Ch 22: Academy Awards

{24th February, 2008}

The Academy Awards, more famously known as the Oscars, is an award to show technical and artistic achievements in the film industry in the US, and nowadays, from other countries too.

The 1st Academy Awards was first held in 1929, and since then, has grown to become the largest award show in the world. Its held annually by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Science (AMPAS), generally in February or March. 

The Oscars have held a huge influence on the entertainment industry for a long time, so much so that the other awards like the Emmy Awards (Television) and the Grammy Awards (Music) were modelled after it. 

And this year marks the 80th Academy Awards, which I got an invitation letter for. 

However, the Academy Awards held quite a negative reputation amongst the die hard movie fans. And I had to agree. 

Why? because of stuff like this :

Barely any non-white person being nominated or winning an award.

Giving an indie film, which is most of the time considered to be boring, an Award that a mainstream blockbuster should've gotten is just being a dick. There's also the fact that the Academy preferred biographies, dramas and historical epics, and they weren't even secretive about it. Hence, the term 'Oscar Bait', used for films that are made in a way that is right up the Academy's alley.

The Oscars weren't all bad, though. They gave indie or niche films the spotlight and brought them into the mainstream. There's a reason why the term 'Oscar bump' exists; if a niche or indie film gets nominated, then more people will go and watch it. Hence, giving it a bump in its box office revenue. 

Still, I didn't want to get on the bad side of the Academy, so I had to go to the award show, which was going to be held today. Though, I would've preferred if the invitation came for Golden Globes or BAFTA instead, but oh well.

Now obviously, neither I nor 'Halloween' are getting an award. Why? Because I didn't ask for an Oscar push, and also because it wasn't nominated. 

Nominations are generally revealed in Mid-january or early-February, so I already knew I had no shot at winning any award.

Anyways, I was currently getting dressed. A midnight blue tuxedo, with a white shirt and some black shoes that I got tailored for me. It was quite expensive, y'know?

Yes, I'm a basic and simplistic person. 

Why waste so much money and time wearing a lot of complex but stupid looking things when you can just wear simple stuff and still look great? 

To be honest, I was looking forward to the after party more than I was for the award show. Free food is free food, after all. And I'd get to make connections on top of that.

I checked how I looked in the mirror. I hadn't mentioned it yet, but Oliver, or well, me, looked quite handsome. I'm sure I could make use of this face and get more fans if I did some public appearances.

Noticing my hair looked a bit weird, I fixed it and my clothes aswell. 

After making sure that I did indeed look good, I walked out of the house and got into a fancy limousine. 

Inside of the limo, sitting in front me was a face that I had gotten quite accustomed to. 

"You're late, Oliver." Commented Mr. Bird.

"Sorry about that. Had to make sure I didn't look like a clown." I replied while getting seated, and closed the door behind me. 

Thinking about it, Christopher Bird had become a kind of a father figure to me. Especially after the filming of 'The Departed' had finished and I handed him the screenplay for 'Gladiator'. 

At my remark, Mr. Bird laughed a little.

"Let's get moving. We're running a little late after all." At his words, the limousine started moving, and I saw my new house disappear into the… horizon? Cityscape? Dunno. But you get the point.

***

{3rd Person POV}

Standing outside the Kodak theatre in Hollywood Boulevard were several interviewers and paparazzi. 

Kodak theatre was very large, with 3,400 seats inside. It opened back in November, 2001. It was specifically constructed to be the place where the annual Academy Awards were held, and it has been the place for that since the 74th Academy Awards in 2002.

And today was the day for the 80th Academy Awards, and many people from news agencies , as well as independent paparazzi,  were standing outside, with cameras in hands. This was their chance to make money, after all.

Many well known people in Hollywood were getting out of their cars and entering the theatre and completely ignoring the reporters, while many gave interviews.

Soon, a black limousine stopped in front of the theatre. From it came two individuals.

The first person was one of the most well known among film nerds. Brown hair, brown eyes, a  small beard, a black tuxedo, a white shirt with a black bow tie; it was Christopher Bird.

The second person , however, caused great interest among the other Hollywood personalities present. White flashes and *click* sounds filled the front of the theatre. Medium length black hair, amber eyes, a chiselled face, wearing a midnight blue tuxedo , white shirt and a black tie.

Yes, it was Oliver Knight. One of, if not THE youngest, 21st century directors. And he was here, at the Oscars.

The big deal wasn't that he was at the Oscars, it was the fact that he was with Christopher Bird. 

