Let's face it. The major ceremonies of the award season just don't place enough emphasis on the individual achievements from the technical sides of production. Yes, acting, directing and writing are crafts in their own rights, but a film would be nothing without those who ensure that everything else comes together. From a filmmaker's perspective, the most overlooked Oscar categories are often the ones that matter most.

The major below-the-line categories are Cinematography, Production Design, Sound Editing/Mixing, Visual Effects, Costume Design, and Makeup and Hairstyling . On the best productions (including those that the Academy labels Best Picture), the work of these crucial visual elements often blend together so seamlessly that it's hard to pick their creators' work.


Thankfully, Art of The Film has created a series of supercuts called Oscars in One Minute that isolate the work of these artists so we can fully recognize their importance and beauty within each respective production. 

Cinematography 

  • Moonlight - James Laxton
  • La La Land - Linus Sandgren
  • Arrival - Bradford Young
  • Silence - Rodrigo Prieto
  • Lion - Greig Fraser

Production Design

La La Land - David Wasco and Sandy Reynolds-Wasco
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them - Stuart Craig and Anna Pinnock
Arrival - Patrice Vermette and Paul Hotte
Hail, Caesar! -  Jess Gonchor and Nancy Haigh
Passengers - Guy Hendrix Dyas and Gene Serdena

Visual Effects

  • The Jungle Book - Robert Legato, Adam Valdez, Andrew R. Jones and Dan Lemmon
  • Rogue One: A Star Wars Story - John Knoll, Mohen Leo, Hal Hickel and Neil Corbould
  • Doctor Strange - Stephane Ceretti, Richard Bluff, Vincent Cirelli and Paul Corbould
  • Deepwater Horizon - Craig Hammack, Jason Snell, Jason Billington and Burt Dalton
  • Kubo and the Two Strings - Steve Emerson, Oliver Jones, Brian McLean and Brad Schiff

 https://vimeo.com/201477897

Sound Editing/Mixing

Editing

La La Land - Ai-Ling Lee and Mildred Iatrou Morgan
Hacksaw Ridge - Robert Mackenzie and Andy Wright
Arrival - Sylvain Bellemare
Sully - Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman
Deepwater Horizon - Wylie Stateman and Renée Tondelli

Mixing

La La Land - Andy Nelson, Ai-Ling Lee and Steve A. Morrow
Hacksaw Ridge - Kevin O’Connell, Andy Wright, Robert Mackenzie and Peter Grace
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story - David Parker, Christopher Scarabosio and Stuart Wilson
Arrival - Bernard Gariépy Strobl and Claude La Haye
13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi - Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush and Mac Ruth

Costume Design

La La Land - Mary Zophres
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them - Colleen Atwood
Florence Foster Jenkins - Consolata Boyle
Jackie - Madeline Fontaine
Allied - Joanna Johnston

Makeup and Hairstyling

Star Trek Beyond - Joel Harlow and Richard Alonzo
Suicide Squad - Alessandro Bertolazzi, Giorgio Gregorini and Christopher Nelson
A Man Called Ove - Eva von Bahr and Love Larson