BAFTA Los Angeles to honor Helena Bonham Carter

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts Los Angeles will honor actress Helena Bonham Carter with the Britannia Award for British Artist of the Year at the 2011 BAFTA Los Angeles Britannia Awards on Nov. 30 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.

The BAFTA L.A. accolade tops off an award-winning year for the British actress, currently in "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows -- Part 2." Earlier this year she was nominated for a Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild Award and an Oscar for supporting actress in the Academy Award winner for best film, "The King's Speech."

The actress joins the previously announced John Lasseter, who will receive the Britannia Award for Worldwide Contributions to Filmed Entertainment and "Harry Potter" director David Yates, the winner of the John Schlesinger Britannia Award for Excellence in Directing.

-- Susan King

Photo: Helena Bonham Carter. Credit: Ian Gavan / Getty Images 

Oscars: 'Inception' wins for visual effects

"Inception" won the Oscar for visual effects at the 83rd Academy Awards on Sunday night.

Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley and Peter Bebb received the award for their work on Christopher Nolan's surreal, complex thriller about dream invasion. The film dominated the Visual Effects Society's awards earlier this month. The film also earned a BAFTA Award.

"Inception" was competing against "Alice in Wonderland," "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows -- Part I," "Hereafter "and "Iron Man 2."

The Academy Awards are taking place at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood and are being televised live on ABC. We'll carry all the breaking news and reaction here on Awards Tracker.

-- Nardine Saad

Photo: Andrew Lockley, from left, Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould and Peter Bebb accept the Oscar for best visual effects for "Inception." Credit: Associated Press.

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Oscars: 'Alice in Wonderland' wins for art direction

"Alice in Wonderland" won the Oscar for art direction at the 83rd Academy Awards on Sunday night.

Production designer Robert Stromberg also won the prize last year for his work on James Cameron's "Avatar." Set decorator Karen O'Hara was nominated once before, in 1987, for "The Color of Money."

"Alice" competed against “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows –- Part 1,” "Inception," "The King's Speech" and "True Grit."

The Academy Awards are taking place at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood and are being televised live on ABC. We'll carry all the breaking news and reaction here on Awards Tracker.

-- Rick Rojas

Photo: "Alice in Wonderland." Credit: Disney

 

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BAFTA Awards: 'The King's Speech' is crowned with seven wins

 
It was no big surprise when the British period drama "The King's Speech" won seven Orange British Academy Film Awards on Sunday evening at the Royal Opera House in London.

The surprise came when Tom Hooper, the film's director and recent recipient of the Directors Guild of America Award, came up empty handed. It was David Fincher who won best director honors for "The Social Network."

Still, it was "The King's Speech's" night. The historical piece about George VI's attempts to rid himself of his stutter before becoming King of England, won outstanding film, outstanding British film, lead actor for Colin Firth (he won the award in this category last year for "A Simple Man"), original screenplay for David Seidler, supporting actor for Geoffrey Rush, supporting actress for Helena Bonham Carter and score for Alexandre Desplat.

"The King's Speech" is also nominated for 12 Academy Awards and is the favorite to take home Oscar's biggest prize.

Besides Fincher's win for best director, "The Social Network," the drama about the founding of Facebook, also won for Aaron Sorkin's adapted screenplay and editing.

"Toy Story 3" earned best animated film honors, and Roger Deakins took home the cinematography prize for "True Grit."

"Inception" won three awards for production design, visual effects and sound, while "Alice in Wonderland" won for costumes and makeup and hair.

Sweden's "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" won outstanding film not in the English language and writer-director Chris Norris of "Four Lions" won outstanding British debut by a writer-director or producer.

Outstanding short film went to "Until the River Runs Red," while "The Eagleman Stag" won for animated short.

Tom Hardy of "Inception" won the Rising Star honor and, as previously announced, the "Harry Potter" franchise was given the outstanding British contribution to the cinema honor. Veteran actor Christopher Lee won the British Academy of Film and Television Arts' Fellowship award, the organization's highest accolade.

— Susan King

Photo: Geoffrey Rush, left, Colin Firth and Derek Jacobi in "The King's Speech." Credit: The Weinstein Co.

Harry Potter franchise wins BAFTA honorary award

 
The "Harry Potter" film series, which is winding up its franchise with the release of its final installment, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2" on July 15, is set to receive the British Academy of Film and Television Arts' Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema at this year's Orange British Academy Awards on Feb. 13 at London's Royal Opera House.

"Harry Potter" novelist J.K. Rowling and producer David Heyman will receive the award.

The first six films in the wizarding franchise have grossed $5.4 billion worldwide. The first part of "Deathly Hallows" has earned nearly $950 million internationally  -- an outstanding contribution to film indeed.