If someone was following news about either Knight or Bird, they'd know that Christopher Bird was an Executive Producer on Oliver Knight's latest film, 'The Departed'. However, the extent of their relationship was something that wasn't known and was kept private, and most people assumed that the two had a business relationship.

But both of them came together. 

'Does that mean that they were good friends', ' was Bird like a father-figure for Knight?' These kinds of thoughts filled the minds of the people who were outside of the Kodak theatre.

The flashes caught Oliver by surprise, who had thought the paparazzi wouldn't care about him and instead focus on Christopher Bird.

'Guess I was wrong.' He thought while shielding his eyes from the uncountable number of flashes that surrounded him. 

Oliver glanced at Christopher, and to his surprise, Christopher looked unfazed at the amount of attention they were getting. Oliver just smiled wryly, and sighed.

Truth be told, while Oliver wanted to be at the top of Hollywood, he wasn't really a fan of the attention it brought. He wanted fame, but in moderation.

Now, that does sound ironic, because why would someone who doesn't like too much attention want to become a King of sorts of Hollywood? But that's how humans are: complicated beings who are hard to understand. 

Fortunately for him, another car stopped at the venue, and from it came out Michael Young. Medium length black hair, green eyes, white tuxedo, black shirt and a white tie. 

His entrance had immediately taken hold of everyone's attention, forgetting about Oliver, as if he didn't even exist. 

Oliver looked back one last time.

Michael Young had gotten stuck with the paparazzis, and was giving a few interviews.

Oliver looked forward again, and heaved a sigh of relief. 'Sorry not sorry.' He thought.

Soon, both Christopher and Oliver entered the theatre and got to their seats. 

After a while, the award show began, and it was being hosted by Sebastian Rodriguez, a popular comedian. He had blond hair, brown eyes and a large grey beard. 

Sebastian was wearing a white tuxedo, with a white shirt and a red tie. 

"Good evening everybody." He began. "I'm your least favourite host, Sebastian Rodriguez." 

Laughters filled the theatre.

"And today, I'll be your host for the most hated award show in the world." Another set of laughter echoed throughout.

And like that, Sebastian gave a speech, and the actual award show began afterwards.

First were the technical awards, with 'The Secret Service: Nightfall' winning Best Cinematography and Best Sound Mixing. 

Logan Wayne, the cinematographer, walked onto the stage. Logan had been in the industry for forty years now, and had been nominated several times before. But this was the first time he won any award. 

Grabbing the Oscar, he started tearing up and started to thank his parents.

Oliver felt for him: to be finally rewarded for all the hard work you had done for so long was something you can never forget. It was an amazing feeling. 

Like that, many other films, such as 'Signal', a Sci-Fi film from Christopher Bird about aliens arriving on Earth, won Best Visual Effects and Best Sound Editing. Alan Baker won Best Supporting Actor for playing the antagonist in 'The Secret Service 4', while Ashley Miller won Best Actress for playing the mute main character in 'Fabulous Extent', a coming-of-age film.

Like that, all the winners kept getting announced, until there was only one award left: Best Picture.

"And the award for Best Picture goes to…" Everyone intently listened. This was the most prestigious award of the ceremony, as well as the final award to be given. 

Looking at the envelope in his hand, Sebastian Rodriguez announced the winner.

"The Bad is Glorious!" 

Immediately, noises of loud clapping filled the theatre. 

'The Bad is Glorious' was a western drama film, where the main character goes from being a newbie and goody-two-shoes cowboy with no connections, to someone who became feared and has as an 'I don't give a fuck' attitude at the end of the film.

The film also won Best Makeup, Best Costume Design AND Best Art Direction. Winning Best Picture was just like an icing on top of a cake. The film had showed people what it meant to 'sweep the Oscars'.

While Oliver had not watched the film, he had seen people on the internet calling it one of the best films ever created. And now that it had won the most awards this year, Oliver got a film on his 'To Watch list.

And like that, the Award show ended, and came the thing Oliver was most excited for: the after party.

~~~

A/N: Holy shit. This took so much time for me to finally start getting some ideas! I had to look up a LOT of things about the Oscars, mostly for how the speeches and jokes were.

And I was absolutely terrible at it, So I barely wrote anything for that.

This chapter was going to be longer, but I just felt tired and didn't write the rest. That part will be in Ch 23, aka tomorrow.

And yes, I finally decided to write a description for the MC

See ya later, Alligator!