The Life of Oscar
By Matt Motyka in Arts & Entertainment on Jan 28, 2009 4:00PM
The Hollywood Hills will soon be set aflutter, as the stars of screen pen their acceptance speeches and rehearse their red carpet sashays in preparation for the 81st Academy Awards. These stars--with the spotlight often on their personal lives as much as their performances--we know all too well. Yet few know much about the Academy's most important guest of the evening: Oscar himself. Far from the paparazzi and tabloid presses, Oscar is making his own preparations at Chicago's R.S. Owens & Company. In fact, the specialty awards company has been the exclusive crafter of the iconic statuettes since 1982. An annual run of Oscars takes three to four weeks to complete, and as Chicagoist found out firsthand, there is a great deal of substance behind the glitz and glam we see on stage.
Oscar starts life as an ingot of britannia metal (think high-class pewter). Always the achiever, he receives his first casting call early. The ingot is melted in a small furnace and the molten metal is then poured into a mold bearing the familiar pose. The casting process is an art in itself, requiring precise temperature control, timing and mold manipulation. Once successfully cast, Oscar is still a bit rough around the edges. He must endure a series of buffing and polishing stages that remove excess material and bring the statuette to a shine. Next is the electroplating process, a finishing school of sorts for our budding star. Oscar is sequentially bathed in series of metal solutions: copper to prevent corrosion, nickel to improve adhesion, silver as a reflective base, and finally 24-karat gold for bling. A coat of lacquer is then applied to seal and protect the precious metals. All that's left is to dress for the ball, as Oscar is fitted with a cylindrical black base and engraved with his unique ID number.
Approximately 50 statuettes will be shipped to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in mid-February, who always orders a surplus in case of multiple winners or ties. Any extra Oscars will simply be saved for next year's show. In addition to making the Oscars, Chicago is also hosting a very special "Meet The Oscars" exhibition Feb. 13-22 at The Shops at North Bridge. The exhibition is free and open to the public, and will allow visitors to (among other things) be photographed holding a real Oscar statuette. More details about "Meet the Oscars" can be found here, further facts and figures about the golden gentleman can be had here, and information regarding Chicago's official Oscar Night America Party appears here.
All that and we didn't mention The Dark Knight snubs once... oops.