Oscar Awards ceremony is the most awaited event of the year, watched by millions of people across the world. Come New Year and everyone, right from a common man to the prominent personalities of Hollywood, starts waiting for the magic of the Academy Award ceremony to unfold. It has been organized at the magnificently-built Kodak Theater for quite some years, which serves as a seasoning to its glitz and glamour.Academy Awards ceremony incorporates the element of enthusiasm that is not just alluring, but contagious as well. A dominant spirit spreads through all those who are associated with Hollywood.
Oscar Awards are considered the highest altar, which acknowledges all the efforts that go into film making, in the most splendid manner. The immense popularity of the event makes it all the more important. The entire atmosphere is governed by an element of suspense and excitement. The mystery unfolds with every passing moment of the ceremony. The names of the winners in the various categories are unveiled and they are presented with the Oscar statuette. When the winner holds the Oscar statuette in their hands, no doubt it becomes the most treasured moment of their life.
HISTORY OF OSCAR
Oscar Award is the most prestigious award ceremony of Hollywood, held on an annual basis. It has assumed the shape of a mega event and everyone associated, directly or indirectly, with Hollywood eagerly waits for the Oscar night. The popularity of Academy Awards has increased with the passing time. Looking back into the history of Oscars, we see that the awards were the brainchild of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), formed in 1927. The formation of the academy was a collaborative effort of 36 most prominent individual of the motion picture industry.
Film actor Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. was chosen as the first president of the Academy. The main purpose behind the establishment of the awards was to honor the talented artists of the Motion Picture Industry. The first Academy Awards ceremony was organized on May 16, 1929, at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, away from the public eye. It was a very private affair, with only two hundred seventy people as guests. The awards were given in the banquet, set up at the hotel’s Blossom Room. The tickets for the guest tickets cost $5.
Film actor Douglas Fairbanks, Sr. was chosen as the first president of the Academy. The main purpose behind the establishment of the awards was to honor the talented artists of the Motion Picture Industry. The first Academy Awards ceremony was organized on May 16, 1929, at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, away from the public eye. It was a very private affair, with only two hundred seventy people as guests. The awards were given in the banquet, set up at the hotel’s Blossom Room. The tickets for the guest tickets cost $5.
The first Oscar ceremony comprised of 12 categories, apart from two special honors. The awards were meant to honor people responsible for cinematic achievements in 1927 and 1928. There was a very little element of surprise at the first Oscar Awards ceremony, as the names of the winners had been declared three months in advance. The entire affair was an elongated one, filled with speeches. However, Douglas Fairbanks, the Academy President, made the work of handing out the statuettes to the winners pretty quick.
The first Oscar for Best Actor was bagged by German tragedian Emil Jannings (for 'The Last Command' and 'The Way of All Flesh'). The actor had to return to Europe before the ceremony, so he requested the Academy to give him the award early. His request was accepted, making his statuette the very first Academy Award to be ever presented. The award for Best Actress went to Janet Gaynor, for 'Seventh Heaven', 'Street Angel' and 'Sunrise'. There were two awards in Direction, for Dramatic Picture and Comedic Picture, won by Frank Borzage and Lewis Milestone, respectively.
Since its origin, Oscar ceremony has been publicly broadcast. Till 1953, radio broadcast used to take place and thereafter, the ceremony was broadcast on TV. During the first decade, the results of the award ceremony were given to newspapers for publication at 11 p.m., at the night of the awards. However, the system was ruined by Los Angeles Times, when it announced the winners even before beginning of the ceremony. It was since then only that a sealed envelope is used to reveal the name of the winners.
It was in 1966 that the broadcasting of Academy Awards ceremony took place in color. This allowed the viewers at home to experience the dazzling allure of the event. After that, there was no looking back and the popularity of the awards ceremony reached insurmountable heights. Today, Oscars are telecasted internationally, reaching movie fans in over 200 countries. Since 2002, the awards have been broadcast from the Kodak Theatre, mesmerizing the local as well as international audience.
