Archive

Social Technology at the Oscars

The Academy Awards, the world’s most prestigious awards ceremony for the film industry, is also one of the most popular television events of the year. In 2011, the ceremony enjoyed a technological makeover.

The 83rd annual Academy Awards was supercharged with technology, making it much more accessible in many extra ways. Not only do fans want to see more from the red carpet, but also backstage, and even after the ceremony.

Oscars.org, for example, provided a backstage pass online that would allow viewers to see what was going on behind the scenes. For $.99, fans gained access to backstage cameras that gave them an even more in-depth Academy Awards experience. They could even switch from one camera to another, depending on what they wanted to see. Unfortunately some of the video footage was very low quality.

Apple and E! Entertainment Television joined together and released an iPad app exclusively for the Academy Awards. The Red Carpet application gave fans another perspective on the entrance and interviews of the celebrities arriving at the event.

Even Twitter got into the mix through Academy Awards host James Franco. The young star Tweeted about his morning before the event, Tweeted how he felt afterwards, and even sent his followers Twitter messages during the ceremony.

Technology is changing the way we consume media every day. With so many multi-taskers sitting in the electric glow of their television and computer monitors, including myself, it makes sense that these types of technology would become part of such a major event.

Did you participate in any of these technological approaches to the Oscars?

…and I’ll ask it…Do you think The King’s Speech deserved Best Picture???

4 Responses to Social Technology at the Oscars

  • Carol says:

    I disagree with your opinion that the Kings Speech was very slow and mildly
    uneventful. If it seemed that way, I feel it was only to make the audience actually
    “feel” the painstaking” process of losing the stutter – and I sure could feel it.
    About best actor and picture the same, doesn’t the brilliance of an actor make
    it one of the best movies? If Firth had not been so good, would Kings Speech
    have won? Probably not. What was your pick? Social Network?

    • Chris says:

      I see what you are saying – that reminds me of the movie “Zodiac” directed by David Fincher, that movie feels a little bit drawn out but it is definitely symbolic of the incredibly drawn out investigation into the Zodiac killer. I know that an amazing acting performance is worth noting, but I don’t always thing that means the film that actor was in should win best picture. In my opinion, the Social Network was definitely better than King’s Speech in different ways – but have you seen 127 Hours? That film is so incredible, and if you are looking for a movie that will make you feel what the characters are dealing with, that is the one. James Franco did an incredible job and it’s amazing that Danny Boyle could make such a fast-paced, flowing movie with such a slow-moving true story. I guess my pick would be that or Social Network, but King’s Speech was definitely a fantastic film.

  • Danielle says:

    I am a huge Oscar fan, but not going to go the whole 10 yards in the behind the scenes, but the Red Carpet and the show for sure. Oscars are my Superbowl (sorry football fans). I find the crazy options are to much. I am sorry to the Franco/Hathaway fans, but not worth it. One of my favorites parts was when Billy Crystal was on with the late Bob Hope. I read on CNN that the Oscars need a good host, and I agree. As for the Kings Speech, I totally think it should have won…..sadly I didn’t see all the other nominations so that is a bias opinion. I will say this, Colin Firth totally deserved the Oscar, his one one of the best performances I have ever seen:)

    • Chris says:

      I am sure the Oscars are the “Super Bowl” for a lot of people. I agree that Colin Firth did an incredible job, and definitely gave the best performance of the year. The sad part to me is that it seems like standard practice for the Academy to give the Best Picture award to the film that featured the Best Actor. I do believe Colin Firth deserved to win Best Actor, but I have to disagree that King’s Speech was film of the year. It’s amazing, don’t get me wrong. But it is also very slow, and mildly uneventful. There were so many great films up for the award this year, but I had a feeling it would be King’s Speech because Firth definitely was going to win best actor. Either way, I think most of us have some movie watching to do, and that is a good thing.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>