Oscar Categories and How to Choose Them

When you're filling out your Oscar ballots, you think you're doing great at the beginning. You fill out Best Picture, Best Actor, and Best Supporting Actress with ease, remembering all those awards shows you've already watched and heard about. But as you keep going, and you keep filling out those bubbles, you get to those "scary" categories: Best Cinematography, Best Foreign Language Film, and (gasp!) Best Animated Short Film. Well, fear no more- Movie Critic's Club has you covered. Today, we're going to take a look at the lesser known Oscar categories, and give you an insider's guide on how to choose them. We'll break down what each award means, and, hopefully, readers can use this guide as a tool for future Academy Awards ceremonies. Get ready to impress your friends, and win your next Oscar prediction party!

Best Animated Feature

The Best Animated Feature winners, 2001-2008

What It Means: Best Animated Feature is a recent award that was added, honoring the greatest animated film from the year.

How to Choose a Winner: Pick Pixar. If it's up for Best Animated Feature, it will almost certainly win. The biggest box-office animated smash of the year is also likely to take home the prize. Since Disney almost always trumps in this regard, they almost always win Best Animated Feature.

Best Foreign Language Film

What It Means: The award for Best Foreign Language Film is the prize for best film not in the English language and made outside the United States. It is given to the director of the movie. Unlike the other categories, the nominees for this category do not have to be released in America (though subtitles are required for eligibility).

How to Choose a Winner: Unfortunately, a lot of people are unable (and unwilling) to see the nominees for Best Foreign Language Film. Therefore, there remains some confusion on who to choose as a winner here. The best indicator, especially prevalent in recent years, is to choose the film that has won other awards. Also, if a foreign movie has other nominations in addition to this category, it's almost certain to win here. But, try to see at least some of the more hyped foreign language films! They're usually incredible motion pictures.

Best Documentary Feature

What It Means: This award is given for a feature-length documentary, released in theaters during the cinematic year.

How to Choose a Winner: Again, follow the trends. The Academy will probably choose the popular documentary from that year. They used love movies about history, World War II especially. But in recent ceremonies, the prize has been given to films that have the cinematic elements like suspense and human appeal. If the documentary is both educational and entertaining, it's golden to win the big prize.

The Short Films: Live Action, Animated, and Documentary

What They Mean: These short films are 40 minutes or less in length, and are usually not released to the general public. The nominees are often recent graduates or current students of film schools, showcasing their work and establishing their careers with an Oscar win.

How to Choose a Winner: Unfortunately, there is no clear way to predict winners here. The patterns are diverse in terms of who takes Oscar gold, but try to find nominees who are students or part of small budget film companies. Outstanding technical achievements will take home the prize. If you have time and can find the nominees, check them out; you can tell which will win based on how good they look.

Best Adapted Screenplay/Best Original Screenplay

Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, after their
1997 Best Screenplay Oscar win for Good Will Hunting

What They Mean: A movie's screenplay is the story, dialogue, and action of the film. It is the beginning of a movie's production, and provides the basis by which the film is made. The Academy Award has two subsections of Best Screenplay: Adapted and Original. Adapted screenplays are based on previously written material, like books, plays, and even other movies; original screenplays are completely new, and even though they may be based on actual events, the writing is original and creative.

How to Choose a Winner: Best Screenplay usually goes to the winner of Best Picture; since Best Picture is oftentimes based on literary works, Best Adapted Screenplay is almost the same as the big award. Best Original Screenplay, unless it correlates with a Best Picture frontrunner, is given to a creative work that's totally different from other movies. Also, the award is not usually given to a work otherwise un-nominated; the Oscars essentially come down to a few films, so if one film wins everything, expect it to take Best Screenplay as well. Look for a film that would be known for great dialogue and story development, and that will most likely be the winner.

