Oscars 2014: ‘Gravity’s’ tricky visual style snags film editing award

The Oscar for film editing, the art and science of stitching raw footage into a coherent visual narrative, went to Alfonso Cuarón and Mark Sanger for their work on “Gravity.”

The editing trophy completed a sweep for the film of the top craft categories: “Gravity” won Oscars for sound mixing, sound editing, visual effects and cinematography, a testament to the painterly dramatic precision for which director Cuarón and his collaborators have become known on previous films like “Children of Men.”

Sanger, a Brit, is a multiskilled film journeyman who has assistant-edited a number of films, worked on visual effects, and has six credits on his IMDB bio, including location manager and floor runner.

FULL COVERAGE: Oscars 2014 | Complete list of winners

“There is no greater accolade than to be recognized by those who inspire you, and by that I mean, you sir, my fellow nominees and the academy,” Sanger said, accepting the award with Cuaron.

“Gravity” managed the tricky task of keeping viewers visually grounded in a story about astronauts cast adrift while hovering above Earth. Minus the requisite editing finesse, its gulp-inducing visual sequences (best experienced in 3-D), with massive chunks of space debris whipping across the screen at every conceivable angle, and panicky humans thrashing about for dear life, could’ve seemed merely frantic.

Instead, “Gravity” achieved a visual style and rhythm that was alternately thrilling and suffused with a kind of awestruck poetry.

The category’s other nominees were “American Hustle” (Jay Cassidy, Crispin Struthers and Alan Baumgarten); “Captain Phillips” (Christopher Rouse); “Dallas Buyers Club” (John Mac McMurphy and Martin Pensa); and “12 Years a Slave” (Joe Walker).

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