What Is an Oscar Statuette?
The Oscar statuette is a powerful status symbol among those who work in the film industry. Actors, directors, producers, technicians, writers and other, newer branches of the industry all covet this prestigious award.
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Background
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The Academy is located in Beverly Hills. When the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was formed in 1927, its members decided to create an annual awards ceremony for outstanding filmmakers. Los Angeles sculptor George Stanley was commissioned with creating the awards to be handed out during these ceremonies.
Design
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Technicians are symbolized on the Oscar statuette. MGM (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) art director Cedric Gibbons designed the statuette before passing his design on to George Stanley. The statuette depicts "a knight holding a crusader's sword, standing on a reel of film," according to Oscars.org. The five spokes on the film reel symbolize actors, directors, producers, technicians and writers. The base became standardized in 1945.
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Materials
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The Academy Award is plated in 24-karat gold. Originally, Oscars were made of solid bronze with a gold plating. This was abandoned in favor of a pewter-like alloy called Britannia, which is then plated in copper, nickel silver and 24-karat gold. For three years during World War II, the award was made of painted plaster.
Made in Chicago
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The Oscar statuettes are manufactured in Chicago. R.S. Owens and Company, based in Chicago, manufactures the Oscar statuette, as well as the Emmys, BAFTA and other awards, according to RSOwens.com. It takes three to four weeks to make 50 Oscars, with each statuette being 13 1/2 inches tall and weighing 8 1/2 pounds.
Name
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Sidney Skolsky was the first columnist to use the nickname Oscar. The Oscar's official name is the Academy Award of Merit, but Oscar became the official nickname in 1939. The nickname, however, was common enough in 1934 for columnist Sidney Skolsky to use the term to describe Katharine Hepburn when she won her first Best Actress award. The name "Oscar" possibly derives from Academy librarian and future executive director Margaret Herrick remarking that it resembled her Uncle Oscar.
Numbers
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Even ogres can win Oscars. As of 2010, the award has been presented 2,701 times. The last new category added to the Academy Awards nominations, also at the time of this writing, was the Animated Feature Film Award, which was first presented in 2002 to the movie "Shrek."
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit film role in perspective image by Slobodan Djajic from Fotolia.com los angeles image by Pontus Edenberg from Fotolia.com projecteur image by photlook from Fotolia.com gold image by ennavanduinen from Fotolia.com skyscrapers, chicago image by rese3282 from Fotolia.com watch on newspaper image by Hao Wang from Fotolia.com ogre in the forest image by Vasiliy Koval from Fotolia.com
