Dominating Hollywood: Starting with Scarlett

Chapter 85 Selection Award

Selection for the MTV Video Music Awards officially begins on July 7.

Famous music critics from major music magazines across the United States, as well as some authoritative media figures, have gathered in New York because this year's awards ceremony will be held at New York's Radio City Music Hall.

This year's MTV Video Music Awards has a total of 15 regular awards, 6 professional awards and 7 regional International Audience Choice Awards. There are 6 nominations for each award, which is both professional and popular. It can be said that this is one of the two most watched award ceremonies in the American music industry this year.

Media personality Black Jack is one of the music critics invited to participate in the selection this year.

"Hey Jack, long time no see."

"Long time no see, Mr. Thompson." Standing in front of him at this time was a short, fashionable, middle-aged man with a jacket and a sweatshirt. He is not only a shareholder of MTV, the world's largest music television network, but also a shareholder of this time. The person in charge of the selection and awards ceremony.

Logically speaking, given his age, he should be more interested in classical and jazz music, but he prefers rock and other pop songs. I often go to concerts around the world, and I usually take the initiative to take photos with pop music singers.

"Jack, this year is really a big year for music videos, you know what I'm talking about." Thompson smiled and patted his arm, looking a little excited.

"Of course, I also have many favorite MVs."

“But don’t let your personal preferences affect your ratings, just go in.”

"Okay, Mr. Thompson."

Jack politely chatted with him and then walked into the auditorium. There were red curtains everywhere, and a screen like a movie theater was arranged on the stage.

This is where they will stay in the next few days, because after watching the movie together, they will vote and score, and put the registered notes into the bucket.

After the voting is completed, the calculation will be re-calculated.

If someone takes money or gives a score that is too low or too high compared to others for any reason, they are responsible for giving the reason.

Of course, if the reasons are not enough to convince the jury, then the qualifications of the selector will be questioned.

Therefore, the selection of the MTV Awards is basically fair and impartial, and can represent the current fashion trends and public aesthetics.

However, they are now selecting only nominees, and the real winners will undergo a more professional second round of selection.

On the morning of the 1st, Jack first met with other media people to get familiar with each other. In the afternoon, the organizer began the selection process.

As the judges entered, the auditorium gradually fell into darkness. All the judges sat on the sofa seats and held their breath, holding the cards in their hands and waiting for the appearance of the first MV.

After the screen lit up in blue, everyone immediately realized what this MV was.

"Change? It turns out to be this one." The bearded man next to Jack talked to him in a low voice. He was the head of the Los Angeles music radio station and Jack's friend, Herbert.

"I like this...well, don't be influenced by me." The young man on the other side of Herbert subconsciously agreed. When he realized that he was suspected of influencing other people, he immediately raised his hands to show that he was unintentional.

Jack moved his eyes to him, and used the light of the screen to see the man's face clearly, and found that it was Schreiber, the founder of the well-known music website Pitchfork.

This website was originally his personal music blog, but as the number of users increased, the website attracted many music experts to recommend and comment on songs, and it has become the largest music website in the United States.

It was his first time to participate in this kind of review, so it was normal for him to have no experience.

"It doesn't matter." Herbert reassured, then turned his head to the screen.

The MV ended soon, and when the lights came back on, they picked up their pens and wrote down their ratings on the cards.

After the cards were taken away and they were waiting for the others, the three of them started talking about the MV again.

"The colors are really great, and they are very bold." Jack likes the blue in it the most, it is quiet and brilliant.

"Yes, the director used a large area of ​​blue and a small area of ​​pink, which is very visually impactful. The plot also complements the MV." Schreiber agreed.

Herbert nodded: "And the cross symbolizes love and redemption. It's interesting that he used the cross to smash things in the house. It is obviously expressing the use of faith to implement salvation."

"But I think it can also be understood as rebirth." Jack added.

Schreiber explained: "Using the love of family to redeem the past self and become a new self, isn't this the meaning of this song? I have to say that the director is very powerful."

"Yes, Tang. I heard that he is a director under CAA. He has filmed several music videos this year. I am very impressed." Herbert shrugged.

"To be honest, I've always been curious about him. Maybe I can see him at this MTV Awards Ceremony." Jack smiled. The MTV Awards Ceremony has a red carpet event every year, which can be regarded as the highlight moment for few MV directors. Therefore As long as they are nominated, they will appear on the red carpet to accept questions from reporters.

After several people talked for a while, the auditorium dimmed again and the second MV continued to play.

In the next few hours, the selected MVs from all over the world appeared on the screen one by one. The judges tried their best to maintain their status and threw the scoring cards one by one into the voting bucket.

