A small introductin to the Academy Awards and an overview to the nominees and winners to the Oscars 2012.

1. A GUIDE TO THE OSCARS
Andy Vargas

2. WHAT IS AN OSCAR
An Academy Award is an
award bestowed by the
American Academy of Motion
Picture Arts and Sciences
(AMPAS) to recognize
excellence of professionals in
the film industry, including
directors, actors, and writers.
The Oscar statuette is officially
named the Academy Award of
Merit and is one of nine types
of Academy Awards.

3. THE CEREMONY
The formal ceremony at which the Awards of Merit are
presented is one of the most prominent award ceremonies
in the world, and is televised live in more than 100 countries
annually; however, the first broadcast was not televised.
It is also the oldest award ceremony in the media; its
equivalents, the Grammy Awards (for music), Emmy Awards
(for television), and Tony Awards (for theatre) are modeled
after the Academy.

4. THE HISTORY
The first Academy Awards
ceremony was held on
May 16, 1929, at the Hotel
Roosevelt in Hollywood to
honor outstanding film
achievements of the
1927/1928 film season.
The 84th Academy
Awards, honoring films in
2011, was held at the
Hollywood and Highland
Center on February 26,
2012.

5. OSCAR STATUETTE
Made of gold-plated britannium on a black
metal base, it is 13.5 in (34 cm) tall, weighs 8.5
lb (3.85 kg) and depicts a knight rendered in
Art Deco style holding a crusader's sword
standing on a reel of film with five spokes.
The five spokes each represent the original
branches of the Academy: Actors, Writers,
Directors, Producers, and Technicians.
Margaret Herrick, first saw the award in 1931
and made reference to the statuette's
reminding her of her "Uncle Oscar". That is
the nick name since then.

7. AND THE WINNERS ARE…

8. BEST MOVIE NOMINEES
• THE ARTIST • HUGO
Graham King and Martin Scorsese,
Thomas Langmann, Producer Producers
• THE DESCENDANTS • MIDNIGHT IN PARIS
Jim Burke, Alexander Payne and Jim Letty Aronson and Stephen
Tenenbaum, Producers
Taylor, Producers
• MONEYBALL
• EXTREMELY LOUD & Michael De Luca, Rachael Horovitz and
INCREDIBLY CLOSE Brad Pitt, Producers
Scott Rudin, Producer • THE TREE OF LIFE
• THE HELP Sarah Green, Bill Pohlad, Dede Gardner
and Grant Hill, Producers
Brunson Green, Chris Columbus and • WAR HORSE
Michael Barnathan, Producers Steven Spielberg and Kathleen
Kennedy, Producers

9. THE ARTIST

10. BEST DIRECTOR
• Michel Hazanavicius – The Artist
• Woody Allen – Midnight in Paris
• Terrence Malick – The Tree of Life
• Alexander Payne – The Descendants
• Martin Scorsese – Hugo

11. MICHEL HAZANAVICIUS
– THE ARTIST

12. BEST ACTOR
• Demián Bichir – A Better Life as Carlos Galindo
• George Clooney – The Descendants as Matt King
• Gary Oldman – Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy as George
Smiley
• Jean Dujardin – The Artist as George Valentin
• Brad Pitt – Moneyball as Billy Beane

13. JEAN DUJARDIN – THE ARTIST
AS GEORGE VALENTIN

14. BEST ACTRESS
• Rooney Mara – The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo as
Lisbeth Salander
• Michelle Williams – My Week with Marilyn as
Marilyn Monroe
• Meryl Streep – The Iron Lady as Margaret Thatcher
• Glenn Close – Albert Nobbs as Albert Nobbs
• Viola Davis – The Help as Aibileen Clark

15. MERYL STREEP –AS MARGARET
THATCHER

16. BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
• Kenneth Branagh – My Week with Marilyn as
Laurence Olivier
• Jonah Hill – Moneyball as Peter Brand
• Nick Nolte – Warrior as Paddy Conlon
• Max von Sydow – Extremely Loud and Incredibly
Close as The Renter
• Christopher Plummer – Beginners as Hal Fields

17. CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER –
BEGINNERS AS HAL FIELDS

18. BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
• Bérénice Bejo – The Artist as Peppy Miller
• Octavia Spencer – The Help as Minny Jackson
• Jessica Chastain – The Help as Celia Foote
• Melissa McCarthy – Bridesmaids as Megan Price
• Janet McTeer – Albert Nobbs as Hubert Page

19. OCTAVIA SPENCER – THE HELP
AS MINNY JACKSON

20. BEST ANIMATED FILM
• Rango – Gore Verbinski
• A Cat in Paris – Alain Gagnol and Jean-Loup Felicioli
• Chico and Rita – Fernando Trueba and Javier
Mariscal
• Kung Fu Panda 2 – Jennifer Yuh Nelson
• Puss in Boots – Chris Miller

21. RANGO

22. BEST FOREIGN FILM
• Bullhead (Belgium) in Dutch and French – Michaël R.
Roskam
• A Separation (Iran) in Persian – Asghar Farhadi
• Footnote (Israel) in Hebrew – Joseph Cedar
• In Darkness (Poland) in Polish – Agnieszka Holland
• Monsieur Lazhar (Canada) in French – Philippe
Falardeau

23. A SEPARATION

24. BEST DOCUMENTARY
• Undefeated – TJ Martin, Dan Lindsay, and Richard
Middlemas
• Hell and Back Again – Danfung Dennis and Mike
Lerner
• If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front
– Marshall Curry and Sam Cullman
• Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory – Joe Berlinger and Bruce
Sinofsky
• Pina – Wim Wenders and Gian-Piero Ringel

25. UNDEFEATED

26. BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM
• The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris
Lessmore – William Joyce and Brandon
Oldenburg
• Dimanche – Patrick Doyon
• La Luna – Enrico Casarosa
• A Morning Stroll – Grant Orchard and Sue
Goffe
• Wild Life – Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby

27. THE FANTASTIC FLYING
BOOKS OF MR. MORRIS L.

28. BEST LIVE ACTION
SHORT FILM
• The Shore – Terry George and Oorlagh George
• Pentecost – Peter McDonald and Eimear O'Kane
• Raju – Max Zähle and Stefan Gieren
• Time Freak – Andrew Bowler and Gigi Causey
• Tuba Atlantic – Hallvar Witzø

29. THE SHORE – TERRY GEORGE
AND OORLAGH GEORGE

30. BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
• Midnight in Paris – Woody Allen
• The Artist – Michel Hazanavicius
• Bridesmaids – Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo
• Margin Call – J.C. Chandor
• A Separation – Asghar Farhadi

31. BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
• The Descendants – Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon,
and Jim Rash from The Descendants by Kaui
Hart Hemmings
• Hugo – John Logan from The Invention of Hugo Cabret by
Brian Selznick
• The Ides of March – George Clooney, Grant Heslov, and
Beau Willimon from Farragut North by Beau Willimon
• Moneyball – Screenplay by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin;
Story by Stan Chervin from Moneyball by Michael Lewis
• Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – Bridget O'Connor and Peter
Straughan from Tinker, by John le Carré

32. BEST SOUND EDITING
• Hugo – Philip Stockton and Eugene Gearty
• Drive – Lon Bender and Victor Ray Ennis
• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – Ren Klyce
• Transformers: Dark of the Moon – Ethan Van der
Ryn and Erik Aadahl
• War Horse – Richard Hymns and Gary Rydstrom

33. BEST SOUND MIXING
• Hugo – Tom Fleischman and John Midgley
• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – David Parker,
Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce, and Bo Persson
• Moneyball – Deb Adair, Ron Bochar, David
Giammarco, and Ed Novick
• Transformers: Dark of the Moon – Greg P. Russell,
Gary Summers, Jeffrey, and Peter J. Devlin
• War Horse – Gary Rydstrom, Andy Nelson, Tom
Johnson, and Stuart Wilson

34. BEST ART DIRECTION
• Hugo – Dante Ferretti and Francesca Lo
Schiavo
• The Artist – Laurence Bennett and Robert Gould
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 –
Stuart Craig and Stephanie McMillan
• Midnight in Paris – Anne Seibel and Hélène Dubreuil
• War Horse – Rick Carter and Lee Sandales

35. BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
• Hugo – Robert Richardson
• The Artist – Guillaume Schiffman
• The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo – Jeff Cronenweth
• The Tree of Life – Emmanuel Lubezki
• War Horse – Janusz Kamiński

36. BEST MAKEUP
• The Iron Lady – Mark Coulier and J. Roy
Helland
• Albert Nobbs – Martial Corneville, Lynn
Johnson, and Matthew W. Mungle
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2
– Nick Dudman, Amanda Knight, and Lisa
Tomblin

37. BEST COSTUME DESIGN
• The Artist – Mark Bridges
• Anonymous – Lisy Christl
• Hugo – Sandy Powell
• Jane Eyre – Michael O'Connor
• W.E. – Arianne Phillips

38. BEST FILM EDITING
• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – Angus
Wall and Kirk Baxter
• The Artist – Anne-Sophie Bion and Michel
Hazanavicius
• The Descendants – Kevin Tent
• Hugo – Thelma Schoonmaker
• Moneyball – Christopher Tellefsen

39. BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
• Hugo – Rob Legato, Joss Williams, Ben
Grossmann, and Alex Henning
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 – Tim Burke,
David Vickery, Greg Butler, and John Richardson
• Real Steel – Erik Nash, John Rosengrant, Danny Gordon
Taylor, and Swen Gillberg
• Rise of the Planet of the Apes – Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, R.
Christopher White, and Daniel Barrett
• Transformers: Dark of the Moon – Scott Farrar, Scott Benza,
Matthew E. Butler, and John Frazier

40. BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
• The Artist – Ludovic Bource
• The Adventures of Tintin – John Williams
• Hugo – Howard Shore
• Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – Alberto Iglesias
• War Horse – John Williams