#MediaMonday: Fantasy Academy Awards

Good Morning Everyone,

Academy Award season is (finally) upon us. On April 25th, the 93rd Academy Awards will, at long last, air from the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles and I, for one, am thrilled.

Not only does this mean that we are getting back into the groove of normal screen culture in the United States, but it also means that I get to do one of my favorite spring semester lessons that I wanted to share with all of you:

The Fantasy Academy Awards!

So, here's how it goes: 

• Make a quiz in Canvas, Google Classroom, Blackboard or just a classic paper quiz that features every Academy Award category with the 2021 nominees as multiple choices. 

• Have the students fill out their predictions. 

• After the awards, go back into the quiz and change the correct answers to the winners.

• Get the 4 highest scores and rank them as 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and Honorable mentions. 

• Announce the results to the kids and then, (if funding permits), I like to give the winner a $25 Fandango card. 

• Now, here is what this does: 

Whether we would like to admit it or not, the Academy Awards have a giant impact on world cinema. It basically sends a message to the masses about what films are great and which are not worth watching. Students of film need to be aware of how the Oscars can sway public opinion about films and what effect that has on the world market. 

It's an odd thing to watch, but shortly after every Academy Awards, people will say things like, "have you seen this brand-new movie that just came out called Parasite?" and things like, "I heard that Mad Max: Fury Road was a really good film". People look to these winners to be the greatest, newest, and best. 

By having students do this simple little contest, you will see two things happen:

• Students will become strangely invested in the outcomes of their predictions (I think the $25 Fandango card helps).

• Students will engage with and understand more about the selections of these films than ever before in their lives. 

You can extend this lesson further and have a post-Oscars discussion about which films they felt like were wronged and which films deserved the awards. This step is important for students to understand that films are chosen on more than just audience appeal. 

If you are looking for a fun activity around Oscar season, this is it. I promise it's worth it and the kids will love it. 

Talk to you soon,

Josh Cantrell