FYI - July 31 Deadline

[Kenneth Lloyd]

The Scientific and Technical Awards Committee will meet during the first
weeks of September.  Due to restrictions of our awards timetable, any
information you wish to present to the committee must be received no later
than Thursday, July 31, 2008.  Replies to this inquiry should be addressed
to:




Scientific and Technical Awards Committee
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
8949 Wilshire Boulevard
Beverly Hills, California 90211-1972



For additional information, telephone calls should be directed to the
Academy: [phone] x131, or you can reach us by FAX at [phone]
or email us at  <mailto:scitech at oscars.org> scitech at oscars.org.


INFORMATION REGARDING
THE SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL AWARDS



Since 1930/31 the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has conducted
a program for honoring the efforts of people in the fields of science and
technology and artisans whose work insures that motion picture production
can avail itself of the latest advances in those fields that are applicable
to this industry.  Awards are made in recognition of those original
developments that result in such improvements as expanded production
capabilities and cost reduction.

Any device, method, formula, discovery or invention of special and
outstanding value to the arts and sciences of motion pictures can be
considered for recognition. Inventions re-purposed from the other industries
cannot qualify for an award unless the vast preponderance of the development
was motion picture specific. The steps involved in the process have been
carefully determined since the awards began.  They, and the award rules, are
reviewed annually and when there is room for improvement they are altered.
(If you have suggestions or comments to offer, they will be appreciated.)

A committee of experts in their respective fields is organized each year by
a chairman who is appointed by the President of the Academy.  Approximately
45 people constitute the Scientific and Technical Awards Committee
representing cinematography (production and technical), digital imaging,
electronics and research, film and laboratory, lighting and equipment,
mechanical or optical effects and engineering, production, projection,
exhibition techniques and sound.

Letters are sent to individuals and companies known to be concerned with the
tools and techniques of film making in an annual canvass asking for
information about new devices or methods that have been used on the
production of feature films.  Accompanying the letter are a sample of the
entry form, the Academy's rules for the award category and a copy of
established guidelines that help the committee weigh the eligibility of the
applications.  Entry forms must be filed electronically by the deadline date
and are accepted only online by the Academy at our website of
www.oscars.org/scitech.

All of the entries are numbered and sent electronically as well as bound
into a volume that is then sent to each of the committee members.  A meeting
notice is attached and the committee begins an arduous program of study and
debate on the submitted items.

At its first meeting, usually held in the first few weeks of September, the
committee discusses the merits of each entry.  The validity of claims made
about the submission is accepted or challenged, but a decision must be made
whether or not an entry is eligible for consideration.  Does it meet the
qualifications as outlined in the rules?  Is the item new to the industry
(or an improvement over something already available) and is it being used by
anyone?  Does it fall within the parameters and guidelines for Scientific
and Technical Awards? When it is decided to give further consideration to an
entry, surrogates are assigned to make detailed evaluations on behalf of the
committee.

If all of the criteria are met (and the item is portable enough), an
invitation might be extended to the applicant offering them the opportunity
of making a presentation demonstration of the item to the committee.  If
similar devices are available to the industry (but have not been submitted
with an entry form) their manufacturers may also be invited to participate.
Subcommittees are enlisted to provide the main committee with their
particular evaluations of certain items.  Items that are too large or
impractical to participate in such a demonstration will be reviewed
separately, by surrogates assigned on behalf of the Committee.

A second book is assembled to include those items retained by the committee
at its initial meeting.  Not all of the submitted entries are carried
forward beyond that first meeting.  Some might be tabled for evaluation at a
later date if the committee is curious to know what impact the items may
have on the industry.  (Recommending an award prematurely might not reflect
the actual contribution an item makes to film making.)  Some of the entries
do not meet the qualifications of the rules or the guidelines.  The
committee is obligated to pass over those.  (If significant improvements or
advancements are made in an entry originally rejected, it may be resubmitted
at another time.)

Demonstration schedules are prepared and bound into these second books for
the main committee and subcommittees.  Presentations are made and surrogates
conduct their private studies or both.  All of the respective opinions and
evaluations are combined and sent to the Sci/Tech Awards Committee and the
Academy's Board of Governors with an announcement of the date for the second
meeting.

The entries remaining under consideration are discussed again with
particular emphasis on whether or not an award should be recommended.  (The
committee itself does not confer the Scientific and Technical Awards.  Those
are determined by a vote of the Academy Board of Governors.)  Through a
series of ballots, decisions are reached on the award recommendations and
their appropriate levels of recognition.  Some of the items may not be
recommended -- even though they were under consideration and demonstrated
for the committee.  Some might be held for another year through a motion to
table.

Award recognition for scientific and technical achievement is given on three
levels.  In no case shall more than four awardees be recognized for any
single entry.

Technical Achievement Awards may be made for those accomplishments that
contribute to the progress of the industry.  A certificate is printed
describing the achievement and listing the names of all of the individuals
who contributed to its development.

If an achievement has had a definite influence on the advancement of the
industry, it may qualify for a Scientific and Engineering Award (a bronze
tablet with the name of the award in raised lettering, and a representation
of the Oscar statuette in bas relief to one side of the plaque).  Affixed to
the base is a plate engraved with a description of the achievement and the
names of the contributors.

An Academy Award of Merit, the Oscar, is conferred for basic achievements
which have a definite influence on the advancement of the industry (hard-won
and most often reserved for some aspect of film making that has changed the
way particular achievements have been accomplished since its introduction).

Lists of past awards, arranged both chronologically and by category, are
available at the Academy web site at www.oscars.org.  Gordon E. Sawyer,
former Head of the Sound department at Samuel Goldwyn Studios and a member
of the Scientific and Technical Awards Committee from 1936 to 1977, claimed
that the lists represented a history of the development of motion pictures.
After his death, an Honorary Award was established in his name to recognize
an individual whose technological contributions have brought credit to the
motion picture industry.  Recommendations for this award have customarily
been made through the Scientific and Technical Awards Committee.

Presentations of the year's honors are made at a formal dinner which has
become a highlight of the Academy Awards season.  The function is separate
and apart from the Oscar ceremony by design of the committee and concurrence
of the Academy Board of Governors.  If Oscars are awarded in a given year,
the event is videotaped and portions are edited into the Academy Awards
telecast.


 
=============================
Kenneth A. Lloyd
CEO and Director of Systems Science
Watt Systems Technologies Inc.
Albuquerque, NM USA
 
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