Bryan Pall
Genre Analysis Essay
The Big Picture
The California sun beats down on the red carpet laid across Hollywood Boulevard
where the stars among us shine bright fitted in the finest tuxedos and dresses made by
someone whose name is to foreign to pronounce. All of which prepared for the highly
anticipated award of the evening, the Oscar for Best Picture. Once a year, on one night, the
artists that take us to places that only our imaginations create are rewarded. These people
offer an escape from the everyday and help us emotionally connect with characters and
create new worlds for ourselves. They show characteristics of current happenings in the
United States and beyond, throughout the film. This is what we want our nation to look like.
Appreciating a film that is made for the arts and not for the people. Do we really believe
this is America?
Now look at the reality of cinema in America. The midnights premiere of the new
Transformers: Age of Extinction, where fans are dressed as their favorite Autobots and the
lines are out the door. Standing in the cold of the night with a man in front of you whom
hasn’t showered in three days due to his excitement of the film. The unorganized theatre
that is rushing everyone through the line has fans tripping on one another but you don’t
care. You just want to see giant alien robots change shape with objects being blown up with
a hot blonde running in slow motion. This is want Americans want to see. Which one of
these really shows the real Best Picture? Beauty on the red carpet or an audience dressed
in their pajamas to see some action.
The best of the best get to reach out and grab glory on this night. The 24 categories
for the Oscars including the headline awards of Best Actor in a Leading Role, Best Actress in
a Leading Role and the award of the night, Best Picture. Who decides who is the best of the
best? It is process. The most respected names in the motion picture industry make up the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The nearly 6,000 members of the Academy
receive special screenings and copies of the films through the mail for the purposes only of
film review and nominations. The nominations ballots are mailed out in late December and
are to be returned in January to the international accounting firm,
PricewaterhouseCoopers. The announcements of the Oscar nominations are revealed in the
third week of January at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills. Later in
the month, the members receive the final balloting for the Oscars, which are due by the
Tuesday before Oscar Sunday. All members are allowed to vote for any nominee in each
category. These members are the best and most respected group of screenwriters,
directors, journalists, actors, actresses and film critics. These are the people who are the
reason Oscar Sunday happens.
We go to the cinema for a variety of reasons. We all have different interest and
views on the pieces of art we watch. Some may not agree with the winning film every year,
some may not understand why it won. What is looked for when selecting the nominees for
the most prestigious award in cinema? In an interview with BBC News, Jerry Freeman, a
member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, talked about what he wants
from a film,
“I want to go on a journey, I want to learn more about this world, I want to be caught
up just like anybody else. If I have time on the first viewing to start dissecting how
the director did this and how the sound did that, then they've failed. I look for
quality and originality, and how it moves me emotionally and as an artist. Certain
films will come out and you'll say, 'This is a game-changer.'" (Nasaw)
The best movies are the ones we connect with and feel for a character(s). The movies that
draw you in and refuse to let go until the darkness of the screen is all that is left.
Blockbuster films are not in it for the hardware and the achievement awards but for
the cash. Usually in the summer, “Blockbuster” movies take the screen. These films usually
are a hot trend or a big name title. Most recently, Transformers: Age of Extinction. Due to the
major success of the first film, Michael Bay and company continued on with the story with
the alien Autobots. Critically, the first movie in the series did very well and the fans
responded very positively. It seemed the more movies they tacked on, the more negative
feed back they received. The most recent addition to the Transformers franchise was the
worst of them all, but it did not seem to matter. It was going to make money. In response to
the harsh reviews to Michael Bay’s film he said, “They’re still going to see the movie.”
Which is very true, it is what the fans wanted to see, action, adventure, a beautiful girl and a
big name actor headlining the cast. The film that is taking harsh criticism is eyeing the $1
billion mark. It is what the people want. They ant to see there favorite characters take on
another adventure. Blockbusters are made for the fans and for the money, not the Oscar
stage.
So why aren’t these films that make the box office jump for joy take the awards for
Best Picture? It only makes sense that the most successful movie that creates the most
revenue takes the hardware. Below is presented the highest grossing film of the particular
year compared to the revenue the Best Picture generated.
