The Departed: Oscar Winner & It Translates to Video

There have certainly been other films directed by Martin Scorsese deserving the Best Director and the Best Picture Awards, but this year it finally happened. The Departed winning BEST PICTURE has convinced me to look closely at the clips online and I've added the movie to my Netflix queue. The clips I've watched seem to have that intimacy with closeups and storytelling that I'm convinced is key to translating a film to home video where most voting Academy members view nominated pictures. I'll blog more once I see it later this week. But here are some other clips showcasing the film. It even appears to translate well for online viewing.

The Emmy Test: Putting My Thesis About The Power of TV as an Intimate Medium To the Test

I did not see a single marquee this past year featuring the title of any of the films nominated for Best Picture. Add to my ignorance the fact I have now use Netflix instead of my local video store. When I browse my Netflix account online I gravitate to the HOT current releases-- but I bypassed The Departed. I ordered Man of the Year instead. It's not that Man of the Year is Oscar-worthy...it just sounds more fun to watch when you're tired of shoveling snow. That said, I'll put money on Little Miss Sunshine or The Queen as the winner. I sense both translate better to DVD and home viewing over the others.



As for The Queen, it may translate to home viewing best, since it's based heavily around the death of Princess Diana-- a live news event that played out on television. My thesis for picking the Best Picture is based around what translates well for the home viewer. It's tied to stories dependent on close-ups and relationships. Stories built around grand, sweeping wideshots such as epics don't shift to television sets well-- perhaps HDTV will help with that. Think about this-- most of the voting members of the Academy don't go to the theater to screen films-- and since they get freebie DVDs from the studios to screen in the privacy of their own homes (and most probably watch in their bedrooms or kitchens now), the quieter, interpersonal stories dependent on close-ups win in this day and age. These are the movies that are visually ready for television-- and become more memorable. Don't agree? Consider which movie was more important and clearly a BETTER film: Saving Private Ryan or Shakespeare in Love? Shakespeare in Love received the Best Picture Oscar.



Let's consider last year. I predicted the win for Crash over Brokeback Mountain.



While Brokeback was really Romeo and Juliet with a gay twist, it was embedded in the grand, sweeping vistas of Ang Lee's vision of a theatrical film release targeting the big screen viewers. Crash is perfect for television viewing. The movie was even shot and edited like a television drama. The director's career spanned heavily across the television landcape and included associations with a number of popular shows from sitcoms and L.A. Law. It also helped that Crash was set in L.A. and with nearly every voting member in the Academy living in the Los Angeles area, it had the hometown crowd. Babel and Letters From Iwo Jima look like movies made for the "big screen" from the trailers. So I'll bet on The Queen or Little Miss Sunshine as the stories as well as the visual storytelling techniques are cloesly connected to the intimacy that connects with viewers at home via the television screen.

ENG Lured Me Away From My Hollywood Dreams

I don’t recall having great aspirations when I was a kid—other than I didn’t want to be a coal miner like my dad. BTW, he’s finally retiring from this year with more than 40 years behind him in hard labor.


In high school I developed an interest in applying to film school to become a director or producer. I’m such a geek—George Lucas was my god at the time. I wanted to become the next Lucas or Spielberg. I saw Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark too many times in the theater (those were the days before video and DVD releases). I remember buying one ticket and sticking around for all the shows that afternoon. Then I saw Alien and developed a fondness for suspense and horror. Imagine what The Shining with Jack Nicholson did to my young mind...

Unfortunately, there are no film schools in West Virginia. My family was supportive in my choice to go to college, but Mom and Dad insisted I stay close to home. Perhaps a fine American Baptist school, despite being a United Methodist. So I landed at Alderson-Broaddus College in the Speech Communications program focused on broadcasting. After a class in journalism and working at WQAB in radio news I landed a full-time job at WELK in nearby Elkins doing the news. I immediately made the jump as a one-man band journalist at WBOY-TV. My path wandered Down East to WITN in North Carolina. Later it took me to KSBH in Kansas City then to the University of Kansas and KUJH & KJHK. I found myself at WPXI in Pittsburgh and then this crazy road brought me here to Titan Radio and WCN. Some how my journey skewed toward news and I’ve been a broadcast journalist since I started this back in 1985.

Hitting the Road at 70 for that U.S. Route 50 Trip

This week's blog directive courtesy Amy L.:
"Imagine waking up tomorrow morning in your seventies. What is the one thing that you refuse to let yourself miss out on in life and just HAVE to do before you're gone? Be specific."

When I was a teenager I always wanted to drive cross country and follow an old scenic route like U.S. 50 which runs through my home state of West Virginia (not far from where I grew up). I guess I'd like to find a comfortable and stylish ride and drive cross country from Ocean City, Maryland, to Sacramento, California. That's 3,037 miles of what I've always imagined as real America.

When I was 16 and learning to drive, my aspiration was to drive to Sacramento and then head south to Los Angeles and go to college there. That never happened. I ended up going to college (Go Battlers!) just south of where I grew up without the exotic road trip or attending film school. What a weird journey life can take you on when you have an idea for a direction one day and then 10 years later your in a completely different place.



I guess a trip along U.S. 50 might come with such distractions and you'd want to get off the main road and check out some of the sites along the way. You never know what you might discover or who you will meet. WOW! Look at the metaphor Amy helped me create for "life" with this blog entry.

The Million Dollar Fantasy

This week, BC 602 student Mike Wolenski frames our blog assignment. Here's what he wrote as he directs our efforts:

"For those of you who have seen Office Space you should know where I'm going with this, for those of you who haven't - shame on you. The purpose of this blog is to focus on your dreams and ambitions. Answer the question "what would you do if you had a million dollars and didn't have to work?"

My Response
WHOO HOO! Someone Can Quit!
A cool $1-million would make it nice-- but I can't quit. A million dollars is not what it use to be. Heck, they hand it out as prize money on game shows now. Lots of houses in my community cost more than that. I would find some savvy financial planners and do some major investing to make sure I could let my wife retire now and work with our daughter Emma. This would also allow her to take classes and explore new interests. Creating some sound investments with a million bucks would present us with an opportunity to build the type of home Emma could grow with and accommodate her needs. Of course I'd continue with my position at Westminster. I like what I do. I'm happy with where I am and the people I interact with (students and faculty). However, when I finish with my terminal degree I'd love to focus on allowing my wife to discover new opportunties. My passion has clearly shifted to my family's needs and dreams. Nearly ten years Tess changed my world. A million dollar nest egg would seriously let me invest in her, Emma and Amy and perhaps other little Weavers. That kind of money would afford me the peace of mind and financial freedom to focus on becoming a better parent and teacher. Geez- does it always come down to money?