2025’s science Oscar winners improve CG, cameras, and cool fire stunts

Following the official announcement of this year’s Oscars nominees, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced the winners of the 2025 scientific and technical awards, which typically aren’t part of (and are barely acknowledged at) the annual televised ceremony. In part, that’s because the people winning these awards aren’t the celebrities that the Oscars show producers think will lure in a TV audience. But it’s 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 — for instance, to quote an explanation of one of the 2024 winners — “the integration of multiple digital content creation tools into a coherent production pipeline.”

But several of this year’s 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 — tools that have an impact on a lot of films’ behind-the-scenes processes. The third big theme is “tools used to set people on fire.” Thanks to these innovations, stunt crew members can be ignited for longer periods, with less obvious physical protection and a higher degree of safety.

“These vital technologies have expanded the visual possibilities of cinema, creating new and compelling experiences for moviegoers,” the co-chairs of the Academy’s Scientific and Technical Awards Committee said in a press release. What they did not say, and should have, is “Setting stuntpeople on fire is totally badass and always gets the audience’s attention, and we’d like to see more of that.”

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

Here are the 2025 winners in the Academy Awards’ Scientific and Technical categories:

Technical achievement awards

To Essex Edwards, James Jacobs, Jernej Barbic, Crawford Doran and Andrew van Straten for the design and development of Ziva VFX.

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.

To Javor Kalojanov and Kimball Thurston for the creation of Wētā FX’s ML Denoiser.

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.

To Neeme Vaino for the development of Fireskin360 Naked Burn Gel.

This widely available gel allows longer targeted burns directly on the skin, broadening the range of fire stunts performed across the industry.

To Dustin Brooks and Colin Decker for the development of naked burn gel.

Fire for Hire’s gel first publicly demonstrated a “naked burn,” where fire appears directly on the skin, enabling a new form of safe fire stunts in motion pictures.

To Attila T. Áfra for the creation of Intel Open Image Denoise, and to Timo Aila for his pioneering work at NVIDIA applying U-Nets to denoising.

Open Image Denoise is an open-source library that provides an elegant API and runs on diverse hardware, leading to broad industry adoption. Its core technology is provided by the widely adopted U-Net architecture that improves efficiency and preserves detail, raising the quality of CG imagery across the industry.

To Mark Noel for adapting and enhancing the safety and reliability of transportable six-degrees-of-freedom motion base technology for motion picture use.

The NACMO series of modular motion bases enables filmmakers to dynamically control simulated actions, providing precise movements, enhancing special effects, and enriching the visual experience for audiences worldwide.

To Su Tie for the development of the sensor analysis and stabilization software, to Bei Shimen for the electrical engineering, and to Zhao Yanchong for the mechanical design and engineering of the Ronin 2 gimbal system.

Utilizing three-axis stabilization through multiple sensors, the DJI Ronin 2 has achieved broad adoption. It is controllable from a diverse set of input devices, enabling filmmakers to create complex, dynamic camera moves.

To Tabb Firchau for the conception and development, to John Ellison and Steve Webb for the attitude control system, to David Bloomfield for the motor design, and to Shane Colton for the motor driver system design of the Mōvi gimbals.

Freefly Systems’ introduction of handheld stabilized gimbals provides single-person or collaborative remote camera operation with various controllers, enabling previously difficult shots without dolly or crane-supported stabilized heads.

Scientific and engineering awards

To Jayson Dumenigo for the development of the Action Factory Hydrogels.

Action Factory hydrogels are engineered to allow longer burns at higher temperatures with quick turnaround times, increasing the safety and efficiency of fire stunt performances.

To Thijs Vogels, Fabrice Rousselle, David Adler, Gerhard Röthlin and Mark Meyer for the creation of Disney’s ML Denoiser.

This sophisticated machine learning denoiser features a ground-breaking kernel-predicting convolutional network and temporal stability. It has been adopted far beyond its original domain of animation and is an essential tool for creating computer-generated imagery in feature films.

To Nir Averbuch, Yair Chuchem and Dan Raviv for the concept, design and development of the Auto Align Post 2.

Sound Radix’s Auto Align Post 2 allows the seamless blending of multiple moving microphones during film post-production, eliminating phase distortion, saving significant time over manual alignment methods and raising the reproduction quality of dialogue recorded on set.

To Curt Schaller for the concept, design and development of the Trinity 2 system, and to Dr. Roman Foltyn for the software and hardware design of its motorized stabilized head.

The ARRI Trinity 2 is a body-worn system that combines a traditional inertial camera stabilization system with electronic gimbal technology, allowing unprecedented freedom of camera movement for acquiring shots with multiple transitions that are otherwise unobtainable.

To Steve Wagner for the initial concept and software, to Garrett Brown for the design, and to Jerry Holway and Robert Orf for the engineering of the Steadicam Volt stabilization system.

The Tiffen Steadicam Volt revolutionizes inertial stabilization with its advanced two-axis motorized design, creating artificial inertia and simulated friction while providing adjustable tactile feedback. Different modes allow the operator to alter the physical feel of the rig. The Volt empowers filmmakers to achieve dynamic shots with more complex camera movement while maintaining a stable roll axis.

To Dave Freeth for the design, engineering and development of the hand-held Stabileye three-axis motorized camera stabilization system.

The compact size and live adjustment of operating parameters of these devices facilitate subtle and dynamic camera moves closer to actors, and in tighter quarters than previously possible. Its low latency allows for instinctive operation whether controlled by a single operator or remotely.

The Scientific and Technical Awards ceremony will take place on Tuesday, April 29, at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. The main televised Oscars ceremony will take place on March 2. One technical award will presented during the televised show: an Academy Award of Merit for “all the individuals who have developed and supported captioning technology, whether open or closed, for film.”