And yet, it doesn't have to be this way. Let's be honest here-there have been, particularly in the 1990's, some really great Oscar ceremonies. Shows like Billy Crystal's 1996 and 1997 ceremonies, Whoopi Goldberg's 1995 performance, Steve Martin's first shot at it-these are all iconic triumphs of the Oscars. So what was different then, and how do we bridge toward that greatness while ensuring that we still have a modern theme that doesn't alienate too many people? Below I give ten suggestions that would greatly help out the Academy Awards' producers in the future.
1. Stop Trying to Please Everybody
Here's your first problem-you can't please everyone, and you shouldn't try to do so. Trying to please everyone is part of the reason why we are struggling at the movies-we create tentpoles that all are identical and that makes everything insanely boring. You want to know why American Sniper is insanely popular? Because it's a film with an identity that isn't like anything else that came out in the past year. Its quality may be questionable to some, but it knows its audience and it is catering hard toward it.
So don't be the Tony Awards, don't be the VMA's, don't be some Twitter-friendly hashtag show. Take a lesson from how much people hate cable news and love the Olympics-the former is focused on creating a now, now, now, while the latter is about a slow build to something magical. There's a lot of magical things that can happen when you put our love for the movies into an awards show for three hours. So don't struggle to try and create something that trends on Twitter-if it's a good show, it'll trend without prodding.
I think people got confused when Hugh Jackman received raves a few years back after some lackluster work from Chris Rock and Jon Stewart and thought that we needed more song-and-dance performers. This resulted in the energetic Anne Hathaway, the smug Seth MacFarlane, and the lackluster Neil Patrick Harris. The reality is that you need a professional comedian, someone who can read a room and knows where the line is and toys with it, but doesn't cross it. This is partially why everyone loved Ellen last year (Caveat: I am aware that everyone is a wide term and that in the catacombs of the internet you can find someone to disagree with pretty much everyone, but the consensus was pretty positive) and why Amy/Tina have been such a hit at the Globes-they know how to make the people in the room laugh, and as a result make the people at home laugh. So hire a comedian, maybe someone like Jimmy Kimmel or Maya Rudolph or Kate McKinnon to take the reigns of the show. They'll keep the monologue crisp, and then essentially hand it over to the presenters.
3. Mix It Up with the Presenters
Which brings me to the presenters. If there was a major miss this year in the energy it was that in a quest to make the show snappier we skipped any sort of funny. We had funny people presenting: Kevin Hart, Anna Kendrick, Chris Pratt, but either they were hindered with ridiculous patter or they were just asked to read some cue cards. So find people who can actually remember some lines (hell, throw out the damn teleprompter-they're actors who can actually remember a script, at least in theory) or people who can create great moments at the podium. Jack Black, Will Ferrell, Kristin Wiig, or newer comedians like Seth Rogen or Rebel Wilson-these are who should be interspersed throughout the ceremony to keep things humming when you're presenting Best Sound Mixing or Documentary Short Subject.
Speaking of presenters, for those special moments when you want to wow the audience, stop leaking that they're about to happen before the ceremony. Kim Novak's presentation would have been way cooler (and less awkward) had we not known she was going to show up. So don't tell us which movie stars and screen legends are going to be coming out beforehand-keep them a surprise that you have to tune in to see (I have never understood the appeal of releasing the list of the presenters and performers beforehand). This goes doubly for the musical numbers-keep it a damn secret. You're filmmakers who are CONSTANTLY complaining about the trailer giving away too much of the movie-try to change up the system by creating some suspense.
And then actually create some moments. I still think they missed the boat by, say, not having Harry Belafonte introduce the "Glory" number or not having Julie Andrews present Best Picture. And there are SO many classic movie stars who could probably use a $160k gift basket-why not give them a ring and bring people like Ellen Burstyn, Warren Beatty, Diahann Carroll, Cher, or Sidney Poitier out to the stage? Reunite classic film duos like Nicholson/Dunaway, Streisand/Redford, or Keaton/Pacino. This is a fine balance to the necessary modern presenters like Ansel Elgort and Dakota Johnson, the new faces of Hollywood. Hell, if you started padding the lineup a bit with some Old Hollywood showing up some of new Hollywood (who seem to consistently skip the ceremony when they aren't nominated or pimping a picture) might show up. It's a little sad that major 2014 Box Office draws like Shailene Woodley, Jennifer Lawrence, and Melissa McCarthy all skipped out on the ceremony.
