AMPS 2024 - Winners!

 

If you've been following this blog for the past few weeks (although I don't see why you would considering I rarely post anything) you should know that I've been holding votes for my fictional Awards for Motion Picture Services awards, the earliest of three sets of film awards in my fake country and the one that has the most outsider participation. Back in December I continued the tradition of having people vote on the final Best Picture nominee, and then when the New Year's came on I introduced the final Best Picture lineup and held a vote for the Best Picture winner. 

The actual AMPS award winners are generally announced on January 15. However, yesterday I was busy watching real-life Oscar contenders Flow and The Brutalist so I didn't really feel like doing all that writing (because the latter movie was so brutal). So now I'm here to present the winners, including which film that you courageous voters picked to be the AMPS choice of Best Picture for 2024.

Best Makeup

Sandmen

Best Makeup is the AMPS equivalent of the Best Makeup and Hairstyling category in the Oscars and awards efforts in makeup effects. I didn't really come up with very many films that would require extensive makeup so I came up with a winner on the spot: Sandmen, a horror film that is heavy in makeup especially in the design of sand monsters.

Best Visual Effects

Wonderland Falls

The Oscar for Best Visual Effects seems to involve films with a lot of computer graphics and it's hard not to get caught up with that. In the end the award for the AMPS went to the awe-inspiring fantasy film Wonderland Falls which ended up being the top grossing film in my fictional country.

Best Sound Effects

Operation Sitting Duck

The technique of sound effects editing has become merged with sound mixing in the Oscars, but the AMPS still has a separate category to honor the sound editors and foley artists that create the sound effects. This year the award goes to Operation Sitting Duck, a tense war film about a company tasked with serving as a decoy for the enemy, where sound effects play a major role in the characters' psyches.

Best Sound

A Journey Through Chinese History: The Baljuna Covenant

The overall mixing of all elements of sound from the sound effects to the dialogue to the music is all lumped into the Best Sound category at the Oscars, but it still exists as a separate award at the AMPS. This year it goes to A Journey Through Chinese History, only the fifth time the Chinese History team has captured the category in its 22-year history.

Best Art Direction

A Journey Through Chinese History: The Baljuna Covenant

A category where A Journey Through Chinese History films generally does better is in Best Art Direction, which is generally equivalent to what is now known as Best Production Design at the Oscars and is concerned with the elements seen on the screen which in the AMPS case includes both production design as well as costume design. A Journey Through Chinese History captured its 11th title in this category, which works out to one win every other year, although this is the first time the series has won since 2019.

Best Score

The Hitman's Elegy

Music is often a critical part of a movie's overall ambiance and is celebrated with the Best Original Score category at the Oscars and Best Score in AMPS. The winner this year goes to the soundtrack found in The Hitman's Elegy, whose fusion of Asian and European elements create a haunting tune reflective of the assassin's final mission.

Best Cinematography

A Journey Through Chinese History: The Baljuna Covenant

The camera work for a film is one of the more striking visual aspects as it captures not only camera movement but also lightning and filters. This has not generally been a category where A Journey Through Chinese History found success, but the camera work capturing the sweeping Mongolian steppes earned The Baljuna Covenant the title.

Best Editing

The Hitman's Elegy

The award for editing has been known to be one of the more important categories at the Oscars, as it concerns the storytelling framework from multiple raw film footage. It isn't quite as renowned in AMPS, but this year it goes to The Hitman's Elegy for its stunning use of overlaid film footage to create the illusion of flashbacks.

Best Screenplay

Abel the Able-Bodied Rabbit in A Forbidden Romance

The screenplay is the critical blueprint for a movie as it highlights everything from dialogue to the actions displayed on screen. It is split into separate awards for Original and Adapted screenplays at the Oscars, but there is only one award for the AMPS. History was made this year as the award goes to the latest entry into the darkly comic satirical Abel the Able-Bodied Rabbit series, the first animated film to capture this illustrious category.

