Posts
| Best Motion Picture of the Year Peter Chernin Jenno Topping James Mangold |
| Best Achievement in Film Editing Andrew Buckland Michael McCusker |
| Best Achievement in Sound Mixing Paul Massey David Giammarco Steven Morrow |
| Best Achievement in Sound Editing Donald Sylvester |
This is the most exciting movie you'll see all year, and especially, in the entire canon of nominated Oscars films this year. I am not a car racing fan and let me tell you, you don't need to be to love this film. The performances were excellent, and the movie is based on the true story of Carroll Shelby (car designer) and Ken Miles (driver) trying to bring American cars to the elite level of performance racing with the Ford motor company. The series of challenges - corporate and physical - that these two overcome to design their perfect car are mind boggling, particularly if you have no frame of reference for the science or the sport. The movie was over two hours (one of many contenders this year to go long) and I was engaged every second. The film is an exciting ride!
One area that the movie does address briefly is something I hadn't considered, and that is the human and familial side of these athletes. Racing is an extremely dangerous sport. If, like me, you have no experience with racing, you probably also won't have known that the drivers take on a deadly risk every time they get in the car - whether racing against others or even just practicing on the track as they try to make their cars better and better. Car testing (at least then) required live people to drive them, and if something goes wrong, it can be fatal. What makes a person decide that driving fast is worth that risk, especially when that person has a family and people to whom he or she is responsible? It's hard to imagine, and the film does a good job of capturing more than the competition and all the work it takes to succeed, but also, the people who take on that risk with the drivers and car designers.
Sports/action films like these are ripe fodder for both Film Editing and the Sound categories. For those of you who have been following the blog for years, you've read many times the difference between Sound Mixing and Sound Editing, but I'll give you a brief reminder today.
Sound Editors capture the sounds for the film. A sound editor once suggested that 98% of the sounds that you hear in a film are added after the scenes are shot.
Sound Mixers take all of the sound elements collected and created by the sound editors, and layer them together so that they make perfect sense to the ear. So in Ford vs. Ferrari, you'll have the sounds of the cars, the spectators, the dialogue, nature, background sounds, etc.
Finally, I'm reviving the new addition from last year's blog by reminding you that movies are not documentaries. The producers have no obligation to the truth and when based on a true story, you can be sure there are characters playing people who never existed (or serve as a single representation of multiple people), and they add in elements to make the movie an engaging story. So here are two books you might read if you loved the film!
Ford GT: How Ford Silenced the Critics, Humbled Ferrari and Conquered Le Mans
Here's the trailer of the film:
Loved your take on this film especially since I’m not familiar with racing. I look forward to seeing this and appreciate the book references! Happy Oscar Season, let’s gooooooooooooooo!!!!!
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