If It's Hip, It's Here (Archives): academy awards

infographic source: LiveScience

In honor of tonight's 84rd Annual Academy Awards, here's a look at how the coveted statuette is actually made, from start to finish.

The exterior of R.S. Owens in Chicago:

Casting, Buffing and polishing:

The metal is heated to 960 degrees before pouring into the cast.

The Oscar, removed from the cast, and ready to be polished and buffed:

The rough seams are sanded:

And the statue is polished:

Electroplating:

being dipped into the nickel (the second step, it's first dipped into copper):

Dipped into the 24k plate, the fourth step (the third step is dipped into silver):

Engraving and Mounting:

Affixing the engraved plate to the base:

a close up look at base:

Placing the felt pad on the base:

Oscar Fun Facts:

• The official name of the statuette is the Academy Award® of Merit

• Oscar is 13½ inches tall and weighs 8½ pounds

• The First Recipient was Emil Jannings, named Best Actor for his performances in “The Last Command” and “The Way of All Flesh” in 1929

• Number of Awards Presented to date as of 2011: 2,809 statuettes

• It was designed by Cedric Gibbons, chief art director at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and sculpted by Los Angeles artist George Stanley.

• The Oscar statuette depicts a knight holding a crusader's sword, standing on a reel of film. The film reel features five spokes, signifying the five original branches of the Academy (actors, directors, producers, technicians and writers.)

• How Oscar received his nickname is not exactly clear.
The most popular story is that Margaret Herrick, an Academy librarian and eventual executive director, remarked that the statuette resembled her Uncle Oscar, and the Academy staff began to refer to it as Oscar. Although the nickname was used with increasing frequency during the late 1930s, the Academy didn't officially use the name Oscar until 1939.

• The Oscar statuette hasn't been altered since his molten birth, except when the design of the pedestal was made taller in 1945.

Billy Crystal will be hosting tonight's telecast. Below is a video of some of his best Oscar moments:

Click on the image below to see this year's complete list of nominees

• And here is a look at the scheduled events for the evening. • Official Oscar site. images and info courtesy of the Academy Of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

Planning on throwing an Oscar Party? Got you miniature statuettes? Your ballots? Your deli platter and your booze? What about the invites?

I always designed my own in the past, but with this wonderful new and well-designed online collection, I don't have to. And neither do you. Ranging from Pop Art to the Golden Age of Hollywood, these nine new invitations and matching envelopes were designed for Evite's new premium site by the actual designer of the Academy Award winners' envelopes.

Marc Friedland, the designer of the Academy Award winners’ envelope has designed the first-ever collection of Academy sanctioned invitations for Oscar Sunday viewing parties, which is now immediately available to download exclusively on Evite's new premium site, Postmark.

The nine unique premium Oscar party invitation designs are being made available online complimentary for party hosts to personalize and have digitally delivered as a way for Friedland and Evite to announce their association and preview Evite’s new premium site Evite Postmark

The Oscar Collection by Marc Friedland has something for everyone, from classic golden age of Hollywood to modern, fun takes on Oscar as well. There’s the nod to glitz and glam (complete with “Swarovski studded Oscar,” shown below) to mid-60’s inspired chic. Each design begins as an individually hand-crafted original, and then is magically transformed to be digitally delivered on Evite Postmark, making this the online debut of Friedland’s high-end signature craftsmanship work.

Each invitation in the collection has a matching designed envelope, custom stamp, and features the never before available Oscar statuette, use of Academy archival photos and images, and the use the of the “official” Academy Awards title.

“Partnering with Marc and The Academy to launch Evite Postmark in time for the biggest celebration in Hollywood not only perfectly captures Evite Postmark’s spirit, but it presents a huge opportunity to capture the imaginations of customers looking for new and fun ways to bring the Academy Awards into their own homes,” said Mr. Woolley.

Last year Friedland introduced the first-ever envelopes and announcement cards bearing the names of the winners for the telecast. It was the first time the Academy had a specially-designed envelope and card to announce the Oscar recipients. Friedland will be recreating them again for this year and next for the 85th annual broadcast. He will also be writing a blog titled “Oscar Party Confidential” offering party tips (complete with free downloadable Oscar Bingo cards for everyone to play at home) and suggestions for www.Postmark.com as well as www.Oscar.com

“In 2011 when I designed the first Academy Award winners' envelope, I wanted to create a modern icon imbued with a rich air of luxury, reminiscent of the glamorous golden age of Hollywood,” said Friedland. “And while it was only touched by a handful of winners—yet seen by millions—I wanted to see how I could make this piece of Oscar history part of the tradition of Oscar Party Sunday. With the support of both the Academy and Evite Postmark, this collection was designed to inspire those who love to celebrate the Oscars by way of a really fun, personal experience.”

Evite Postmark and Friedland are planning to roll out the full line of invitation and correspondence categories later this spring after more than a year in development. Evite Postmark is a premium online service featuring stylish invitations and correspondence for life’s special occasions. Reminiscent of traditional fine stationery, Evite Postmark offers its users a wide range of high-quality custom and personalized designs on a user-friendly, advertising-free interface, providing them with a modern way to stay in touch without sacrificing taste or etiquette.

Direct links to Evite Postmark will also be available at www.Oscar.com and www.marcfriedlandinc.com

Friedland is a Los Angeles-based custom invitation designer creating stationery arts for high-end clients. This year marks the 25th anniversary of his namesake business along with Creative Intelligence, his experiential branding agency counterpart.

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2011 will be presented on Sunday, February 26, 2012, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live on the ABC Television Network beginning at 4 p.m. PT/ 7 p.m. ET. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 200 countries worldwide.