Tuesday 28th April at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles will see this years Scientific and Technical Awards handed out, and among the 27 recipients are ILM’s Vincent Dedun, Emmanuel Turquin and Jonathan Moulin for their work on Lama, a system developed to give digital creations a ‘physically plausible’ appearance. Handed out since the 1931 awards, the Sci-Tech awards don’t need to have been developed during a specific period of time, but “must demonstrate a proven record of contributing significant value to the process of making motion pictures.”
To Vincent Dedun and Emmanuel Turquin for the design, architecture and engineering, and to Jonathan Moulin for the design and creative vision of Lama at Industrial Light & Magic.
Lama provides an artist-friendly approach to composing materials built from layers representing distinct physical phenomena. Its modular, carefully curated design allows look development artists to create unique, physically plausible appearances without writing shader code. Its ease of use has expanded and accelerated shading workflows at Industrial Light & Magic and led to broader industry adoption via its inclusion in Pixar’s RenderMan.
The awards are designed to highlight innovation and technical achievements across the industry, from visual effects to special onset effects and beyond.
The Academy’s Scientific and Technical Awards honor the “individuals and companies whose discoveries and innovations have contributed in significant and lasting ways to motion pictures.” The awards include the Scientific and Technical Service Award, the Technical Achievement Award and the Scientific and Engineering Award.
This year’s recipients’ “extraordinary achievements continue to shape the art and craft of filmmaking,” Academy CEO Bill Kramer and Academy president Lynette Howell Taylor said in a joint statement. “Their innovation, dedication and technical excellence have had a profound impact across our industry, enabling filmmakers to bring powerful stories to audiences around the world.”
Added Darin Grant and Rachel Rose, co-chairs of the Sci-Tech Awards Committee: “This year’s awards celebrate a global community of innovators who solve the industry’s most complex technical challenges. Whether through enhancing the safety of practical effects with lead-free bullet hits or pushing the limits of stop-motion animation and sound restoration, these technologies are now fundamental to the craft.”