Best Supporting Actress

Jill Junior, Wonderland Falls

With Diane Pye, winner of four of the last five titles for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, not involved in any productions in 2024, this opens up an opportunity for another actress to capture this category. This time it goes to Jill Junior, the longtime character actress best known for her role as Miss Zarves in the Wayside School adaptations. Her role as the mysterious witch in the box office smash hit Wonderland Falls earned her much acclaim and her first AMPS title.

Best Supporting Actor

Rondell Andrews, Chillingsworth

The AMPS award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role has gone to a previous winner in each of the last five years, but we finally get a new winner with the award going to newcomer Rondell Andrews. His role as a psychopathic patient in the three and a half-hour epic Chillingsworth stole the show and earned the AMPS.

Best Actress

Augustine Wallaby, Astros: Fallen Heroes

The AMPS crown for Best Actress in a Leading Role goes to another industry veteran, Augustine Wallaby, an actress with over 50 years of experience. She had previously won an AMPS back in 1997 for her role in Heroes: Astros. In reprising the role in the fourth film in the series her portrayal of the weight of the 27 years earned her a second victory.

Best Actor

Rick Jennings, The Hitman's Elegy

The AMPS victory for Best Actor in a Leading Role goes to one of the most respected actors in the industry, the 70-year-old Rick Jennings whose career stretches back over 60 years. He had previously won in Best Actor back in 2001 for the comic caper Rated R, and in Best Supporting Actor eight years later as an unscrupulous mob boss in Mikey Boulevard. With his role as the elderly assassin Jennings netted another win.

Best Director

Ke-Gang Lin & Monkhbat Batbayar, A Journey Through Chinese History: The Baljuna Covenant

The director is the architect of a film, and the winner of Best Director frequently goes on to take home Best Picture as well, in both the Oscars and the AMPS. This year the honor goes to the directing duo of A Journey Through Chinese History, frequent director Ke-Gang Lin as well as the Mongolian director hired for the project. It is the seventh win for the series including the third by Lin. In each of the previous six instances the film went on to capture Best Picture. Will the pattern continue?

Best Picture

The Hitman's Elegy

No! This year the voters have the say for the Best Picture winner, and they went on to select the assassin drama The Hitman's Elegy for the top prize. It is without a doubt the first time a film that won the final Best Picture slot went on to capture the AMPS title for Best Picture as well. Of course, it's because in most of the previous instances I was the person to select the winner and there's very little chance that I'd choose the film that had to get in via final vote. Even in the two previous years when I let the outside voters decide, they went in other directions, namely Silvermore in 2020 and Ginny and the Ghosts last year. Would The Hitman's Elegy be the victor if I was the one to choose? Clearly not, but it was the choice of the voters, and I have to respect their decision. So a hearty congratulations to The Hitman's Elegy which not only won Best Picture but also tied A Journey Through Chinese History: The Baljuna Covenant with four wins.

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Best Picture: The Hitman's Elegy
Best Director: Ke-Gang Lin & Monkhbat Batbayar, A Journey Through Chinese History: The Baljuna Covenant
Best Actor: Rick Jennings, The Hitman's Elegy
Best Actress: Augustine Wallaby, Astros: Fallen Heroes
Best Supporting Actor: Rondell Andrews, Chillingsworth
Best Supporting Actress: Jill Junior, Wonderland Falls
Best Screenplay: Abel the Able-Bodied Rabbit in A Forbidden Romance
Best Editing: The Hitman's Elegy
Best Cinematography: A Journey Through Chinese History: The Baljuna Covenant
Best Score: The Hitman's Elegy
Best Art Direction: A Journey Through Chinese History: The Baljuna Covenant
Best Sound: A Journey Through Chinese History: The Baljuna Covenant
Best Sound Effects: Operation Sitting Duck
Best Visual Effects: Wonderland Falls
Best Makeup: Sandmen

4 wins: The Hitman's Elegy
4 wins: A Journey Through Chinese History: The Baljuna Covenant
2 wins: Wonderland Falls
1 win: Abel the Able-Bodied Rabbit in A Forbidden Romance
1 win: Astros: Fallen Heroes
1 win: Chillingsworth
1 win: Operation Sitting Duck
1 win: Sandmen