themakeupgallery blog

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced that seven films have been shorlisted for the Oscar for Best Makeup. On 19 January the members of the Academy’s Makeup Branch will view 10-minute excerpts from each of the seven films. Following the screenings, they will pick three films as the final Oscar nominations.

The shortlisted movies are
Le scaphandre et le papillon / The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
La Môme / La Vie en Rose
Norbit
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
300.

The Oscar nominations will be announced on 22 January. The Academy Awards ceremony will be held on 24 February — unless it goes the way of the Golden Globes.

Having missed last year’s IMATS (International Makeup Artist Trade Show — Europe) I’m really looking forward to this year’s show (if not the walk up the hill to Ally Pally). But hey, having bought my ticket in November and with IMATs only three weeks away, isn’t it about time that they got round to publishing the schedule for the Keynote Speakers etc. I know these guys have busy (and changeable) schedules and other commitments — but so have I! 

Having got a two-day ticket, I should be able to juggle so that I can see most of what I want (hopefully), even though I’ll only be able to go one afternoon and one morning. But anyone buying a one-day ticket, as I had to last time I went, is really being expected to buy a pig-in-a-poke with no idea which Keynote Speakers they’ll get — missing Rick Baker because they can’t even tell you on which day he’s speaking, never mind what time, would be a big deal.

IMATs is great, shouldn’t be missed, but I have a nagging memory of being able to, enviously, look up the schedule of the US show some weeks beforehand.

update 13/01/2008: The schedule is now finalised — about time too — but curiously they have not updated the Schedule pages; so if you want to find out who’s on and when, you have to look up the Latest News page. Still at least I know that Rick Baker is on at a time when I can be there. 

update 23/01/2008: I’ll be there Saturday and am on Sunday — you’ll be able to spot me by the bright red Llanelli Scarlets T-shirt with ‘YMA O HYD’ on the front.

Congratulations to Christien Tinsley (Tinsley Transfers) on being one of the ten winners of an Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Scientific and Technical Academy Award. The certificate and plaque will be presented at The Beverly Wilshire on 9 February 2008.

Christien wins his award for the creation of the Tinsley Transfers technique for creating and applying 2D and 3D makeup used in movies and TV shows such as Prison Break, Alpha Dog, The Passion of the Christ, and Welcome to Collinwood. The Academy said:

These techniques allow quick and precisely repeatable application of 2D makeup such as tattoos, bruises and birthmarks, as well as 3D prosthetic appliances ranging in size from small wounds to entire torsos. They utilize self-adhesive material that features an unprecedented combination of tissue-thin edges, resilience, flexibility and water resistance, while requiring no dangerous solvents.

The full list of winners is detailed in the Academy’s Press Release.