‘The Dark Knight’ Score Disqualified from Academy Awards

So, it’s not been a good week to be someone who worked on ‘The Dark Knight’.   First off, your film is getting sued by the mayor of a little town called Batman, Turkey for name infringement (see that article here), and, now, your film is getting one less Oscar nomination than it deserves.

The executive committee of the Academy music branch (all 2 of them?) have decided to disqualify the score for ‘The Dark Knight’ from Academy Award competition.   The reasoning?   Too many chefs in the kitchen.   Apparently, five names were listed as composers on the music cue sheet, the official studio document that specifies every piece of music in the film.

Composers Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard collaborated on the music, but, evidently, multiple names were listed on the cue sheet as a way to financially reward parts of the music team.   This cue sheet is used by performing-rights societies in order to disperse royalties.   Zimmer; Howard; music editor, Alex Gibson; ambient music designer, Mel Wesson; and composer, Lorne Balfe all signed an affidavit stating that the score was primarily the work of Zimmer and Howard.

That wasn’t enough to dissuade the committee from disqualifying the film’s score.   Documentation was supplied to the committee stating that more than 60%, but less than 70%, of ‘The Dark Knight’s score was credited to Zimmer and Howard.

Just for your information, here are the rules for eligibility for Best Musical Score:

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)Â   supervisors

b)Â   partial contributors (e.g., any writer not responsible for the overall design of the work)

c)Â   contributors working on speculation

d)Â   scores diluted by the use of tracked themes or other pre-existing music

e)Â   scores diminished in impact by the predominant use of songs

f)Â   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.

So, what do you think about this ruling?   Let us know below!

Source: Variety