Two musicals are among the five Oscar nominees for best original points. But what is really honored in that category? The songs, background points or the whole music in the movie?
This is a question that has been tormenting Oscar voters for many years. Four of Alan Menken’s eight Oscars are for “original score”, all for Disney -animated musicals. But did the voters understand that they did not vote for Menken’s songs – that dominated films like “The Little Mermaid” and “Beauty and the Beast” – but rather the dramatic music between the man?
This is the case again this year, with original points nods for both ”Emilia Perez“And”Evil. “Perez” was also nominated for two of its original songs (“El Mal” and “Mi Camino”), while “Wicked” was not, since all its songs are directly from the Broadway show and not written specifically for the film.
Previously, the dramatic lower edge of musicals was often disqualified according to Oscar rules (“a point should not be justified if it has been reduced in influence through the dominant use of songs”). But in recent years, the Academy Music Branch Executive Committee, which regulates these issues, has been more forgiving.
Both “Wicked” and “Emilia Perez” passed the Muster, partly because of the large amounts of music involved.
In fact, only 33% of the total two hours and 32 minutes of music in “Wicked” consist of the songs performed. The other 67% (about 101 minutes) are the dramatic point, a collaboration between songwriter Stephen Schwartz and composer John Powell (“how to train your dragon”), both nominated.
Creating the “evil” point, says Powell, involved “to try to absorb the shapes, the harmonious language, which Stephen gave me, but then I tried to see through the camera lens and (director) Jon Chu’s perspective so it always felt like it came from The same place, but for this new way of looking at the story. “
To achieve the magic sound of Oz, they recorded a 60-voting choir at LA’s Sony point stage, which once was the MGM scene where the original “Wizard of Oz” point was recorded in 1939. “That language is a Part of the story of history this story, and Jon really wanted to keep it, ”Powell reports.
The percentages in “Emilia Perez” are different, partly because there are 11 songs in “Wicked” but 14 original numbers, a total of 40 minutes, in “Perez.” The songs account for 40% of the total music in “Perez”, compared to the underpay, which accounts for 37% of the total (the other 23% is additional music or source music not by the nominated composers).
The score percentage was sufficient to qualify according to the Oscar rules, which require at least 35% of total music in the film. Exciting, “Emilia Perez” points also relies strongly on singing sounds, many of them performed by Camille, half of the nominated songwriting and point -composing duo by Camille and Clément Ducol.
“It’s me like a choir, which I do a lot in my work,” she says. “Jacques (Audiard, the director) was a little worried that it would be too much, because in France people know me and maybe they would recognize the voice. But I have been (submerged) in the story for many years and I knew what was at stake. It’s something you know. “The breaths that are audible on the soundtrack are also hers; In addition, a Mexican choir is presented.
“It was probably the most challenging project in our lives,” Camille adds. “We needed to be patience to be brave. We knew we did something that wasn’t happening every day. “
