Have you ever wondered how the Oscar’s nominees are chosen? The voting method of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is not that difficult to understand! Thinking of showing the audience how competitors are chosen for each category, The Wrap explained how this selection is made.
How Oscar’s nominees are chosen
Every year, the Academy members come and go. In 2017, for example, 6,687 people were eligible to vote and choose nominees for the awards. However, only part of this total can vote in certain categories. For example, in the category “Best Picture” all members can cast their vote, requiring at least 335 votes for a movie to be nominated. In the category “Foreign Language Film”, the number of members participating in the vote is reduced to 40, with only 7 votes needed for one nomination.
Check the list with the number of votes to indicate for each category:
- Best Picture: 335 votes
- Directing: 79 votes
- Actress/Actor in a Leading Role/Supporting Role: 194 votes
- Animated Feature Film: 80 votes
- Documentary: 47 votes
- Costume Design: 20 votes
- Film Editing: 46 votes
- Makeup and Hairstyling: 40 votes
- Music (Original Song): 47 votes
- Foreign Language Film: 7 votes
Oscar’s Secrets
The 90th edition of the Oscar airs on the TV on March 4, presented (again) by Jimmy Kimmel. The glamorous night of awards is well known by the public, but it still hides curiosities that many people do not know.
Check out 7 secrets that you may not know about the ceremony.
#1 Oscar’s success
The Oscar’s ceremony may be a success today, but it has not always been this way. The first edition of the award took place in 1929, at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, in Las Vegas, and had only 270 people during the 15 minutes it lasted. Just to make a comparison, the 2016 Oscar had 34.3 million viewers.
#2 Artist with more indications
Meryl Streep is the artist who has the most Oscar nominations: in 38 years of career, the actress has achieved 20 nominations. However, she only took the statuette home three times: in 1979 (“Kramer versus Kramer”), in 1982 (“The Choice of Sofia”) and in 2011 (“The Iron Lady”). In 2018, she is indicated for her role at “The Post”.
#3 People with the highest number of indications
Walt Disney is the person that had the highest number of indications: 59 nominations and 26 wins.
#4 Younger actress with more nominations
Jennifer Lawrence is the youngest actress to get four Oscar nominations. At the age of 26, the artist was nominated in 2011 (“Winter of the Soul”), in 2013 (“The Good Side of Life”), in 2014 (“Cheating”) and in 2016 (“Joy”).
#5 Oscar’s real name
You may not know that, but Oscar’s real name is “Academy Award of Merit”. According to the Academy, the “award’s nickname” came after an employee said that the statuette looked like his bald uncle, who had the name of Oscar. Weird, hum?
#6 How much is an Oscar worth?
If you won a statuette, would you have the courage to sell it? Here’s a curiosity: it is not that worth at the market. All winners are required to sign an agreement that makes them sell the statuette to the Academy for US$ 1 instead of putting it up for auction. If the artist does not agree with the rule, she or he not take the prize home.
#7 Time for speech
Have you noticed that, during the winner’s speech, after a certain time a song starts to play? That happens because, since 2010, the award-winning speech has a limit of 45 seconds.