RULES

SEVENTH ANNUAL
ACADEMY AWARDS OF MERIT

ONE

The Awards Year

The achievements for which the Academy Awards of Merit are bestowed must have been in connection with motion pictures first publicly exhibited (previews excluded) in the Los Angeles District from January 1. 1934, to December 31. 1934.

TWO

The Annual Awards

Awards shall be conferred for the following achievements:

PRODUCTION:	For the most outstanding motion picture production.
ACTING:	For the best performance by an actor. For the best performance by an actress.
DIRECTING:	For the best achievement in directing.
WRITING:	For the best original motion picture story. For the best written screen play (adaptation).
ART DIRECTION:	For the best achievement in art direction of a picture photographed in America under normal production conditions.
CINEMATOGRAPHY:	For the best achievement in cinematography of a black and white picture photographed in America under normal production conditions.
SOUND RECORDING:	For the best achievement by a studio sound department.
FILM EDITING:	A Certificate of Merit shall be given for the best achievement in film editing.
SHORT SUBJECTS:	An Award shall be given jointly for the outstanding productions selected in three classifications: Cartoon, Comedy, Novelty.
ASSISTANT DIRECTORS:	A Certificate of Merit shall be given to an assistant director or unit manager for the year’s outstanding achievement.
MUSIC:	Certificates of Merit shall be given in two classifications for the outstanding achievements in music in connection with motion pictures: (a) Best musical composition (as an achievement in music and lyric writing) in the underscoring of a dramatic picture. (b) Best scoring of a motion picture production.

THREE

The Special Awards

Upon recommendation of the Awards Committee, the Academy Board of Governors may bestow Special Awards as follows:

1. SCIENTIFIC OR TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT: For a device, method, formula, discovery or invention of special and outstanding value to the art, science, or industry of motion picture production, and actually employed in production within the Awards period.
2. OTHER SPECIAL AWARDS: For outstanding achievements coming within Rule One but not strictly within the categories listed in Rule Two. These achievements may be in connection with foreign as well as domestic productions.
3. Special Awards shall be in the form of gold statuette trophies or certificates of honorable mention, or in such other form as the Awards Committee may recommend to the Academy Board of Governors.

FOUR

General Rules and Time Limits

1. Each general Award shall be in the form of a gold statuette emblematic of the motion picture profession, and the designation of the particular achievement for which it is bestowed shall be engraved upon the base. Certificates of Merit shall be suitably printed and inscribed.
2. Final voting for Awards shall be by secret ballot. Printed forms and ballots shall be supplied by the Academy to all members, and shall be returned to the Academy unsigned and in sealed envelopes.
3. The final ballots shall not be opened for counting until the night fixed for the bestowal of Awards. They shall then be opened and counted under the supervision of a Board of Tellers to be appointed by the Awards Committee. This Board shall certify to the President the candidates receiving the highest number of votes for each Award and the Awards shall be thereupon bestowed. This bestowal shall be at a dinner meeting of the Academy membership, Wednesday, February 27, 1935.
4. In the event that an achievement voted an Award was done in collaboration, each of the collaborators shall receive an Award trophy. An exception to this rule is that the director of a picture may not receive a Writing Award as a collaborator.

FIVE

General Rules for Nomination Voting

1. All nominations shall refer only to the motion picture in which the achievement was made, and not to any individual responsible, except in the case of nominations for Acting and for the Assistant Director which shall name both the individual and the one picture in which the achievement occurred.
2. Nominations for the Award for Achievement in Production shall be by ballot of the members of all Branches. Each member shall be entitled to make twelve nominations.
3. Nominations for the Awards for Achievements in Acting, Direction, and Writing shall be by the members of the respective Branches concerned. Each member shall be entitled to make three nominations for each achievement.

   Nominations for the Awards for Achievement in Art Direction, Cinematography, Film Editing, Sound, Music, and Short Subject Production, and the Assistant Director Award, shall be made in accordance with the Special Rules hereinafter.

4. In connection with the Writing Awards, all eligible pictures shall be classified by the studios and listed for the guidance of the Writers Branch on the following basis:
   1. Pictures listed for the Screen Play (Adaptation) Award shall include all those in which a play, novel, short story or other story has been adapted to the motion picture medium.
   2. Pictures listed for the Original Story Award shall include only those pictures in which the integrity of an original story written especially for the screen has been preserved in the completed production.
5. Method of marking ballots for the Award for Achievement in Production and tabulation of such ballots shall be according to the proportional system used in Academy elections as stated in Article XIII of the Academy By-laws.

