Andy Vargas

A GUIDE TO THE OSCARS

An Academy Award is an award bestowed by the American Academy of

Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) to

recognize excellence of professionals in the film

industry, including directors, actors, and

writers. The Oscar statuette is officially

named the Academy Award of Merit and is one of nine types of Academy Awards.

WHAT IS AN OSCAR

The formal ceremony at which the Awards of Merit are presented is one of the most prominent award ceremonies in the world, and is televised

live in more than 100 countries annually; however, the first broadcast was not televised.

It is also the oldest award ceremony in the media; its equivalents, the Grammy Awards (for music), Emmy Awards (for television), and Tony

Awards (for theatre) are modeled after the Academy.

THE CEREMONY

The first Academy Awards ceremony was held on May 16, 1929, at the Hotel Roosevelt in Hollywood to honor

outstanding film achievements of the

1927/1928 film season. The 84th Academy

Awards, honoring films in 2011, was held at the Hollywood and Highland Center on February 26, 2012.

THE HISTORY

Made of gold-plated britannium on a black metal base, it is 13.5 in (34 cm)

tall, weighs 8.5 lb (3.85 kg) and depicts a knight rendered in Art Deco style

holding a crusader's sword standing on a reel of film with five spokes. The five

spokes each represent the original branches of the Academy: Actors, Writers, Directors, Producers, and

Technicians.

Margaret Herrick, first saw the award in 1931 and made reference to the

statuette's reminding her of her "Uncle Oscar". That is the nick name since

then.

OSCAR STATUETTE

AND THE WINNERS ARE…

• HUGOGraham King and Martin Scorsese, Producers

• MIDNIGHT IN PARISLetty Aronson and Stephen Tenenbaum, Producers• MONEYBALL

Michael De Luca, Rachael Horovitz and Brad Pitt, Producers

• THE TREE OF LIFESarah Green, Bill Pohlad, Dede Gardner and Grant Hill, Producers

• WAR HORSESteven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy, Producers

BEST MOVIE NOMINEES

• THE ARTIST

Thomas Langmann, Producer• THE DESCENDANTS

Jim Burke, Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor, Producers• EXTREMELY LOUD &

INCREDIBLY CLOSE

Scott Rudin, Producer• THE HELP

Brunson Green, Chris Columbus and Michael Barnathan, Producers

THE ARTIST

• Michel Hazanavicius – The Artist• Woody Allen – Midnight in Paris• Terrence Malick – The Tree of Life• Alexander Payne – The Descendants• Martin Scorsese – Hugo

BEST DIRECTOR

MICHEL HAZANAVICIUS – THE ARTIST

• Demián Bichir – A Better Life as Carlos Galindo

• George Clooney – The Descendants as Matt King

• Gary Oldman – Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy as George Smiley

• Jean Dujardin – The Artist as George Valentin

• Brad Pitt – Moneyball as Billy Beane

BEST ACTOR

JEAN DUJARDIN – THE ARTIST AS GEORGE

VALENTIN

• Rooney Mara – The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo as Lisbeth Salander

• Michelle Williams – My Week with Marilyn as Marilyn Monroe

• Meryl Streep – The Iron Lady as Margaret Thatcher

• Glenn Close – Albert Nobbs as Albert Nobbs

• Viola Davis – The Help as Aibileen Clark

BEST ACTRESS

MERYL STREEP –AS MARGARET THATCHER

• Kenneth Branagh – My Week with Marilyn as Laurence Olivier

• Jonah Hill – Moneyball as Peter Brand• Nick Nolte – Warrior as Paddy Conlon• Max von Sydow – Extremely Loud and

Incredibly Close as The Renter• Christopher Plummer – Beginners as Hal

Fields

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER – BEGINNERS AS HAL

FIELDS

• Bérénice Bejo – The Artist as Peppy Miller• Octavia Spencer – The Help as Minny

Jackson• Jessica Chastain – The Help as Celia Foote• Melissa McCarthy – Bridesmaids as Megan

Price• Janet McTeer – Albert Nobbs as Hubert

Page

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

OCTAVIA SPENCER – THE HELP AS MINNY JACKSON

• Rango – Gore Verbinski• A Cat in Paris – Alain Gagnol and Jean-

Loup Felicioli• Chico and Rita – Fernando Trueba and

Javier Mariscal• Kung Fu Panda 2 – Jennifer Yuh Nelson• Puss in Boots – Chris Miller