ARCHIVE OF OSCAR
An archive is referred to either a collection of historical records or the location in which these records are kept. Academy Film Archive is part of Academy Foundation, the edifying and literary section of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. It is located in Hollywood, California, at the Academy's Pickford Center for Motion Picture Study.The Academy proclaimed its plan to collect motion pictures upon its establishment, in 1927, and two year later, in 1929, it has made its first film acquisition. The activities of the Academy Film Archive include collection , preservation, documentation and exhibition of films as well as providing research access to the same. Presently, the Archive of the Motion Picture Industry includes over 100,000 items, covering some 60,000 individual titles.
It was in 1966 that the broadcasting of Academy Awards ceremony took place in color. This allowed the viewers at home to experience the dazzling allure of the event. After that, there was no looking back and the popularity of the awards ceremony reached insurmountable heights. Today, Oscars are telecasted internationally, reaching movie fans in over 200 countries. Since 2002, the awards have been broadcast from the Kodak Theatre, mesmerizing the local as well as international audience.
ARCHIVE OF OSCAR
An archive is referred to either a collection of historical records or the location in which these records are kept. Academy Film Archive is part of Academy Foundation, the edifying and literary section of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. It is located in Hollywood, California, at the Academy's Pickford Center for Motion Picture Study.The Academy proclaimed its plan to collect motion pictures upon its establishment, in 1927, and two year later, in 1929, it has made its first film acquisition. The activities of the Academy Film Archive include collection , preservation, documentation and exhibition of films as well as providing research access to the same. Presently, the Archive of the Motion Picture Industry includes over 100,000 items, covering some 60,000 individual titles.
OSCAR VENUES
Oscar has become one of the most-awaited events of the entertainment industry. Oscar Awards honors talented people for their excellence. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) has been organizing it annually, since 1929. The first Academy Awards were given on May 16 1929 and since then; the popularity of Oscars has just increased. With the passing years, the award ceremony had gone through many stages of changes, adopting a better and much developed outlook.
The venues of the Oscar ceremony has been changed a number of times, since 1929. For the first time, the awards were given at a banquet dinner, organized at the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood. After that, the next venue was Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood, which hosted the awards from 1944 to 1946, followed by the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, from 1947 to 1948. In the year 1949, the 21st Academy Awards ceremony was held at the Academy Award Theater (the Academy's then-headquarters) on Melrose Avenue, in Hollywood.
From 1950 to 1960, Oscars were presented at Hollywood's Pantages Theater. The venue of the award ceremony was moved to the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, in Santa Monica, California, in the year 1961. The year 1969 saw the Academy moving the event back to Los Angeles, and at this point of time, the venue was Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, in the Los Angeles Music Center. Dorothy Chandler Pavilion remained the venue for Oscar ceremony from 1969 to 1987, from 1990 to 1994, in 1996, and, finally, in 1999.In 1988, 1989, 1995, 1997, 1998, 2000 and 2001, Academy Awards were presented at the Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles. After the Kodak Theater was built, in 2001, it has been the first permanent domicile of the award ceremony. The first Oscar Award ceremony was held at the Kodak Theater in March 2002 and the theater continues to host the Academy Awards till date. As of now, there is no information of any change in the Oscar venue taking place in the near future.
India has been revelling in Oscar night glory, with the success of Slumdog Millionaire, its composer AR Rahman and the documentary Smile Pinki.
Rahman won two Oscars, best original score and best original song - Jai Ho - with fellow Indian Gulzar.
Resul Pookutty bagged another award for sound mixing of the rags-to-riches Mumbai movie, which also won best picture and best director.
Smile Pinki, about an Indian cleft-lip girl, won best short documentary.
The success of Slumdog sparked massive celebrations back in the Mumbai slum where two of the film's child actors still live.
Rubina Ali and Azharuddin Ismail were both in Hollywood for the ceremony.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said of the winners: "They have done India proud."
Rahman won two Oscars, best original score and best original song - Jai Ho - with fellow Indian Gulzar.
Resul Pookutty bagged another award for sound mixing of the rags-to-riches Mumbai movie, which also won best picture and best director.
Smile Pinki, about an Indian cleft-lip girl, won best short documentary.
The success of Slumdog sparked massive celebrations back in the Mumbai slum where two of the film's child actors still live.
