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Lots of talk about what the Oscars should or shouldn’t do. Particularly when it comes to trying to get audiences back watching live!
So you get one year in control of the Oscars. You can make whatever changes you want. New categories, delete categories, hosts, promotion, voting changes…whatever you can think of you can do.
What do you do if you’re in complete charge and don’t have to get any sign off?
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Restrict the voting for winners in categories to the individual academy branches (actors voting for acting, writers voting for writing etc).
ReplyCopy URLFYC: Better Call Saul, The English and The Good Fight in all categories including Emily Blunt, Bob Odenkirk, Christine Baranski and Rhea Seehorn.
What I’d initially do…
Bring in 2 new categories: Stunts & Choreography (goes to lead stunt co-ordinators/choreographers) and Voiceover/Motion Capture Performance (goes to the actor and the lead designer of the character).
In the run up to the ceremony I’d promote the actual films that have been nominated AND where normal people can see them.
Build the stories around the awards in the run up, showing why people need to be invested.
Get studios to premiere major teasers and trailers during THEIR ad breaks instead of the Super Bowl. Use the celebration of film to actually promote upcoming films.
Have the running order be ‘how a film is made’ starting with screenplay and take us through the process, like it successfully did a few years back. Build a story within the ceremony itself.
Have an emcee who opens with a monologue and closes but no needless faff in between.
Try and do something with eligibility periods so all the films have been screened in multiple states/countries by the end of December. It will help audiences to see the films and encourages (hopefully) there to be a spread across all the year, not just the final quarter.
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I’d also for sure 💯 move the Honorary Academy Award back to the main ceremony.
Why did they move this anyway, 9/10 times it is always a famous if not at least recognisable person for the broadcast and they know how to give a great speech. Even this year, you’ve got Sam Jackson, Liv Ullman and Elaine May, plus Danny Glover getting the Humanitarian Prize. Why the fuck wouldn’t you promote that?
One of the best Oscar moments this century was Denzel chasing Sidney his entire career and then giving it to him on the same night.
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I get why people want to recognize Stunts, but in my opinion it wouldn’t work. What should be the criteria to vote for stunts ? The biggest choreographies ? Safety ? Wouldn’t it inspire stuntspeople to be put in danger just so that stunts coordinators could win Oscars ? And speaking about that, the Oscar would go to the coordinator or for the whole crew ?
As much as restricting the final voting for the respective branches would make the winners in Director, Screenplay and techs 100% better, it would make the acting winners even worse than they already are, because actors do stupid things when it comes to these things (like giving Being the Ricardos three nominations while the rest of the Academy hated it and ignoring the cast of Parasite).
I think the 2009 ceremony is the perfect example of what I would do. A musical number about the movies and a nice and short speech about all the nominees by colleagues and friends before the presentation.
I would END the Original Song category because that branch is stupid and bring artists to perform like in the SuperBowl.
ReplyCopy URLMy Final Thoughts on a Better Voting System:
For the voting of winners in categories other than BP:
Votes from members of that branch- 2.5 points each.
Votes from members of other branches- 1 point each
So if the category is Editing, votes by Editors for Editing will be 2.5 per person but other branch members’ vote for Editing will be 1 per person. That way the primary branch has a good amount of control over the winners but other branches are not left out.
Added to this, In Best Picture, I’d get rid of preferential ballot but get the kind of similar system of points.
1st place vote=10 points
2nd place vote=9 points
3rd place vote=8 points
4th place vote=7 points
5th place vote=6 points
6th place vote=5 points
7th place vote=4 points
8th place vote=3 points
9th place vote=2 points
10th place vote=1 point
No placement=0 pointsThe film with the most points would win.
My problem with a preferential system is that if someone’s ballot is like this-#1- Spotlight
#2- Room
#3- Bridge Of Spies
#4- BrooklynIn such a case, Spotlight would never be eliminated,so the 2nd place of Room would go to waste. I’d rather have the points system where regardless of who is at #1, the second placed film also gets 9 crucial points.
