Big, BIG Day (Part 1)

Big night tonight. Oscar Night is here, so I figured a quick discussion of predictions is relevant, eh?

I think it's fair to say there are some basic discrepancies to what some of the criteria is for specific Academy awards. Let me first point out the categories.

Best Picture

Lead Actor

Lead Actress

Supporting Actor

Supporting Actress

Animated Film

Art Direction

Cinematography:

Costume Design

Directing

Documentary Feature

Documentary Short

Film Editing

Foreign Language Film

Make Up

Music (Score)

Music (Song)

Adapted Screenplay

Original Screenplay

Short (Live Action)

Short (Animated)

Sound Editing

Sound Mixing

Visual Effects

Some can be a bit confusing as to what they actually mean.

The Art Direction award is basically a category involving everything you can see on a set. The art director acts as an in-between for several different departments, including Special FX, wardrobe, property (props) and construction. They are in charge of most of the visual aspects of the film and nowadays are more commonly referred to as the Production Designer.

The Cinematography award is given to the best director of photography. On a set, the DP works hand in hand with the director to set up a certain shot and angle. He is the head of the lighting and camera departments and delegates to the heads of those departments (the gaffer and the key grip, respectively) after he decides how a certain shot the director wants will be actually accomplished. Choosing lights, choosing lens width and camera settings are all the DP's job and in most films you can fully see the DP's stamp and feel to them.

And, believe it or not, there IS a difference between Sound Mixing and Sound Editing. 

Sound Editing comes first. Sound editing is the process of making sound effects for the film. On any filming day, there is usually as little sound recorded (besides for dialouge, of course) as possible, as setting up sound equipment can take time and cost money. If there is just random city sounds for a certain shot, there are folley artists that make sound effects after the shoot is over and record them all onto the film. All the little sound effects you hear in a film are usually always done in post-production, including the music for the film.

Sound Mixing is the process of taking every sound in a scene, and making sure they are at the perfect levels as to not drown out the background music or dialogue in a scene. Mixing every little sound can be quite an art form to itself and is extremely tedious at times.

Most of the other categories are pretty self explanatory, but feel free to ask anything in comments.

-AM