Rubina Ali and Azharuddin Ismail were both in Hollywood for the ceremony.
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said of the winners: "They have done India proud."
POWER OF HOPE
India's biggest winner of the night was Rahman, 43.
He said as he accepted the award: "I just want to thank again the whole crew of Slumdog Millionaire, especially [director] Danny Boyle, for giving me such a great opportunity."
The composer said he hailed "all the people from Mumbai and the essence of the film, which is about optimism and the power of hope and our lives".He went on: "All my life I've had a choice of hate and love. I chose love and I'm here. God bless." TV pictures showed Rahman's family cutting a cake in his home city of Madras (Chennai) in southern India and celebrating the composer's win.
A local band played a tribute to the composer singing Jai Ho.Resul Pookutty won for sound mixing of Slumdog with Ian Tapp and Richard Pryke. Pookutty said: "I'm the first Indian technician to be nominated for an Oscar and winning one... And it's an absolute glory for me myself personally and for my country." Pookutty, a graduate from the prestigious Film and Television Institute of India, has been in the industry for more than 10 years and has worked on several big films. A spokesperson for Indian President Pratibha Patil, said she was "specially thrilled with the remarkable feat achieved by AR Rahman, Gulzar, Resul Pookutty and making India proud". Bollywood actor-director Aamir Khan said he was also "thrilled" by India's successes at the Oscars.
"It is great to see Indian talent [in cinema] being recognized internationally. We are no less than anybody else," Khan told TV channels.Smile Pinki, a 39-minute documentary by American director Megan Mylan on an eight-year-old Indian girl born with a cleft lip, had been one of the four short documentaries nominated for the Academy Awards.There were celebrations in the north Indian village in Mirzapur district where Pinki lives,The girl's uncle said several hundred people took part in a procession, chanting "Bharat mata ki jai" (Long Live Mother India). One of the other films nominated in the short documentary category was also India-based. The Final Inch by American director Irene Taylor Brodsky follows polio workers across India as they vaccinate children in an effort to eradicate the virus.
India now has five Oscar winners.
Costume designer Bhanu Athaiya won for her work in Gandhi in 1983 and director Satyajit Ray won a lifetime achievement award in 1992.
He said as he accepted the award: "I just want to thank again the whole crew of Slumdog Millionaire, especially [director] Danny Boyle, for giving me such a great opportunity."
The composer said he hailed "all the people from Mumbai and the essence of the film, which is about optimism and the power of hope and our lives".He went on: "All my life I've had a choice of hate and love. I chose love and I'm here. God bless." TV pictures showed Rahman's family cutting a cake in his home city of Madras (Chennai) in southern India and celebrating the composer's win.
A local band played a tribute to the composer singing Jai Ho.Resul Pookutty won for sound mixing of Slumdog with Ian Tapp and Richard Pryke. Pookutty said: "I'm the first Indian technician to be nominated for an Oscar and winning one... And it's an absolute glory for me myself personally and for my country." Pookutty, a graduate from the prestigious Film and Television Institute of India, has been in the industry for more than 10 years and has worked on several big films. A spokesperson for Indian President Pratibha Patil, said she was "specially thrilled with the remarkable feat achieved by AR Rahman, Gulzar, Resul Pookutty and making India proud". Bollywood actor-director Aamir Khan said he was also "thrilled" by India's successes at the Oscars.
"It is great to see Indian talent [in cinema] being recognized internationally. We are no less than anybody else," Khan told TV channels.Smile Pinki, a 39-minute documentary by American director Megan Mylan on an eight-year-old Indian girl born with a cleft lip, had been one of the four short documentaries nominated for the Academy Awards.There were celebrations in the north Indian village in Mirzapur district where Pinki lives,The girl's uncle said several hundred people took part in a procession, chanting "Bharat mata ki jai" (Long Live Mother India). One of the other films nominated in the short documentary category was also India-based. The Final Inch by American director Irene Taylor Brodsky follows polio workers across India as they vaccinate children in an effort to eradicate the virus.
India now has five Oscar winners.
Costume designer Bhanu Athaiya won for her work in Gandhi in 1983 and director Satyajit Ray won a lifetime achievement award in 1992.
