The Future of the Oscars...

[Still Wynning]

I was going to post this in the 94th Oscars thread, but it didn’t seem like the right place to post this, so I decided to make it it’s own thread topic.

So, basically, what I’ve gathered from last night’s Oscar Awards show and the discourse surrounding it is that it’s being run by out-of-touch old farts desperately trying to cling to relevancy and is in desperate need of some retooling from scratch from the ground up. It’s desperately in need of some fresh blood who are more in touch with the current zeitgeist, and needs to take a more modern approach to the presentation. I’m not saying to MTV it up, or go all “How do you do, fellow kids?”, because that clearly hasn’t worked at all, but get people of my generation (people in their 30’s or so) who really get the modern film culture to run the presentation.

I think YouTube streaming is a good start, but it needs to go further than just putting it on another format. Get someone like Ludwig Goransson to produce the music for the show. Get some YouTube film fan personalities, like Chris Stuckmann, to make short video essays about what film means to them or animated/live-action tributes to their favorite films and have them play throughout the show. Get talented online musical acts to do their own takes on their favorite songs or scores from their favorite films that year. Have fun, creative and informative short videos in relation to each category and it’s history/significance to filmmaking, instead of someone dryly reading from a card or teleprompter. Make a video of different people, from casual folk to celebrities, talk about their favorite films and film moments/scenes and what those meant to them. Get a good YouTube personality, like a JackSepticEye or someone of the like, to host. It doesn’t have to be exactly all of those things. I’m just spitballing off the top of my head, but I think you get the idea.

The approach to The Oscars presentation is outdated and outmoded from the Hollywood of old and needs to change. Make the awards fun and entertaining again, and bring it into 2022. Show the current generation what film really is and can be.

What do you guys think? What do you think should happen to the Oscars? What is something you’d like to see added to it that we haven’t seen done before? What needs to change? What needs to go the way of the dodo?

Thoughts?

 

[MadVillainy]

I don't think those ideas (especially the YT critics and video essays ideas) are gonna work.

The Oscars and award shows are just dated. That's the long and short of it. People don't want to sit down for 3 hours and watch that.
I'll copy and paste what I said in another thread:
The easy answer for the Oscars or any award show declining popularity is just that they're boring. That's it. It's 3 hours of mediocre jokes. It's not like a sporting event where you expect something exciting to happen. It's a bunch of people in a room not really doing anything interesting. Even if they nominate popular movies, I don't see the telecast changing in terms of structure because of that

It's like going to a graduation. Except worse.
And with celebrities so accessible now...why would anyone care? Even if you are a big film fan? You can read the results the next day.

And that goes for a lot of award shows. At least the MTV Awards and to a lesser extent the BET awards are kinda enjoyable in a sloppy way. But even those aren't must see TV

I just think they're always gonna decline and nothing is going to change that. If you go too young, you'll turn away the older audience. If you go to broad with the film selections, you'll alienate the film nerds.

 

[Protagonist]

The demographic group that watched the Oscar events over the last decades are gone, the new demographic groups are just not interest anymore, sitting and watching 3 hours about movies getting awards that almost 90% of them don’t know, Oscars are gone and ratings will fall even more and nothing will stop it.

 

[Sawyer]

The demographic group that watched the Oscar events over the last decades are gone, the new demographic groups are just not interest anymore, sitting and watching 3 hours about movies getting awards that almost 90% of them don’t know, Oscars are gone and ratings will fall even more and nothing will stop it.

The ratings just rose from last year.

 

[Bayne]

The ratings just rose from last year.

Because last year was the worst disaster they've ever had in terms of ratings. But this year is still the second worst year of their ratings.

 

[DocLathropBrown]

I tweeted at the Academy (not that they'll notice) how they should change it up going forward.

Make it an entirely pre-recorded, documentary-style TV special, like the AFI 100 Years, 100 [blank] specials were back 20 years ago. No gathering of celebrities, no lavish outfits or expensive sets or red carpets. Have the nomination/winner aspect and keep it top secret so no one knows until it airs. Every candidate pre-records their acceptance video, but more to the point, the segments should be a like 5 minute mini-doc about that aspect on that particular film (make-up, music, etc). Instead of bad comedy or hokey dance numbers, fill the time between awards with retrospectives about SFX or the past winners of a particular award or something focused on the history of cinema.

