It’s no secret that the academy are trying to produce the best, most commercial-friendly Oscar telecast imaginable. After all, that’s why they tried to nab Chris Rock and Dwayne Johnson as hosts of the whole megilah, which turned out to be a total fail due to backlash, of the former’s past tweets. Ditto the failed Best Popular Oscar category which was quickly axed this past September and was, admit it, a rating-grabbing attempt.
Another change this year will be the announcement of winners during commercial break, a decently thought-out venture but which I had no idea would include the axing of the Cinematography category.
Of all the categories that could be put on the commercial break back burner, you would think the Academy would have the decency to air the winner of the Cinematography award, an important part of the visual creative process, maybe only second to the director, and a technical aspect of film which has become more popular in recent years due to the emergence into the mainstream of such stalwarts as Emmanuel Lubezski and Roger Deakins. Blasphemy.
According to THR, Other affected categories will include editing, live action short and the category of makeup and hairstyling. The winners' speeches will air later during the broadcast, no doubt in redacted fashion.