T.V Helping Out Oscar Nominees in the Big Run

This past Wednesday, no matter which channel we clicked on and no matter whether it was morning, noon, or night, Oscar nominees made their way onto to T.V. Now we all know these people as talented actors, but the reason they were all there was to support the nominations their film made. In Wednesday morning, Leonardo DiCaprio, nominated for best actor in "The Wolf On Wall St.", was on "CBS This Morning", talking about his character he portrayed. Also Jonah Hill, nominated for best supporting actor, and Bradley Cooper, also nominated for best supporting actor, were on "The Tonight Show" with Jimmy Fallon, talking about the movies they were a part of.
This made me think, back then, maybe about 50 years ago, the only way people could know about the Oscar nominees were through newspaper articles and radios. Today, everyone knows about the Oscars, the Emmys, and film festivals. This made me believe that the media has higher impact on films, whether it's to gain more votes on their side or to just let the audience know what is out there, than I originally thought.


http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/moviesnow/la-et-mn-oscars-nominees-cooper-dicaprio-talk-shows-20140220,0,3742061.story#axzz2tvfHPfVk

A Real Life Winner!!

Yesterday, on Thursday, February 13, 2014, my group and I were filming. We were filming by our Director's home. I saw a man carrying a trophy and I didn't think about it, all of a sudden he said, "I saw you guys filming and I just wanted to give you this award for your handwork." I was confused, why would this man come up to us and give us an award? Well he wanted to show us the award and motivate us to continue working on filmmaking, to be in the part of the industry. He just turned 82 years old in Wednesday. And on Tuesday, his wife saw us and she told him to go introduce himself and talk to us but sadly some gardeners came and started working and my group and I had to leave. He also told us, how he had spent at least thirty years working in the film industry, as a cinematographer, and he won five Emmy Awards and eventually now and then he still films. My group and I were pretty shocked that and Emmy Award winner was here, living in the valley, not in L.A. 

 They're not Academy Awards but they are still awards. He let us carry his award and take a picture of it. He told us to go to a website called ASC: The American Society of Cinematographers (www.theasc.com). 

This experience was just wow. Never in my life did I ever imagine that I was going to meet an Emmy Award winner here in the valley. Maybe this doesn't have to do with the Academy but it kind of does. It gets you thinking of one's future. This has to do a lot with the Academy, maybe it doesn't talk about the news that's going on but it made me think. What if I, and the rest of us, continue pursuing for a career that is in the film industry, will we also win Awards? Will we live in an expensive, luxurious homes or will we live in a small, comfortable home, here in the valley or in a suburban area. I guess eventually decide what we want and what we don't want.

More News About "Alone Yet Not Alone"

Now if you read my blog last Thursday, you know that I talked about "Alone Yet Not Alone" nomination for Original Song was revoked. If not then Click Here to read in more detail about the situation. Anyways, more information about what happened and why the song was disqualified was said in the article. Broughton sent an email to seventy people out of 239, who make up the academy. He wrote, " 'I'm dropping you a line to boldly direct your attention to entry #57," he wrote, alluding to the track's number on a CD of contending music. "I'm sending this note only because it is extremely unlikely that this small, independent, faith-based film will be seen by any music branch member; it's the only way I can think of to have anyone be aware of the song.' " He wanted the song to be recognized and heard by others but the way he marketed his song was looked down upon the academy. Many people are backing up Broughton at this time. " 'It's a David-and-Goliath story, and in those stories people always side with the little guy.' " Diermeier "a professor at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management and an expert in crisis management," said this. As part of the audience I agree with Diermeier because we all feel for the little guy and we want them to win. And in this case it might be hard but Broughton will fight for the song to have a chance in winning for Original Song. As a future filmmaker it makes me see how crucial it is to pay attention on how one markets their products in the real world and to check if their is a rule book on how you can and can not market your product to the audience.

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/moviesnow/la-et-mn-oscar-song-alone-not-yet-alone-reaction-20140131,0,3214466.story#axzz2sbfSEbr6

Oscar Nomination for Best Original Song is Revoked!

"Alone Yet Not Alone" was nominated for best original song, named after the title, but after a vote on Tuesday night, the academy announced the following day that the song's nomination was revoked. There's been a few other times, four to be exact, when a nomination has been revoked, mostly on foreign films, documentaries, and short films but never a U.S film. The reason for the nomination for "Alone Yet Not Alone" was revoked was that there was evidence that the music composer for the song Bruce Broughton, who "is on the branch's executive committee and is a former member of the academy's board of governors" was using his "status" to get voters to vote for his song for nomination. He emailed a few members from the academy to consider nominating his song. Cheryl Boone Isaacs stated that " 'using one’s position as a former governor and current executive committee member to personally promote one’s own Oscar submission creates the appearance of an unfair advantage.' " Now for every argument there are two sides to it. On one side instead of Broughton emailing the members of the board he could've just talked to members in person instead of emailing them but then again how else are the nominees supposed to encourage the members to consider a nominee for winning the nomination. If Broughton didn't use his status then why should he be disqualified if that's what all nominees do to pick up interest for their film? To be honest I haven't heard about the movie but after a few summaries about the movie it does interest me, so maybe I'll see it once it comes out on DVD. After reading a few articles about this topic some questions have raised up in my mind. Are they going to investigate this situation or is the academy just going to revoke the nomination for "Alone Yet Not Alone" and what will the revocation for best original song have an impact on the audience, like what message will it send out to the audience about the academy, since the film is "a faith-based movie with a quadriplegic pastor".

