 Actress Jennifer Garner hosted the award ceremony |
The Oscars have honoured the inventors of film technology used in movies such as Star Wars and The Lord of the Rings. An Academy Award went to Bill Tondreau, pioneer of robotic camera systems that have revolutionised film-making since the first Star Wars movie in 1977.
The prizes were given at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences's Scientific and Technical Awards.
Award committee chairman Richard Edlund said: "Pardon me if I use the term supernerds. But I love supernerds."
"These are the people who make it all work," he added.
 British engineer Peter D Parks got the lifetime achievement award |
The award ceremony in Pasadena, California, which comes two weeks before the main Oscars show, was hosted by Alias actress Jennifer Garner. Another Academy Award went to the Digidesign company for its widely-used Pro Tools audio software.
Among the recipients of scientific and engineering plaques was Stephen Regelous, designer of Massive software used to create thousands of warriors for the Lord of the Rings battle sequences.
British film engineer and scientist Peter D Parks - a pioneer of filming small objects - received the Gordon E Sawyer Award for lifetime achievement.
The founder of wildlife documentary, special effects and 3-D company Imagequest, he recently worked on the Imax film Bugs!, allowing viewers to see insect eggs blown up to one million times their size in 3-D.
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