ReplyCopy URLI would END the Original Song category because that branch is stupid and bring artists to perform like in the SuperBowl.
The music branch (for song) has been so painfully average in their choices recently. If they were nominating outright shit songs (or even good songs in shitty films, like the Makeup branch) I would be more forgiving but the nominate of just painfully average vanilla they put up year-in-year-out is just headache inducing.
Especially in the shortlist era. Were “I’m Gonna Love Me Again”, “I’m Standing With You” or “I Can’t Let You Throw Yourself Away” really better choices than “Speechless”, “Da Bronx”, Catchy Song”, “Spirit” or “Glasgow”. Why tease the possibilities of “Wuhan Flu”, “Jingle Jangle”, “Just Look Up” and “So May We Start” when you’re going to go for whatever indistinguishable faux-inspirational ballad slapped on to the fade-to-black end credits of a lower tier BP contender.
ReplyCopy URLI think the main things I would try to do are…
Keep the telecast from going on too long. I agree with what AMG said earlier that the host should mainly open the show and close it.
Invite a variety of celebrities from different eras of Hollywood to present.
Don’t allow celebrities presenting categories they happen to have a film nominated in.
ReplyCopy URLIntroduce a Best Stunts & Choreography category. If SAG can do it, why can’t the Oscars?
Collaborate with a major streaming service, presumably Hulu or Disney Plus. This may be able to bring back viewers who abandoned cable in favor of live-streaming.
For some of the b-t-l awards such as special effects, makeup, costumes or sound, maybe implement brief montages showcasing the history of these categories from influential, groundbreaking classics to modern innovations as the presenters walk up to the stage.
Bring back clips since they actually promote the films that are being nominated. I could hypothetically pitch some sort of pre-show special that would highlight/advertise the best picture nominees and where to watch them to casual audiences.
Convince the studios to release trailers for high-profile projects *exclusively at the Oscars* like what they do for the Super Bowl. For instance, if Black Panther 2 or Avatar 2 actually do come out this year, exclusive teasers would be a major hook.
ReplyCopy URLEveryone eligible to vote need to watch ALL the movies in the categories that they are voting in.
Crazy to think some people vote without doing the bare minimum.
Secondly, the Oscars broadcast as a whole is a mess. Maybe it’s a case of too many cooks in the kitchen.
It needs to be tightened up.
For people working in the entertainment industry it is amazing some sections just drag on and overall the whole thing feels like a slog.Look at it as a production on the whole.
Place Original Song performances strategically. Spread them out through the show. Take into account what type of song it is so that it flows with the categories awarded before and after them.The scripts that the presenters read before announcing nominees tend to be cringy and sounds clunky (?) And too many presenters sound bored (doing their best monotone).
Tighten it up.Those borders that gets put around the 5 nominees annoy me. Every year they have a different design. Some years they are so overly decorative that the little boxes left for the nominees or the examples of the work eg. Cinematography, are so small that you can hardly see a thing.
This from people working in a visual medium. It drives me nuts.
Simplify, make sure everything is nice and big.
This goes for the words on screen below nominees as well.Host or no host? Either can work. Whatever they decide just make sure they keep the ball rolling.
Treat all award speeches equally.
Some technical awards hardly get to say 3 sentences when they have 3 or 4 people receiving the award, while (mostly) movie stars ramble on – many times incoherently. Eg. Is it really necessary for Renee Zellweger to name what feels like every single person who worked on the film?I don’t mind the In Memoriam section. As with the Original Song performances, make sure it fits logically into the ceremony as a whole.
On a practical note: with only a lonesome mic popping out of the stage, I’ve been afraid that senior presenters/nominees might fall with nowhere to put the Oscar and nothing to hold on to. Some people have looked very unsteady on that stage.
Just put on a good show. A well run entertaining one.
Cut the fat. Don’t add anything unnecessarily.
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