The history of the creation of the Oscars: who invented it and how are the winners chosen?

At the end of March 2022, the 94th ceremony was heldOscar Film Awards. The drama CODA: Child of Deaf Parents won the Best Film award, while the fantastic Dune won the most statuettes - it was highly praised for its cinematography, production, visual effects, editing, sound and soundtrack. The past ceremony was also remembered for the fact that during a live broadcast, actor Will Smith hit comedian Chris Rock for a joke about his wife. Some of you probably already know that the award ceremony has been held since 1929, broadcast live in dozens of countries around the world and is one of the most important events in the film industry. Each broadcast provides a lot of reasons for discussion, but within the framework of this article we will talk about a larger topic - who even invented the Oscars, why is it needed and why does it not have the best reputation?

The Oscars are the most prestigious award for making good films.

Content

• 1 Who Invented the Oscars?
• 2 How are Oscar winners chosen?
• 3 Why is the award called "Oscar"?
• 4 What is the red carpet for?
• 5 Why do many people dislike watching the Oscars?

Who Invented the Oscars?

The idea of ​​creating a prestigious award came from LuisBart Mayer, founder of the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film company, which dominated the Hollywood film industry from 1924 to 1942. In 1926, he met with several actors and directors and discussed the idea of ​​creating an organization that could mediate labor disputes among filmmakers and present awards for making good films. A year later, the established "Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences" became an official corporation. It includes 36 representatives of the film industry who have made an outstanding contribution to the art of filmmaking. It is these people who are engaged in choosing the winners in the nominations "Best Film", "Best Actor" and so on.

Louis Barth Mayer, creator of the Oscars

How are Oscar winners chosen?

According to 2018 data, voting rights forcandidates have more than 7,000 film academy participants. All of them are divided into guilds, whose representatives vote only in their categories - for example, actors choose the best performers of male and female roles, sound engineers choose films with the best soundtrack, and so on. The only exception is the title of the best film - all seven thousand participants vote for it.

Leonardo DiCaprio wins his first Oscar

The voting system was invented in 1928. It consists of three stages:

• vote members of the film academy, divided into guilds;
• counting, which is conducted by a panel of judges from each department;
• selection of winners one person from each professional department.

The number of Oscar nominations is constantis changing. At the moment, there are 23 main nominations, among which are the awards for the best film of the year, best director, best screenplay, and so on. Some categories are already outdated - for example, today it is impossible to recognize the winner in the field of sound editing, choreography, titles and choice of literary source.

There are 23 major Oscar nominations.

Why is the award called the Oscar?

First time award from the American AcademyMotion Picture Arts and Sciences was named an Oscar at the sixth ceremony in 1934. Where this name came from, no one knows, but there are several assumptions. Perhaps the name was invented by actress Bette Davis - she has stated many times that the figurine reminds her of Harmon's husband Oscar Nelson. The second version says that the nickname came up with Margaret Herrick, the executive secretary of the Academy, who recognized the figure of her second cousin named Oscar in the person.

Why the statuette is called "Oscar", no one knows for sure

Be that as it may, the Oscar statuette is veryrecognizable. Its appearance was designed by sculptor George Stanley. The figure has a height of 33.5 centimeters, and its mass is approximately 3.5 kilograms. It is made of gold-plated "British metal" - a white alloy of tin and antimony. Black marble is used as the material for the manufacture of the pedestal.

Interesting fact: During the Second World War, the Oscar was made of plaster, because metals were needed at the front.

What is the red carpet for?

Until 2002, the Oscar ceremony was held in the mostvarious venues, but currently the main venue is the Dolby Theater located in Los Angeles. Before entering the theater, a 150-meter red carpet spreads for actors and actresses. It consists of several large rolls with a total weight of 5 tons. It takes up to 21 workers two days to lay it down. And all this so that the stars of the cinema could demonstrate their jewelry and outfits sewn exclusively for them.

Actress Anne Hathaway on the red carpet

See also: How did the Olympic Games originate and why are they still held?

Why do so many people dislike watching the Oscars?

As the most important film award, the famousThe Oscars don't have the best reputation. Basically, she is criticized for the fact that representatives of the academy do not always fairly evaluate films - there were even scandals with bribes. Some of the members of the Academy admitted that they voted for the film "12 Years a Slave" only because of its theme, without even paying attention to viewing.

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Perhaps this is the most interesting thing that can be said about the famous film award. Perhaps you know other interesting facts about her - write in the comments, it will be interesting to read.