The Academy Awards are less than 127 hours away. While most people haven’t seen all 10 Best Picture nominees, the Oscar-nominated reels may still be experienced through the revelry of mobile, digital and social initiatives. For moviegoers who still want the big screen experience of dreams and swans before Sunday, AMC Theatres offers the final chance with its Best Picture Spotlight.
If you can’t commit to a movie marathon this weekend, the Academy, as well as media and technology companies, have created digital popcorn for snacking on the Oscar experience before Sunday.
The Academy
The Oscars and nominated movies are omnipresent in digital media and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is showing true grit with its promotional campaign. ABC, the official broadcast partner for the Oscars through 2020, created the Oscar Backstage Pass, a companion app for the telecast that offers live camera views from the red carpet, the Kodak Theatre and the Governor’s Ball. Available for the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad, the $0.99 app (iTunes link) gives viewers directorial powers previously limited to a select few. Out of the nine camera angles offered in the Kodak Theatre, including Host Cam, Thank You Cam and Audience Cam, the most intriguing may be Control Booth Cam. When a winner’s speech exceeds the time limit, this viewpoint could possibly give us the Cue Music Cam.
For those who prefer the free experience, download “The Oscars” mobile app for access to the latest news and events or try to predict the winners in all 24 categories. Currently, 23 percent of The Oscars app users think “The King’s Speech” will win Best Picture, while “The Social Network” is second with 18 percent. The only runaway favorite is Natalie Portman, with 71 percent believing that she’ll dance away with Best Actress.
Walk down Broadway about 20 blocks from the New York City Ballet and you’ll find yourself next to an interactive display called The Oscar Experience. Fans can have their picture taken next to a virtual Oscar statuette. Some hold the statue, while others prefer to smile or cry as if they are giving an acceptance speech. The photo galleries may be viewed on the Academy’s Facebook page.
Google is tracking the global search trends for the Oscar nominees in an easy-to-use tool appropriately called Oscar Search Trends. The charts for all categories may be customized for the last 30 days, the last 12 months or all years. Obscure international search results include the following: “Inception” leads all searches among Visual Effects nominees with Singapore driving the volume above India, while “Inside Job” leads Documentary Feature nominees with Portugal edging out Canada in volume. “Black Swan” leads all Best Picture nominees in global search popularity. And if you know Google, they prefer “Black Swan” searches over black hat search engine optimization.
The cinematic characters and the actors who potray them will surely be a focal point of the tweets that Oscar watchers will post on Sunday. Follow the #Oscars hashtag on Twitter to see a continuous stream of comments on all things Oscar — the winners, the fashion, the jokes, the speeches, the surprises, the parties and the totally inappropriate or irrelevant. For a more intimate and insightful Oscar experience, follow the tweets of these Oscar nominees:
- James Franco (@jamesfranco) – Co-host of the Oscars and nominated for Best Actor (“127 Hours”)
- Mark Ruffalo (@mruff221) – Nominated for Best Supporting Actor (“The Kids Are All Right”)
- Helena Bonham Carter (@_HelenaBCarter_) – Nominated for Best Supporting Actress (“The King’s Speech”)
- Trent Reznor (@trent_reznor) – Nominated for Best Music, Original Score (“The Social Network”) with Atticus Ross
AOL
You may want to believe that “The Kids Are All Right,” but in kid reenactments of the Best Picture nominees, the kids are all ridiculous. Yes, ridiculously cute and cut-throat, as in “The Social Network” clip (below), or cute and cut-arm in “127 Hours.”
GetGlue
While you’re watching Sunday’s telecast on ABC and seeing the accuracy of your picks dwindle with each category, find comfort in something that truly sticks — such as an official Oscars sticker from GetGlue, a social network that enables entertainment check-ins. It may not be “The Social Network,” but it’s one of many digitally choreographed programs attempting to get movie fans glued to the Oscars.
Have you participated in any digital Oscar engagement programs or plan to watch Sunday night’s show? Share your favorite digital enhancements to the show in the comments below.
Nick Mendoza is the director of digital communications at Zeno Group. He advises consumer, entertainment and Web companies on digital and social media engagement. He dreamstreams and is the film correspondent for MediaShift. Follow him on Twitter @NickMendoza.