EFFECTS WORK "LIKE MAGIC" AT THE ACADEMY

With Ricky Jay, Shane Mahan and Michael Weber

 

“I think cinema, movies, and magic have always been closely associated. The very earliest people who made film were magicians.” – Francis Ford Coppola

BEVERLY HILLS, CA – The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will explore cinema’s roots in stage magic and sleight of hand and show how visual deception drove the development of movie special effects, on Wednesday, November 20, at 7:30 p.m. at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills.

“Like Magic” will examine how some of the techniques used in the earliest “trick films,” such as forced perspective, cuts, dissolves and multiple exposures are still used by filmmakers in the digital age. Hosted by sleight-of-hand artist Ricky Jay, special effects supervisor Shane Mahan, and stage and screen illusion designer Michael Weber, the program features clips from such pioneering films as Georges Méliès’s “The Magician” (1898) and contemporary favorites like “Snow White and the Huntsman” (2012). It also includes live demonstrations and conversations with some of the films’ creative teams.

For More Information: The Oscars ® "Like Magic"

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ACADEMY ANNOUNCES MEDAL PLACEMENTS FOR 2013 STUDENT ACADEMY AWARDS®

BEVERLY HILLS, CA – Sixteen students from colleges and universities around the world were honored tonight (June 8) as winners at the 40th Student Academy Awards ceremony at the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills. The medal placements were announced at the ceremony hosted by writer-director and 1978 Student Academy Award® winner Bob Saget. Writer-director Kimberly Peirce and actors Clark Gregg, Jason Schwartzman and Quvenzhané Wallis presented the awards.

The winners are:
Alternative
Gold Medal: “Bottled Up,” Rafael Cortina, Occidental College
Silver Medal: “Zug,” Perry Janes, University of Michigan
Bronze Medal: “The Compositor,” John Mattiuzzi, School of Visual Arts

Animation
Gold Medal: “Dia de los Muertos,” Lindsey St. Pierre and Ashley Graham, Ringling College of Art and Design
Silver Medal: “Will,” Eusong Lee, California Institute of the Arts
Bronze Medal: “Peck Pocketed,” Kevin Herron, Ringling College of Art and Design

Documentary
Gold Medal: “A Second Chance,” David Aristizabal, University of Southern California
Silver Medal: “Every Tuesday: A Portrait of The New Yorker Cartoonists,” Rachel Loube, School of Visual Arts
Bronze Medal: “Win or Lose,” Daniel Koehler, Elon University

Narrative
Gold Medal: “Ol’ Daddy,” Brian Schwarz, University of Texas at Austin
Silver Medal: “Josephine and the Roach,” Jonathan Langager, University of Southern California
Bronze Medal: “Un Mundo para Raúl (A World for Raúl),” Mauro Mueller, Columbia University

Foreign Film
Gold Medal: “Miss Todd,” Kristina Yee, National Film and Television School, United Kingdom
Silver Medal: “Parvaneh,” Talkhon Hamzavi, Zurich University of the Arts, Switzerland
Bronze Medal: “Tweesprong (Crossroads),” Wouter Bouvijn, RITS School of Arts, Erasmus University College Brussels, Belgium

This year saw first-time honors go to Elon University, Occidental College and the University of Michigan in the U.S. competition, as well as to Zurich University of the Arts and RITS School of Arts, Erasmus University College Brussels, in the foreign competition.

The Student Academy Awards were established in 1972 to support and encourage excellence in filmmaking at the collegiate level. Past Student Academy Award winners have gone on to receive 46 Oscar® nominations and have won or shared eight awards. The roster includes such distinguished filmmakers as John Lasseter, Pete Docter, Robert Zemeckis, Trey Parker and Spike Lee.

THE ACADEMY TO HOST A "WAYNE'S WORLD" REUNION...NO WAY. WAY.

BEVERLY HILLS, CA – Producer Lorne Michaels, writer-actor Mike Myers, actor Dana Carvey and director Penelope Spheeris will reunite for a panel discussion and screening of "Wayne's World" on Tuesday, April 23, at 7:30 p.m. at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills. The evening will be introduced by Academy President Hawk Koch, who also served as the film's executive producer.

