{"id":1107992,"date":"2026-01-28T17:16:17","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T17:16:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.polygon.com\/?p=514777"},"modified":"2026-01-28T17:16:17","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T17:16:17","slug":"2025s-technical-oscar-winners-have-three-major-themes-and-one-is-setting-people-on-fire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/2025s-technical-oscar-winners-have-three-major-themes-and-one-is-setting-people-on-fire\/","title":{"rendered":"2025\u2019s technical Oscar winners have three major themes, and one is \u2018setting people on fire\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A fire stunt on the set of 2024\u2019s The Fall Guy | Photo: Eric Laciste\/Universal Pictures via Everett Collection<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Following the official announcement of this year\u2019s Oscars nominees<\/a>, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced the winners of the 2025 scientific and technical awards<\/a>, which typically aren\u2019t part of (and are barely acknowledged at) the annual televised ceremony. In part, that\u2019s because the people winning these awards aren\u2019t the celebrities that the Oscars show producers think will lure in a TV audience. But it\u2019s also because many of the awards are for inventions and innovations that will be nearly invisible to the average moviegoer. Few of us spend much time thinking about the importance of\u00a0\u2014 for instance, to quote an explanation of one of the 2024 winners<\/a> \u2014 \u201cthe integration of multiple digital content creation tools into a coherent production pipeline.\u201d<\/p>\n

But several of this year\u2019s winners are flashier than that, and certainly more likely to be noticed on screen. Two of the three big themes in the 2025 scientific and technical awards are camera stabilization and CG software improvement \u2014 tools that have an impact on a lot of films\u2019 behind-the-scenes processes. The third big theme is \u201ctools used to set people on fire.\u201d Thanks to these innovations, stunt crew members can be ignited for longer periods, with less obvious physical protection and a higher degree of safety.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese vital technologies have expanded the visual possibilities of cinema, creating new and compelling experiences for moviegoers,\u201d the co-chairs of the Academy\u2019s Scientific and Technical Awards Committee said in a press release. What they did not say, and should have, is \u201cSetting stuntpeople on fire is totally badass and always gets the audience\u2019s attention, and we\u2019d like to see more of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Given the long-ongoing argument that the Academy should give out Oscars for the year\u2019s best movie stunt<\/a>, it\u2019s intriguing to see 2025\u2019s technical awards winners more clearly acknowledging stunt advancement and stunt technology, though that\u2019s still a ways off from acknowledging the stunt designers and coordinators themselves. <\/p>\n

Here are the 2025 winners in the Academy Awards\u2019 Scientific and Technical categories:<\/p>\n

\"Art<\/p>\n

Technical achievement awards<\/h2>\n

To Essex Edwards, James Jacobs, Jernej Barbic, Crawford Doran and Andrew van Straten for the design and development of Ziva VFX.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ziva VFX is a system for constructing and simulating muscles, fat, fascia, and skin for digital characters. An artist-friendly interface that emphasizes easily understood physical metaphors, coupled with a robust, physically accurate solver, has enabled a broad range of studios to bring visually rich creatures to life.<\/em><\/p>\n

To Javor Kalojanov and Kimball Thurston for the creation of W\u0113t\u0101 FX\u2019s ML Denoiser.<\/strong><\/p>\n

This denoiser prioritizes temporal filtering using innovative optical flow techniques to preserve crucial details. Novel training strategies allow its machine learning algorithms to denoise computer-generated imagery to the most exacting standards.<\/em><\/p>\n

To Neeme Vaino for the development of Fireskin360 Naked Burn Gel.<\/strong><\/p>\n

This widely available gel allows longer targeted burns directly on the skin, broadening the range of fire stunts performed across the industry.<\/em><\/p>\n

To Dustin Brooks and Colin Decker for the development of naked burn gel.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Fire for Hire\u2019s gel first publicly demonstrated a \u201cnaked burn,\u201d where fire appears directly on the skin, enabling a new form of safe fire stunts in motion pictures.<\/em><\/p>\n

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