Author Topic: Filmspots 2009  (Read 96602 times)

pixote

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Filmspots 2009
« on: January 29, 2009, 05:12:07 AM »
So, while this nominations process is fresh in everyone's mind, it's probably a good time to brainstorm ways to make the Filmspots even better next year.  Some questions to consider:

- How do you like this year's categories?  Are there any you'd like to get rid of for next year?  Or any you'd like to add?

- How useful were the FYC threads in filling out your ballot?  Any room for improvement?  Did you rely more on the individual threads for each category or the single thread that listed possible nominees by film?  Did you use both?

- For the FYC threads for Scenes and Lines, did you like the system or highlighting the nominees that received multiple mentions?  Was that a factor in which Scenes and Lines you put on your ballot?

- After nominations are announced, should voters have the option of declining nominations for a film if a majority think it'll have greater visibility and thus fair better in the next year's awards?  (the Che question)

- Should films be allowed to earn nominations in both Best Picture and specialized categories like Best Non-English Langauge Film, or should there be rules in place to encourage a sharing of the wealth?  (zarodinu's question, I think)

- Should the Best Debut or Breakthrough Feature category have stricter eligibility guidelines?  Looser eligibility guidelines?  Does the category itself need a more clear name?

- Does the Most Disappointing Film category ... work?

That's all I've got for now.  Please add any questions of your own.  And answers, too, of course.

pixote
« Last Edit: February 23, 2009, 08:20:45 PM by pixote »
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Dracula

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Re: The Ghost of Filmspots Future
« Reply #1 on: January 29, 2009, 08:12:52 AM »
- How do you like this year's categories?  Are there any you'd like to get rid of for next year?  Or any you'd like to add?
I think some of the rules need to be clarrified to avoid stupidity like Wall-E gettting best cinematography.  Also the Soundtrack/Score catagories probably need to be reclarified, I've already pointed out the precarious position Slumdog Millionaire is in.  I havn't seen Waltz With Bashir yet, but I have a hunch I might come out of it ready to dispute its status as a documentary. 

- How useful were the FYC threads in filling out your ballot?  Any room for improvement?  Did you rely more on the individual threads for each category or the single thread that listed possible nominees by film?  Did you use both?
I didn't personally used them that much, but they came in handy a few times.  They were a bit crowded, but I guess that goes with the territory. 

- For the FYC threads for Scenes and Lines, did you like the system or highlighting the nominees that received multiple mentions?  Was that a factor in which Scenes and Lines you put on your ballot?
It was an allright idea, but I'm not sure all that many people were dedicated to seconding the right stuff.

- After nominations are announced, should voters have the option of declining nominations for a film if a majority think it'll have greater visibility and thus fair better in the next year's awards?  (the Che question)
There are a lot of pros and cons.  On one hand, the notion of changing the rules just because we don't like the results makes me a little queesy.  On the other, a lot of these movies are sort of stuck in purgatory.  I'm not sure they'll really get that much of an advantage next year, 4 months didn't make the cut this year, and it's probably because it just seemed a bit after the fact.  I didn't like it when the Lives of Others was made eligible last year.  Then again, Che is awesome.

- Should films be allowed to earn nominations in both Best Picture and specialized categories like Best Non-English Langauge Film, or should there be rules in place to encourage a sharing of the wealth?  (zarodinu's question, I think)
Crazy talk.

- Should the Best Debut or Breakthrough Feature category have stricter eligibility guidelines?  Looser eligibility guidelines?  Does the category itself need a more clear name?
it shouldn't have stricter rules, but it should have clearer rules.

- Does the Most Disappointing Film category ... work?
I generally don't like negative awards, we should be celebrateing great movies not rubbing failure in anyones face. 


Also, there was probably vote splitting going on in a number of the catagories.  Maybe there should be some sort of process in the FYCs where fans of a given film can informally agree on one posibility in order to avoid vote splits.
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Junior

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Re: The Ghost of Filmspots Future
« Reply #2 on: January 29, 2009, 09:32:38 AM »
- How do you like this year's categories?  Are there any you'd like to get rid of for next year?  Or any you'd like to add?
I think some of the rules need to be clarrified to avoid stupidity like Wall-E gettting best cinematography.  Also the Soundtrack/Score catagories probably need to be reclarified, I've already pointed out the precarious position Slumdog Millionaire is in.  I havn't seen Waltz With Bashir yet, but I have a hunch I might come out of it ready to dispute its status as a documentary. 

I don't think there is any reason to dispute Bashir's doc status (although I have not seen it). There is no difference between a doc that uses reenactments and one that animates and uses reenactments (which is what I think happens.
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Bill Thompson

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Re: The Ghost of Filmspots Future
« Reply #3 on: January 29, 2009, 09:38:53 AM »
I think some of the rules need to be clarrified to avoid stupidity like Wall-E gettting best cinematography. 

This has been debated back and forth, and after people involved in cinematography in the movies related the fact that cinematography is mainly done in the post-shooting process nowadays by digitally altering the picture, I don't see how anyone can still argue against Wall-E being nominated for cinematography.

Melvil

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Re: The Ghost of Filmspots Future
« Reply #4 on: January 29, 2009, 09:43:31 AM »
The Best Scene categories are problematic. A lot of my favorite scenes didn't fit in any of the three categories we had, others fit into multiple categories and split votes.

