If Hollywood is really the movie capital of the world, then Oscar

night is the world's greatest wrap party. Of course, most people

are familiar with the evening's glamorous fashions and longwinded acceptance speeches, but there is a long history to the
Academy Awards that raises many questions. Why is the
statuette called Oscar? Why do accountants have to protect the
envelopes? What is the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and
Sciences? These answers and many more are all here.

The first Academy Awards were presented on May 16, 1929, at a

private dinner at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel with an audience
of about 270 people. The post Academy Awards party was held at
the Mayfair Hotel. The cost of guest tickets for that night's
ceremony was $5. Fifteen statuettes were awarded and the
ceremony ran for 15 minutes.The first Best Actor awarded was
Emil Jannings, for his performances in The Last Command and
The Way of All Flesh. . He had to return to Europe before the
ceremony, so the Academy agreed to give him the prize earlier;
this made him the first Academy Award winner in history

At first the recipients had already been announced three months

earlier. That all changed the following year, however, when the
Academy decided to keep the results secret until the ceremony.
The first presentation was the only one to escape a media
audience; by the second year, enthusiasm for the Awards was
such that a Los Angeles radio station produced a live one-hour
broadcast of the event. The ceremony has been broadcast ever
since.

The most recognized trophy in the world, the Oscar statuette has
stood on the mantels of the greatest filmmakers in history since
1929.The model for this statuette was Mexican film director and
actor Emilio "El Indio" Fernndez. The awards weigh 8.5 pounds
(3.9 kg) each and take between three to four weeks to
manufacture each statue. Officially named the Academy Award of
Merit, the statuette is better known by its nickname, Oscar.

While the origins of the name arent clear, a popular story states
that upon seeing the trophy for the first time, Academy librarian
Margaret Herrick remarked that it "looked just like her Uncle
Oscar" . Neither winners nor their heirs may sell the statuettes
without first offering to sell them back to the Academy for US$1. If
a winner refuses to agree to this stipulation, then the Academy
keeps the statuette.

Voters- The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

maintains a voting membership of about 5.000. New membership
proposals are considered annually. Rules- A film must open in
the previous calendar year, from midnight at the start of 1 January
to midnight at the end of 31 December to qualify. Rule 2 states
that a film must be feature-length, defined as a minimum of 40
minutes, except for short subject awards Foreign films must
include English subtitles, and each country can submit only one
film per year.

Current categories: Best Actor/Actress in a Leading Role, Best

Actor/Actress in a Supporting Role,Best Costume Design, Best
Director, Best Original Song, Best Visual Effects.The major
awards are presented most commonly in late February or early
March and six weeks after the announcement of the nominees.
This is an elaborate extravaganza, with the invited guests walking
up the red carpet in the creations of the most prominent fashion
designers of the day. Black tie dress is the most common outfit for
men, although fashion may dictate not wearing a bow-tie.

The Academy Awards is televised live across the United

States,Canada, the United Kingdom, and gathers millions of
viewers elsewhere throughout the world. After many years of
being held on Mondays at 9:00 pm in 1999 the ceremonies were
moved to Sundays at 8:30.Te ceremony generally averages
between 3 and 3 and a half hours. In 1929, the first Academy
Awards were presented at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel,but in
2002, the Kodak Theatre became the permanent home of the
award ceremonies.

Oscar speeches have always been a significant aspect of the

ceremony and have often been very influential. The Oscar
speeches are restricted to a time limit of 45 seconds, which is to
prevent on-stage rambling. There is play-off music after an actor
has reached their time limit, and there are reminders on the
teleprompter. If they take too long, the microphone cuts out. The
people thanked can range from an actor's agent to the film's
director, to their co-stars, to God, to their idols and to their
parents.

Sometimes a confusing statement made in a speech can attract

attention in the media. In Angelina Jolie's Best Supporting Actress
speech in 2000 for Girl, Interrupted, she said "I'm so in love with
my brother right now!", leading to accusations of incest.Best
Picture is considered the most important of the Academy Awards,
as it represents all the directing, acting, music composing, writing,
editing and other efforts put forth into a film. Consequently, Best
Picture is the final award of every Academy Awards ceremony

This is a list of films that have been nominated for the so-called
Big Five Academy Award categories.The Golden Raspberry
Awards, called the Razzies for short, is an award ceremony in
recognition of the worst in film. he term raspberry in the name is
used in its irreverent sense, as in "blowing a raspberry". The
awards themselves are in the form of a "golfball-sized raspberry"

Due to the prestige of the Academy Awards, studios spend

millions of dollars to promote their films during what is typically
called the "Oscar season". This has generated accusations of the
Academy Awards being influenced more by marketing than
quality. This has led to the coining of the term 'Oscar bait',
describing such movies. In addition, some winners critical of the
Academy Awards have boycotted the ceremonies and refused to
accept their Oscars.( Dudley Nichols, Marlon Brando)

It has been a tradition to give out gift bags to the presenters and
performers at the Oscars. The total value of these gifts can reach
into the 10s of thousands of dollars. Oscar gift bags have
included deluxe vacation packages to Hawaii, a private dinner
party at any Morton's steakhouse worldwide, videophones, a fournight stay at Rosewood's Badrutt's Palace Hotel - a luxury hotel in
Switzerland, Swiss-made watches or Jan Lewis Designs bangle
bracelets.

Most awards won by a single film: three films have won 11

Academy Awards. Most nominations received by a sing:two films
received 14 nominations. Highest Sweep-movies that won every
nominated category -won all 11 categories for which it was
nominated. Most awards won by a man:Walt Disney won 22
Oscars. He also won the most Oscars in oneyear, with four in
1954. Most awards won by a man:Walt Disney won 22 Oscars.
He also won the most Oscars in oneyear, with four in 1954. The
youngest Oscar winner was Tatum O'Neal, who won Best
Supporting Actress when she was only 10. At 82, Christopher
Plummer became the oldest person to win an Academy Award.