BEST ANIMATED FILM

RANGO

• Bullhead (Belgium) in Dutch and French – Michaël R. Roskam

• A Separation (Iran) in Persian – Asghar Farhadi

• Footnote (Israel) in Hebrew – Joseph Cedar

• In Darkness (Poland) in Polish – Agnieszka Holland

• Monsieur Lazhar (Canada) in French – Philippe Falardeau

BEST FOREIGN FILM

A SEPARATION

• Undefeated – TJ Martin, Dan Lindsay, and Richard Middlemas

• Hell and Back Again – Danfung Dennis and Mike Lerner

• If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front – Marshall Curry and Sam Cullman

• Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory – Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky

• Pina – Wim Wenders and Gian-Piero Ringel

BEST DOCUMENTARY

UNDEFEATED

• The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore – William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg

• Dimanche – Patrick Doyon• La Luna – Enrico Casarosa• A Morning Stroll – Grant Orchard

and Sue Goffe• Wild Life – Amanda Forbis and

Wendy Tilby

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM

THE FANTASTIC FLYING BOOKS OF MR. MORRIS L.

• The Shore – Terry George and Oorlagh George

• Pentecost – Peter McDonald and Eimear O'Kane

• Raju – Max Zähle and Stefan Gieren• Time Freak – Andrew Bowler and Gigi

Causey• Tuba Atlantic – Hallvar Witzø

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM

THE SHORE – TERRY GEORGE AND OORLAGH

GEORGE

• Midnight in Paris – Woody Allen• The Artist – Michel Hazanavicius• Bridesmaids – Kristen Wiig and Annie

Mumolo• Margin Call – J.C. Chandor• A Separation – Asghar Farhadi

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

• The Descendants – Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, and Jim Rash from The Descendants by Kaui Hart Hemmings

• Hugo – John Logan from The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick

• The Ides of March – George Clooney, Grant Heslov, and Beau Willimon from Farragut North by Beau Willimon

• Moneyball – Screenplay by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin; Story by Stan Chervin from Moneyball by Michael Lewis

• Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – Bridget O'Connor and Peter Straughan from Tinker, by John le Carré

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

• Hugo – Philip Stockton and Eugene Gearty

• Drive – Lon Bender and Victor Ray Ennis• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – Ren

Klyce• Transformers: Dark of the Moon – Ethan

Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl• War Horse – Richard Hymns and Gary

Rydstrom

BEST SOUND EDITING

• Hugo – Tom Fleischman and John Midgley

• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce, and Bo Persson

• Moneyball – Deb Adair, Ron Bochar, David Giammarco, and Ed Novick

• Transformers: Dark of the Moon – Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers, Jeffrey, and Peter J. Devlin

• War Horse – Gary Rydstrom, Andy Nelson, Tom Johnson, and Stuart Wilson

BEST SOUND MIXING

• Hugo – Dante Ferretti and Francesca Lo Schiavo

• The Artist – Laurence Bennett and Robert Gould

• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 – Stuart Craig and Stephanie McMillan

• Midnight in Paris – Anne Seibel and Hélène Dubreuil

• War Horse – Rick Carter and Lee Sandales

BEST ART DIRECTION

• Hugo – Robert Richardson• The Artist – Guillaume Schiffman• The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo – Jeff

Cronenweth• The Tree of Life – Emmanuel Lubezki• War Horse – Janusz Kamiński

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

• The Iron Lady – Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland

• Albert Nobbs – Martial Corneville, Lynn Johnson, and Matthew W. Mungle

• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 – Nick Dudman, Amanda Knight, and Lisa Tomblin

BEST MAKEUP

• The Artist – Mark Bridges• Anonymous – Lisy Christl• Hugo – Sandy Powell• Jane Eyre – Michael O'Connor• W.E. – Arianne Phillips

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter

• The Artist – Anne-Sophie Bion and Michel Hazanavicius

• The Descendants – Kevin Tent• Hugo – Thelma Schoonmaker• Moneyball – Christopher Tellefsen

BEST FILM EDITING

• Hugo – Rob Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossmann, and Alex Henning

• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 – Tim Burke, David Vickery, Greg Butler, and John Richardson

• Real Steel – Erik Nash, John Rosengrant, Danny Gordon Taylor, and Swen Gillberg

• Rise of the Planet of the Apes – Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, R. Christopher White, and Daniel Barrett

• Transformers: Dark of the Moon – Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Matthew E. Butler, and John Frazier

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

• The Artist – Ludovic Bource• The Adventures of Tintin – John Williams• Hugo – Howard Shore• Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – Alberto

Iglesias• War Horse – John Williams

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE