Beverly Hills, CA — The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced that 15 films were selected as semifinalists for Achievement in Visual Effects for the 81st Academy Awards®.
In early January, the members of the Academy’s Visual Effects Branch Executive Committee, who voted the semifinalists, will narrow the list to seven. On Thursday, January 15, all members of the Visual Effects Branch will be invited to view 15-minute excerpts from each of the seven shortlisted films. Following the screenings, the members will vote to nominate three films for final Oscar consideration.
The list is after the jump.
The films that were selected as semifinalists for Achievement in Visual Effects for the 81st Academy Awards® are listed below in alphabetical order:
“Australia”
“The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian”
“Cloverfield”
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“The Dark Knight”
“The Day the Earth Stood Still”
“Hancock”
“Hellboy II: The Golden Army”
“The Incredible Hulk”
“Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull”
“Iron Man”
“Journey to the Center of the Earth”
“The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor”
“Quantum of Solace”
“The Spiderwick Chronicles”
In early January, the members of the Academy’s Visual Effects Branch Executive Committee, who voted the semifinalists, will narrow the list to seven.
On Thursday, January 15, all members of the Visual Effects Branch will be invited to view 15-minute excerpts from each of the seven shortlisted films. Following the screenings, the members will vote to nominate three films for final Oscar consideration.
The 81st Academy Awards nominations will be announced on Thursday, January 22, 2009, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.
Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2008 will be presented on Sunday, February 22, 2009, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live by the ABC Television Network. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 200 countries worldwide.
WOW. This is a tough list this time!
I’m tied between:
The Day the Earth Stood Still, Hellboy, Indy, Iron Man, The Mummy
I’m all for The Dark Knight winning. I’ve never seen anything more convincing than Harvey Dent’s burned face, even though I know that that eye of his couldn’t be there in real life, but hey, it’s a movie, it looks incredible along with many other shots.
I haven’t seen “The Day the Earth Stood Still” yet but from trailers that looks like a contender. Out of the movies I have seen I would like to see these movies be the final nominees:
-The Dark Knight of course,
-Cloverfield (I don’t really like this movie, but looking at the motion tracking with the monster and the mayhem, amazing work),
-Iron Man (not my fav movie in the world, I found it entertaining, but it looked convincing and is visually incredible),
-and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (really love the visuals of the A-bomb stuff and the flood at the end. There were a few story ideas and sequences that disappointed me)
Does anyone know why this category and makeup only have three nominees?
The finalists will be:
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“The Dark Knight”
“Iron Man”
Cloverfield should at least be nominated this year. That work was absolutely amazing especially when you see the plates they worked with. That entire movie was one long beautiful VSFX shot(it was also one of my favorite movies this year.
Dark Knight and Benjamin Button should be the other two nominated with Benjamin Button being the winner. It is the next step in VSFX achievements after Gollum.
k, I’ve seen some more movies since my previous post, Day the Earth Stood Still, not a contender. Button on the other hand, yeah, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the VFX Oscar go to that one.
Ha-ha! I knew it!