And the Visual Effects Oscar goes to...

The Academy Awards (Oscars) is a national film awards ceremony in the United States. It is presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) and gives recognition to those who have achieved the highest in a certain field in the movie industry the year before. And since the Oscar season is here, I decided to post something about the annual ceremony and technology. And your right, I wanted to feature the Academy Awards for the highest achievement in visual effects!

According to Wikipedia, here are the following criteria in order for a film to be nominated and win the prestigious award.

For a film to be nominated for this award, the effects artist must have created something not available for filming. For example, an entirely digital Empire State Building could not make a movie eligible, since one can easily film the building; on the other hand, a recreation of ancient Rome could, since it is impossible to film. However, movies are judged on the quality of all of their effects shots, not just one scene.

According to the official Academy Award rules, the criteria are:

• consideration of the contribution the visual effects make to the overall production and
• the artistry, skill and fidelity with which the visual illusions are achieved.

And I decided to list the previous films which garnered the prestigious award. Here they are:

1930s

• 1939 (12th) The Rains Came1940s

1940s

• 1940 (13th) The Thief of Bagdad
• 1941 (14th) I Wanted Wings
• 1942 (15th) Reap the Wild Wind
• 1943 (16th) Crash Dive
• 1944 (17th) Thirty Seconds over Tokyo
• 1945 (18th) Wonder Man
• 1946 (19th) Blithe Spirit
• 1947 (20th) Green Dolphin Street
• 1948 (21st) Portrait of Jennie
• 1949 (22nd) Mighty Joe Young

1950s

• 1950 (23rd) Destination Moon
• 1951 (24th) When Worlds Collide
• 1952 (25th) Plymouth Adventure
• 1953 (26th) The War of the Worlds
• 1954 (27th) 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
• 1955 (28th) The Bridges at Toko-Ri
• 1956 (29th) The Ten Commandments
• 1957 (30th) The Enemy Below
• 1958 (31st) Tom Thumb
• 1959 (32nd) Ben-Hur

1960s

• 1960 (33rd) The Time Machine
• 1961 (34th) The Guns of Navarone
• 1962 (35th) The Longest Day
• 1963 (36th) Cleopatra
• 1964 (37th) Mary Poppins
• 1965 (38th) Thunderball
• 1966 (39th) Fantastic Voyage
• 1967 (40th) Doctor Dolittle
• 1968 (41st) 2001: A Space Odyssey
• 1969 (42nd) Marooned

1970s

• 1970 (43rd) Tora! Tora! Tora!
• 1971 (44th) Bedknobs and Broomsticks
• 1972 (45th) The Poseidon Adventure (Special Achievement Award)
• 1974 (47th) Earthquake (Special Achievement Award)
• 1975 (48th) The Hindenburg (Special Achievement Award)
• 1976 (49th) King Kong and Logan's Run (Special Achievement Awards)
• 1977 (50th) Star Wars
• 1978 (51st) Superman: The Movie (Special Achievement Award)
• 1979 (52nd) Alien

1980s

• 1980 (53rd) Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (Special Achievement Award)
• 1981 (54th) Raiders of the Lost Ark
• 1982 (55th) E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
• 1983 (56th) Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (Special Achievement Award)
• 1984 (57th) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
• 1985 (58th) Cocoon
• 1986 (59th) Aliens
• 1987 (60th) Innerspace
• 1988 (61st) Who Framed Roger Rabbit
• 1989 (62nd) The Abyss

1990s

• 1990 (63rd) Total Recall (Special Achievement Award)
• 1991 (64th) Terminator 2: Judgment Day
• 1992 (65th) Death Becomes Her
• 1993 (66th) Jurassic Park
• 1994 (67th) Forrest Gump
• 1995 (68th) Babe
• 1996 (69th) Independence Day
• 1997 (70th) Titanic
• 1998 (71st) What Dreams May Come
• 1999 (72nd) The Matrix

2000s

• 2000 (73rd) Gladiator
• 2001 (74th) The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
• 2002 (75th) The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
• 2003 (76th) The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
• 2004 (77th) Spider-Man 2
• 2005 (78th) King Kong
• 2006 (79th) Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
• 2007 (80th) The Golden Compass

For this year? That'll be something I'll reserve for my next post. I'll post the nominees for this year, and I'll give my comments on each. I'll update this post once I'm done with it.

Yadda!

Update: As promised, I posted my thoughts on the nominees for the 81st Academy Award for Best Achievement on Visual Effects. If you have time, read though it.