With "Birdman" flying high and "The Grand Budapest Hotel" being truly grand for nine Oscar nominations, the 87th Academy Awards is no doubt a stiff competition.
Behind the scenes, directors reflect on the most challenging aspects of making their astonishing movies.
The inside-showbiz comedy "Birdman" commandeers the nominations. But still, for director Alejandro Inarritu , the filming process posed many obstacles.
"I think there was many challenges, many challenges. To nail it right and many, many, many long takes that were, again, involving so many departments. Almost each of them was difficult."
"Boyhood" director Richard Linklater, who, along with his cast and crew, spent more than a decade filming the Oscar-nominated family drama.
"The last moment in the film is the last thing that we shot -- was particularly intense, you know, after 12 years. For it to end was tough. But it was just kind of a wonderful little succession of moments. I don't know any other way to put it. I think the hurdles were more, like, psychological and logistical."
Just like Linklater, "The Imitation Game" director Morten Tyldum said shooting the last scene was tough on those involved in the film. In this case, it was particularly hard on star Benedict Cumberbatch, who portrayed the film's main character, Alan Turing, who lead the team that cracked the Nazi Enigma code ushering an end to World War II and then forced to be outed as a homosexual and come to a tragic end.
" For Benedict he's been Alan Turing for so long, I think it hit him really hard -- what the character had to go through. I think he was overwhelmed with sort of like a sadness, sort of like a grief of what this brilliant man had to do. So, he couldn't stop crying. It was so emotional."
The 87th-annual Oscars will be held on Sunday in Los Angeles.