For more information, go to www.bafta.org.

-- Susan King

Photo: Daniel Radcliffe in "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1." Credit: Jaap Buitendijk / Associated Press

'Inception' dominates Visual Effects Society's VES Awards

 

"Inception" dominated the Visual Effects Society's ninth VES Awards late Tuesday, winning four awards.
 
Christopher Nolan's surreal, complex thriller, which is nominated for eight Academy Awards, including best film, won outstanding visual effects on a visual-effects-driven motion picture, outstanding created environment in a live-action feature motion picture (for the Paris dreamscape sequence), outstanding models and miniatures in a featured motion picture (for the hospital fortress destruction) and outstanding compositing in a feature motion picture.

Nolan also received the organization's first Visionary Award at the ceremony hosted by comic Patton Oswalt at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.
 
Other movie VES winners were "Hereafter" for outstanding supporting visual effects in a feature motion picture, and "How to Train Your Dragon" for outstanding animation in an animated feature motion picture, outstanding animated character in an animated feature motion picture and outstanding effects animation in an animated feature motion picture. "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part I" won for outstanding animated character in a live-action feature motion picture (for Dobby, the house elf).
 
On the television front, HBO's World War II miniseries "The Pacific" was the big winner, earning three VES awards for outstanding visual effects in a broadcast miniseries, movie or special; outstanding created environment in a live-action broadcast program (for the battle of Iwo Jima sequence), and outstanding compositing in a broadcast program or commercial (for the Peleliu landing).

For a complete list of winners go to http://www.visualeffectssociety.com
 
The awards will air Feb. 19 at 10 p.m. on the Reelz Channel, with encore presentations throughout the month
 
-- Susan King

Photo: A scene from "Inception." Credit: Warner Bros.

How the first animated sequence in a 'Harry Potter' movie came about

 
We asked animation director Ben Hibon to discuss the animated sequence in "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1," which picked up two Oscar nominations, one for art direction and one for visual effects. Here's what he had to say:

"This is the first animated sequence ever to appear in a Harry Potter film, so it had to be distinctive and special. It’s not animation as we might think of it today; it is a moving illustration of the story being read aloud by Hermione — the story of the Deathly Hallows. The fact that the sequence would be explaining the origin of the title made it all the more important.

"In a moment that takes our central characters to a world of ancient fables, the titular tale of the Three Brothers, found in the book ‘The Tales of Beedle the Bard,’ has an eerie undertone, reminiscent of the timeless Grimms’ fairy tales, which I found particularly relevant for us. Although they are labeled as ‘children’s tales,’ they often tell stories of dark kingdoms and sinister characters. We wanted the audience to experience the story as if through the imagination of a young child.

"The work of artist Lotte Reiniger from the 1930s was another early reference. Her silhouette-style stop-motion animations are beautifully handcrafted and captured the naïve visual tone we were after. We also looked at Asian shadow-play, which is visually striking, very intricate and yet so beautifully simple. The technique is basic, but the end result is particularly charming and engaging. There’s something so ingenious about projecting shadows onto a simple cloth.

"The shapes and motions can be very enigmatic and leave a lot of scope for invention, experimentation and interpretation. A shadow play evokes a sense of wonder and enchantment. It can take one’s imagination beyond what’s actually on the screen. What you don’t see is as important as what you see. Of course, the characters are the centerpiece of the story, a set of elongated human-like dark silhouettes.

"Their designs are reminiscent of handcrafted wooden puppets; their gestures are limited to basic articulation. The crude feel of the animation accentuates the characters’ theatrical performances, the simple outlines drawing our attention to the smallest of details — each subtle hand movement, each head motion gets interpreted as another nuance of human emotion.

"Animation is the art of smoke and mirrors, lights and shadows, and the team of artists behind this piece are true magicians."

 — Ben Hibon

Photo from Warner Bros.

Oscar voters get DVD screeners of 'Harry Potter' and 'The Town'

Here's the latest update on what DVD screeners have been received by Oscar voters. Being shipped to them now is "The Way Back," but they haven't yet received it. "Black Swan" goes out next week.

Dec. 7 � "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1," "The Town," "Legends of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga�hoole"

 Dec. 6 � "Another Year," "Fair Game," "The Ghost Writer," "The Illusionist," "Hereafter"

 Dec. 2 � "All Good Things"

 Nov. 30 � "Frankie & Alice"

 Nov. 26 � "127 Hours," "Conviction," "For Colored Girls," "I Love You, Phillip Morris," "Inception," "I Am Love," "Never Let Me Go," "Shutter Island," "The Town"

 Nov. 22 � "Despicable Me," "Inside Job," "Made in Dagenham," "Touching Home"

 Nov. 19 � "Biutiful," "Casino Jack," "Stone," "Let Me In"