No best cinematography or other nominations??

I still cannot comprehend how the technical aspects were overlooked by the Academy. Only the editing was recognized and rightfully so, as AG was the first mosaic film (multiple characters and subplots that appear to be separate but are interconnected and the multi-layered story was brilliantly edited in a very coherent fashion). But nothing for the visual or audio qualities?

1. Best Art Direction - AG literally recreated the lost time period, a perfect time capsule. Simply stunning to look at.

2. Best Cinematography - Haskell Wexler had to be consulted to attain the precise visual aesthetic that Lucas was going for. He stated he wanted the film to look "like a jukebox" with the lighting, the filters and the neon tinges throughout. Again it's visually striking to watch this film. I first saw it at the age of 13 (around the year 2000) and was taken aback by the very guerilla style cinematography that Lucas incorporated. It had a documentary feel, I was particularly impressed by the camera work after Bob Falfa rolled over his Ford:

from 1:30-1:50
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOgqUHk-zDY&nohtml5=False

3. Best Sound Mixing - One technique pioneered by AG was the use of a diegetic sound track. Diegetic meaning "sound whose source is visible on the screen or whose source is implied to be present by the action of the film".

Generally, film music is used as a storytelling device and is not audible to the characters within the film, example; Luke Skywalker does not actually hear John Williams's music while he's attacking the Death Star but we as the audience do. Williams's score is used only for dramatic effect, to help set the mood of the scene:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WBG2rJZGW8&nohtml5=False

Whereas, in AG, the classic songs we hear while watching the film is actually part of the environment that the characters inhabit. When John Milner and Carol are graffiti-ing the girls car, we hear Chuck Berry's Johnny B. Goode. Not just because it sets the mood for a classic scene, it's because the song is actually playing on John Milner's radio:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Z1PBPrjZPQ&nohtml5=False

4. Best Supporting Actor - for either Charles Martin Smith (as Toad) or Paul Le Mat (as Milner). They were serious scene stealers.

5. Haskell Wexler deserved a special achievement award for the visual aesthetic alone. But the perfect use of music in this film deserved recognition as well. This should have led to the creation of a new category "Best Use of Music in a Film".

Many films during the 1970s received special achievement awards from the Academy for "an achievement that makes an exceptional contribution to the motion picture for which it was created, but for which there is no annual award category". Typically for visuals and sound. How AG's visual and audial qualities went unrecognized astounds me.





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