“ELENA CUZA” NATIONAL COLLEGE-CRAIOVA ATESTAT PAPER -OSCARS AND THEIR GREATNESS - COORDINATING TEACHER: CANDIDATE: -May 2011- 1 CONTENTS Rationale 3 Introduction 5 Chapter I: Academy Award 6 Chapter II: The Oscar 15 Chapter III: Legal Regulations 19 Chapter IV: Awards Night 27 Bibliography 32 Conclusion 33 Map of Illustrations 36 2 Rationale This paper is made up of 4 chapters which also contain an impressive map of illustrations. In the first chapter- Academy Award- there can be found important and also interesting information about the Academy Award ,which is the formal ceremony where the awards are presented and it is among the most prominent and most watched film awards ceremonies in the world. The second chapter-The Oscars-comes to offer a more complex image of the Oscar trophy which includes data as :” Ownership of Oscar statuettes” ,”The Origin of the Oscar Name” and “Manufacturing, Shipping and Repairs” The third chapter talks about “Legal Regulations for using Intellectual Properties of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences”(AMPAS, a professional honorary organization, maintaining a voting membership) The last chapter is about “Awards night”, when the major awards are presented at a live televised ceremony ,not to mention that the preparation is essential for coming to such a huge occasion. 3 Introduction It’s hard not to feel some affection, even love, for the Oscars, the biggest film industry awards ceremony. From the screen sirens of the past to today's modern beauties, the Academy Awards always reflect the incomparable elegance of Hollywood. Over the last eight decades there have been many fashionable and defining Oscar moments: the gilded looks of the '40s, the sweetheart statements of the '50s, the pinups of the '60s, the revealing styles of the '70s and the dramatic designs of the '80s. The Oscars are certainly not something that ranks up there with world peace or curing cancer but they do generate a lot of excitement. Who will be wearing the one outfit that everyone says "What were they thinking?" or who will look completely stunning? Who will be interviewed on the red carpet and say something that they will regret? Who will win for best actress or best movie? The questions are abundant and yet of course not so very important unless you are the actor or actress that wins the academy award. This is a world of make believe for most of us. A world made up of beautiful gowns, expensive jewellery and fancy cars nevertheless. It is a life style that not many people in the world are fortunate to live and still so many are interested in how these individuals will present themselves. I like the Oscars because it is interesting to see the stars in a different light than on the movie screen. You may be able to see a glimpse into the real person. They will say something that will show you that they are not so picture perfect after all but simple human beings like the rest of the world. They have a lot more money but they have imperfections just the same. I love the Oscars because I love movies. The whole night is a tribute to the movies of the year that were actually worthy of the little golden statuette. I enjoy the Oscars even more when they are hosted by actors whose humour I appreciate such as Billy Crystal and Ellen Degeneres or even Chris Rock. I love the Oscars because it celebrates everything about the movies such as the acting, the directing, the writing, the make-up, the costumes, the scenery, and all the behind the scenes events. When the first Academy Awards were handed out on May 16, 1929, movies had just begun to talk. That first ceremony took place during an Academy banquet in the Blossom Room of the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. The attendance was 270 and guest tickets cost $5. It was a long banquet, filled with speeches, but presentation of the statuettes was handled expeditiously by Academy President Douglas Fairbanks. 4 The suspense that now touches most of the world at Oscar time was not always a characteristic of the Awards presentation. That first year, the award recipients were announced to the public three months ahead of the ceremony. For the next decade, the results were given in advance to newspapers for publication at 11 p.m. on the night of the Awards. But in 1940, much to the Academy's dismay, the Los Angeles Times broke the embargo and announced the winning achievements in its evening edition, which was readily available to guests arriving for the affair. As a result, the Academy adopted the sealed-envelope system the next year, and the system remains in use today. Since the earliest years, interest in the Academy Awards has run high, if not at the modern fever pitch. The first presentation was the only one to escape a media audience; by the second year, enthusiasm for the Awards was such that a Los Angeles radio station actually did a live one-hour broadcast of the event. The ceremony has had broadcast coverage ever since. For 15 years the Academy Awards presentations were banquet affairs; after the first at the Hollywood Roosevelt, they were held at the Ambassador and Biltmore hotels. The custom of presenting the statuettes at a banquet was discontinued after the 1942 Awards. Increased attendance and the war had made banquets impractical, and the presentation ceremonies have since been held in theaters. The 16th Awards ceremony was held at Grauman's Chinese Theatre. It was covered by network radio for the first time and broadcast overseas to American GIs. The Awards stayed at Grauman's for three years, then moved to the Shrine Civic Auditorium. Two years later, in March 1949, the 21st Awards ceremony took place in the Academy's own Melrose Avenue theater. For the next 11 years, the annual Awards were held at the RKO Pantages Theatre in Hollywood. It was there, on March 19, 1953, that the Academy Awards Presentation was first televised. The NBC-TV and radio network carried the 25th Academy Awards ceremonies live from Hollywood with Bob Hope as master of ceremonies, and from the NBC International Theatre in New York with Fredric March making the presentations. In 1961 the Awards moved to the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium and changed broadcasters, beginning a 10-year run with the ABC-TV network. In 1966 the Oscars® were first broadcast in color. From 1971 through 1975, the NBC-TV network carried the Awards. ABC has telecast the show since 1976 and is under contract through 2014. On April 14, 1969, the 41st Academy Awards ceremonies moved to the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion of the Los Angeles County Music Center. It was the first major event for this now world-renowned cultural center. The Awards remained at the Music Center until 1987, then the ceremonies returned to the Shrine Auditorium for the 60th and 61st Awards. For a dozen years, the event alternated venues - the 62nd, 64th, 65th, 66th, 68th and 71st Awards were held at the Music Center, while the 63rd, 67th, 69th, 70th, 72nd and 73rd were at the Shrine. Since 2002, the Academy Awards have been held at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood and Highland Center in Hollywood. 5 Chapter I. Academy Award The Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars, are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers. The formal ceremony at which the awards are presented is among the most prominent and most watched film awards ceremonies in the world. The 1st Academy Awards ceremony was held on Thursday, May 16, 1929, at the Hotel Roosevelt in Hollywood to honor outstanding film achievements of 1927 and 1928. It was hosted by actor Douglas Fairbanks and director William C. DeMille. The 80th Academy Awards ceremonies, hosted by Comedy Central's The Daily Show host, Jon Stewart, were held on Sunday, February 24, 2008, at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles. AMPAS, a professional honorary organization, maintains a voting membership of 5,829 as of 2007. Actors constitute the largest voting bloc, numbering 1,311 members (22 percent) of the Academy's composition. Votes for Oscars have been tabulated and certified by the auditing firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (and its predecessor Price Waterhouse) for the past 73 annual awards ceremonies. 1. The Academy of Motion Picture and Sciences The Oscars! Every January, when the calendar has turned to a new year, the attention of the entertainment community and of film fans around the world turns to the upcoming Academy Awards. Oscar Fever hits, building to the crescendo of the annual presentation of golden statuettes, when hundreds of millions of cinema lovers glue themselves to their television sets to learn who will receive the highest honor in filmmaking. After three-quarters of a century of recognizing excellence in cinema achievement, the annual presentation of the Oscars has become the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' most famous activity. The Academy Awards Presentation is also the activity that enables the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to maintain its varied year-round calendar of programs and events and a wide-ranging educational and cultural agenda. 6 The annual Oscar presentation has been held since 1929. All voting for Academy Awards is conducted by secret ballot and tabulated by the international auditing firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers. Secrecy is maintained by the auditors - the results of balloting are not revealed until the now-famous envelopes are opened on stage during the live television program.