Chapter 404: Creating History Is Difficult

Before the Oscars ceremony officially begins, the time allotted for celebrities to walk the red carpet and conduct interviews is actually quite long.

From 3:00 PM Los Angeles time until 5:00 PM, those two hours are entirely red carpet time.

By 5:00 PM, when the red carpet time ends, most guests and their families have already entered the awards hall, with the exception of some A-list stars or major award contenders who are still giving interviews to various media outlets.

The half-hour from 5:00 to 5:30 is considered time for freshening up or touching up makeup; the awards ceremony will officially begin at 5:30.

Some stars will take advantage of this half-hour gap to grab a bite to eat, because the Oscars ceremony is very long, and three and a half hours is quite difficult to endure.

Of course, those eating at this time are almost exclusively male stars; female stars would rather go hungry than eat at this moment.

It is too troublesome for them to use the restroom; first, the clothes are difficult to put on and take off, and second, they would certainly need to touch up their makeup afterward—there simply isn't that much time.

For these female stars, every second that the camera occasionally sweeps over them during the Oscars ceremony is exceptionally precious, as it is a chance to appear before a global audience, and no one would miss that just to use the restroom.

Therefore, this leads many female stars to not only stop eating and drinking from the day before, but even wear adult diapers on the day of the ceremony to handle special circumstances.

The Oscars are also very well-versed in the ways of the world.

Cao Yang promised Academy President Sid Ganis that he would present the Best Director award alongside last year's winner, Martin Scorsese.

Consequently, the production team for *New Pirates of the Caribbean* was seated next to the team for *The Fault in Our Stars*, which spared Cao Yang the dilemma of which group to sit with.

After all, if *The Fault in Our Stars* were to win Best Picture or Best Adapted Screenplay, it would not be appropriate for Cao Yang to stand up from the *New Pirates of the Caribbean* side to accept the award.

However, it is likely that Disney CEO Robert Iger would be happy to see such a situation, and would most likely have his subsidiary ABC "inadvertently" provide a few extra shots of him.

He is currently using every possible means to ensure *New Pirates of the Caribbean* reaches $1 billion.

At 9:30 AM Beijing time, 5:30 PM Los Angeles time, the main lights in the Kodak Theatre dimmed, and amidst the applause of the guests, the ambient lights gradually brightened; the 80th Academy Awards ceremony officially began.

Host Jon Stewart was quite direct, starting off by poking fun at the writers' strike.

"I can't believe you're all here."

The guests in the theater knew what he was referring to, and thus gave a round of good-natured applause.

Jon Stewart continued: "The past three and a half months have been tough; the bitter writers' strike tore Hollywood apart. I am glad this struggle is over."

As he spoke, he tossed the cue cards in his hand, shrugged his shoulders, and added: "But unfortunately, members of the Writers Guild refused to write scripts for the Golden Globes and the Oscars during the strike.

So, before the Oscars opened, the president personally begged me to host this unscripted Oscars, because as everyone knows, I am also a member of the Writers Guild, and a particularly witty and articulate one at that.

Oh, shit, where are my cue cards? What am I supposed to do next?"

Jon Stewart pretended to be in a panic, pacing back and forth, which made the guests in the audience burst into laughter.

Afterward, Jon Stewart acted as if he had given up and said: "Forget it, I don't know what to do next, so let's just introduce the movies."

After Jon Stewart rambled for a while, tonight's first presenter, Jennifer Garner, began to take the stage to present the first award: Best Costume Design.

The order of the Oscars awards often changes; specifically, other than Best Picture being presented last, the order of the other awards varies, and sometimes even Best Director is not necessarily the second-to-last award presented.

However, generally speaking, the three most important awards—Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Director—along with the final award, Best Picture, are the major prizes presented at the end.

Penny Rose, sitting behind and to the left of Cao Yang, was visibly nervous; she was the costume designer for *New Pirates of the Caribbean* and had been nominated for Best Costume Design.

There were five films nominated for Best Costume Design, and Jennifer Garner briefly introduced the importance of costumes in film before speaking into the microphone:

"And the Oscar for Best Costume Design goes to..."

She opened the envelope, took a look, and said softly: "*Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl*, Penny Rose, congratulations."

Penny Rose, in disbelief, covered the lower half of her face and looked left and right; only when the applause started did she stand up, her face full of excitement.

Cao Yang turned around and watched Penny Rose, clapping lightly.

He hadn't expected *New Pirates of the Caribbean* to get off to such a good start, winning the very first award.

But thinking about it, it was reasonable.

When Disney was campaigning for awards, Robert Iger, as Disney CEO, had personally greenlit the reboot of *New Pirates of the Caribbean*; it concerned his authority and even his position, so within his power, he certainly pulled many strings.

He had previously served as CEO of Disney's subsidiary, ABC, and since ABC was the broadcaster for the Oscars, he still held influence over some key members.

After the initial excitement, Penny Rose did not rush to the stage to accept the award; instead, she leaned over to hug Cao Yang, who was still seated, and said with a beaming smile: "Thank you, thank you for giving me this opportunity."

For most people, the weight of technical awards certainly cannot compare to major prizes like Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Director, or Best Picture.

Many people don't even pay much attention to who wins the technical awards, feeling they are somewhat expendable.

But for behind-the-scenes staff, winning an Oscar for a technical category is a "leap," instantly elevating them to top-tier industry talent.

It also signals that they will have the qualifications to choose their films in the future and work with more big directors and stars; most importantly, their compensation will also "soar."

In her acceptance speech, the first person Penny Rose thanked was Cao Yang.

This year, the Oscars did not specifically present any major awards early on to attract attention; perhaps they felt the Oscars were already "invincible" and didn't need such gimmicks?

First was Best Costume Design, followed by Best Animated Feature, Best Makeup, Best Visual Effects, and Best Art Direction; these first five awards were not the major ones recognized by the general public.

Even though Best Visual Effects and Best Art Direction are considered important awards, only the Oscars would have the confidence to keep the audience engaged using such "non-universal" categories.

If it were one of the three major European film festivals, it certainly wouldn't work.

In recent years, the three major European festivals have always placed a traditional major award early in the ceremony to retain the audience.

It is worth mentioning that although *New Pirates of the Caribbean* did not win Best Makeup, losing to *La Vie en Rose*, it did win Best Visual Effects.

Of the three nominated categories presented so far, they were three-for-two, which seemed like a good omen.

Finally, a significant award was presented: Best Supporting Actor, which went to Javier Bardem for *No Country for Old Men*.

Among the other four candidates he defeated was Casey Affleck, who played Norrington in *New Pirates of the Caribbean*.

However, Casey Affleck was not nominated for *New Pirates of the Caribbean*; he received his Best Supporting Actor nomination for *The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford*.

*The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford* was produced by Warner Bros. and was greenlit as early as the beginning of 2005, with filming starting in August 2005 and wrapping in December.

However, the film's release was delayed again and again. According to Warner Bros.' public statements, the reason it took two years to be released was that the company had high expectations for the film from the very beginning of its development.

After the initial cut, the film was test-screened multiple times and sent back for re-editing at the audience's request, striving for the most perfect version for the final release, which is why it was delayed for nearly two years...