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/moviesnow/la-et-mn-oscar-song-nomination-revoked-alone-yet-not-alone-whos-right-oscar-song-20140130,0,277156.story#axzz2rwozdJOJ

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/moviesnow/la-et-mn-oscar-song-alone-yet-not-alone-revoked-20140130,0,4031994.story#axzz2rwozdJOJ

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/moviesnow/la-et-mn-alone-yet-not-alone-oscar-nomination-revoked-20140129,0,139757.story#axzz2rwozdJOJ

Jennifer Lawrence To Win the Oscar this Year?

We all know who Jennifer Lawrence is. We know her as Katniss Everdeen, the Girl on Fire in the "Hunger Games".Well this year she was nominated for Supporting Actress in "American Hustle". I've haven't seen the movie yet but I've read and heard amazing reviews about the film from most people. Anyways American Hustle has been nominated in ten different categories including Supporting Actress. Last year, Jennifer Lawrence won Lead Actress for the "Silver Linings Playbook" and in 2011 she was nominated for her performance in "Winter's Bone". This year if she wins the Oscar for Supporting Actress, she'll be part of an elite club, where "only five actors have ever won Academy Awards back-to-back — the last being Tom Hanks, who took home a golden statue for "Philadelphia" (1993) and "Forrest Gump" (1994)." I actually do hope she wins the Oscar this year, not because I want her to be part of the elite club but I think she actually deserves it. She's only 23 years old and she's already winning awards, she has talent. And not only that but I truly think she's an inspiration to people who watch on the big screen and on T.V. She really doesn't care what people say about her and she speaks out her mind. Well no matter what I wish Jennifer Lawrence good luck because she's going against with some serious and talented actresses like her.

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/moviesnow/la-et-mn-jennifer-lawrence-american-hustle-20140117,0,5183302.story#axzz2rHK6nQTb

         

Superhero Theme In the Oscars

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that this year's Oscars will celebrate a superhero theme. The nominations were held today, Thursday morning by Chris Hemsworth and Cheryl Boone Isaacs. Craig Zadan and Neil Meron, producers of the awards show stated that, "We wanted to unify the show with an entertaining and emotional theme. People around the world go to the movies to be inspired by the characters they see on the screen. By celebrating the gamut of heroes who have enriched our movie-going experience, we hope to create an evening of fun and joy. And that includes the filmmakers and actors who take risks and stimulate us with provocative subjects and daring characters. They are all heroes in the cinematic landscape." Of course all of us know at least one superhero, like Batman and Superman but not only are they celebrating comic book heroes, they're also celebrating heroes like, "Richard Phillips (Tom Hanks in "Captain Phillips"), Ron Woodroof (Matthew McConaughey in "Dallas Buyers Club") and Solomon Northup (Chiwetel Ejiofor in "12 Years a Slave"); fictional characters such as Sandra Bullock's stranded astronaut in "Gravity" and Robert Redford's shipwrecked sailor in "All Is Lost"; pop-culture icons such as Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence in "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire") and Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr. in "Iron Man 3"); and anti-heroes such as Christian Bale's con artist in "American Hustle" and Leonard DiCaprio's white-collar crook in "The Wolf of Wall Street." I think that it's cool that this year the academy decided to go with a superhero theme but it makes sense because most movies consist of a hero trying to do what they think is right. Also the academy will expand the hero theme with an exhibition in their Beverly Hills Headquarters, "The Oscars Celebrates movie Heroes" that starts tomorrow all the way until March 5. Who knows who will win best picture, best cinematography, best original screenplay, or best original song, we'll have to wait until March 2 on ABC which will be hosted by Ellen DeGeneres. 

http://herocomplex.latimes.com/movies/oscar-nominations-2014-kick-off-superhero-theme-honor-genre-films/
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/moviesnow/la-et-mn-oscars-movie-heroes-celebration-2014-ceremony-20140114,0,6833327.story#axzz2qXHXF7Ya 

A New Museum In Hollywood Dedicated to Films

There is a new museum that will hopefully open in 2017, three years from now. The museum is owned by LACMA, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and they have stated that their goal is to create a place where people can visit and be indulged with the "art, history and technology of cinema." In the article they talked about how a few years back and in different countries, how museums dedicated to films did well in the beginning and then had to eventually shut down because the museums wouldn't be making enough money.
I believe that this article is important enough to be posted on the internet, so that people can see what is going on in the world, especially the film industry. Most people believe that the film industry is mainly focused on creating movies and that is only a small fraction of it. When the museum is finished and opened for the audience people will see have a better understanding about the film industry. This article is important because the museum will be an icon here in Los Angeles, where the entertainment business all started.
This article makes me realize, not only as a teen but also as a future filmmaker, how tough the film industry is, and how people want the world to now that films is an art form and how important it has become for our culture. It makes me realize how people have tried to make film museums successful but have failed towards the end due to financial problems.
I wonder if big companies and groups will contribute to fund the museum for its construction and later on when it has its doors opened for the public and I also wonder how LACMA will try to captivate the world about the museum.