NEWS
Special Awards Section: The Toast of Post for '04
The 77th Annual Academy Awards
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The parallel is unmistakable between the endings of Thelma Schoonmaker’s two Best Film Editing Oscar-winners, 2004’s The Aviator and 1980’s Raging Bull. Martin Scorsese chose to end both films with the main characters–Howard Hughes and Jake LaMotta, respectively–confronting themselves in the mirror, both coming to an understanding of who they are and resigning themselves to live with it.
“Art and madness are so closely related,” Schoonmaker, ACE, says. “Before The Aviator, most people just thought of Hughes as a crazy old man, but Scorsese genuinely wanted to reinstate in people’s minds what a great genius he was in his own time, though terribly afflicted by mental illness. Hughes would always have to deal with his demons. Like Icarus, his inspiration was so great that he flew too close to the sun. And Marty wanted people to feel that.
“Editing is a mysterious craft; a great deal of it is invisible,” she continues. “You would have to be in an editing room for the entire duration of a feature film’s post-production schedule in order to really see what an editor is doing on any film. So I know that the Academy voters chose The Aviator in large part because of the scenes where editing was particularly visible–the spectacular airplane crashes and the wonderful ensemble scenes where the actors were all talking on top of each other. Scorsese gave the film great style and powerful emotion, and that passion made the editing look even more interesting.”
 Thelma Schoonmaker with her Best Editing Oscar. Photo by Jeffrey Mayer/Rainbow Photography |
Asked about the similarities between the two films, Schoonmaker reflected,
“It’s 25 years since I won for Raging Bull, and I feel
so lucky to still be working with Scorsese on another amazing project.
On that film, I think that the dazzling and beautifully thought-out
fight sequences were the reason that the Academy voted for Raging
Bull. The material was so rich that it would have been
hard not to edit those sequences well. Scorsese made each fight
look and feel different, and riding those incredible images and finding
the right rhythm for each fight was a pure joy. As I said in
my acceptance speech, I felt as if I had pure gold in my hands throughout
the editing process. Believe me, I know that the exquisite direction
of both films is what won me both of my Oscars.”
Michael Kunkes
The prestigious Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences bestowed its coveted Oscar award in the sound mixing category to Bob Beemer, Greg Orloff and Scott Millan, CAS, for their work on Ray this year at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood.
Beemer is elated with his Oscar win. “I have managed to forge a career in one of the most rewarding crafts in the movie business–sound mixing,” he says. “Working on Ray stands out because it was very rewarding to work with a lot of creative people,” he explains.
 Scott Millan, left, Greg Orloff and Bob Beemer with their Best Sound Mixing Oscars. Photo by Jeffrey Mayer/Rainbow Photography |
In addition, Beemer believes that winning an Academy Award always
helps make a director feel more comfortable with the winner mixing
his or her movie.
Ray was Beemer’s third Oscar win. He won for Speed in 1994 and
Gladiator in 2000, and was also nominated for an Oscar for Cliffhanger
in 1993 and for Road to Perdition in 2002. Winning an Oscar is a “reminder
to me of the great privilege that I enjoy working on great motion
picture projects,” he adds.
He’s just completed sound mixing on Lords of Dogtown, a story
about the emergence of the skateboard craze that has evolved into
an Extreme Sport, which will debut on the big screen in June. After
that, he’ll begin working on The Legend of Zorro.
“One of the most important parts of our work is the people we get to work with along way,” notes Millan, who feels extremely proud to have won the Oscar (his third) for his work on Ray. “When you stop to think that there are about 200 films created each year and only a few are nominated for an Academy Award, it’s quite a feat to win,” he points out.
“I’ve always believed that we’re only as good as our last project. I’m humbled by this kind of acknowledgement,” he adds.
Orloff defines his Oscar win for Ray as “an ultimate shining moment in my career,” and says that winning this Oscar “makes me want to work harder. Winning an Oscar is a big responsibility.” This was Orloff’s first nomination. “I’m a lucky guy, no question about it. I was lucky to get on that movie, lucky to have it do as well as it did, and lucky to have the movie as recognized as it was.”
Orloff feels that Ray was his most memorable project. “It was a labor of love,” he says. “I’ve always been a huge fan of Ray Charles…it was just a thrill to work on the movie.”
He has been nominated for five Emmys in the past for his work on The Simpsons
and Northern Exposure. “I’m a pretty easy-going guy; I’m
happy doing the work on whatever comes my way,” he confesses.
Sharon Benoit
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