TV Intimacy Shapes My Oscar Picks

I did not see a single marquee this past year featuring the title of any of the films nominated for Best Picture. Add to my ignorance the fact I have now use Netflix instead of my local video store. When I browse my Netflix account online I gravitate to the HOT current releases-- but I bypassed The Departed. I ordered Man of the Year instead. It's not that Man of the Year is Oscar-worthy...it just sounds more fun to watch when you're tired of shoveling snow. That said, I'll put money on Little Miss Sunshine or The Queen as the winner. I sense both translate better to DVD and home viewing over the others.

As for The Queen, it may translate to home viewing best, since it's based heavily around the death of Princess Diana-- a live news event that played out on television. My thesis for picking the Best Picture is based around what translates well for the home viewer. It's tied to stories dependent on close-ups and relationships. Stories built around grand, sweeping wideshots such as epics don't shift to television sets well-- perhaps HDTV will help with that. Think about this-- most of the voting members of the Academy don't go to the theater to screen films-- and since they get freebie DVDs from the studios to screen in the privacy of their own homes (and most probably watch in their bedrooms or kitchens now), the quieter, interpersonal stories dependent on close-ups win in this day and age. These are the movies that are visually ready for television-- and become more memorable. Don't agree? Consider which movie was more important and clearly a BETTER film: Saving Private Ryan or Shakespeare in Love? Shakespeare in Love received the Best Picture Oscar.




Let's consider last year. I predicted the win for Crash over Brokeback Mountain.






While Brokeback was really Romeo and Juliet with a gay twist, it was embedded in the grand, sweeping vistas of Ang Lee's vision of a theatrical film release targeting the big screen viewers. Crash is perfect for television viewing. The movie was even shot and edited like a television drama. The director's career spanned heavily across the television landcape and included associations with a number of popular shows from sitcoms and L.A. Law. It also helped that Crash was set in L.A. and with nearly every voting member in the Academy living in the Los Angeles area, it had the hometown crowd. Babel and Letters From Iwo Jima look like movies made for the "big screen" from the trailers. So I'll bet on The Queen or Little Miss Sunshine as the stories as well as the visual storytelling techniques are cloesly connected to the intimacy that connects with viewers at home via the television screen.

Radio Active Satellites

What will they call it?l
X-Sirus Satellite Radio or Sirius-X Satellite Radio?
From fierce competitors to partners in the sky...XM and Sirius Satellite Radio announced a merger.

"We believe this is the next logical step in the evolution of satellite radio," Sirius chief executive officer Mel Karmazin said. "With our enhanced programming lineup, we expect to offer the best content from both companies."

The $13 billion deal would be an all-stock merger of equals, with current XM and Sirius shareholders each owning 50 percent of the new combined company. XM chairman Gary Parsons would be chairman of the new company and Karmazin would be CEO. If it is approved, the merger could take effect by the end of the year.

Next step...figuring out how to make those satellite radio receivers compatible. Also look for cutbacks. While satellite radio is already heavily automated, why bother with mutliple 80s channels, etc.

TIME To Go To The Video, Please

TIME Inc., the publishing arm of Time Warner, is adding video studios to the operations for 130 magazines as the brass there sees the future in online video. Sounds like we'll have all these micro-niche channels catering to psychographics online.

This announcement comes a few days after the New York Times publisher publicly wondered if he'd even be publishing the newspaper in five years. That came just a few days after the NY Times announced it was starting up it's own attempt to mirror the YouTube craze of capitalizing on user created video. The Times will add it's own version of embedded video files users post and send.

On top of that an Advertising.com study claims two-thirds of all web users are using streaming video at least once a week. I'm telling you the future of media is connected with user created content and that content includes video. That includes documentaries, guys! Ironic that you're reading about old media like newspaper, magazines and books right now in class and this stuff makes it into the news this week.

What is a documentary?

Mass Comm Assignment
Definging The Documentary

What is a documentary? According to the Film Dictionary (Steve Blandford, Barry Keith Grant, and Jim Hillier) it's "(A)ny film practice that has as its subject persons, events, or situations that exist outside the film in the real world."

How should we describe a “documentary" for the group project in this course?” How are our interpretations defined? Can the documentary definition include reality television programming, experimental films, broadcast news stories, etc.? What is the purpose of a documentary? Who watches documentaries? This assignment requires you to add to the pictures in your head of what defines a documentary. Watch examples on Current TV. How is new media changing the genre? Explore resources available in Audio Visual Services. Reflect on the programs you have watched for this cluster. Consult the experts in this domain. Even consider professional organizations like the Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

Develop a new definition of a documentary in a brief paper due by the beginning of class on Tuesday, February 17 (BLOG ENTRY) or February 20 (paper). How should we define documentaries for this course? What elements should documentaries possess? What principles should guide us in analyzing such programs? Your paper must offer thoughtful, specific examples to back up your position. You should quote authorities and attribute your research. You can analyze a long format documentary or explore a number of shorter programs from online sources. Please consider elements such as narration (or lack of), point of view, use of music or how events and sequences are edited. You can refer to techniques and styles used by specific documentaries. Your paper or blog entry should present a thoughtful, well organized and sourced argument for what you define as a documentary.