Aside from the fact that nobody watches the films that win anymore, you also run into the disdain our generation and on has toward the rich--the Oscars have always been opulent and a place to show off--and I'm certainly not impressed by it. In fact, I find it generally in semi-poor taste. The night becomes about so much besides the films themselves. I think this format would bring the focus squarely back to the movies and away from the celebrity and the glitz/glamor--the stuff that really helps rot at people's brains, IMO.

Plus, no live mishaps or unchecked egos.

 

[Sawyer]

Because last year was the worst disaster they've ever had in terms of ratings. But this year is still the second worst year of their ratings.

Regardless, the ratings didn’t “fall even more.”

 

[Asr]

Make it an entirely pre-recorded, documentary-style TV special, like the AFI 100 Years, 100 [blank] specials were back 20 years ago. No gathering of celebrities, no lavish outfits or expensive sets or red carpets. Have the nomination/winner aspect and keep it top secret so no one knows until it airs. Every candidate pre-records their acceptance video, but more to the point, the segments should be a like 5 minute mini-doc about that aspect on that particular film (make-up, music, etc). Instead of bad comedy or hokey dance numbers, fill the time between awards with retrospectives about SFX or the past winners of a particular award or something focused on the history of cinema.

I would 100% watch this! "Fill time" could be random movie trivia too. Plus this way I feel like it'd encourage more use of clips from the nominated (and even un-nominated) movies, which could be a good thing. Or another thing that would be cool would be "behind-the-scenes" set photos and/or interviews with the film crew, especially with the smaller-scale movies, since most blockbusters already get plenty of BTS videos on YouTube these days. Would probably help give those movies more exposure, and more insight as to how they're made.

 

[MOVIELORD101]

I don't think those ideas (especially the YT critics and video essays ideas) are gonna work.

The Oscars and award shows are just dated. That's the long and short of it. People don't want to sit down for 3 hours and watch that.
I'll copy and paste what I said in another thread:
The easy answer for the Oscars or any award show declining popularity is just that they're boring. That's it. It's 3 hours of mediocre jokes. It's not like a sporting event where you expect something exciting to happen. It's a bunch of people in a room not really doing anything interesting. Even if they nominate popular movies, I don't see the telecast changing in terms of structure because of that

It's like going to a graduation. Except worse.
And with celebrities so accessible now...why would anyone care? Even if you are a big film fan? You can read the results the next day.

And that goes for a lot of award shows. At least the MTV Awards and to a lesser extent the BET awards are kinda enjoyable in a sloppy way. But even those aren't must see TV

I just think they're always gonna decline and nothing is going to change that. If you go too young, you'll turn away the older audience. If you go to broad with the film selections, you'll alienate the film nerds.

What about stuff like the Game Awards that's hosted on Youtube every December? People enjoy that!

 

[MadVillainy]

What about stuff like the Game Awards that's hosted on Youtube every December? People enjoy that!

The game Awards crowd are very different than the Oscar crowd

 

[MOVIELORD101]

The game Awards crowd are very different than the Oscar crowd

Good point.

 

[Sawyer]

I tweeted at the Academy (not that they'll notice) how they should change it up going forward.

Make it an entirely pre-recorded, documentary-style TV special, like the AFI 100 Years, 100 [blank] specials were back 20 years ago. No gathering of celebrities, no lavish outfits or expensive sets or red carpets. Have the nomination/winner aspect and keep it top secret so no one knows until it airs. Every candidate pre-records their acceptance video, but more to the point, the segments should be a like 5 minute mini-doc about that aspect on that particular film (make-up, music, etc). Instead of bad comedy or hokey dance numbers, fill the time between awards with retrospectives about SFX or the past winners of a particular award or something focused on the history of cinema.

Aside from the fact that nobody watches the films that win anymore, you also run into the disdain our generation and on has toward the rich--the Oscars have always been opulent and a place to show off--and I'm certainly not impressed by it. In fact, I find it generally in semi-poor taste. The night becomes about so much besides the films themselves. I think this format would bring the focus squarely back to the movies and away from the celebrity and the glitz/glamor--the stuff that really helps rot at people's brains, IMO.