Bill Thompson

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Re: The Ghost of Filmspots Future
« Reply #5 on: January 29, 2009, 09:50:37 AM »
- How do you like this year's categories?  Are there any you'd like to get rid of for next year?  Or any you'd like to add?

I wouldn't get rid of them because I understand they are fun for a lot of people here, but I really don't see the need for the best scenes/line categories.

- How useful were the FYC threads in filling out your ballot?  Any room for improvement?  Did you rely more on the individual threads for each category or the single thread that listed possible nominees by film?  Did you use both?

Both were useful, when filling out my ballot I would look to both, but I did find myself going to the individual threads more often than not.

For the FYC threads for
- After nominations are announced, should voters have the option of declining nominations for a film if a majority think it'll have greater visibility and thus fair better in the next year's awards?  (the Che question)

No, if we decided something was eligible before the ballots were handed in then it is eligible this year and shouldn't be able to be brought back the next year, that would set a terrible precedent.

- Should films be allowed to earn nominations in both Best Picture and specialized categories like Best Non-English Langauge Film, or should there be rules in place to encourage a sharing of the wealth?  (zarodinu's question, I think)

Most definitely, just because, for example, Let The Right One In was nominated for best picture doesn't change the fact that it is still a non-English film that should be able to be nominated in that category as well.

- Does the Most Disappointing Film category ... work?

I think it works, it's not even that the films in the category were bad per say, just disappointing one way or the other.

That's all I've got for now.  Please add any questions of your own.  And answers, too, of course.

pixote

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'Noke

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Re: The Ghost of Filmspots Future
« Reply #6 on: January 29, 2009, 10:45:59 AM »
- How do you like this year's categories?  Are there any you'd like to get rid of for next year?  Or any you'd like to add?

can we get a best trailer category? I wanted that for this year.

- How useful were the FYC threads in filling out your ballot?  Any room for improvement?  Did you rely more on the individual threads for each category or the single thread that listed possible nominees by film?  Did you use both?

I personally didn't use either, I just printed out a lsit fo the films i saw this year and went through them by category. however, the thread are useful for clearing up some info(ie i had winslet in the reader as supporting for a while till i checked) and general conversation. And the fyc threads were a big help.

For the FYC threads for
- After nominations are announced, should voters have the option of declining nominations for a film if a majority think it'll have greater visibility and thus fair better in the next year's awards?  (the Che question)
YES!!! Me and Basil would be campaigning right now if it wasn't for you pix.

- Should films be allowed to earn nominations in both Best Picture and specialized categories like Best Non-English Langauge Film, or should there be rules in place to encourage a sharing of the wealth?  (zarodinu's question, I think)
I think it shoudl stay apart as most voters will nto have had the chance to see foreign language films and that means not enough votes for best picture.

- Does the Most Disappointing Film category ... work?

Yes. It was actually the category i had the easiest time filling out. it also makes the filmspots interesting as most every film seems to be divisive here(as in i dont think theres a film everybody unabashedly loves.)

That's all I've got for now.  Please add any questions of your own.  And answers, too, of course.

pixote

Just some comments.

first of all this was my first filmspots and I had soo much fun. Unlike the oscars, I had no clue where the nominations were going and that made me excited for them to come out.

second, I se how hard it must be to be someone who submits oscar nominations.

third, Of course thank you pixote for doing all this. It was amazing.

fourth, Im eating a bagel now. Its a great bagel. Thought you might like to know.

I actually consider a lot of movies to be life-changing! I take them to my heart and they melt into my personality.

Basil

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Re: The Ghost of Filmspots Future
« Reply #7 on: January 29, 2009, 11:11:10 AM »
I'm actually not really interested in pushing Che's eligibility to next year, mostly because of the precedent it might set ("aw, my favorite film didn't get nominated this year, let's just push it to next year!"). Also because I'm sorta tired of campaigning for it, and 'cause Soderbergh has other films coming out this year, and 'cause its nomination this year will hopefully be enough to get a few more people to go see it on the big screen while they still can!
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Re: The Ghost of Filmspots Future
« Reply #8 on: January 29, 2009, 11:29:41 AM »
I think Che should be eligible next year.  Same with Waltz With Bashir, which doesn't even open in Seattle until Friday.

4 Months. . . was nominated last year, wasn't it?
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duder

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Re: The Ghost of Filmspots Future
« Reply #9 on: January 29, 2009, 11:49:22 AM »
- How do you like this year's categories?  Are there any you'd like to get rid of for next year?  Or any you'd like to add?

- I could probably do without the Debut category, or at least it shouldn't include Breakthrough, that's another category (I know breakthrough wasn't really intended to mean breakthrough, but that's what people took it for. If we do keep it, it needs better wording)
- I was worried that the purpose of the Surprising Film category might be subverted when I saw people putting Che and Wall-E up for consideration, but it turned out ok.
- Disappointing Film though, meh.
- I still prefer an Ensemble acting award to Casting, though looking at the nominees, the result would probably have been the same.
- No to the Che question, though we should try to make it clear to people which films are eligible again in the following year if they don't get nominations. If the film is good, it will make a difference (4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days would never have gotten Actress and Supporting Actor last year, I don't think).
- I was for 15 nominated scenes early on, but I'm not so sure anymore. Too much dispersion, I think. It was a much stronger group last year.
- I don't really care for Best Line, but I'm fine with keeping it if everyone else likes it.
- Everything else is good, I guess.
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