Over the years, many questions arise among those who passionately follow the long selection process that culminated in the awarding of the Oscars, after the nominations were announced, and especially immediately after the distribution of the statuettes. How could such a thing happen? What did the voters think? And who are the voters? Just a few days before the 95th awards ceremony, we offer some answers.
Who decides the awards?
The Oscars are owned by the United States Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, all made up of professionals who have proven their effective involvement in the industry. To be a part of, at least two members must be sponsored or nominated for an award.. Only academics who can prove they have worked on at least one film in the last 10 years can vote; special, 9,579 people participated in the elections this year, 65% more than in 2014.
What is an academic profile?
Lately The Academy has worked to increase the presence of women, racial minorities, and talent from other countries in its ranks.. The association is organized by departments; There is a section for screenwriters, a section for directors, a section for editors, a section for actors, and so on until 17. In general, the list of nominees for categories, each tied to their own professional discipline, and all academics are eligible for Best Picture nominations.
How are nominations made?
Each category has what is known as the “magic number” of votes required to win a nomination.. To determine, the total number of votes received for a particular category is taken and divided by the number of candidates to be determined plus one; thus, the number of votes in the categories formed by the five candidates – the majority – is first divided by six and the process is repeated until the candidate list is completed. Initially, the total votes are divided by 11 to prepare the Best Picture nominee list of 10 films. On paper it’s easier to pick the winners: Once the nominees are determined, each academic votes one per category and that’s it.
‘Preferential vote’ for Best Film
In the Best Film category, a system called Preferential Voting is used. From the very beginning, voters must rank the candidates from most favorite to least favourite, and if a candidate manages to place first in more than 50 percent of the vote, they are automatically the winner. This, in any case, almost never happens, so votes are repeatedly recounted until one of the candidates achieves that goal. The system usually The winner – in one sense or another – is not a film that arouses passion, but a film that arouses general sympathy and does not offend anyone..
Envelopes with winners
After completing the submission process, consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers puts the names of the winners in the envelopeThe company leaves the envelopes in separate briefcases, in case of theft or loss, in 2 copies, which the two employees of the company will be obliged to carry separately and with guards to the gala. Security measures, of course, do not guarantee anything; To prove it, all you have to do is remember the 2017 premiere, where the Best Picture Oscar was accidentally awarded to ‘La La Land’ for a few seconds.
Do the Oscars reward quality?
If you are one of those who believe that the answer to this question is yes, you may be interested in purchasing a piece of land per month; to disprove, after all, just remember Hollywood is a very small place where everyone knows each other and does business.s—and they get married, get divorced, go to parties together, share secrets and rumors—and that quality in the art world is all a matter of taste and subjectivity. Actually, The prominent criteria when awarding the Oscars is a major political campaign. each year, starting just a few weeks after the awards ceremony and continuing for the next 10 months, it has become particularly severe in the last five years.
Politics, ‘influencers’ and financial power
Small producers and large studios can spend between a few thousand dollars and several dozen million dollars to participate, depending on their financial strength. Of course, the more the better. They need academics to watch their movies, connect with them, and remember them while they vote, and for that they organize cocktails, dinners and breakfasts.and other events hosted by celebrities and “influencers”; projections are arranged in which actors and actresses appear unexpectedly; podcast and television show participation agendas are filling up; Large budget items are allocated to advertisements sent by mail or placed in the press, social networks, billboards and subway stations, or on private planes that fly nonstop around the country.
Every movie bets on a narrative
It’s a matter of creating a narrative around potential nominees in order to get the acclaim of academics flowing to them, and at the top of all the fiction that aspired to this year’s Best Picture Oscar: “All of a sudden, in all parts.” innovation embodies the cinema of the future. For example, ‘Everything is Quiet on the Front’, ‘Tár’ and ‘Ellas hablan’ are works that initiate the necessary discussions. The ‘Fabelmans’ pay a kind of homage to the art of cinema, which voters always show weakness; By awarding ‘Top Gun: Maverick’, voters would show that they weren’t as far removed from the tastes of the general public as they were said to be. And so.
what is forbidden
In the search for votes, yes, all is not well, at least in theory. The Academy’s regulations establish a set of rules that determine what behavior is acceptable and which is unacceptable throughout the process. For example, calling an academic directly to promote a movie or performance is prohibited, and any advertising based on attacking a competitor is also prohibited. But the Academy’s first rule about the Oscar campaign is not to talk about Fight Club, in other words, about the Oscar campaign. None of those involved will admit that they did it to get votes. Celebrating the magic of cinema is what drives them with a pure and disinterested energy.