IMC Hawks Blog

Tag: Oscars

  • The Oscars Generation Gap

    Since the very first Academy Awards ceremony in 1929 there has always been a prestige and honor surrounding the awards.  But lets face it, the era of Hollywood glamour has been replaced by Joan Rivers and obnoxiously unfunny skits between Anne Hathaway and James Franco.  The Oscars prove time and time again to be the most “stuffy” of all awards shows and continues to try to appeal to their top viewers, the 50+ age group, while vaguely attempting to reel in younger viewers. Through choosing young popular actors such as Anne Hathaway and James Franco, the Oscars attempted marketing to a younger age group.  What had much potential turned out to be a disaster as numerous news sources called it an “Oscars Bomb.” In a promo video for the 84th Annual Academy Awards this Sunday, Funny or Die released a long drawn out parody between Michael Myers and Kevin Kline.  Needless to say, the Academy was making an effort to appeal to the majority of moviegoers, 18-29 year olds, by joining forces with a popular online comedy troupe.  Will the Academy reach their much-needed younger audience this year? Or will the Academy fall behind  to become the old stuffy grandfather of awards shows?

    By: Molly Jacques, Hunter Wilson, Josh Vester, and Ashley Oliver.

  • Who’s Your Audience

    One of the first and most prominent lessons we learn as new-born-communication studies students is to intimately know our audience. We have it engrained in our heads that in order to receive the desired feedback and reactions, we must know who is going to be engaging their minds and opinions into our message.

    So how could the Oscars be a supreme example of Communication Studies Lesson #1 gone bad?

    With a new generation filing into the spotlight (Generation Y-ages 18-34) it is obvious that one may wish to gear the entertainment spectacle towards these younger minds. But did the renowned and prestigious award show take it too far in the form of auto-tuned youtube videos, flashy gowns, and less than sophisticated jokes?
    According to the Wall Street Journal,  “A smaller audience tuned in for the Academy Awards Sunday night on ABC, reversing two years of growth for one of television’s biggest events.” Organizers of the Oscars Ceremony set out to reach a more youthful audience by bringing in James Franco, 32, and Anne Hathaway, 28 to host the event, which ultimately fell short of enjoyable.

    It was reviewed as an overall “futile attempt” in reaching the younger crowd, as most of them only tuned in to the red carpet fashion pre-award show. The Oscars, which was originally viewed as a classy, elegant award show to showcase the greatest in the Film Industry, had a median age above or around 50 years old.

    As the overall ratings and viewings sank, so did the interest of younger audiences, proving their attempts to reach these crowds was unsuccessful. Wall Street reports, “ratings among people ages 18 to 34 declined about 4.5% compared to a year ago.”

    Could advice from a Communication Studies Student may have aided in the construction of this years Oscars hosts? May we hope that next year, our lessons be put into practice, and a better suited host(s) be implemented to keep the Oscars alive.

    -Maxann Keller
    Thursday: March 3, 2011

    Pictures courtesy of Google Image Search: Oscars 2011 Hosts

     

  • The Most Glamorous Night on Television

    The Academy Awards of 2011 were full of heartbreak, happiness, and the “F- word”.  The award ceremony is one of the most prestigious of the year. Oscars are passed out to actors and actresses, animators, directors, sound engineers, costume designers, and many other people from the film industry.

    The “Oscar” brand is respected in the acting and movie world.  . The décor in the Kodak Theater is extravagant and shines with gold. The background of the stage is glimmering with gold and richness. You can tell that the award ceremony is important because of the giant gold Oscar statues perched at the edges of the stage. Not only are the statues and decorations gold, but the Oscar trophy is gold. Gold is a color of royalty. The people winning these awards are royalty to their competition. After winning an Oscar, the recipient is always known and introduced as “Academy Award Winner”. Anne Hathaway and James Franco even joke about his mother possibly having to call him “Academy Award Winner James Franco”. These winners are the best of the best.

    The Academy voted on the winners of each category and there were twenty four awards received.  The Academy is professionals of the motion picture arts and sciences. There are 6,000 motion picture professionals that choose the winners of each category. Invitations are required to be on the academy. The Oscars is a black tie affair. People wear tuxedos and ball gowns. The brand of the Oscars is much more significant than the brand of something such as the MTV Movie Awards. This award ceremony is more casual than the Academy Awards. People dress nicely but the attire is less formal. Nominees have even worn sneakers with their suits.  The category winners are chosen by the movie viewers, by us.

    Oscar is double branded as both The Oscars and The Academy Awards.  There are multiple theories as to where the title of the Oscar award came from, but we do know this: Oscar is gold. Oscar is prestige. Oscar is class.

    -Allison Day, Jessica Berinson, Megan Canny, Melissa Gagliardi, Scott Burgess