11 May How to win ‘Best Picture’ at the Oscars
Heres a breakdown of what the winners of ‘Best Picture’ won at the Oscars between 2005-2015.
The Oscars is the biggest movie event of all – its the event where the best movies are nominated to receive awards for their content after being voted for by some 6300 eligible voters.
However, when it comes to the ceremony there is a hierarchy – every production wants to win the ‘Best Picture’ award. Using IMDB decided to investigate what the best picture winners from 2005 – 2015 all had in common to try and expose what the magical formula behind becoming the best picture was.
The first thing i could notice on the infographic was how 100% of the following movies had either won or were nominated for the best writing award. The writing behind a movie is one of the key components to what people find engaging about a production and their opinion on a movie is most likely formulated on how interesting the plot was to them or how the plot made them feel. The writing award is split between two categories:
- Adapted – based on something thats already been written like a novel or a play
- Original – written specifically for a movie
Something else that was common amongst these movies was the Best Director Award – 90% of the movies above that won Best Picture had either won or got nominated for best director. The director is the overseer of a movie and is the glue that holds all aspects of the production together. Typically a director has total control over who the cast consists of, how the script runs, and how the production comes together.
It is no secret to anyone that actors/actresses in a leading role or supporting is incredibly important to any Oscar contending movie and was also a huge feature of the infographic. Only one movie didn’t make it onto the infographic with regards to actors – which to me was incredibly surprising!
90% of the best picture winners on the infographic above where nominated for Film Editing, 60% were nominated for Sound Mixing and 50% for sound editing. Editors (of the visuals/sound) have to select what content is appropriate for the scene of a movie, the correct camera angle to use, add special effects and slice the content to the finest possible detail.
Nominations for Cinematography were also made for 60%. Cinematography is how dynamic the filming of the movie is and if it has power to grasp and fully engage viewers.
Music was also amongst what some of these movies won, 40% got nominated/won the Best Score award (background music,soundtrack etc.) and 30% Best Original Song award (a specifically composed song for a movie.)
Finally 30% of the movies got nominated for Best Costume and 20% for best Art Direction.
Its safe to say that any movie chasing the ‘holy grail’ of Oscar awards needs to have quite a few other awards to its name such as best director, an enticing plot, an award for at least one actor (in a leading or supporting role) and finally, close attention needs to be paid to the editing.
