For the love of Tennis

Photos by Clint Egbert Fans gathered to cheer for their favourites at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, held at the Dubai Tennis Stadium.

you know? So I could say, “That’s the one I worked on!’”

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

When Polich Tallix took over production from a Chicago company, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences asked the foundry to create a statue truer to the original. Foundry artist Daniel Plonski made 3D scans of an early statue and a recent statue, and took desired qualities from each for the newest iteration. Oscar’s restoration was subtle; his stylised facial features are more defined, there’s a greater hint of his ears and a hair part, and his sword rests in sharper relief between his legs.

“The trick was not to make it too shockingly different,” Plonski said.

The most substantial difference is one people don’t see. The statue is once again cast in bronze, instead of a pewter-like alloy.

AND THE AWARD GOES TO

The statues are shipped to Brooklyn for 24-karatgold electroplating at Epner Technology, which also is in its second year of Oscar making.

President David Epner said that before his company became involved in Oscar production, actor F. Murray Abraham and a couple of other award winners had asked him to plate gold finishes that were wearing off. He vows that won’t happen under his process, which includes copper plating and nickel plating each statue before gold plating.

“The gold is guaranteed — not for the life of the recipient, but for the life of the statue,” Epner said

Polich Tallix has one more task after the nominees are announced: making a nameplate for each potential winner. The award winners are handed an Oscar on stage with no nameplate on it. Winners can later take their statue to a table backstage to get their nameplate affixed.

The unused plates are destroyed.

Markus and Suzanne Scheer. Sanjay, Arohi and Neeti Rajguru. Yvette and Steve Bushnell-Fowler. Gianni, Jaedn, Louise and Patrick Fernandez. Katrina and Joanna Roquid. Christina Cintava and Jaro Petrla. Klara and Jennifer Smith. Frances and Sophie Clay...

Oscar statuettes, some wrapped in cloth, wait to be inspected before being finished.

owen works on Oscar statuettes that ready been nickel plated at Epner ology in the Brooklyn borough of New York.

statuettes in different stages of production be inspected before being finished.

el plated Oscar statuette is run h a series of chemical baths.