Assistant directing and lighting industry professional, and the host of the ContraZoom podcast, Dakota Arsenault joins Elysia to get into the technical details behind this year's Oscar nominees for Cinematography, Visual Effects, Film Editing, and Sound. They look at why a movie is nominated, what makes it special, and others they would have liked to see make the cut. Stick around after their conversation for updates (02:17:37) on these races!

Note: All film discussion in this episode is spoiler-free.

Links discussed:

Explore the ContraZoom podcast and blog
One Sentimental Bugonia After Another (audio, Elysia guests)
Elysia's ContraZoom review of Resurrection
Corridor Crew's Oscar VFX nominees review
Inside Sinners' VFX
Sirāt sound design (video)

Cinematography nominees (00:05:01)

Adolpho Veloso – Train Dreams – trailer (Netflix)
Autumn Durald Arkapaw – Sinners – trailer (HBO Max, our coverage)
Michael Bauman – One Battle After Another – trailer (HBO Max, our coverage: pt. 1, pt. 2, pt. 3)
Darius Khondji – Marty Supreme – trailer (to rent)
Dan Laustsen – Frankenstein – trailer (Netflix, our coverage)

Other films mentioned: The French Connection (1971, Disney+ [EU] / to rent, our coverage [subscribers]), Sound of Falling (eventually Mubi), Ballad of a Small Player (Netflix), Resurrection (to rent), No Other Choice (to rent / Netflix [Korea] / later Hulu [US]), The Long Walk (Starz / to rent), Materialists (Netflix)

Visual Effects nominees (00:51:46)

Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon, Daniel Barrett – Avatar: Fire and Ash – trailer (in theaters, eventually Disney+)
Michael Ralla, Espen Nordahl, Guido Wolter, Donnie Dean – Sinners – trailer (HBO Max, our coverage)
Charlie Noble, David Zaretti, Russell Bowen, Brandon K. McLaughlin – The Lost Bus – trailer (Apple TV)
David Vickery, Stephen Aplin, Charmaine Chan, Neil Corbould – Jurassic World Rebirth – trailer (Netflix [US], Skyshowtime [NL])
Ryan Tudhope, Nicolas Chevallier, Robert Harrington, Keith Dawson – F1 – trailer (Apple TV)

Other films mentioned: Tron: Ares (Disney+), The Creator (2023, Prime, our coverage), Monsters (2010, Prime / Tubi / etc.), The Electric State (Netflix), Superman (HBO Max, our coverage), Predator: Badlands (Disney+, our coverage), Thunderbolts* (Disney+, our coverage), The Fantastic 4: First Steps (Disney+, our coverage), Warfare (Prime), Mickey 17 (HBO Max)

Film Editing nominees (01:29:57)

Stephen Mirrione – F1 – trailer (Apple TV)
Andy Jurgensen – One Battle After Another – trailer (HBO Max, our coverage: pt. 1, pt. 2, pt. 3<...

Oscars 2026 – Tech awards: Cinematography, VFX, Editing, & Sound