seen of the film in the trailer looks more 1930's and early '40's than '20's. I've seen a few silent films of the era and they don't look anything like what I see in the trailer - although there are several classics I've yet to see, such as "Sunset" or "Wings".) That said, I look forward to seeing the film. (You know - if if ever gets around to theaters here, if at all.)
Definelty check out CHICO & RITA. Hopefully it’ll be eligible for the 13th Annual Film Bitch awards.
Nice to see you honoring the redeaming quality of TINTIN and so very pleased to see TREE OF LIFE in visual effects. Sublime work that’s im praying sneaks into Oscar’s shortlist.
Wow! *love* how you included pix of the actual makeup artists at work. Stunning!
My Picks:
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE:
Chico & Rita
Puss In Boots
Rango
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS:
Captain America: The First Avenger
Harry Potter & the Deathly Hollows Part 2
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Tranformers: Dark of the Moon
The Tree of Life
BEST MAKEUP:
Albert Nobbs
A Dangerous Method
Harry Potter & the Deathly Hollows Part 2
The Iron Lady
J. Edger
Dear Mr. R.,
I love your nominations, much more than the Academy Awards.
You should have given Rio a chance. It is a much better film than Rango or Puss in Boots and a little bit better than Arthur.
Marcelo.