NewsBite

How technology stole the show at the Oscars

SOCIAL media and shiny gadgets took a star turn at this year’s Academy Awards. From the superstar selfie to award-winning movies, technology made the bash more entertaining.

James Billington Technology Reporter
3 min read
March 4, 2014 - 6:15PM
NewsComAu
Technology managed to weave itself into the storyline of this year’s Oscars awards and became a star in the process.
Technology managed to weave itself into the storyline of this year’s Oscars awards and became a star in the process.

THE 2014 Oscars wasn’t only about awards, A-list movie stars, glamorous dresses and lots of shiny teeth. This year we saw technology steal the show.

If you didn’t notice, the integration of technology into this year’s star-studded bash was as subtle as Leonardo Di Caprio performing a cameo in an am-dram play. But Hollywood doesn’t do subtle. Despite a selfie being as much a talking point as the winning movies and actors, in many ways technology gave the night that little bit more dazzle.

From the first moments the movie stars hit the red carpet there was a 360-degree camera called Fashion Turn waiting for them to snap what they’re wearing and instantly upload to Vine — the video clip sharing app on Twitter.

There was a mini cam (or, Mani Cam) for stars to show off their manicures and then there was blimp cam. This was a controlled, hovering craft fitted with a camera to give the worldwide audience a bird’s eye view of the red carpet.

If only the television network followed in cricket’s technological footsteps and brought out a heat-sensing camera too — then we really would have seen who was nervous.

A panel of presenters from entertainment channel E! were sat behind a perfectly-placed array of Samsung Galaxy tablets where Kelly Osbourne conveniently claimed her dad (Ozzy) was crazy about Samsung and only has Samsung stuff in their house. Hmm, really?

We seem to recall an episode of the Osbournes reality show where he couldn’t even operate a kitchen drawer.

The tech-laden coverage continued as Oscar reporters haranguing stars as they filtered in constantly spoke of the multi-cast app and website so those not near a TV could watch the live event.

But the tech didn’t stop outside. It played a starring role in the whole awards show.

In years past we would have seen Billy Crystal stand at the pulpit, crack a few one-liners, shimmy out a segue and introduce people to the stage. With Ellen DeGeneres being this year’s MC she was interactive and slinging social media.

News_Image_File: That white Samsung Galaxy Note took a starring role.

Throughout her hosting she constantly paraded around a bright white Samsung Galaxy Note 3, snapping selfies with stars as they sat. Then, with the now-very-obvious handset, she took a superstar selfie with Bradley Cooper, Meryl Streep, Brad Pit, Angelina Jolie, Jennifer Lawrence — so many famous faces they couldn’t all fit in. Ellen wanted to break the world record for the most retweets ever and when she uploaded it, it took the site down from the amount of people logging on to see it.

News_Image_File: Record breakers. This selfie is the most retweeted photo of all time.

Needless to say she made history with the tweet and amassed more than two million retweets within hours, eclipsing the previous record holder, which was President Obama’s victory speech image.

Cue the internet and within minutes there were memes-a-plenty of this selfie. Nicholas Cage faces, Grumpy Cat, sports stars and awkward references to the failed Liza Minnelli photobomb attempt. We became so preoccupied with the flood of internet funnies we almost forgot about the show was still going.

News_Image_File: One of the many memes to follow from the celebrity snap.

So social media was a star turn, but the award-winning movies themselves also waved the flag for technology.

Gravity is one of the biggest, most award-heavy movies this year. Its depiction of Sandra Bullock’s survival against a space catastrophe was made doable thanks to the incredible CGI effects, which is why it took home the gong for best visual effects.

NASA was so excited about the inevitable flood of awards it posted ‘real-life’ Gravity-style pictures from the International Space Station on its Twitter feed throughout the day.

The award for best original screenplay went to Spike Jonze for Her — a story about a man falling in love with his operating system, which highlighted the assimilation human and machines could face in the future.

Google is just one tech company currently working on making the computing experience for humans and with the likes of the mobile phone personal assistant Siri and wearable tech slowly advancing onto our bodies, it’s not too far-fetched. Especially if it’s voiced by Scarlett Johansson.

We’ve got another year to see how the tech stakes can be raised for the next Oscars awards. How would you like see technology make the Oscars even more entertaining? Join the conversation on Twitter @newscomauHQ

More related stories

Original URL: https://www.news.com.au/how-technology-stole-the-show-at-the-oscars/news-story/fc48c2c6a52b215a3a9e945fcc0f258f