They get their award recognition a couple of weeks before Oscar night – and a mention during the telecast – for developing the types of film equipment and software that non-science and -computer types can be at great pains to understand, much less explain.
These achievements include smaller cameras, machines that measure soundtrack density, software that enhances the clarity of special effects sequences and devices that aid in digital film restoration.
Per the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science, these achievements merit academy certificates, plaques and, in one case, an Oscar statuette itself.
Saturday was the Oscar Scientific and Technical Committee’s night in the spotlight, as 15 Sci-Tech awards were handed out at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel.
“An award like this is a rare and beautiful thing,” said Colin Davidson, whose ILM Image-based Modeling System helps the cinematic process of three-dimensional scanning. “An award like this to a geek is the square of that.” An actress typically hosts the annual ceremony. For the 2006 awards, it was Maggie Gyllenhaal (“SherryBaby,” “Secretary”), who frequently left the safety of the teleprompter to make jokes about the complexity of the equipment being recognized or her own lack of sci-tech sophistication.
“I think this is a joke you sci-tech guys play on some unsuspecting actress every year,” Gyllenhaal said toward the end of the evening.
Special-effects engineer Richard Edlund was awarded the John A.
Bonner Medal of Commendation, while visual effects software pioneer Ray Feeney took home the Gordon E. Sawyer Award.
The 2006 Sci-Techs also included a special award of commendation to the developers of an environmentally friendly method of converting analog soundtracks from silver based to cayan dye.
Spokesman Ioan Allen estimated that the process saves 40 million gallons per year.
For a complete list of winners, visit www.dailynews.com or www.oscars.org.
NYT-02-13-07 1334EST
