Academy Awards 2021: Producers reveal ceremony will be shot like a movie

It was inevitable the Oscars would undergo changes amid a pandemic, but producers are overhauling the whole production.

The Oscars will look very different from past years, and not just because of the pandemic.

After dips in viewership of not only the Academy Awards but various high-profile entertainment award shows, this year’s ceremony has been reinvented by producers Steven Soderbergh, Stacey Sher and Jesse Collins.

During a recent press conference, Soderbergh, also a famed director, revealed some of the changes he’s made to the ceremony, which takes places on Monday, Australian time.

“It’s not going to be like anything that’s been done before,” he said, explaining the presenters will have larger roles than simply opening an envelope.

The Erin Brockovich director, 58, said the show, held at the Art Deco Union Station in downtown Los Angeles, will be shot like a movie with presenters, including Brad Pitt, Halle Berry and more “playing themselves, or at least a version of themselves”.

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Last year’s Best Supporting Actor winner Brad Pitt will be presenting an award at this year’s Oscars. Picture: Rachel Luna/Getty Images

Additionally, the Academy is doing away with the 45-second acceptance speech, instead, they will give winners “space”.

“We’ve encouraged them to tell a story, and to say something personal,” Soderbergh said.

As was expected, strict coronavirus safety protocols will be in place that have been used throughout the industry.

Additionally, epidemiologists, who collaborated with Soderbergh on the film Contagion, were also consulted extensively.

“Masks are going to play a very important role in the story,” said the producer.

“That topic is very central to the narrative.”

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Celebrities will gather in hubs around the world for the ceremony. Picture: Richard Harbaugh. Picture: A.M.P.A.S. via Getty Images

Soderbergh also previously noted that presenters will be “essentially the storytellers for each chapter” of the evening.

“When you see cast members go up to give awards, you’ll see a connection,” Collins said.

“It won’t be two people walking up that just met in the green room who are struggling to stick with the teleprompter.”

It was revealed weeks ago that nominees were required to be in attendance rather than participating remotely via a video call, but the Academy quickly walked back on that policy, though nominees calling in remotely will not do so over Zoom, but instead via satellite hook-ups from venues around the world.

Ahead of the ceremony itself will be an hour-and-a-half pre-show that will include the traditional performances of this year’s Oscar-nominated original songs that were recorded in advance on the roof of the new Academy Museum in Los Angeles, and in Iceland.

The songs total a run time of roughly 18 minutes.

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Celebrities will also hit the red carpet before the ceremony, with coverage kicking off from 7am AEST on Monday.

E! Live From the Red Carpet at the Academy Awards kicks off on Foxtel from 7am on Monday, April 26, with the ceremony to follow on Channel 7.

This article originally appeared on Fox News and was reproduced with permission

Originally published as Academy Awards 2021: Producers reveal ceremony will be shot like a movie