Half a day passed quickly in this mechanical selection. When Jack got up from his seat, he felt that his body was going stiff. After walking out of the auditorium, he followed the waiter's guidance to the open-air restaurant. After finally breathing the fresh air, he did not rush to eat. Instead, he leaned against the corridor stairs and lit a cigarette for himself.

Then more male judges came over, and it was obvious that they were all addicted to cigarettes.

After everyone met, they smiled, then took out cigarettes and lit them for themselves.

At this moment, one of them said: "Did you see the front page article of Baiyi Music Magazine yesterday?"

"What?" His friend frowned.

"It's the article Dylan wrote about the creation of music videos. He said that music videos should not follow the old path of movies and become a collection of big scenes and gimmicks. I think he is right."

"what?"

This sentence was not said by his friend, but by Jack.

Dylan is a well-known senior music critic and has been a judge for many Grammy and other awards. Although he has received mixed reviews because he often makes confusing remarks in magazines, this does not affect his status in the music critic circle.

Therefore, when he speaks out about the current situation of music videos, all music critics will take it to heart.

And the questions he raised this time were indeed very pointed.

That is, the MV should not take over the spotlight and steal the attention of the music itself.

In the article, he wrote: "Nowadays, more and more songs are using music videos as one of the important promotional methods when promoting their songs, using so-called big scenes and gimmicks to attract fans to watch and buy. But this is not true for me. It seems that we have gone astray.”

"Because the essence of this behavior is lack of confidence in one's own songs! When singers and producers do not choose to rely on the songs themselves to win in the market competition, but instead choose to rely on the MV's gimmicks to make fans pay, this approach will only make others Really good singers are being buried.”

"And when this trend pervades the music scene, everyone will spend more money to shoot MVs, and then the production costs spent on songs will be less."

"In the eyes of most fans, the MV should be a foil to the song. It should serve the artistry of the song instead of taking away the limelight of the song. If a song's MV exceeds this category, it means that it is in line with the song. Separation is inappropriate and bullshit.”

"So I suggest that major award ceremonies should stop this trend in time and let music return to the song itself. The world does not need a second film industry!"

After Jack learned about Dylan's article from the two of them, he didn't know how to refute it for a while.

Although subconsciously, he felt that this argument was a bit evasive, as if something important had been ignored.

However, he couldn't organize it into words, so Jack was wondering why he felt this awkward while eating.

At the same time, the content of this article was also known to many reviewers present in the chat. Some expressed disdain, while others expressed approval.

But it is undeniable that everyone knows which MV this article is about. After all, when it comes to the MV scene this year, there is no doubt that Avril Lavigne’s rock song is the most famous.

"It's not fair." So when all the judges came to the auditorium again the next day, Schreiber complained to Herbert and Jack: "Dylan's article is affecting our selection."

"So you have to try your best to avoid it." Herbert said quite skillfully: "The Oscars will be affected by comments and money, and MTV is naturally no exception. These media people will publish some articles at this time every year that seem to be correct but are actually useless. affects us.”

"You mean there was an instruction from the record company behind it?" Schreiber was very smart and could tell the truth.

Herbert spread his hands: "Who knows? Everyone has their own calculations, right?"

Jack couldn't hide his ridicule: "Those companies will do anything to make their singers more famous."

While the three were talking, Mr. Thompson walked from the audience to the center of the stage and picked up the microphone.

He didn't speak, and just looked at everyone calmly. It wasn't until the chatter faded away and everyone focused on him that he spoke: "First of all, as music judges, what we have to do is to remain independent and not be influenced by other people's words. Influence."

"Secondly, we need to understand, what exactly are the awards we are selecting?"

"MTV selects popular song MVs that are loved by the audience, not songs, nor art that has been sealed in art museums!"

"I know that many people like to use art to flaunt themselves, and some judges have even had a condescending attitude towards rappers. But this is wrong, and MTV needs to correct this mistake."

"We need to select a MV that better represents the trend of the future music industry! We need to select an MV that contains the creator's ingenuity and can give the song more enjoyment."

"Big scenes, movie techniques, spoofs, horror, violence, suspense, these elements are just forms of expression. We cannot be blinded and mistakenly think that this is the core of the MV. Nor can we look at it differently just because they are used in the MV."

Thompson said this passionately, paused for a moment, glanced at everyone and continued: "Popular, exciting, and consistent, these three words are the core keys."

"As for stealing the limelight? Fans will not buy a song just because the MV looks good. They are not irrational puppets. They will only pay for what they really like!"

(End of this chapter)