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Academy Awards: USC experts discuss diversity, visual effects, music and more

The #OscarsSoWhite hashtag first went viral five years ago, and the debate over racial and gender diversity and inclusion in Hollywood rages on. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has worked to diversify its membership, but the hashtag reemerged amid the announcement of the 2020 nominees. USC experts discuss diversity — and more — in advance of the 92nd Academy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 9.
February 07, 2020

Contact: Jenesse Miller, jenessem@usc.edu or (213) 810-8554 or Tia Richards, uscnews@usc.edu or (213) 740-2215

More women were in the director’s chair in 2019

“Overall, while it is clear that there has been some progress for female directors in 2019, it is imperative that the advocacy and activism — both internal and external to studios — that contributed to this change be continued.

“To build upon the successes in 2019 in the years ahead, individuals must continue to challenge the idea that leadership, particularly that embodied by film directors, fits a masculine profile. Expanding the notion of what a director can look like, and how talent is judged will ensure that true and lasting change can be accomplished so that all women have access and opportunity to these jobs.”

Stacy Smith is the founder and director of the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. Her comments are excerpted from the recent report, “Inclusion in the Director’s Chair,” released in January 2020, which examines the gender and race/ethnicity of directors across 1,300 popular films from 2007 to 2019.

Contact: aii@usc.edu or (213) 740-7213

The language of cinema is universal

“This year, the Academy has the opportunity to make good on its claim that the language of cinema is ‘universal’ by bestowing films like Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite one of its major awards (like Best Director, Best Picture). Historically, non-English films like Parasite have only been celebrated in the Foreign Language category despite their global box office success and critical accolades.

“Furthermore, the Academy’s failure to consider any of the actors in that film for any of the major acting categories, or the Asian American actress Awkwafina for her role in The Farewell, along with their refusal to give nods to women directors like Kasi Lemmons, Lulu Wang and Greta Gerwig — while heaping praise on masculinist titles like 1917, Joker and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood — doesn’t bode especially well for audiences who are yearning for nominations and awards that reflect a younger, more expansive demographic of filmmakers, as well as film fans.”

Karen Tongson is an expert in pop culture, suburban culture, gender studies, sexuality and gender politics. She is a professor of English and gender studies at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences.

Contact: tongson@usc.edu or (213) 740-2817

Visual effects broke new ground

“This year’s visual effects race has the most solid set of nominees I’ve seen in a decade. The Irishman broke new ground in the technology of de-aging actors, using CGI faces and a lightweight performance capture process to make Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Joe Pesci 30 years younger. The Lion King is a big step forward in photoreal CGI animals and virtual production techniques, where real camera operators use traditional cranes and dollies to create the cinematography.

“Avengers: Endgame has great performances from the Smart Hulk and Thanos digital characters, and the bigger-than-ever scope of its CGI battle sequences. 1917 blends both practical special effects (explosions, dead bodies) with precise computer graphics to link numerous individual takes into what appears to be one continuous shot. And Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker ends the third trilogy on a high note, with epic space battles, scene-stealing digital and practical creatures, and successfully integrating unused footage of Carrie Fisher from previous films in new scenes to complete the arc of Princess Leia.”

Paul Debevec is an expert in digital visual effects, virtual reality, digital photography, holograms, video doctoring and virtual actors. He is the associate director of graphics research at the USC Institute for Creative Technologies.

Contact: debevec@ict.usc.edu or (310) 574-7809 or (310) 574-5702

Film music winners drive the emotions of theater goers

“While the majority (four of the five) nominees this year are veteran movie songwriters — and four of them already have Oscars — their pedigrees will likely not come into consideration during voting. In this year’s best song nominations, look for the song that emotionally resonated or the song that people left theaters humming to be the winner.”

Jon Burlingame is an expert on film and television music. He is an adjunct professor at USC Thornton School of Music.

Contact: burling@usc.edu or (310) 473-5330

Ahead of the Oscars, USC Libraries Scripter Awards honored adaptations

“In honoring the art of adaptation, the Scripter is unique among entertainment industry awards — and equally unique in the world of libraries and higher education. This year’s nominations for best film adaptations were Matthew Carnahan and Mario Correa for Dark Waters, based on The New York Times Magazine article, ‘The Lawyer Who Became DuPont’s Worst Nightmare,’ by Nathaniel Rich; Steven Zaillian for The Irishman, based on the nonfiction work I Heard You Paint Houses by Charles Brandt; Taika Waititi for Jojo Rabbit, based on the novel Caging Skies by Christine Leunens; Greta Gerwig for Little Women, based on the novel by Louisa May Alcott; and Anthony McCarten for The Two Popes, based on his play The Pope.”

Howard A. Rodman, a professor at the USC School of Cinematic Arts, is an expert in screenwriting and independent filmmaking. He is chairman of the USC Scripter Award Selection Committee, which recently celebrated its 32nd year.

Contact: hrodman@cinema.usc.edu or (213) 740-3303

 

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