AAN: Oscar predictions - Soundies and Design

Welcome to Part One of my Oscar predictions - the big one that this series of Annual Awards Nerdism for 2011 has come down to. Each day from now, leading up to the Oscars, I will tackle the categories in which I have put in to categories, and give you my predictions on the winners. Let's see how many I get right: I might get paid in the end.

For you people not in the know:

Leo = who I want to win.

Zuck = who I predict to win.

Steve = the longshot.

Todays categories are:
-Soundies: Best Achievement in Sound Editing, Best Achievement in Sound Mixing, Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures - Original Song, Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures - Original Score.
- Design: Best Achievement in Art Direction, Best Achievement in Costume Design, Best Achievement in Makeup.

Soundies awards.

Best Achievement in Sound Editing

I wouldn't say that 'sound editing' is my greatest field of knowledge, but I think I know enough. It's all about how good the sound quality is, and how it all came together, right? Well, if that is how it is, then I'll base my picks on that alone.
Inception will win. Just because Inception sounds frickin amazing. Yeah, you may think that sounds presumptuous of me, but it has the sound editing downpat, right? But its good to see TRON: Legacy (no matter how much it sucked, it deserved nods in the score and visual effects categories) and Unstoppable in there. They could sneak the upset. As for Toy Story 3 and True Grit...well, they have other categories to worry about.
My Leo: Inception
My Zuck: Inception
My Steve: Toy Story 3

Best Achievement in Sound Mixing

So Sound Mixing is basically just how awesome the film sounds, right? Well, they all sounded pretty awesome. Except for maybe The King's Speech. But I get why it was nominated: it had lots of microphones so the sound geeks went gaga for it. Again, I'm looking for Inception to win, since its a technical award and the Academy like giving Christopher Nolan flicks the ol' techie awards. Its a little random seeing Salt get nominated, but it did have some pretty nice sound (though, who am I to judge, this was the only film of the lot I didn't see in cinemas). The Social Network has some nice sound, as does True Grit. I'm no expert, but I'm really liking Inception's chances here.
My Leo: Inception
My Zuck: Inception
My Steve: The King's Speech

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song

Man, this is a toughie. Lets look at the options:

If I Rise - 127 Hours

This song plays during a pretty pivotal part in this awesome movie, and seems to add some gentleness to an otherwise gritty film. The choir at the end is a little strange, in my opinion, but A. R. Rahman and Dido are awesome, so all is forgiven.

Coming Home - Country Strong

Though its a little hard to see Country Strong as an 'Academy Award nominated film', this song is nice. Especially with Gwyneth Paltrow behing the mic. Good, nice country song that almost made me shed a tear. I like it, a lot.

I See the Light - Tangled

Probably my favourite. Only one bone to pick: Why the hell wasn't Tangled nominated for Best Animated Feature?! It was such an awesome film. And this song is so good that I hope it wins.

We Belong Together - Toy Story 3

...but, this one is cool too! Really upbeat and fun...you can't go wrong with Randy Newman! I can definitely see this one winning.

My Leo: Tangled
My Zuck: Toy Story 3
My Steve: Country Strong

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score

We've had this conversation. I like both Inception and The Social Network's score, and even though I favour the former, the latter will definitely win. Unless The King's Speech fairly 'Oscar-seasoned' BAFTA winning score comes through. 127 Hours has a nice score by A. R. Rahman. How to Train Your Dragon, stealing some thunder off Toy Story 3, is also nice enough, but I can't see it winning. In fact, I can't see anything winning other than The Social Network.
My Leo: Inception
My Zuck: The Social Network
My Steve: How to Train Your Dragon
 

Design awards.

 
Best Achievement in Art Direction

Wow, I guess Helena Bonham Carter is a good asset to have if you wanna get nominated in the Best Art Direction category! She has Alice in Wonderland, Harry Potter 7 and The King's Speech nominated, and even though they all stand good chance, for me its between Inception and True Grit. The former because it has one a lot of awards in this category and the latter because the art direction was something that really struck me while I was watching True Grit. Either or, I don't mind.
My Leo: True Grit
My Zuck: Inception
My Steve: Alice in Wonderland
 
Best Achievement in Costume Design

Even though I generally dislike I Am Love, I loved the costume design. It was literally a feast for the eyes. The costumes in that would probably be my favourite here. Alice in Wonderland is perhaps a little too 'fantastical', The King's Speech has some nice fitted costumes but aren't we a little tired of the period stuff? The Tempest...I have not seen but the costumes look interesting, and, well, True Grit has some really nice ones. I could see that winning.
My Leo: I Am Love
My Zuck: True Grit
My Steve: Alice in Wonderland
 
Best Achievement in Makeup

Gee, sorry to disappoint you after all this time and that rather large picture, but I haven't actually seen any of these movies, and don't have much of an opinion on their makeup. From what I hear: Barney's Version is all about aging, The Way Back is all about making people look...less than hygenic, and The Wolfman is al about making people look wolfy. Eh, all right. Here are my guesses...

My Leo: The Way Back, since I thought it would be nominated for more but no such luck.

My Zuck: The Wolfman

My Steve: Barney's Version

See you back here tomorrow, same place, maybe not same time just in case I have that lovely thing called homework. Tomorrow I shall take a look at the 'Bests' (foreign, animated and docos)  and the 'Visuals' (editing, cinematography and visual effects).