It seems like every year the Oscars become a greater source of frustration and confusion for its audience. This may be the single greatest catalyst in making experts out of casual viewers. Somehow, everyone has passionate opinions about which film should win and which are were overlooked. Countless writers in the newspapers and on the Internet will undoubtedly pontificate about the irrelevance of the Oscars because “The Dark Knight” didn’t win every single award.
I would like to disagree with those bloviating bloggers who have diluted themselves into believing they know more about movies than the highest-achieving professionals in the industry. These professionals use the awards to help cultivate sophisticated taste in their viewers. Hollywood, as unfortunate as it may be, is the closest thing we have to a community of artists. Part of their responsibility then should be to direct us to pieces of technical excellence and cultural significance. Therefore, instead of screaming at the screen in frustration while watching the Oscars, you should try and understand what the Academy is trying to show you. This year they sent several clear messages.
The Slumdog Effect: “Slumdog Millionaire” has now won every mainstream award for cinematic achievement.
As the producer, Christian Colson, pointed out: this was a film that had been scraped together, with less money than they needed, purely out of passion for the project. Danny Boyle and his crew went on to exploit the few resources at their disposal to ultimately captivate millions of people around the world.
In a time of economic woes, Hollywood can see that its future is being fantastic without being wasteful.
The opening number performed by wonderfully charming host, Hugh Jackman, reflected this new focus. He reenacted all of the best picture nominees with props made of cardboard and backed up by the “Craig’s List Dancers” who didn’t even wear costumes.
It was incredibly fitting that the master of the big Hollywood picture, Steven Spielberg, presented the award for Best Picture. He passed the baton fully to a new era in the smaller, more inventive filmmaking of Boyle, the Coen brothers and Quentin Tarantino.
To give a frame of reference for the transition that took place at the 81st Academy Awards, the last film to sweep the major awards in the same way was Peter Jackson’s “Lord of the Rings: Return of the King.” Jackson had an estimated budget of $94 million and the most cutting edge special effects team in the world, while Boyle had an estimated $15 million and pulled together an Indian film crew. Movies are getting smaller, leaner and better.
The Digital Revolution: Two of the nominees for Best Picture and Best Cinematography were shot either in part, or in majority on digital cameras. “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” has garnered the most attention for its technological achievement in this area. In fact, with this film, and with last year’s “Zodiac” David Fincher has established himself as one of the masters of digital filmmaking–which may be a bit of an oxymoron, I know.
The winner in both those categories, “Slumdog Millionaire” is regarded among many directors of photography as the more impressive technical achievement. Half of the film was shot on 2K digital–which is one fourth the resolution of the cameras that shot “Benjamin Button”–and the other half was filmed in 35 mm film. The visual difference is staggering between these two media, yet I cannot identify which scenes are shot in which format.
Film students rejoice. Knowing the promise of your camcorder may be the best resource you have in years to come.
The Honor of the Nominee: Though bizarre at first, the inclusion of five presenters per acting award placed much more importance on the honor of being nominated than ever before. Many nominees were brought to tears before the winner was ever announced as their peers and mentors described profound admiration for their work this year.
It didn’t seem as bitter when people lost out to fellow nominees, having already been honored personally. It may have taken a while but it made the night much more intimate.
The Oscars are meant to sensitize us and excite us for the developments in new filmmaking.