The Oscars

Hello again! Hope all my readers have had a good week and hopefully watched the Oscars last night! It was, at least from my view, the best Oscar show I have ever seen in my twenty years of being alive. I bring up the topic of the Oscars because this year they incorporated technology into the program to interact with the audience in a new and innovative way.

The first innovative way I noticed was when Justin Timberlake used the iPhone to change the screen’s background behind them to change it to the right images. Now apple, I must say pulled a smart move by compromising with the Academy to place that small skit into the program, it’s a great source of product placement for the product while simultaneously creating humor because it is known by everyone that there is nothing the iPhone can’t do. The Academy framed this skit by the screen image in the background was a “mistake” and someone had to fix it fast. Thanks to technology though, Justin Timberlake was able to fix the problem right on the spot with a simple app the iPhone has. While watching the skit, I realized how this can be interpreted as conveying an underlying message illustrating how technology has come to fix the problems people have done. How in order to function in society and to put on a workable showcase, technology has become a main worker to make sure all parts function properly. Basically in simple words, technology has become something we hate but can only love it the more we hate it.

The second innovative aspect of the show was the teleprompter with Bob Hope. Now this part blew my mind! The Academy has Billy Crystal come out as a host and he explains how he has hosted the Oscars many times in his life but not as many as Bob Hope had done. After his speech, the stage lights darken, and a teleprompter with Bob Hope appears with Bob Hope in it. The stage is quickly decorated in Bob Hope’s decorum and the electronic Bob Hope says hi to Billy Crystal and then goes on to announce the next award. Now Bob Hope passed away in 2003, so I was shocked when his electronic self interacted with human beings.  This skit has taken interaction with technology to a whole new level. Its demonstrated how today, we have gained the ability to manipulate old footage to interact as if they were alive and social with us today.

These two innovative skits involving technology to interact with the audience and the hosts of the Oscars were mind blowing. To know our society now has the ability to use technology as if they were people is a huge step forward. Who knows what we will see next year at the Oscars and in general what the future holds for technological developments. With that said, what do you guys think about what I have discussed? Are there any other examples you guys can think of? If so, post them in the comments below! I would love to read what you guys have to say! Until next time!