This is the boring part of the post in
which I explain the background of the Bakeoff to those who do not
know. The fun stuff is all in the second part, if I write it.
The Bakeoff is tonight which is why I
can not attend. It used to be the second or third week in Februrary
but it has been moving up earlier and earlier. Now it is Jan 3.
And instead of 7 excruciating and boring films to see sections of,
you now get to watch 10 boring films.
If you have never attended this event
and you are the least bit interested in visual effects, then you
should make a point of trying to attend one year. The way it works
is that the general public is welcome on an available seating basis.
You are not permitted to vote, of course, nor are you permitted to
ask questions, or sit in the reserved seating.
We're here for the bakeoff!
1. Here is how a film gets nominated
for visual effects. A smoke filled room of "worthies"
meet and choose some number of films that are called the "long
list". These films have to fulfill certain rules about how and
when the film was screened to be eligible, and the producers of the
film have to nominate it in this category, listing four people,
generally as the people who will be nominated or win, should they be
so lucky. The smoke filled room reviews this list and in a
completely impartial manner (ha!) chooses the films that will be
considered. You can be quite sure that there are no politics in this
choice, as we will discuss at some point. (The politics are not too
bad, generally there are always a few questions about which films get
on the long list, but the major contenders are always there).
2. Then there is a screening in which
each of these "long listed" films is presented. This is
now called informally the "Bake Off" but I used to call it
"Hate Night" for reasons I will explain below. One person
introduces each film, then 10 minutes of the film are shown, then the
four people who are listed on the application get up and answer
questions if any. In the days when there was film, the print that
was screened was pristine and was only shown at the screening and
then put in the archives. Now of course it doesn't matter, being
digital, and all legacy of this field will be destroyed when the
digital data is destroyed or lost. That is certainly progress.
3. Only people from the subsection may
ask questions of the four worthies. The visual effects subsection
will vote at the end of the night to send some subset of the long
list to the academy awards for voting by the general membership.
Thus the films that are nominated are nominated by the visual effects
subsection (e.g. people who are nominally qualified to judge) and all
academy awards themselves are voted on by the general membership.
4. The voting procedure is arcane and I
do not understand it, nor do I have to understand it, as I am not a
member of the subsection.
5. Technically, the nominations and
final award are not for the "best visual effects". They
are for the "visual effects that best serves the movie".
Of course, those visual effects that serve the film are often very
good or they would not be being considered.
6. I used to attend before it became
popular for all the digital scum to attend because I stupidly loved
visual effects and considered it a fascinating topic. Then for a
while, everyone wanted to attend and they did and you could not get a
seat. Then people realized that attending was not going to get them
a job or make them a giant success, and they stopped going. Now I
can always get a seat, when I can find out when it is in advance,
that is.
7. I find that even on the most boring
years there is something to learn. One year was the year of water,
for example. (Castaway and Perfect Storm). Its a good way to get
a feel for the state of the industry and the work.
8. Many of the best visual effects
films were not awarded Academy Awards in my humble opinion. The joke
at one time was that nominations were earned but awards were luck.
I am not sure that nominations are earned these days, but who knows.
9. I used to call it Hate Night because
it was one of the few nights of the year that the visual effects
industry would get together, and they all hated each other with a
passion, but of course, pretended not to. The interesting thing was
to learn the details of why they hated each other, they hated each
other for really good reasons.
10. Another tradition that I had helped
to create, in my minor way, with the other little people who hung
around, was the tradition of going to Kate Mantillini's before and
after the event. But I am happy to say that the large corporate
visual effects companies put an end to that. Now the big companies
simply reserve the restaurant before the event and dont let anyone
else in unless you are on the approved list. But anyone can show up
later.
11. I am generally friends with some of the people who are nominated or on the long list.
12. There are some people I see no other time of the year but at this event, so it is a major annoyance when they move it around like this and I can not attend.
But the bottom line is that it is
dreadfully boring, and getting worse each year. Why you may ask.
Well, you see, its because all they show, naturally enough, is visual
effects films, and these are often dreadful films, films without plot
and character, that emphasize spectacle over thought and substance.
It would be much more interesting if they would show excerpts of 7 or
10 good films, but that is not the way these things work.
We will
expound on this idea in the next part of this essay:
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