All you need to know: Sci-Tech Awards

Saturday night at the Beverly Wilshire, more than 20 were honored at the Academy's annual Scientific and Technical Awards . The show pai...

Saturday night at the Beverly Wilshire, more than 20 were honored at the Academy's annual Scientific and Technical Awards. The show paid tribute to those in the movie industry for achievements behind-the-scenes, from 3-D filming technologies to special effects management software.

Update: The Academy has pictures and videos from the evening.

Read more about the honorees and host on the jump.

The Awards
Denny Clairmont will receive the John A. Bonner Medal of Commendation, voted by the Board of Governors of the Academy.

“For more than three decades Denny has been at the forefront of camera technology, helping cinematographers, camera assistants and film students with evolving technologies and related equipment,” Academy President Tom Sherak was quoted in the press release. “His dedication to his craft and service to the Academy are well-known throughout the industry.”

In 1976 Clairmont, along with his brother Terry, co-founded Clairmont Camera, a camera rental company that has grown into one of the largest in the world. In facilitating the exchange of ideas between camera users and manufacturers, Clairmont Camera has helped to bring new features and products into the marketplace. The company also assists student filmmakers by providing advice and equipment packages for use on thesis films.

The John A. Bonner Medal is awarded for “outstanding service and dedication in upholding the high standards of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.” It is named in honor of the late director of special projects at Warner Hollywood Studios.

The following will be awarded plaques and certificates:

Scientific and Engineering Awards (Academy Plaques)
Dr. Mark Sagar: for his early and continuing development of influential facial motion retargeting solutions.

Mark Noel: for the design, engineering and development of the NAC Servo Winch System

John Frazier: for his contributions to the design and safety features, of the NAC Servo Winch System.

The NAC System allows full-size cars, aircraft and other heavy props to be flown on wires with unprecedented freedom of motion and a high degree of safety, on-set and in real time. The intuitive control system responds to the motion of the operator’s hand, permitting the recording and playback of all axes of motion simultaneously, which may be edited and refined for playback in subsequent takes.

James Rodnunsky, Alex MacDonald and Mark Chapman: for the development of the Cablecam 3-D volumetric suspended cable camera technologies.

The evolution of the Cablecam technology has made it possible to move a camera safely and accurately anywhere through a three-dimensional space.

Tim Drnec, Ben Britten Smith and Matt Davis: for the development of the Spydercam 3D volumetric suspended cable camera technologies.

The evolution of the Spydercam technology has made it possible to move a camera safely and accurately anywhere through a three-dimensional space.

Technical Achievement Awards (Academy Certificates)
Greg Ercolano: for the design and engineering of a series of software systems culminating in the Rush render queue management system.

David M. Laur: for the development of the Alfred render queue management system.

Chris Allen, Gautham Krishnamurti, Mark A. Brown and Lance Kimes: for the development of Queue, a robust, scalable approach to render queue management.

Florian Kainz: for the design and development of the robust, highly scalable distributed architecture of the ObaQ render queue management system.

Eric Tabellion and Arnauld Lamorlette: for the creation of a computer graphics bounce lighting methodology that is practical at feature film scale.

Tony Clark, Alan Rogers, Neil Wilson and Rory McGregor: for the software design and continued development of cineSync, a tool for remote collaboration and review of visual effects.

Portions of the Scientific and Technical Awards Presentation will be incorporated into the Oscar ceremony.

Information provided by the Academy.

The Host
As in the past, the host for the Sci-Tech Awards will be a leading lady. Oscar-winning actress Marisa Tomei is tapped to host this year's presentation. She will present 11 awards to 23 individual recipients during the evening.

Tomei won a Supporting Actress Academy Award in 1992 for her performance in “My Cousin Vinny.”