Chinese Entertainment: Academic Director

Chapter 467 looks like a great victory is in the works.

As Daniel Craig announced the names of John Noel and Huang Liqi from "Joker," the audience erupted in applause, and the camera then focused on the location of the "Joker" crew.

John Noel is an older white man who was the special effects makeup artist for "Joker," while Huang Liqi is a traditional makeup artist who was brought over by Cao Yang from the Qingying Studio.

The two of them jointly managed the makeup and styling department.

The full name of the Oscar for Best Makeup is Best Makeup and Hairstyling. Nominations are limited to three people, usually the three supervisors in the production team who are responsible for special effects makeup, traditional makeup, and hairstyling.

However, most film crews traditionally combine makeup and hairstyling; only those with special requirements separate traditional makeup and hairstyling.

Actually, this award is a reward for the entire makeup department.

The makeup department is also a large department in the film crew. For example, the makeup department of "Joker" includes special effects makeup artists, makeup artists, hairstylists and various assistants, with more than a dozen people.

These people certainly can't all be nominated. The executive committee of the Makeup and Hair Styling Division of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the organizer of the Oscars, stipulates that only three people can be nominated.

Huang Liqi is a makeup artist and stylist at Qingying Film Studio. Cao Yang has been making movies in Hollywood for the past few years. In addition to Gu Changwei as his regular cinematographer, he often brings along other technical personnel.

For example, when filming "Inception", he used Huang Haipeng, a sound engineer from Qingying Film Studio, and even got Huang Haipeng and Oliver Brown to win the Academy Award for Best Sound Mixing.

This time, it was Huang Liqi's turn from Qingying Studio.

Huang Liqi is only in her thirties. She is not particularly beautiful, but she looks pretty and capable.

She is considered a key technical talent cultivated by Cao Yang.

In the field of film makeup, traditional makeup in China may not be inferior to that in Hollywood, but there is a significant gap in special effects makeup.

Unfortunately, most domestic films in the past were patriotic and art films, while commercial films have only been around for a few years. Special effects makeup is almost exclusively used in commercial films, so there is a shortage of talent in this field in China.

Cao Yang brought Huang Liqi to the "Joker" film crew this time, and even made her one of the heads of the makeup department, because he wanted her to grow in special effects makeup.

Huang Liqi sat behind Cao Yang. She was very excited when she heard her name called. She pursed her lips and her hands trembled slightly.

Cao Yang turned around and said with a smile, "Liqi, congratulations. Relax, no one can take your golden statuette away."

Gu Changwei sat one seat away from Huang Liqi. He laughed heartily and said, "Don't get excited, you'll get used to it, you'll get used to it, haha..."

Although Bingbing's role in "Joker" wasn't very large, as a Hollywood actress, she certainly wouldn't miss the Oscars.

She was sitting to Cao Yang's left, but then she stood up and hugged Huang Liqi.

"Sister Huang, congratulations! From now on, you will be the number one makeup artist in the domestic film industry."

"thanks, thanks……"

All Huang Liqi could say was "thank you," and she didn't know what else to say.

"Go ahead, 45 seconds is very easy to handle."

Cao Yang said with a smile, "If you've forgotten to say something, just say thank you and thank your makeup team. Then your time will be up."

As Huang Liqi and John Noel walked onto the podium, Bingbing's eyes were filled with envy.

That's an Oscar!
Just as she herself told Huang Liqi, even though Huang Liqi wasn't very famous in the domestic film makeup industry before, once she got the Oscar, she was immediately "crowned" as the number one makeup artist in the film industry and became a top expert in the field.

Gu Changwei also sighed.

That's incredible!

He himself had already won two Oscars for Best Cinematography with Cao Yang, and Cheng Jianye, as the executive producer, had also won two Oscars for Best Picture with Cao Yang for "Juno" and "The Fault in Our Stars".

In addition, there was the Oscar for Best Sound Mixing that Huang Haipeng won for "Inception" a couple of years ago, plus the Oscar for Best Makeup that Huang Liqi won.

Unbeknownst to many, so many people have already won the Oscar, something that many filmmakers in China would never even dare to dream of.

Thinking about how those people in China are constantly chanting "Go for the Olympics, go for the Olympics," Lao Gu can't help but laugh.

In particular, his classmate Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige, who were in the same year as him, were the most typical representatives in this regard. Every year, the competition between the two of them for the one spot selected from the mainland was the most intense.

They even fought each other behind closed doors over that one spot for selection...

Sigh, why bother!
Look at Cheng Jianye, Huang Haipeng, and Huang Liqi, who were relatively unknown before... Sometimes, making the right choices is far more useful than hard work.

And then there's that brat Ning Hao.

Not only is he the executive producer of "The Dark Knight," which grossed over $12 billion worldwide and ranked third in the global box office, but he has also become the director of the Hollywood film "The Hangover."

