Document text
http:// --> Ashland, Oregon HOME Valley & State Sports Nation & World Opinion/Editorial Classifieds Business Columnists Local Issues Obituaries Weather Archive Revels Etcetera Backpage Hot Topics Most Viewed Forum Photo Galleries Video Readers Polls O-Zone Online Games Movie Preview Special Sections Real Estate Guide Menu Guide Shakespeare Subscribe Contact Us Rate Card Place an Ad Top Galleries: February 24, 2007 The Tidings Picks By Chris Honoré Tidings Correspondent Hollywood filmmakers — actors, directors, cinematographers, screenwriters — will assemble on Sunday, February 25, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood and Highland Center, for the award ceremony known as the Oscars. It is a celebration of the many people who are involved in the creation of an industry which melds art and technology, resulting in what we still think of as the moving pictures. But this year's 79th Academy Awards, perhaps more so than any previous, will take place in an entertainment milieu that is rapidly changing, perhaps best symbolized by a young moviegoer hooked up to a video iPod, spaghetti headphones in place, watching "Pirates of the Caribbean." Or a family contentedly ensconced on the L-shaped family sofa in front of a home entertainment center with state-of-the-art 50 inch plasma screen and sound equipment, watching a film downloaded from their computer onto a DVD on the same day it was released to theatres. Asking said family to leave home and drive to a local theatre, pay for refreshments, and then sit in even the most comfortable stadium seating will increasingly be a hard sell. As a result, theatres and the technology used to screen films — digital projectors and new avenues of distribution — are in flux as are the audiences' expectations. Those in the industry have known for years that actual movie theatres bring in far less revenue to filmmakers than adjunct sales of DVDs, rentals, pay-per-view, and sales to television. Hence film studios have concluded that the first breaking weekend featuring what is referred to as a "tent pole" or blockbuster movie, with the multimillion dollar ad campaigns that precedes it, are mere launching platforms for later ancillary sales. Even with spectacular first weekend openings, followed by several more weeks of strong attendance, a major motion picture may not break even. Profits will come when residuals begin to stream in. Likely, the experience of buying a ticket and walking into a theatre to watch a movie will be with us for decades to come. As will the annual Oscar night event, a gumbo of cult celebrity, fashions, America's own brand of kitsch, and films du jour. Billions will watch worldwide, for regardless of how very Hollywood this night may seem, filmmaking is now worldwide entertainment, so compelling that Mongolian nomads, sitting warmly in their yurt, thousands of miles away, will watch intensely as an actress walks precariously up red carpeted steps in her Armani dress, resplendent in Harry Winston diamonds, to accept a gold statue. Leave a Comment: Advertisement: Advertisement: Paid Advertising: Debt Help Inkjet Printers Payday Loans Free Ringtones Debt Consolidation Security Systems Debt Relief New Hampshire Primary Advertisement: Copyright © 2007 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers. All Rights Reserved. Del.icio.us