Myers made his film debut alongside Carvey in this 1992 big-screen version of their "Saturday Night Live" sketch about two metal-head teenagers, Wayne Campbell and Garth Algar, who host a public access cable TV show called "Wayne's World" from a basement in Aurora, Illinois.

The film was a smash hit, grossing more than $180 million worldwide. The influence of "Wayne's World" on popular culture includes several phrases that became everyday expressions, such as "Schwing!" "NOT!" and "We're not worthy!" The soundtrack also propelled Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" to #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, more than 15 years after its original release.

The new print to be screened is courtesy of the Academy Film Archive and Paramount. Tickets for "Wayne's World" are $5 for the general public and $3 for Academy members and students with a valid ID, and may be purchased starting April 1 online at www.oscars.org, in person at the Academy box office or by mail. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. The Samuel Goldwyn Theater is located at 8949 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills. All seating is unreserved. For more information, call (310) 247-3600 or visit www.oscars.org.

SOURCE The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

"It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" at the Academy

Beverly Hills, CA – The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will present the 1963 ensemble comedy "It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" as the inaugural film in its series "The Last 70mm Film Festival" on Monday, July 9, at 7 p.m. at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills.


Directed by nine-time Oscar® nominee Stanley Kramer, "It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" earned six Academy Award® nominations, including Cinematography (Ernest Laszlo), Film Editing (Frederic Knudtson, Robert C. Jones, Gene Fowler, Jr.), Music – Music Score, substantially original (Ernest Gold), Music – Song (Gold, Mack David), Sound (Samuel Goldwyn Studio Sound Department, Gordon E. Sawyer, Sound Director), and took home the Oscar for Sound Effects (Walter G. Elliott).

Prior to the screening, there will be a panel discussion with actors Carl Reiner, Mickey Rooney, Jonathan Winters, Marvin Kaplan, Stan Freberg and Barrie Chase, as well as script supervisor Marshall Schlom, casting director Lynn Stalmaster, and Stanley Kramer’s widow, Karen Kramer.

The 70mm short "The Miracle of Todd-AO" (1954) will be screened before the film. This live action short highlights the innovation of the Todd-AO wide-angle lens with an optical journey from the Grand Teton National Park to the streets of San Francisco.

"The Last 70mm Film Festival," a six-film series, will run Mondays through August 13, showcasing 70mm classics from different genres as well as rarely screened 70mm short subjects.

The remaining screenings in the series are:

July 16	"Sleeping Beauty" (1959)
July 23	"Grand Prix" (1966)
July 30	"The Sound of Music" (1965)
August 6	"2001: A Space Odyssey" (1968)
August 13	"Spartacus" (1960)

Series passes for "The Last 70mm Film Festival" are on sale now. Passes are $20 for the general public and $15 for Academy members and students with valid ID. Tickets to individual evenings, if still available, will go on sale Friday, June 29. Tickets are $5 for the general public and $3 for Academy members and students with valid ID. Passes and tickets may be purchased online at www.oscars.org, by mail, in person at the Academy during regular business hours or, depending on availability, on the night of the screening when the doors open at 6:30 p.m. The Samuel Goldwyn Theater is located at 8949 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills. For the latest pre-show details call (310) 247-3600 or visit www.oscars.org.

SOURCE The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

The Academy and NASA Venture to the Final Frontier

Beverly Hills, CA – The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and NASA will explore cutting-edge film techniques and virtual voyages using animation on Tuesday, July 10, at 7:30 p.m. at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills. Hosted by five-time Oscar®-nominated producer Frank Marshall, "Capturing the Final Frontier" will feature film clips and conversations with such filmmakers as Oscar-winning visual effects supervisor Scott Farrar and leading NASA animators and scientists (see complete list on www.oscars.org).


Presented by the Academy’s Science and Technology Council, the event will take a journey through the space program’s breakthroughs in animation with NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Eric De Jong, who began his career creating Voyager animations. The evening features a look at Mars rover Curiosity graphics in anticipation of its landing on the Red Planet in August 2012.

NASA animators and image specialists regularly take these visual concepts a step further by joining forces with Hollywood filmmakers to create new wonders for the big screen. "Capturing the Final Frontier" will examine some of these collaborations, exploring the documentary films "Hubble 3D" (2010) and "Roving Mars" (2006) along with feature films "Mission to Mars" (2000) and the Oscar-nominated "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" (2011).