Plus, no live mishaps or unchecked egos.

This, I could honestly go for.

 

[CaptainWagner]

Stop trying to commodify it. They aren't winning back the audience of casual viewers they used to have. Instead, focus on making the ceremony what it is SUPPOSED to be - a celebration of cinema allowing film lovers around the world to join together in honoring the artists and sharing our communal passion for the movies.

No more crass talking down to movies, no more cheap gimmicks - just honor the nominees and celebrate the art-form.

 

[Still Wynning]

I tweeted at the Academy (not that they'll notice) how they should change it up going forward.

Make it an entirely pre-recorded, documentary-style TV special, like the AFI 100 Years, 100 [blank] specials were back 20 years ago. No gathering of celebrities, no lavish outfits or expensive sets or red carpets. Have the nomination/winner aspect and keep it top secret so no one knows until it airs. Every candidate pre-records their acceptance video, but more to the point, the segments should be a like 5 minute mini-doc about that aspect on that particular film (make-up, music, etc). Instead of bad comedy or hokey dance numbers, fill the time between awards with retrospectives about SFX or the past winners of a particular award or something focused on the history of cinema.

Aside from the fact that nobody watches the films that win anymore, you also run into the disdain our generation and on has toward the rich--the Oscars have always been opulent and a place to show off--and I'm certainly not impressed by it. In fact, I find it generally in semi-poor taste. The night becomes about so much besides the films themselves. I think this format would bring the focus squarely back to the movies and away from the celebrity and the glitz/glamor--the stuff that really helps rot at people's brains, IMO.

Plus, no live mishaps or unchecked egos.

I would 100% watch this! "Fill time" could be random movie trivia too. Plus this way I feel like it'd encourage more use of clips from the nominated (and even un-nominated) movies, which could be a good thing. Or another thing that would be cool would be "behind-the-scenes" set photos and/or interviews with the film crew, especially with the smaller-scale movies, since most blockbusters already get plenty of BTS videos on YouTube these days. Would probably help give those movies more exposure, and more insight as to how they're made.

Both of these recommendations, plus some of what I suggested, would make for the perfect awards show. I think the current format, carried over from the old Hollywood style of public adulation, glitz and glamour, is a product of its time that doesn’t fit with current day Hollywood. People just don’t care about that stuff anymore. Doing it the way you guys suggested brings it back to what it should be, the celebration of film and entertainment, while also bringing it into the 21st century.

As an addendum, I’d also recommend for the winner of each category having a short, pre-recorded, down-to-earth, documentary-style video done of them talking about their work on said film, how they got into their occupation, their inspirations and what they love about their job, interspersed with BTS shots of them doing their work and being at home. Really make it personable, approachable and relatable, instead of just a cold, technical view of things.

 

[Boom]

I'd honestly prefer a super long ceremony that did nothing but celebrate the craft of filmmaking. I don't need musical numbers, I don't need cornball comedy sketches, I don't need "flavor of the month" hosts.

Just put the ceremony on streaming and let it be what it's supposed to be. Enough of this charade. The pandering for ratings is transparent and not even remotely enjoyable.

 

[Joe Von Zombie]

Actually celebrating film as opposed to the most expensive campaign would help. It's to the point where actors have made fun of how bought these awards have gotten.

 

[Arachnerd]

Stop trying to commodify it. They aren't winning back the audience of casual viewers they used to have. Instead, focus on making the ceremony what it is SUPPOSED to be - a celebration of cinema allowing film lovers around the world to join together in honoring the artists and sharing our communal passion for the movies.

No more crass talking down to movies, no more cheap gimmicks - just honor the nominees and celebrate the art-form.

The fact that they're still treating animation as a "genre" solely for kids I find incredibly insulting, especially for the animators who work so hard on it.

 

[Snow Queen]

The fact that they're still treating animation as a "genre" solely for kids I find incredibly insulting, especially for the animators who work so hard on it.

Of all the things that bother me with the Oscars, top of the list is the sheer disrespect for people who work in animation and now expanded to everyone they relegated to the pre-show. The only reason the "big ticket" awards get on the screen is because of the work of those people and the idea spending all that time and effort it takes to create each frame of animation is somehow less valuable than if you were to stand in front of a camera instead is just absurd.

