On Sunday night, it’s likely that the Oscars dominated your television screen, Facebook feed and Twitter timeline. The world watched as the red carpet showcased A-List actors and six-figure dresses. But what the world didn’t see are the awards for technology that make these movies possible.

Most of movie magic stems from advancements in science, technology and engineering. These advancements are recognized each year at the Scientific and Technical Awards ceremony, or more fondly called the Sci-Tech Awards. The ceremony takes place about two weeks before the Oscars on a considerably smaller stage.

This year’s took place on Saturday, Feb. 11, at the Beverly Wilshire in Beverly Hills. ‘Resident Evil’ star and stunner Milla Jovovich hosted the awards, opening with a statement of how integral these developments are to the creation of films.

‘As an actress who has certainly benefited from the many innovations you bring to film making, I do have the greatest respect for everyone involved in the science and technology of the movies. … It’s truly an honor for me to be asked here this evening to help honor you,’ she said.

The Sci-Tech Awards acknowledge achievements the industry is just recently recognizing. Despite the scope of these achievements, only those with an Award of Merit are honored with an Oscar statuette.

The recipients this year span from the creators of lens development to camera platforms and noise reduction practices, most of which were used in the creation of films nominated for an Academy Award. As a techie and film-nerd hybrid, I selected three that were particularly influential in this year’s films.

The Arrilaser Film Recorder

This innovation in film technology was the only of this year’s recipients to win an Academy Award of Merit and an Oscar statuette. The Arrilaser is a digital film recorder with the capability to professionally transfer edited digital footage onto film at a low cost. Franz Kraus, Johannes Steurer and Wolfgang Riedel accepted the award for this industry-setting development, which was also recognized with a Scientific and Engineering Award in 2001. In the decade that has elapsed between academy recognition, the Arrilaser has become a staple in the film industry, allowing producers to keep quality and cut costs. Four of this year’s Oscars for best picture nominees used the tool — ‘Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close,’ ‘Tree of Life,’ ‘The Help’ and ‘War Horse.’

The Lowry Process

The Lowry Process is the industry standard for fixing image quality in post-production. Winning a Scientific and Engineering Award, this technique enhances image quality in post-production by reducing noise and using motion estimation-based image processing tools to clean up otherwise ‘dirty’ images. Ian Caven, Ian Godin, Kimball Thurston and Tim Connolly, who each had a big hand in its creation, accepted the award at the ceremony. John Lowry, for whom the process was named, was awarded posthumously, as he suddenly died earlier this year. This technique is frequently used to enhance or remaster old films that were created at times of lesser capabilities and to enhance new films. The process has been used on hundreds of older films, including classics such as ‘Casablanca’ and the early Star Wars films, and new favorites like ‘The Social Network’ and ‘Eat, Pray, Love.’

Micro-Voxels in Mantra Software

This industry recognition goes to a technique developed from an algorithm set into new software. Voxels are computer-generated 3-D pixels typically created in bulk to create realistic clouds or smoke by showing volume. This technique hit a glass ceiling when the need to create micro-voxels rose. Andrew Clinton and Mark Elendt worked together to make the creation and use of micro-voxels possible with their Mantra software. The academy summarized the power of this development, stating: ‘This work allowed, for the first time, unified and efficient rendering of volumetric effects such as smoke and clouds, together with other computer graphics objects, in a micro-polygon imaging pipeline.’ If you enjoyed the gorgeous graphics of ‘Tron: Legacy,’ ‘Resident Evil: Afterlife’ or ‘Golden Compass,’ you’ve experienced the benefits of this complex innovation.

Jessica Smith is a senior information management and technology and television, radio and film dual major. Her column appears every Tuesday. She can be reached at jlsmit22@syr.edu.

Published on February 27, 2012 at 12:00 pm