Oscars 2014: Reporter's diary

19:30 | 03.03.2014
Oscars 2014: Reporter's diary

Oscars 2014: Reporter's diary

Here's my backstage chat with 12 Years a Slave's Lupita Nyong'o, who won best supporting actress.

BBC: You had a good luck message from the Kenyan president earlier this week. What reaction have you had in Kenya, and what message do you have for people there?Lupita: "I know that my country has been extremely proud of me."I stumbled upon a big, big, big, like, good luck - I don't even know what to call it - but something at the Rugby Sevens in Las Vegas, and they created this big, big canvas saying thank you to me; and I stumbled upon it on Instagram."And that was just amazing to see all of these hundreds of people holding up this thing saying good luck to me, and so I know I mean a lot to my countrymen and I am so grateful for that kind of support from the entire world actually."That the entire world did not have a say in whether I got this or not, but the fact that I won in so many people's hearts, that is incredible, and I am so grateful for that."Here's my backstage chat with Gravity sound mixers Skip Lievsay, Niv Adiri, Christopher Benstead and Chris Munro.BBC: Could each of you just tell me what winning this Oscar means to you either professionally or personally?Skip Lievsay: "I guess it's sort of an amazing honour that says that you're doing some things right. And working with some fantastic people."Niv Adiri: "And most of the time if we do our job right, nobody notices and then it's nice that finally we got a chance to show off a little bit and then contributed to the film and completed the drama."Christopher Benstead: "To me it's that everything we've kind of worked for throughout our lives, the fruition of that has come to this point and it's unbelievable. We're just so grateful."Chris Munro: "It's the Academy! It's the award for our industry. It's the top award. It's what we work for. And it's fantastic."First into the press room was Jared Leto. He began by passing round his Oscar to the journalists to have a "fondle", as he put it."But if you have swine flu please don't touch it!"Leto is a natural at this kind of thing - much of which must come from fronting his rock band 30 Seconds to Mars.He said the Dolby Theatre would be a fairly small venue for the band and pointed out they had a gig planned in Ukraine later this month.He ended his stint on stage by asking for the best question in the room. It was about which of his songs would be most appropriate for an Oscar win. He said Kings and Queens.I'm now in the winners' room adjacent to the Dolby Theatre, where the Oscars ceremony takes place.Some 3,300 guests will be in the auditorium, while I'm among the several hundred members of the global press seated at rows upon rows of tables with laptops.Here's how it works: we are all given a number on a large piece of yellow card - I'm 148 - which we have to hold up in the hope of being picked to ask a question.The Oscar winners are brought in fairly rapidly after they've left the main stage to face a volley of questions. It's a busy few hours.The dress code for the press is strict: black tie and posh frocks. I've never seen so many journalists looking so well-groomed as on Oscars night.Hollywood is in total lock-down. It sounds like a cheesy line from a movie, but it's true. The streets around the Dolby Theatre are cordoned off by police and there are helicopters buzzing overhead.After making it through airport-style security, I took a walk along the 150m (500ft) red carpet and grabbed a few photos.The carpet is uncovered now - under threatening skies - and thick with camera crews and presenters in rehearsal.There are still a lot of people walking around with placards bearing famous names.The real versions will be here soon.On the day before the Oscars there's just time to squeeze in two more awards ceremonies.One is the Independent Spirit Awards, held in a massive tent on the beach in Santa Monica, which feels like a very laid-back dress rehearsal for the Academy Awards.The other is the Razzies, a somewhat smaller and more amateurish affair in Hollywood with no stars whatsoever.Both have their particular charms.bbcThis year's beach-side Spirit Awards had the additional excitement of storms forecast. The waves crashed ferociously nearby, as this year's nominees - many of them also up for Oscars - arrived in limousines.This year's famous faces included Brad Pitt, Bruce Dern, Jared Leto, Michael Fassbender and Chiwetel Ejiofor.When I arrived in my modest cab, my driver somehow managed to get into the celebrity queue.I had the unusual experience of being delivered to the top of the red carpet while handing over a fistful of dollars and asking for a receipt.Cate Blanchett arrived behind me, so I slipped away to find the back entrance while she met fans for autographs and selfies.A memorable moment involving Cate occurred later in the press tent.She'd come in clutching her best female lead statuette ready to answer questions, but noticed the best male lead award was about to be announced on a TV screen.So she asked for her own press conference to be delayed and stood silently at the front for some five minutes and watched as Matthew McConaughey made his acceptance speech.It was a very simple and generous act of respect for a fellow actor's moment of glory and I took a photo to capture the moment.Both Blanchett and McConaughey are likely to need to get working on another speech for Oscars night, if they haven't already.And so to the Razzies, the Golden Raspberry Awards that celebrate the worst Hollywood has to offer.Some say the joke isn't funny anymore, but the Razzies have the harmless feel of an am-dram production. It is quite funny to hear the excoriating reviews being read out in a dramatic fashion - often by two people at the same time.This year the Razzies were in a new venue described as being "at spitting distance from the Hollywood sign".As we checked in, the lady at the front desk said: "We're waiting for Adam Sandler and Johnny Depp."Stars tend to avoid the Razzies (but I was there the year Sandra Bullock turned up and handed out All About Steve DVDs) .The big winners this year were Movie 43 and Will and Jaden Smith's sci-fi turkey After Earth.Razzies founder John Wilson told me after the show he does try to convince the "winners" to come."I don't know why they can't laugh but they don't want to. It's their loss."What films did he predict might make the Razzie shortlists in 2015?Wilson doesn't hesitate: "There seems to be a rebirth of sword and sandal movies - I've already seen The Legend of Hercules, which is hilarious and it's not supposed to be."There's never any real lack of material for us. On our website we run a forum and by the end of any given year there are anywhere from 50 to 85 films being discussed as potential contenders."So yes, there's lots of crap out there."Next stop: the Oscars.What's it like having two Oscar nominations in the same category - and being up against yourself?That's the rare position Chris Munro finds himself in. He's up for best sound mixing on Captain Phillips and Gravity.I caught up with him at the Great British Film Reception in Los Angeles, where he was rubbing shoulders with the likes of Dame Helen Mirren, Steve McQueen, Sally Hawkins and many of this year's British Oscar nominees.Chris told me when he was first nominated at the 1999 Oscars for The Mummy, he didn't bother to prepare a speech."It was the year of The Matrix and I said to myself I'm not going to write a speech because The Matrix is going to win."But as it got nearer I got this feeling that I might win and I realised I had no idea what I was going to say. I went into a a panic and a cold sweat."And when they announced that The Matrix had won, I cheered."I must be the first person to cheer that I hadn't won an Oscar."Chris has two speeches ready this year. Top tip: best to keep them in separate pockets.(BBC)ANN.Az

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