The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced today that 11 distinct scientific and technical investigations have been launched for 2024 in the lead-up to the Scientific and Technical Awards on Tuesday, February 18, 2025.
These investigations are made public so that individuals and companies with devices or claims of innovation within these areas can submit achievements for review. The Academy’s Scientific and Technical Awards Committee has started investigations into the following areas:
–Character dental prosthetics
–On-set tools for live compositing of virtual characters and environments
–In-Camera Visual Effects rendering or playback engines
–LED processors for In-Camera Visual Effects
–Image-based lighting for CG rendering
–Heat-protective gel for stunt performer safety
–Artist-friendly tools for constructing anatomical character simulation setups
–Final frame post process denoisers for CG rendering
–Dynamic time alignment of multiple moving microphones
–Stabilized multi-camera systems for capturing wide FOV plates
–Transportable six-degrees-of-freedom motion bases capable of supporting heavy loads
“The Awards committee is thrilled to have a wide range of applicants representing innovation across our branches. Our diverse committee of industry experts will investigate 11 areas of advancement, including character dental prosthetics, fire-protective stunt gels, and CG rendering techniques. The continued evolution of production and post-production, along with technologies that merge them, such as components of virtual production related to in-camera visual effects, highlights the evolution of motion picture workflows based on these advancements,” said Scientific and Technical Awards Committee co-chairs Darin Grant and Raymond Yeung.
The deadline to submit additional entries is Thursday, September 5, at 5 p.m. PT. For more information on the Scientific and Technical Awards or to submit a similar technology, click here.
After thorough investigations in each technology category, the committee will meet in the fall to vote on recommendations to the Academy’s Board of Governors, which will make the final awards decisions.
The Scientific and Technical Awards Presentation will be held on Tuesday, February 18, 2025.
Review: Director James Watkins’ “Speak No Evil”
Quick. Has there ever been a horror film set in a country home with a decent cell signal?
Nope, and there's no signal at Paddy and Ciara's house, either, deep in the English countryside. Soon, that land line will be cut, too, but we're getting ahead of ourselves.
Paddy and Ciara are that fun-but-somewhat-odd British couple whom Louise and Ben, early in "Speak No Evil," meet on their idyllic Tuscan family holiday. Americans based in London, Louise and Ben are at loose ends, with both job and relationship issues. And so, when the new acquaintances write to invite them for a country weekend, they decide to go.
After all, how bad could it be?
Don't answer that. There are many such moments in the first two-thirds of "Speak No Evil," a Hollywood remake of the 2022 Danish film, here starring a deeply menacing James McAvoy. Moments where Louise and Ben, out of mere politeness and social convention, act against their instincts, which tell them something is wrong – very wrong.
Director James Watkins and especially his excellent troupe of actors, adult and children alike, do a nice job of building the tension, slowly but surely. Until all bloody hell breaks loose, of course. And then, in its third act, "Speak No Evil" becomes an entertaining but routine horror flick, with predictable results.
But for a while, it's a way more intelligent film. And the jumpy moments work — I'll confess to literally springing out of my seat when someone uneventfully turned on a power drill.
We begin in stunning Tuscany, where Louise (Mackenzie Davis, in the film's most accessible and empathetic performance) and Ben (Scoot McNairy, all nerves and insecurity) are vacationing with 11-year-old daughter Agnes (Alix West Lefler). At the pool, they... Read More