Tickets for "Capturing the Final Frontier" are $5 for the general public and $3 for Academy members and students with a valid ID, and may be purchased online at www.oscars.org, in person at the Academy box office, or by mail.

The Samuel Goldwyn Theater is located at 8949 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Ticketed seating is unreserved. For more information, call (310) 247-3600 or visit www.oscars.org.

SOURCE The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

Academy's First Best Picture, "Wings," Returns to the Silver Screen

Beverly Hills, CA – The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will screen the first Best Picture winner, "Wings," starring Clara Bow, Charles "Buddy" Rogers, Richard Arlen and Gary Cooper, as part of a celebration of Paramount Pictures' 100th anniversary, on Wednesday, January 18, at 7:30 p.m. at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills. The evening will premiere a restoration by Paramount Pictures in cooperation with the Academy Film Archive, with live musical accompaniment by Clark Wilson on the Allen Theatre Organ.

The Academy is pleased to return the Best Picture winner "Wings," which first premiered in 1927, to the big screen in a vibrant and meticulously restored version that includes the original color tints and re-creates the Handschiegl color process used for additional visual effects. Organist Clark Wilson, who has accompanied silent films at theaters around the country including the Walt Disney Concert Hall, will offer live organ accompaniment that provides an authentic period recreation and also serves to bring the film's emotional power to life for modern audiences.

In addition to its distinction for Outstanding Picture (1927/28), the film also took home an Oscar for Engineering Effects (Roy Pomeroy).

"Wings" is presented in conjunction with "Paramount's Movie Milestones: A Centennial Celebration," an exhibition of photographs, posters, design sketches and personal correspondence highlighting some of Paramount's most celebrated films and filmmakers over the past 100 years. The exhibition will be open to the public from Friday, January 6, through Sunday, February 5, in the Academy's Grand Lobby Gallery. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and weekends, noon to 6 p.m. Admission is free.

Tickets for "Wings" are $5 for the general public and $3 for Academy members and students with a valid ID, and will be available for purchase starting Thursday, December 1, online at www.oscars.org, in person at the Academy box office and by mail.

The Samuel Goldwyn Theater and the Academy Grand Lobby Gallery are located at 8949 Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills. Theater doors open at 6:30 p.m. All seating is unreserved. For more information, call (310) 247-3600 or visit www.oscars.org.

2012 Student Academy Awards® Competition Now Underway

Beverly Hills, CA – The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is now accepting entries for its 2012 Student Academy Awards competition. Gold, Silver and Bronze Medal awards, along with cash prizes, may be presented to student filmmakers in the following categories: Alternative, Animation, Narrative, Documentary and Foreign Student Film.

The rules and online application forms are available at: http://www.oscars.org/saa.

The U.S. competition is open to all full-time college and university students at accredited institutions, whose films are made within the curricular structure of a film program or class at their respective schools. For 2012, the Academy has limited the list of accepted accreditation agencies for U.S. institutions to the following: Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools; New England Association of Schools and Colleges; North Central Association of Colleges and Schools; Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities; Western Association of Schools and Colleges; and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. U.S. entries must be submitted by Monday, April 2, 2012.

In the Foreign Student Film category entries are accepted only from full-time college and university students attending schools that are members of the international film school organization known as CILECT (cilect.org), and located outside the borders of the United States. The deadline to submit a foreign student film for consideration is Friday, March 23, 2012.


The 39th Annual Student Academy Awards presentation will be held on Saturday, June 9, 2012, at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills.

The Academy established the Student Academy Awards in 1972 to support and encourage excellence in filmmaking at the collegiate level. Past Student Academy Award winners have gone on to receive 43 Oscar® nominations and have won or shared eight awards. At the 83rd Academy Awards earlier this year, 2010 Student Academy Award winner Luke Matheny took home the Oscar for his Live Action Short Film "God of Love." Tanel Toom, another 2010 Student Academy Award winner, also was nominated in the Live Action Short Film category for "The Confession," and John Lasseter, a 1979 and 1980 Student Academy Award winner, was a nominee in the Adapted Screenplay category for "Toy Story 3."