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TEXANS IN HOLLYWOOD

The Oscars: A Peek Behind the Curtain of the Nomination and Voting Process

Have you ever watched a movie and are interested in the films and talented individuals behind them, waiting to be announced to be the Oscar nominees? The Oscars Awards are the most popular awards in the entertainment market, and they are famous all across the world. Every year, people from all over the world, especially filmmakers and actors, watch the award show to witness the greatest in film. But what exactly happens out of the limelight? Who selects the nominees, and who has the final say concerning the winners of the rewards? Let's now go into the Oscar realm and explain how nominations are made and votes are cast.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

Approximately 9,000 filmmakers and film industry professionals make up the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, an exclusive society that lies at the heart of the Oscars. These individuals are primarily responsible for both the OSCAR nomination process and the ultimate selection of winners. Acting, directing, film editing, and other specialized areas of film production and post-production are covered by the 17 branches that make up the Academy. This multidisciplinary team of professionals ensures that all facets of the film business are represented.

To become a member of the Academy, an individual must either apply for membership or get an invitation to join the Academy. It is important to mention that the majority of the Oscars nominees receive an invitation to the Academy as recognition of their valuable contribution to the movie industry.

The Nomination Process

Now, let's focus on the process of selecting Oscar nominees. In most cases, including acting, directing, and editing, the nomination procedure is quite standard and uneventful. The representatives of each specific branch are entitled to vote for the nominees belonging to the respective category. For instance, actors consider other actors; directors put other directors and so on. By adopting this procedure, it is possible to make sure that only individuals who are informed and have firsthand experience with any nominee will decide on the nominations.

However, the Best Picture category works just a bit differently. Here, every member of the Academy has the privilege to make their vote despite of the branch they belong to. This was done to make people realize that the Best Picture award is the ultimate award in filmmaking, and its decision should be collective and not partial.

The procedure involved in nominating individuals or movies is that the members of the Academy must list their nominees in order of preference. In most categories, members can nominate a list of five people or organizations. For the other categories, members can nominate between five to ten candidates although for the prestigious Best Picture category, the list is limited to five nominees.

The Magic Number

You may be curious how these individual nomination ballots get compiled to make the final nominees list. But there is undoubtedly some arithmetic involved—the so-called "magic number" is determined by multiplying the total number of votes cast in a certain category by the total number of candidates plus one.

For instance, let the magic number for the Best Actor category be equal to 333. Such a system ensures that if an actor, for instance, Colin Farrell, gets 337 first-place votes, then he gets to be a nominee. It remains a very simple process that would give credence to the fact that the nominees have enjoyed some level of support from their colleagues.

So, what does happen with the votes for the second, third, fourth, and fifth places? It is here that the process becomes a bit more complicated. The professional vote counters from Price Waterhouse Coopers, who have been counting the Oscar votes for decades, pay attention to the remaining ballots. They label it with the stack with the minimum votes and eliminate it. These votes are then transferred to the candidate of the second preference of the voter who has exercised the vote.

To illustrate this, let's consider a scenario where Robert Pattinson receives the fewest first-place votes. In this case, his stack of ballots would be reassigned according to the second-place choices indicated by the voters. This process of redistribution continues until either the magic number is reached or only five nominees are remaining in the category.

The Final Vote

Once the nominees have been established, the voting commences, and people start getting anxious. At this stage, all the members of the Academy are provided with new ballot papers bearing the list of nominees in all the categories. Things get even more interesting here each member now can vote in each category, rather than in a particular specialist field only. This implies that an actor can vote for Best Actor and also vote in Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design and any other category on the ballot.

The final winners are decided by the members of the Academy through a process of voting. It is one of the most important aspects of filmmaking because it demonstrates that filmmaking is a collective effort where each segment of the movie plays a significant role in achieving the final goal. The winners are unknown until the award night, which fuels the expectation of the show and the Oscars in general.

The process of transforming from a nominee to an Oscar winner is quite an interesting one, and it involves a lot of expectations, drama, and even a little mystery, from the first stage when the branch of the experts nominates the contenders to the final stage when all the members of the Academy vote, the procedure is aimed at honoring the best in filmmaking. The Oscars provide an opportunity to reward hard work, inspiration, and passion for people who create remarkable movies.

As we sit down and watch the Oscars, where glamorous stars take home golden statuettes, one cannot help but consider the preparation that goes on behind the scenes. The composition and consensus of the Academy guarantee that only the best films and actors/specialists receive Oscar nominations and wins.