We’ve already seen the 18 films qualifying for the Best Animated Feature, along with the 15 documentary features shortlisted for the Oscars, and now the Academy has announced the 15 films eligible for the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects at the 84th Academy Awards.
This category is an interesting one, with a very particular set of rules around it. There will be no more than 15 eligible films, from which a further 7 may be chosen for further consideration. There will be a maximum of three nominations in the category.
According to the official Academy Award rules, the criteria are:
(a) consideration of the contribution the visual effects make to the overall production and
(b) the artistry, skill and fidelity with which the visual illusions are achieved.
This year, the 15 eligible films are fairly unsurprising:
- Captain America: The First Avenger
- Cowboys & Aliens
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
- Hugo
- Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol
- Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
- Real Steel
- Rise of the Planet of the Apes
- Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
- Sucker Punch
- Super 8
- Thor
- Transformers: Dark of the Moon
- The Tree of Life
- X-Men: First Class
The final Oscar nominees for the 84th Academy Awards will be announced 24 January 2012.
The 84th Academy Awards Ceremony will be held in Los Angeles on 27 February 2012.
