ADVISORY | Dear Oscars, removing categories from your broadcast will not win you new viewers

The Oscars are arguably the most-watched awards program in the world. Not this time, though. The decision of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences to remove four major categories from the live broadcast of the 91st Oscars has shaken people's confidence in the credibility of the ceremony.

Like everyone else, I too thought that Oscars were Oscars. intended to celebrate the art of filmmaking, the devoted efforts of artists who otherwise are not praised, and the actual creativity that characterizes the making of a film until this that the President of the Academy, John Bailey, breaks the myth by announcing this year the prize for Best Photography, Montage, The Live-Action shorts and the makeup and hair trophies will be distributed during the commercial breaks so to shorten the show.

"The viewing habits of the Oscars are changing rapidly in today's multimedia world, and our show must also evolve to continue to promote motion pictures to a global audience," Bailey writes in an email to members, justifying the most deserving categories.
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Jimmy Kimmel hosted the 90th Oscars, which recorded a record drop of 26.5 million viewers. (Reuters Pictures)

This decision comes after the last Oscars won the least audience in Oscar history, apparently due to its three hours and fifty minutes, the longest more than a decade. However, this edition is only six minutes longer than the 70th Academy Awards, the most-watched Oscars, which has gathered more than 57 million viewers. This was on March 23, 1998.

It is clear that the Oscars are the new TRP fighters, which is why they are simply using all the tactics to attract more spectators. However, they must understand that cinematography and editing are the two elements that literally create a movie. Imagine not seeing Lee Smith, filmmaker, and director of photography Roger Deakins finally honored for their brilliant works respectively at Dunkirk and Blade Runner 2049 on television, if the Academy had introduced this format last year

Emmanuel Lubezki, winner of Best Photography for The Revenant at the 88th Academy Awards Ceremony in Hollywood, California , February 28, 2016. (Reuters Pictures)

forget to watch Emmanuel Lubezki write history by becoming the first to win three years in a row the Oscar for best cinematographer for critically acclaimed films Gravity (2013), Birdman (2014) and The Revenant (2015)? How is this category not worth it to be televised, Academy?

Besides, even if you do not follow Hollywood religiously and you still hear about Queen Biopic, Bohemian Rhapsody this probably has everything to do with the striking resemblance of her main actor Rami Malek with Freddie Mercury. Jan Sewell is the woman who made Malek an iconic singer. She is the same prosthetic designer who turned Eddie Redmayne into Stephen Hawking for The Theory of Everything . She is an Academy Award nominee for best make-up and hairdresser at the upcoming Oscars. Considering that Malek's Golden Globe and Baftas's best actor win, Sewell should take the gold statue. But pushing artists like her under the carpet will be like mutilating their work beyond recognition.

Kate Winslet (R) awarded Thelma Schoonmaker the Oscar for Best Cinematographic Editing for the film The Departed at the 79th Academy Awards in Hollywood, California , February 25, 2007. (Reuters Pictures)

The same goes for the nominees for the best short film of action and editing.

Excluding the Broadcast Editing category is tantamount to invalidating the exploits of the icons and the three Oscar winners Michael Kahn and Thelma Colbert Schoonmaker, whose work has literally shaped some of the most memorable and cinematic masterpieces. in the world. Over the last four decades, while Kahn has put together all the films directed by Steven Spielberg, with the exception of AND Schoonmaker's long-standing partnership with Martin Scorsese has given rise to cult clbadics such as Raging Bull, The Aviator and The Dead .

It is unfortunate that the Academy plans to create a new category of "popular movies" (which it has now removed after suffering a brutal reaction on social media), but does not have time to recognize it – even the 24 existing categories. You need # PresentAll24, The Academy.

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