Oscar nominees defended their right to a moment of fame
A few days ago, the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences shocked the public with the news that four groups of winners of the upcoming Oscar - 2019 will receive their awards during commercial breaks in the broadcast from the Dolby cinema in Los Angeles. Film fans and Oscar nominees can finally breathe a sigh of peace: the leaders of the Academy nevertheless listened to the voice of reason and abandoned this dubious undertaking. The world will know the names of the winners in all 24 categories in real time.The decision to leave the awards for Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Fiction Short Film and Best Makeup and Hairstyles overboard caused a huge scandal. Thousands of film industry workers have called on Academy President John Bailey to reconsider plans for the 91st Academy Awards. Perhaps, Alfonso Cuaron spoke most vividly on this topic. “In the history of cinema, many masterpieces have been created that did without sound, color, script, actors and music, - said the Mexican director. -However, no film has yet been made without the participation of a cameraman and editor. " Soon, the American Society of Cinematographers supported the wave of popular anger. It is all the more surprising that in the middle of the week the Academy issued a new press release, which reported that the operators had been aware of this initiative since August last year. Moreover, academics began to claim that the trade union of masters of light and camera volunteered to participate in a new experiment. Journalists also got it, who allegedly misinterpreted the original press release, which could give someone the impression that the awards for editing, short fiction, makeup and camera work would be canceled.  Academics stressed that the presentation of some of the prizes during commercial breaks is a forced measure designed to reduce the broadcasting time of the ceremony. Although the directors of the film organization promised by oath that all the winners would be treated equally, their actions suggested the opposite. If some of the Oscar winners received a well-deserved minute of fame live, then the names of others would be known to the audience only in the recording. The academy set out to carve out how the winners of the ceremony in the aforementioned four categories react to a win and take to the Dolby stage for the award they deserve. Only a belated cut of their victory speeches would have been broadcast. By this decision, the organization made it clear that it divides the nominations into primary and secondary. Although academics assured that other categories would be included in the rotation next year, it was obvious that we were talking primarily about technical nominations. It is unlikely that anyone seriously believed that in 2020 the most popular categories will fall into ad units. The Academy, of course, would not have dug its own grave and awarded the Oscars behind the scenes to stars of the caliber of Leonardo DiCaprio or Meryl Streep.  Shortly after the publication of the second press release, the American Society of Cameramen practically openly caught the academicians lying, announcing that its members had no idea that the name of the best cameraman of 2018 would be announced during a commercial break. The leadership of the Academy had to urgently convene an emergency meeting, to which several eminent operators were invited. It seems that the latter finally managed to explain to the organizers of the Oscar - 2019 that their decision humiliates the honor and dignity of representatives of a number of important film professions. As a result, the Academy had to back down. The plan to reduce the time of the ceremony to three hours finally failed, but viewers will be able to watch the awards ceremony in all 24 categories live. Let us remind you that the 91st Oscar ceremony will take place on February 24th. Source: Variety The Topic of Article: Oscar nominees defended their right to a moment of fame. |
