Academy Award ceremony was launched by Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, in 1929. For the first time, the awards were presented at a private dinner in Hollywood. There was a crowd of only 250 people to witness this award ceremony. However, in the present times, Academy Awards, more popular known as Oscars, have assumed a grand outlook. They make up one of the most acclaimed award ceremonies for the people related to the Hollywood film fraternity. Academy Award comprises of several segments of awards that are meant to recognize all the individual talents of Hollywood. The winners in these categories are awarded with the Oscar Statuette.
Presenting the 34 cm tall Oscar Statuette is the most elegant way of acknowledging the efforts and caliber of the artists involved in Hollywood. The official name of the Oscar Statuette is the 'Academy Award of Merit'. The Statuette is made of gold-plated britannium, placed on a black metal base. It is 13.5 in (34 cm) tall and weights upto 8.5 lb (3.85 kg). The way it is cast in the metal, it portrays a knight rendered in Art Deco style, holding a crusader's sword and standing on a reel of film - with five spokes. The five spokes seen in the Academy Award Statue are symbolic of the original branches of the Academy - Actors, Writers, Directors, Producers, and Technicians.
History of Oscar Statuette
MGM's art director Cedric Gibbons, one of the Academy members, was the person responsible for the present design of the Oscar Statuette. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. or MGM is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. For the first time, Gibbons made the design of the award trophy by printing it on a scroll. The design of the Oscar Statuette was such that it needed a male model who could pose nude for the same.
Gibbons was introduced, by his then wife Dolores del Río, to Mexican actor Emilio "El Indio" Fernández. Though Emilio was initially reluctant, he was later convinced to pose naked, to create what today is known as the "Oscar”. Sculptor George Stanley then sculpted Gibbons's design in clay and Sachin Smith cast the statuette in 92.5 percent tin and 7.5 percent copper. Finally, the Academy Award Statuette was gold-plated. The latest modification of the statuette comprises of only a minor streamlining of its base.
