Less-noticed categories deemed less important by Oscar viewers

It is Hollywood’s biggest night–Oscar night. Beautiful people in elegant attire glide down a ruby passageway while flashing lights capture their near perfection on red carpet.

Audiences around the world will tune into Sunday’s presentation of The Academy Awards to see the their favorite nominee take home the award for… Best Costume Design?

Oscar categories such as Best Costume Design and Best Original Score rarely receive the level of media coverage that awards for Best Actor or Actress and Best Original Picture do.

“It’s the idea that it is important to have sponsors and famous people give speeches to get people to watch it,” Elizabeth Payne, professor of costume design at Fresno State, said. “That’s more important to them then actually acknowledging the work that went into film that brought everybody there in the first place.”

A total of 24 Oscars will be handed out to the category winners. However, not every moment of glory will be shown on television.

“If they showed all those cateogires it would take forever,” Theatre Arts department chair Melissa Gibson said. “They make decisions on what the audiences really wants to see.”

According to the Academy Awards’ website, The Academy Awards were first televised in 1952, only four years after adding the category for Best Costume Design.

“Costumes are imoportant because they help tell a story,” Payne said. “The costume builds into the entire concept of what a character is. Sometimes the costume does its job so subtly, that it puts you in the world of those characters.”

Like costume design, a movie’s score also provides a story telling element.

“A score for movie provides an emotional backdrop,” Kenneth Froelich, A Fresno State music professor said.

“It will cue the movie viewers on what is actually going on. it provides our senses with a second emotional element that might not be immediately obvious through the visual cues themselves.”

The Academy added Best Original Score to the 7th annual awards show in 1934.

Thomas Ellis, a professor in the threatre arts department at Fresno State, says the media and studios need to hilight the importance of those categories.

“The studios and media need help place more importance on the role of design areas such as costume, set design and photography,” Ellis said. “In many cases these designs help shape mood, style and overall texture of the movie. If they’re done correctly they blend very well, but are kind of unnoticed.”

Gibson says that categories get overlooked due to the public’s own ignorance.

“In some ways it’s the ignorance of the public,” Gibson said. “People think that movies and theatre performances are all about the actors. People don’t see that there are a hundred other people standing behind those actors doing the technical things.”