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A Rare Early Look at Southern California Beaches

Southern California
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As we near the end of summer, let's take a look at some Southern California beaches, roughly 90 years ago. Recently rediscovered at the Academy Film Archive, this gorgeous silent footage includes aerial shots of Newport Beach, Huntington Beach, Balboa Island, and Laguna Beach. The tinted imagery showcases seaside cliffs, orange groves, families at the beach, oil fields peppering Huntington Beach, and boats exploring Newport Beach’s harbor.Produced by Herman Fowler around 1925, the film appears to be part of a short documentary series titled Know Your Own Country, which profiled the landscape…
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ACADEMY REVEALS 2015 STUDENT ACADEMY AWARD WINNERS

Student Academy Awards 2015
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All winning films now eligible for Oscars®Los Angeles, CA — The Academy has voted fifteen students as winners of the 42nd Student Academy Awards competition. The Academy received a record number of entries this year — 1,686 films from 282 domestic and 93 international colleges and universities — which were voted upon by a record number of Academy members. Past Student Academy Award winners have gone on to receive 47 Oscar® nominations and have won or shared eight awards.  Previous winners include Pete Docter, John Lasseter, Spike Lee, Trey Parker and Robert Zemeckis.The winners are (listed…
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20 SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENTS UNDER CONSIDERATION FOR 2015 ACADEMY AWARDS

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The Scientific and Technical Awards Committee of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced today that 20 scientific and technical achievements, involving 11 distinct investigations, have been selected for further consideration for 2015 Academy Awards.The list is made public to allow individuals and companies with similar devices or claims of prior art the opportunity to submit achievements for review.The deadline to submit additional entries is Tuesday, September 1, at 5 p.m. PT.The committee has selected the following technologies for further consideration: A remote-…
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The Story of Doing Improv with the Farrelly Brothers

Harland Williams Academy Originals Farrelly Brothers
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In this week's Academy Originals, actor/comedian Harland Williams talks about collaborating with the Farrelly Brothers and how he came up with his iconic lines in "There's Something About Mary" and "Dumb and Dumber."

"I think they like to do a lot of pranks. They like to keep their actors, their crew,  on their toes," said Williams of the siblings' directorial style. "They kind of like to set the tone. It's like, 'okay, these guys are crazy, this movie's crazy. I guess anything goes.'"

 
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LORENZA MUÑOZ NAMED ACADEMY MANAGING DIRECTOR, MEMBERSHIP AND AWARDS

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The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has named Lorenza Muñoz as its Managing Director, Membership and Awards.Beginning September 3, Muñoz will oversee the numerous activities and initiatives involving the organization’s nearly 7,000 filmmakers and artists, including global membership outreach and engagement events, and Academy Awards® submissions, rules and voting. She will report to Academy CEO Dawn Hudson.“We are thrilled to welcome Lorenza to our leadership team,” said Hudson. “She brings a deep passion for movies, extensive knowledge of our film industry, and years of…
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The Story of Russell Crowe's "Gladiator" Costume

The Story: The Gladiator Costume
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In this week's Academy Originals, costume designer Janty Yates takes us through her process on making  Russell Crowe's "Gladiator" costumes. 

Yates explained that for every set of armor she created for Crowe she needed to make many more for various reasons.

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The Story of Keanu Reeves' "The Matrix" Costume

Kim Barrett Matrix Costume Designer
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In this week's Academy Originals, costume designer Kym Barrett takes us through her process of creating Keanu Reeves' sleek Neo suit for "The Matrix Reloaded." It turns out making the costume was just as futuristic as the trilogy. "Often we're using 3-D printing, we're using all kinds of new textile technologies," Barrett explained, adding, "we're inventing machines to do things."For more details about costume design, check out this short film about The Story of the "Ocean's Eleven" Costumes and this one about The Story of the "Dallas Buyers Club" Costumes. 
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Glinda the Good Witch: The Early Years

Bille Burke
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This whimsical illustration from the 1921 film, The Education of Elizabeth, perfectly fits the image of silent film star Billie Burke. Although she came to prominence on the stages of London and New York, Burke first appeared on screen in 1916 and is perhaps best known for her role as Glinda in The Wizard of Oz (1939). The same appeal that she brought to that character is evident in this charming print, which depicts Burke at the height of her career. Burke was a fan favorite in part because of her stylish dress sense, which is seen here to great advantage. Image…
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Experience "The Academy Color Encoding System (ACES): A Standardized Production Infrastructure for VFX" panel at SIGGRAPH

ACES panel
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On August 11th, the Academy will host a special SIGGRAPH 2015 panel where creatives and technologists will discuss how they currently use ACES and how its integration into prominent animation, VFX, and color-correction tools simplifies color management and image interchange on future productions.The session will be moderated by noted visual effects and technology leader Sebastian Sylwan and will run from 2pm - 3:30pm.Speakers:Ray Feeney, four-time Academy Award winner for Scientific and Engineering Achievement and President and founder of RFX Inc.Michael Whipple, executive director of post…
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CHERYL BOONE ISAACS RE-ELECTED ACADEMY PRESIDENT

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Cheryl Boone Isaacs was re-elected president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Tuesday night (August 4) by the organization’s Board of Governors. In addition, Jeffrey Kurland was elected first vice president; John Bailey, Kathleen Kennedy and Bill Kroyer were elected to vice president posts; Jim Gianopulos was elected treasurer; and Phil Robinson was elected secretary.

 

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