 

[Bayne]

Regardless, the ratings didn’t “fall even more.”

Just because a downward trend isn't perfectly linear, that doesn't prove that it isn't still an overwhelmingly downward trend.

 

[sueb1863]

Agree that they need to go back to just presenting the awards with as little filler as possible. Perform the best songs, show the movie clips like they used to, drop the time-eating comedy skits. Put the focus back on movies instead of trying to be a hybrid comedy special that also gives out movie awards.

 

[Dr.]

Some trivia about the very first Academy Awards (via Wikipedia) :

• the ceremony took place in May 1929 and honored movies released in both 1927 and 1928.
• winners had been announced three months earlier; so the show, itself, was a formality.
• the entire ceremony (with 12 categories) lasted 15 minutes (!).
• it was the only ceremony that wasn’t broadcast. (Starting the next year, the show was broadcast on radio and, eventually, on TV.)
• some of the awards weren’t tied to specific films. Rather, they honored a “body of work” done in the eligible year(s).
• Film wise, the two big winners were Wings and Sunrise — the former won for “Outstanding Picture” and the latter for “Unique and Artistic Picture.” Ostensibly, these categories were co-equal and explicitly (and wisely) acknowledged that there were different “types” of cinema. Subsequently, these categories were merged and Wings was retroactively assigned (the first) “Best Picture.” Whereas, F.W. Murnau’s Sunrise is often cited as one of the greatest movies ever made.

 

[MadVillainy]

They need to make the ceremony itself shorter before anything. No reason it shouldn't be over an hour 30 mins with commercials.
Don't cut awards, cut the bits no one remembers.

But as I said I think they're just something that's can be salvaged. Some things aren't timeless and are like Blockbuster. Meant to limp on until death

 

[Deck Rickard]

Regarding the argument about the show losing popularity because it typically awards films that aren’t big hits… have the ratings gone up when they DID nominated major blockbusters (Black Panther, Avatar, Inception)? Because I think there are some new and upcoming films that possibly could get BP nods or acting nods but I’m not sure that would fix the problem.

 

[DarkKnight88]

2021: 10.4 million, Nomandland (No host)
2020: 23.6 million, Parasite (No host)
2019: 29.6 million, Green Book (No host)
2018: 26.5 million, The Shape of Water (Jimmy Kimmel)
2017: 32.9 million, Moonlight (Jimmy Kimmel)
2016: 34.4 million, Spotlight (Chris Rock)
2015: 37.3 million, Birdman (Neil Patrick Harris)
2014: 43.7 million, 12 Years a Slave (Ellen DeGeneres)
2013: 40.3 million, Argo (Seth MacFarlane)
2012: 39.3 million, The Artist (Billy Crystal)
2011: 37.9 million, The King’s Speech (Anne Hathaway/James Franco)
2010: 41.3 million, The Hurt Locker (Steve Martin/Alec Baldwin)
2009: 36.3 million, Slumdog Millionaire (Hugh Jackman)
2008: 32.0 million, No Country For Old Men (Jon Stewart)
2007: 40. 2 million, The Departed (Ellen DeGeneres)
2006: 38.9 million, Crash (Jon Stewart)
2005 42.1 million, Million Dollar Baby (Chris Rock)
2004: 43.5 million, The Lord Of The Rings: The Return of the King (Billy Crystal)
2003: 33.0 million, Chicago (Steve Martin)
2002: 41.8 million, A Beautiful Mind (Whoopi Goldberg)
2001: 42.9 million, Gladiator (Steve Martin)

Oscar TV Ratings Rise From 2021 To Hit 2nd Lowest Result Ever – Deadline

 

[MadVillainy]

Regarding the argument about the show losing popularity because it typically awards films that aren’t big hits… have the ratings gone up when they DID nominated major blockbusters (Black Panther, Avatar, Inception)? Because I think there are some new and upcoming films that possibly could get BP nods or acting nods but I’m not sure that would fix the problem.

Agreed. The awarding and nominating big hits hasn't helped the MTV Awards, Teen Choice Awards, etc. has it?

People already complain about the Oscars being a popularity contest. I think it'll be silly to make it a literal one. If you want that go watch any of the choice awards