Does this mean they've officially broken into Hollywood?

If Cao Yang hadn't been the producer of "The Hangover," how could Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures have possibly let him direct it?

Of course, if it weren't for Cao Yang, Ning Hao might still be struggling to invest in a "small" movie in China, and he wouldn't be able to become the executive producer of "The Dark Knight".

Although Ning Hao won an Oscar alongside Cao Yang, his luck was no worse than that of the other Oscar winners!

For Cao Yang, it wasn't surprising that "Joker" won Best Makeup.

Neither "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" nor "Joker" winning Best Makeup would be considered a surprise.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button revolutionized technology by achieving, for the first time, a seamless integration of light and shadow, skin texture, and muscle dynamics between the actor's head and the stunt double's body.

As for "Joker", it was the first time that "trauma aesthetics" was used. Jim Carrey's "Joker makeup" visualized the psychological breakdown of the character from an outsider to a villain through details such as black tear stains and split lips.

Using highly elastic silicone and special pigments to simulate the sensation of skin tearing, its realism far surpasses that of contemporary technologies. While current makeup techniques are sophisticated, they still rely on traditional prostheses.

Currently, mainstream Hollywood makeup techniques tend to focus on functional enhancements, lacking a deep expression of complex psychological states.

The exaggerated makeup in "Joker" is itself a narrative tool, which aligns with the recent trend in the Oscars to recognize "makeup as a cinematic language".

It's fair to say that the makeup techniques used in "Joker" are not particularly novel or amazing even more than a decade later, as many films have already been using "makeup language".

However, in this context, it is innovation, a form of innovative expression.

"Teacher Huang Liqi looked very excited. Her acceptance speech lasted 39 seconds, during which she thanked Director Cao four times."

In the live broadcast room of Xinlang Entertainment, the host Zeng Zixing said with a smile.

"She was too excited, which is understandable."

Jackie Chan laughed and said, "I can empathize with Wong Lai-kei too much. At last year's Berlin Film Festival, when the presenter announced that the Best Actor award was Jackie Chan, my mind went completely blank for a moment. I even forgot how I got on stage."

He then shook his head and said with a smile, "Especially when I received the trophy, I couldn't remember a single word of the acceptance speech that I had memorized perfectly. All I could do was keep saying thank you."

“We also broadcast the Berlin Film Festival live last year. I remember that Brother Jackie Chan thanked Director Cao four times in his acceptance speech.”

Zeng Zixing said with a smile.

Cheng Long pointed at Zeng Zixing, then laughed and shook his head.

“Congratulations to Huang Liqi, winning an Oscar at such a young age is truly an amazing achievement. I think she works at the Qingdao Film Studio, right?” Zhou Liming said. “Yes, she is also a teaching assistant at the Beijing Film Academy. Now the faculty of the Beijing Film Academy has another Oscar winner.”

Zeng Zixing replied.

Hong Huang also exclaimed, "The Beijing Film Academy is truly remarkable now. In terms of faculty, the three major European universities have both veteran Golden Bear winners like Xie Fei and Venice Golden Lion winners like Tian Zhuangzhuang."

At the Oscars, there were also Oscar winners such as Gu Changwei, Cheng Jianye, Huang Haipeng, and Huang Liqi.

Moreover, there is a multi-talented person like Cao Yang.

Wow, this level of teaching staff is top-notch, even on a global scale.

After presenting the three technical awards, the next segment was a review of romantic movie synopses from the past year—well, it was basically a disguised advertisement.

This is another revenue-generating measure for the Oscars this year, breaking with years of precedent.

Taking advantage of the break, Zeng Zixing said, "Next up is the Best Cinematography award, which is another showdown between 'Joker' and 'Slumdog Millionaire,' as well as 'Batman,' 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,' and 'Changeling.' Who do you think is the best, Liming?"

Zhou Liming gave a wry smile and said, "This has really stumped me. I was quite optimistic about 'Joker' and 'Slumdog Millionaire,' but I also particularly liked the atmosphere created by the cinematography in 'Batman'..."

He hesitated for a moment, then said:
"If judged by the new Oscar criteria of shifting the focus from technical perfectionism to narrative innovation, Joker and Slumdog Millionaire are both outstanding in this regard, and can even be said to be far ahead of the other three nominated films."

Both films achieved an innovative combination of visual storytelling and cinematography, employing a large amount of dynamic photography and a fusion of documentary aesthetics.

The design employs a contrast between highly saturated warm and cool colors to reinforce the visual metaphor of class differences, and also includes many spatial compositions depicting class divisions.

However, I believe that the most important aspect of narrative innovation is realism. Realism is more important than refinement. In this respect, "Slumdog Millionaire" has made a breakthrough by incorporating mobile phone footage into the main film, which increases the sense of realism..."

