For those who did not watch the Academy Awards Sunday evening, many nominees were brought up onto the stage together, then the winner was announced. The winner then stepped forward and accepted the award while the others walk away.

The show’s mastermind, Gil Cates, promoted this technique as a way to save time and speed up the award show. The nominees wouldn’t have to be shown in their seats, and the hour-long walk up to the stage would be eliminated.

However, many nominees and winners were not able to walk onto the stage at all, they were presented with awards in the audience. Nominees, such as those for the best live-action short category, were seated close by one another. One nominee pretended to be asleep when the camera passed by him, bringing louder laughter than any of Chris Rock’s opening monologue.

Presenter Jeremy Irons announced Andrea Arnold as the winner, and she stood up and made a short speech from a microphone placed in the aisle of the theatre.

Prior to the show, I argued with a colleague that this idea was great. As an artist, the point of even being recognized should be enough to satisfy. If an artist really found him or herself upset that they were not able to get up on a stage and thank their lawyer in front of millions of people, they should really think about why they became an artist.

Now, after watching the show, some of the new techniques seemed to work (such as the nominees all on stage), while others seem awkward and quite uncomfortable for the nominees and presenters alike (the aisle awards).

One very distressing moment occurred during a speech by Robert Hudson and Bobby Houston, winners for Best Documentary Short Subject. These nominees were huddled on stage, the winners were announced, and Hudson and Houston came forth to accept their awards.

To be fair, the speech was rambling a bit. But just as one of the other gentlemen was about to announce his thanks, the orchestra was cued, and we went to another camera. The man continued to try to speak, but the orchestra only became louder and the camera gently went off into the distance.

This move was enough to inspire Chris Rock to say “come on, man.” Before you know it, Rock said, they’ll be having a drive-through in the Kodak parking lot. This way nominees could accept their awards without stepping out of their cars.

This was Rock’s best joke of the evening (close with one about the overexposed Jude Law), but it also brings up a great point. If the nominees were gathered on stage, shouldn’t they be given a little more grace than this?

Unlike some of the A-list celebrities who are expected to win major categories, some of these small time filmmakers never get a chance at something like this. For them Oscar is still a dream, and Hollywood still appears a strange distant land. Why not let the audience at home decide if they want to identify with a filmmaker they might have a little in common with? And if they want to use his speech as a bathroom break, so be it.

Cutting somebody off in this manner, especially after they had been huddled on stage, provides an awkward situation for them, the host, the audience in the theatre, and most important, the audience at home.

As one winner put it – some people lump some of the “what does that guy do” awards as “technical,” when in actuality they are some of the most artistic of the evening. The people at home might not know that, but the Academy should.

If the format sticks, and the ratings indicate it might, I hope the Academy decides to let a few of these fine individuals speak. As much as they complain about the show running way too long because of bad speeches, they still seem okay with airing McDonald’s commercials in the final moments of the show.

So, Academy, you can give these winners a break and let them talk, or you can move them into the parking lot.

Until next year…