Academy Award Fraud

[innerSpaceman]

Revoke Gustavo Santaolalla's Oscar for Best Orginal Score!!!

As I've alleged before in these very pages, dear readers, Gustavo's score for Babel was not entirely original! In fact, one vital music queue - - underscoring such an important plot point that it was used as overscore (all other sound muted) - - was lifted directly from his score for an episode of Deadwood three years earlier.


I didn't want to make a big deal of it before .... but now the charletan has won an Oscar for his self-plagerism -- and action must be taken! Now I have the proof, ladies and gentlemen ... and I present Exhibit A and B for your perusal.


First up, a 2003 cue from the HBO original series Deadwood, heard after the dastardly murder of Wild Bill Hickock by the Coward McCall.

Then, Santaolallo's cue from the 2006 film Babel, for which he won the Oscar under false pretenses. Cate Blanchette is finally med-evacutated by helicopter from a poor Moroccon village after being accidentally shot by two boys. The scene is so vital that, till the last part of the cue, all sound effects of the helicopter and rescue efforts were muted ... so the recycled music could be heard above the din ... the better to fool unsuspecting Academy voters.


The cues are identical. In fact, the later-used cue is about a minute longer than the earlier one ... leading me to suspect that both instances may have been recycled by an even earlier composition by Mr. Santaolallo! Oh, the shame!


If, after listening*, you are convinced that a great injustice has been done, write to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to express your outrage.




* with apologies for any inconvenience, simply enter the 3-letter anti-spambot code, click the Download button, wait for the countdown, and click Download again.


It's a sad, sad day for the Academy, dear friends.

[mousepod]

Isn't it common practice for composers to recycle their scores?

In fact, one of the cues on the Babel soundtrack also appears on The Insider soundtrack - the name isn't even changed.

I agree that it's BS, but it's hardly a surprise.

[Alex]

Are the rules for score qualification posted anywhere?

[Alex]

Never mind, found the rules myself.

This guy says part of the score was also reused from his Oscar-winning score last year for Brokeback Mountain.

[mousepod]

bolding is not mine

B. ELIGIBILITY
1. The work must be specifically created for the eligible feature-length motion picture.
2. The work must be the result of a creative interaction between the filmmaker(s) and the composer(s) or songwriter(s) who have been engaged to work directly on the film.
3. The measure of the work’s qualification shall be its effectiveness, craftsmanship, creative substance and relevance to the dramatic whole.
4. The work must be recorded for use in the film prior to any other usage including public performance or exploitation through any media whatsoever.
5. Only the principal composer(s) or songwriter(s) responsible for the conception and execution of the work as a whole shall be eligible for an award. This expressly excludes from eligibility all of the following:

a) supervisors
b) partial contributors (e.g., any writer not responsible for the overall design of the work)
c) contributors working on speculation
d) scores diluted by the use of tracked themesor other pre-existing music
e) scores diminished in impact by the predominant use of songs
f) scores assembled from the music of more than one composer.

6. No more than two statuettes will normally be given in the Original Song category. A third statuette may be awarded when there are three essentially equal contributors to a song.
7. The Executive Committee shall resolve all rules interpretations and all questions of eligibility.
8. It is within the sole and confidential discretion of the Board of Governors to determine what awards, if any, shall be given.

[Not Afraid]

Eh, all of Phillip Glass' music sounds the same and he keeps getting nominated.


(joke!) I love Glass, but I hear that comment way to often.

[Alex]

And Randy Newman's. If it gets to the point that even I can recognize who scored a movie then you know they're deep in a rut.

[Not Afraid]

John Williams is another one.

[mousepod]

(I hope GD isn't listening)

Danny Elfman

[CoasterMatt]

Originally Posted by mousepod

Danny Elfman

For his orchestral work, I could definitely see people saying that, but for his more keyboard/small ensemble type work (Midnight Run, Wisdom, some of the TV work), it's quite a bit harder to say that...