"So you're more optimistic about 'Slumdog Millionaire'?"

Zeng Zixing asked.

Zhou Liming hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

In fact, Zhou Liming knew very well that Joker's unconventional use of color was highly innovative, which was exactly what the Oscars liked.

However, as someone who has lived in the United States for many years, Zhou Liming is very clear about one fact: that invisible discrimination is everywhere.

Gu Changwei is Chinese and has won Best Cinematography twice. Given the choice, such as with "Slumdog Millionaire" this year, the Oscars are unlikely to let Gu Changwei win Best Cinematography for the third time.

If Gu Changwei were to win the Oscar for Best Cinematography for the third time, he would undoubtedly be the world's number one cinematographer.

Based on this, even though "Slumdog Millionaire" is slightly inferior to "Joker" in terms of photographic innovation, the difference is not significant. "Slumdog Millionaire" is almost certain to win the Best Cinematography award.

Sure enough, when Natalie Portman and Ben Stiller, who were presenting the awards, announced that the Best Cinematography award went to "Slumdog Millionaire," Zhou Liming shook his head imperceptibly.

Cheng Long didn't seem surprised at all.

Only Hong Huang muttered, "It's a pity about Old Gu."

Cao Yang also felt it was a bit of a pity.

Joker is outstanding in both color and lighting, especially its unconventional use of color, which is almost groundbreaking in this era.

It's a pity that Lao Gu isn't himself, able to bring big producers to a point where they can disregard nationality and skin color.

As the camera panned across the award winners, Cao Yang turned to Lao Gu and said, "Don't worry about it, you didn't lose because of the movie."

Old Gu smiled.

How could he not understand these things?

He understood these invisible things long before 2000, when he returned from Hollywood in disgrace.

Fortunately, following Cao Yang over the years, he made a comeback in Hollywood, not only establishing himself but also winning two Academy Awards for Best Cinematography, becoming one of the world's top cinematographers.

Old Gu is already very satisfied.

How could the Oscars possibly make him a legend in Hollywood?

"It's okay, I understand."

Old Gu said with a smile.

So what if they don't give me a third Oscar?
Including "Farewell My Concubine", I've been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Cinematography five times now!

With "The Dirty Milk" and "Inception", I won the Academy Award for Best Cinematography twice. With such achievements, which cinematographer in the world dares to say that they can surpass me?
When the Best Supporting Actor award was presented, Cao Yang saw Christopher Walken, Kevin Kline, Cuba Godin Jr., Alan Arkin, Joel Gray, and Mark Ruffalo take the stage, and he knew that Heath Ledger was a shoo-in.

All six presenters are actors who have won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Among them, Mark Ruffalo was even brought to the Best Supporting Actor award by Cao Yang for "The Dirty Milk".

The fact that six Best Supporting Actor awards were presented at once is obvious to anyone with a brain; it's a "grand spectacle" specifically prepared for the late Heath Ledger.

When the presenters shouted "Heath Ledger" in unison, everyone in the room stood up and burst into deafening applause.

Amid the cheers, Heath Ledger, of course, did not appear; instead, his parents and sister took the stage.

This award was actually the least surprising.

Heath Ledger won Best Supporting Actor for "The Joker," marking the first award of the night for "The Dark Knight."

It's just unknown whether Jim Carrey, who plays the Joker, will win Best Actor tonight.

Next, the awards for Best Documentary Feature and Best Documentary Short Film were presented. Then, Will Smith took the stage to present the four awards for the evening: Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Effects, Best Film Editing, and Best Visual Effects.

Best Sound and Best Editing went to "Slumdog Millionaire," while "The Dark Knight" won Best Sound Editing, and "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" took home the Best Visual Effects award.

Of these four awards, Joker was nominated for the latter three, but unfortunately it didn't win anything this time.

Then, the awards for Best Original Score and Best Original Music were presented. Joker missed out on Best Original Music again, with both awards going to Slumdog Millionaire.

With the Best Foreign Language Film award going to the small-time film "Departures," tonight's Oscars are down to four categories: Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Director, and Best Picture.

Of the thirteen nominations for "Joker," it has only won two awards so far: Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Makeup.

"The Dark Knight" won two awards: Best Supporting Actor and Best Sound Editing.

Like "Joker," "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" received thirteen nominations and won two awards: Best Production Design and Best Visual Effects.

These three films seem evenly matched tonight, each vying for two awards.

As for "Joker's" competitor, "Slumdog Millionaire" had nine nominations, but lost to "Joker" for Best Adapted Screenplay and to "The Dark Knight" for Best Sound Editing.

It has already won five awards: Best Cinematography, Best Sound Effects, Best Editing, Best Original Score, and Best Original Music.

It looks like "Slumdog Millionaire" is going to sweep the Oscars tonight.

(End of this chapter)