$700,000,000
$600,000,000
$500,000,000
$400,000,000
Highest Grossing Film
Best Picture
$300,000,000
$200,000,000
$100,000,000
$0
2011
2012
2013
Just by taking a glance at the graph you can see that the numbers are not even remotely
close. In 2011, Harry Potter in the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 dominated the creative, silent
film The Artist. The next year, 2012, Marvels The Avengers, stomped on the incredible true
story of Argo. Finally in 2013, the creative genius of Suzanne Collins’s, The Hunger Games:
Catching Fire out matched the historical drama 12 Years a Slave. What do all these
Blockbusters have in common? They are all apart of a bigger story. Harry Potter and The
Hunger Games are both apart of a Best-Selling book series. The Avengers takes the prize of
generating the most money due too the combination of every kids favorite superhero
joining together to fight evil in one movie. Between the three, they totaled four Oscar
nominations, but none for the heavy hitters. The films success does not have to be defined
by its Oscar nominations, yet the revenue it creates and the reaction from their fans.
There are directors whom which create for the Academy. They know what they are
looking for and expect greatness from the critics. Films that have not yet been released are
already getting some serious consideration for Best Picture, along with several other
awards for the stars of the film. Foxcatcher, the true story of Olympic Wrestler Mark
Schultz, is getting positive feed back from both fans and especially the critics. It has earned
Best Picture buzz already and the leaders of the cast Steve Carell and Channing Tatum give
performances that can help them seek their first Oscar wins. Its release date is November
14, 2014; the film hasn’t even hit the big screen yet it is taking the media by storm as
potentially the years best film. The movie may never hit the $1 billion mark but it will have
an opportunity to be rewarded for its directing, story and powerful acting. Oscar bait is a
word thrown around to describe these types of movies. “A film created for the purpose of
winning academy awards” (Urban Dictionary). But this “Best” Picture we are looking for is
just a reflection of someone’s standards. The standards in which as a society we have
created. What is good, what is bad. What is deep and emotional and what isn’t.
The voters of the Academy must see a deeper meaning inside films that include
drama. In the past three years (2011-2013) of nominees, 23 of the 29 movies nominated
have included some form of drama with in them. Drama can really draw an audience
member into a film. Drama has the ability to branch off into other elements of genres such
as thriller, crime and even history. The past three Best Picture Winners had all included
drama: The Artist, Argo and 12 Years a Slave. With all these movies centered around a
drama filled plot, they bring historical features. These are not the films that generated the
most money though. These films are more for the critics and make you reach a deeper
meaning.
The movies we see during the awards are ones in which we can connect with. This
past year, the movies nominated had connections with the issues relating to current events
and every day problems people experience. 12 Years a Slave, this year’s winner, tells a story
of feeling lost, vulnerability and race. Following this trend is Dallas Buyers Club. The
screenplay of the film presents issues with drug trafficking, immigration, health care and
gay rights. Silver Linings Playbook brings out coping with the economy and loss of a job.
Along with the struggles to make ends meat with the burden of mental disabilities. Factors
in these movies that exists in our everyday lives can be found throughout these films and
they all share common themes. This is what can draw the academy to them. They are
relatable.
It depends how you look at things but the cinema is art. What makes these films Best
Picture worthy is the ability to relate to our everyday lives and the emotional bonds we
create with the characters. The different genres and whom the movies are made for do not
matter when it comes down to the big picture of escaping into the imagination of artists. It
shouldn’t matter if the movie is considered “bad”, if it makes an impact with the audience it
is a success. Blockbusters are as much creative art as Oscar winning films are. We want to
believe that we want to see ourselves, as the stunning beauties we see on the red carpet but
that are not the true America. The reality of it is we are all in line to see Transformers in our
sweatpants.
Works Cited
Nasaw, Daniel. "What Do Oscar Voters Look for in a Film?" BBC News. British Broadcasting
Channel, Inc., 27 Feb. 2014. Web. 20 July 2014.
"Oscar Bait." Urban Dictionary. N.p., 11 Oct. 2004. Web. 30 July 2014.
"Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences." Voting for Academy Awards and Special
Awards. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 July 2014.
"2012 DOMESTIC GROSSES." 2012 Yearly Box Office Results. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 July 2014.
"2011 DOMESTIC GROSSES." 2011 Yearly Box Office Results. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 July 2014.
"2013 DOMESTIC GROSSES." 2013 Yearly Box Office Results. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 July 2014.