Monday, March 08, 2010

Drawing Inspiration

Every year, I watch the Oscars to see which movies will take home the prize and of those, I will try to see how many of them I have actually seen or will see (thanks to their winning an Oscar). But I also like to listen to the acceptance speeches, not just of the big winners but also of the little guys. Or who I term 'the little guys' because of the fact that they are the people who work behind the scenes and that the Oscar show producers rarely give more than ten seconds to say their speeches. These are the guys who don't have glamourous roles or even get doted on by make-up artists and directors. These are the people who toil behind the scenes and are just as much a part of making a movie as anyone else. These are the production support personnel.


For many years, I paid keen interest to the original score category because film music is something that has been very dear to me for many years. I rejoiced when composers I knew or scores that I loved took home Oscar gold and I enjoyed listening to the music for days thereafter knowing that it wasn't just me that thought the music was good, but professionals in the voting public of Hollywood. Last evening's 82nd Oscar Ceremony was no different and I took particular inspiration from the speech that composer Michael Giachinno gave upon winning for his score for "Up". To paraphrase, Giachinno stated that he hoped to give inspiration to those kids who may not have had the support that he did. He wanted kids to know that being creative wasn't a bad thing and that with hard work and perseverence would pay off. I am a firm believer in that.


Looking back on the ceremony last night, I think that was a common theme that was carried out throughout the evening. I know that almost all ceremonies have winners thanking their inspirations but last night was a little different. Maybe I was paying attention to it some more or maybe I heard it with a different set of ears, but even in montage clips with statements by past short film winners like John Lassiter (I believe he was the one who said it) raised the point that today we are in a state of technological development where a kid with a laptop and an idea can come up with an idea and make it into a movie with a bit of hard work. It's so true.


Today the technology exists that with a little bit of inspiration you can get some of your friends together and you can make your own movie, create your own music or do whatever your creative desires wish. Hearing so many people make statements last night was inspiring. It was heartening to know that people who have such passion really do make it and that they are recognized for their efforts. While I applaud the actors and actresses and directors and producers, I applaud all the more the people who work behind the scenes and actually 'make' the films that we love. I mean after all, if it weren't for the technical wizards behind the visuals and sound effects in "Avatar" it simply would have always remained a vision in the head of James Cameron.

Labels:

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home