Best Original Score/Best Original Song

What They Mean: Best Original Score and Best Original Song honor the music aspects of the Academy Awards. Best Original Score is given to the movie with the best instrumental soundtrack, while Best Original Song is awarded to a song written specifically for a movie.

Judy Garland performing the 1939 Best
Original Song, "Somewhere Over the Rainbow"

How to Choose a Winner: These two awards pretty much go hand-in-hand, so if one wins/has a nomination, expect the other to win as well. Look for big-time composers, in addition to movies that rely heavily on the soundtrack (like silent films, or romantic dramas). For Best Original Song, look for winners that otherwise have no chance of winning an Oscar, like pop artists or popular bands. In addition, if a musical has an original song, expect it to take the gold.

Best Sound Editing/Best Sound Mixing

What They Mean: The sound categories at the Academy Awards are given to films that demonstrate superior and innovative sound achievements in a motion picture. Sound in a movie ranges from anything from dialogue, to objects touching the floor, to explosions and gunshots. Though they are two separate categories, the winners oftentimes coincide.

How to Choose a Winner: The special effects categories at the Oscars, by the end of the night, will typically go to the same movie team. Films that rely heavily on sound, like science fiction, superhero, and action thrillers, will usually walk away with these awards. Look for movies that are nominated in both of these categories; then, after they are narrowed down, look for films that have the most total nominations. These are probably your winners.

Best Production Design

2001's The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring featured
a majority of hand-built sets

What It Means: Best Production Design is the award for the overall appearance of the film, much like art direction and set design. It is the background of a motion picture- the behind-the-action set pieces that blend seamlessly with the surrounding plot.

How to Choose a Winner: Movies that are historical epics, and other films that require a lot of set attention will take home this honor. Big-budget, sprawling scenery pieces are the most probable to win.

Best Cinematography

What It Means: Cinematography is how a movie is filmed, the angles and specific shots that make up a motion picture. This award honors the greatest achievement in filming a movie, and how the shots work together to tell a story.

How to Choose a Winner: The movie that wins Best Director will take home this prize, as direction and cinematography work together during the filming phase of moviemaking. Since Best Cinematography is presented first, choose a film that features big camera movements as the winner.

Best Makeup and Hairstyling/Best Costume Design

What They Mean: Each actor needs a costume and makeup in order to fully immerse themselves in their roles. These departments take care of that end, and Best Makeup and Hairstyling and Best Costume Design goes to the best visual achievements of character design.

2009 Best Costume Design winner The Young Victoria,
a common example of aristocratic, elaborate costumes

How to Choose a Winner: Best Costume Design is easy- they virtually always go to Victorian-era British films. Long, elegant costumes from the aristocratic era claim the prize year after year. Best Makeup usually goes to undeserving drama films; however, if a fantasy movie manages to receive a nomination here, they may take the award.

Best Film Editing

What It Means: After all the production for a movie is done, the editor sits in a room with all the filmed materials. During this stage of post-production, the editor puts together all the shots to make the final cut of a movie. They make the decisions on what to cut out, and in what order to put the film. The editing is important for making the movie have emotion and tone.

How to Choose a Winner: Go with the popular movie of the year (the one with the most nominations). Thrillers also get editing nods sometimes, because the editing is what makes the movie so suspenseful.

Best Visual Effects

Avatar won the 2009 Oscar for Best Visual Effects,
for its highly innovative 3-D technology and CGI characters

What It Means: Best Visual Effects is the award for the post-production team that creates the special effects in a film. Anything that shows up on screen after filming is considered special effects; the most well-known example today is CGI (Computer Generated Imaging), though visual effects are not just limited to this category.

How to Choose a Winner: If a movie is known for it's big-budget, CGI effects, it is likely to win on Oscar night. Choose a fan favorite film, like a commercially very profitable superhero film or science fiction movie. Also, if a film is innovative in either IMAX or 3-D technology, this award is for them.

Hope this breakdown helps, and good luck on your Oscar ballots!