Leonardo DiCaprio has finally won his first Oscar for survival epic The Revenant, no surprises there. He was named best actor at the 88th Academy Awards. Spotlight took home best picture, a little surprising considering the strong list of contenders. Mad Max: Fury Road picked up the most Oscars of the night with six. Mark Rylance won best supporting actor Oscar for this role in Bridge of Spies, a worthy winner.
The variety of films vying to win an Oscar demonstrates many different ways to tell a story – some of which work in your corporate video.
Amy
Winner in the Best Documentary category, the documentary about tragic singer Amy Winehouse uses narrative. There’s no script, just each participant telling their own story. It’s authentic because it’s told in their own words – there’s no censorship. This style can take time and patience, but it’s extremely powerful.
Mad Max – Fury Road
Six-time winner, this film relies heavily on imagery rather than dialogue. There’s a small amount of dialogue, but the viewer is made to feel emotion via the power of the images. Provoking feeling via an amazing impression is often used in corporate video to communicate a sense of pride in the company or the work the firm is doing.
The Revenant
Put aside the gory scenes (surprisingly, there’s not a great deal of demand for a bear in a corporate video), the story telling in this film is done through the eyes of one man. There are other contributors, of course, but the film is his journey and experiences. If using one person to narrate a corporate video, it’s important have someone with the ability to carry the audience with them. The Revenant won 3 awards on the night including Best Director.
Bridge of Spies
Whereas the Revenant is one person’s story, this film presents a 360 view. It’s of course heavily biased towards the point of view of the Tom Hanks character James Donovan, and his role in defending Russian spy Rudolf Adel (Mark Rylance – Best Supporting Actor). But the fear felt from Mrs Donovan, the indifference of the FBI and even the desperation of the crowd in cold-war East Berlin all add to the overall story. In corporate video, it can be effective to use lots of different voices from different sides to get a fuller, richer picture.
As winning an Oscar is the pinnacle of careers for many in the movie business, I wonder what it would be like to be a winner for an Oscar for ‘Best Corporate Video’?
Our bit of fun with the Oscars.