5. Bring Back Hosts
Part of what the problem with the Oscars is that we get a new, different show every year. You don't recreate the Olympics or the Super Bowls or the Tony Awards or New Year's Eve each year, so why do we feel the need to give the Oscars a facelift every year? Perhaps the best way to do that is to have hosts that repeat. Back in the day it was more a question of Steve, Whoopi, or Billy? Johnny or Bob? Who would show up each year was a giant question mark, but you knew you were in for a good show regardless. You could do that again-I suspect Ellen Degeneres would be more than willing to show up again next year, and we might see the likes of Maya Rudolph or Jimmy Kimmel come up more often if you had a rotation of artists rather than just a new experiment every single year. For a town that makes most of its money on sequels, it weirdly doesn't see their value when it comes to the Oscars.
Really, the job of the host is to get everyone into a good mood, and then it's time to step back and let the magic happen. The best moments at the Oscars are always seeing the stars in their natural habitat-we get a peak into the real life unscripted world of Cate Blanchett and Will Smith-all of those people we read about in tabloids and watch on the big screen and fantasize about and hero-worship and are enchanted by with a giant tub of popcorn in our laps. That's the fun of the Oscars, and it's true every year. It's the reason the Ellen selfie was such a hit. It's the reason that the Meryl/J Lo gif was instantly trending. We want to see stars, lots of them, and so audience bits, trying to make specific stars laugh from the podium, this is what makes the Oscars such a fun show.
7. Cut the Musical Numbers
I don't give a rat's behind if the show runs long, as long as it's good, and neither does anyone else. We may have work in the morning, but if the show is a great ride no one really cares, they just are tired the next day. So I will never advocate for cutting a category or for having shorter speeches, since that gets back to the core of honoring filmmakers. However there's really no need for the non-Original Song musical numbers. Unless the number is comedic and short (think the Jack Black/Will Ferrell numbers of yore), it's not necessary unless it's competing for an Oscar that evening. The Lady Gaga numbers, the opening number that has nothing to do with the specific films nominated that year, and the In Memoriam numbers all can go and shed fifteen minutes off this sucker, giving us more time for...
8. Celebrating the Nominees (especially the tech categories)
Film is a visual medium, so utilize that. There's absolutely no reason why we can't see a series of fashions from the current years nominated costumes (hell-put the host in them) or have the presenters wandering through a house of the year's nominated production designs or have a musical ode to the nominated scores. You can even find something new to say with the actors that are nominated. How cool would it be to have a series of drama students talking about how the five nominated Best Actresses inspired their careers? Or have the nominated actors themselves discuss why they love to act? Taking a little bit of time that is left over from cutting idiotic musical numbers would spare up some time for some love for the tech categories, and maybe make the famously sluggish second hour fly by.
I don't watch this with great frequency, but there has to be something more here than just saying how gorgeous everyone's dress is and ooh-ing and ahh-ing in the same way. Why not have actors on the red carpet ask each other questions? Or talk about their favorite Oscar memories? Or if we want to embrace social media, have them create Vines or Instagram videos recreating their favorite film scenes on the red carpet. Have an AMPAS Snapchat account where celebrities can connect with you throughout the night. Do something that's not so demeaning and tired-the red carpet is literally talking to movie stars for hours, it shouldn't be so insanely boring and you shouldn't be able to sum it up in a ninety second news item. Plus, the red carpet, outside the high stakes arena of the ceremony, is the time to try and incorporate new technology as a test drive for what works and what seems silly during the actual ceremony.
10. Link This to the Movies
If there's anything that has lost its way this year is that we are too focused on memes and gifs and musical numbers and what have you. The point of the Oscars is the movies, both a history of the films, and MOST IMPORTANTLY how the nominated films of this year are becoming a part of that history. This is something that is always a fine line-the Chuck Workman montages always seemed to be the same and constant nostalgia has made the Oscars look generic and not specific to one year (remember the random Chicago/Dreamgirls throwback a few years ago?). It's always important to remember where we've been, but maybe do that with one clip reel at most (toward the beginning of the show) and through wonderful presenters from yesteryear who are welcoming new members to the AMPAS family. You can see this with what was clearly the best moment of NPH's night, the Birdman/Whiplash underwear tribute, paying homage to what is the most famed scene in our latest Best Picture. If you make the night about the movies that are being honored, you'll have a good show.
Those are my thoughts on what I'd do as producer-what would you do if you got to take over Oscar's 88th next year? Share your thoughts in the comments!
No comments:
Post a Comment