SIX

General Rules for Counting Nomination Votes

1. Nominations shall be counted by a Board of Tellers appointed by the Chairman of the Branch or Section concerned, or by the Awards Committee, except in the case of those Awards for which other special procedure is provided elsewhere in these rules.
2. The tellers shall certify the three qualified achievements receiving the highest number of nomination votes, with the exception of the Production Award in which case they shall certify the twelve highest.
3. The tellers shall ascertain and certify the individual or individuals to whom credit is due for each of such achievements as are nominated by names of pictures only, recommending in such cases to the Board of Governors of the Academy the manner in which divided or joint credits shall be recognized. (This section does not apply to the Production Award.)
4. No individual shall be entitled to nomination for more than one achievement. In case any individual receives enough votes for different achievements to be entitled to more than one nomination, only the achievement polling the highest vote shall be listed, and his other achievement shall be disqualified. (This Section does not apply to the Production Award.)
5. In case of a tie for lowest place under Section B the tied nominations are to appear on the final ballot.
6. In connection with nominations for the Acting and Direction Awards, if any individual receives for two or more achievements a total number of votes which equals or exceeds the third highest vote for any single achievement, then there shall also be included on the final ballot the one of the achievements of such individual which polled the highest vote.

SEVEN

Special Rules for Art Direction Award

1. Nominations for the Award for Achievement in Art Direction shall be made as follows:
   1. Each art director shall be asked to submit the names of two pictures, one of which he believes to represent his own best work during the year and the other which he believes worthy of consideration but for which another art director is responsible, for consideration for nomination for the Award for Achievement in Art Direction.
   2. From this list of submitted pictures, which shall be sent to the membership of the Art Directors Section in advance, the three productions to be nominated for final vote of the general Academy membership shall be selected by a series of ballots by the membership of the Art Directors Section assembled at a meeting of the Section to be duly called soon after the closing of nominations.

EIGHT

Special Rules for Cinematography Award

1. Nominations for the Award for Achievement in Cinematography shall be made as follows:
   1. Each first cameraman shall be asked to submit the names of the two productions which he deems to be his best work, photographed during the Awards year, for consideration for nomination for the Award for Cinematographic Achievement.
   2. A Committee, to be made up of Laboratory and Camera Department heads and to be known as the “Committee on Cinematographic Award Nominations,” shall be appointed by the Chairman of the Photographic Section.
   3. From a list containing the names of the productions submitted by each cameraman, plus the names of any other productions which, in the judgment of the Committee, should be considered but which may not have been submitted, the Committee on Cinematographic Award Nominations shall select the slate of three productions to be nominated for vote by the entire Academy membership to receive the Award for Cinematographic Achievement.

      In arriving at a decision as to the three pictures to be placed upon the final ballot, the Committee will use the personal knowledge of its members as to technical excellence, etc., and in addition may screen the productions being given final consideration, or utilize any other means which it may consider necessary in order to arrive at a correct judgment.

NINE

Special Rules for Film Editing Award

1. Nominations for the Award for Achievement in Film Editing shall be made as follows:
   1. Every film editor shall be asked to submit the names of two pictures, one of which he believes to represent his own best work during the year and the other which he believes worthy of consideration but for which another film editor is responsible, for consideration for nomination for the Award for Achievement in Film Editing.
   2. From this list of submitted pictures, which shall be sent to the membership of the Film Editors Section in advance, the three productions to be nominated for final vote of the general Academy membership shall be selected by a series of ballots by the membership of the Film Editors Section assembled at a meeting of the Section to be duly called soon after the closing of nominations.

TEN

Special Rules for Sound Recording Award

1. One picture from each Studio Sound Department shall be nominated for the Award for Achievement in Sound Recording, but not more than ten productions shall appear upon the final ballot.
2. Each nomination for the Award shall be made by the Director of the Sound Department concerned, in consultation with such members of his Department and the executive staff of the studio as he may deem fit.
3. All nominations shall be approved by a committee appointed by the Chairman of the Sound Section, to be known as the “Committee on Sound Recording Award Nominations,” and containing representation from each Sound Department submitting a nomination.

   In case more than ten nominations shall be submitted, it shall be the duty of this Committee to conduct a preliminary elimination upon some fair and equitable basis to be worked out at the time, to bring the total number of productions to appear upon the final ballot within the limit of ten set forth in Paragraph “A” above.

ELEVEN

Special Rules for Recognition of Achievements in Music

1. Nominations for the Certificates of Merit for Achievement in Music shall be made as follows:
   1. Each principal collaborator on music and lyrics used in productions within the Awards year shall be asked to submit the names of three musical compositions. One of these shall be that which he considers his own best work of the year, the other two must be the work of other writers. The titles of the three compositions receiving the most mention shall be placed on the final ballot for selection of one by vote of the entire Academy membership.
   2. The executive in charge of each of the studio music departments shall be asked to submit the title of the picture which he considers represents the best work done in such department during the year in scoring, together with the titles of two pictures which he considers represents the best work from other studios. From the list so compiled a Committee composed of the executives of the music departments shall agree upon three productions to appear on the final ballot for selection of one by vote of the entire Academy membership.

TWELVE

Special Rules for Nominations for the Assistant Directors Award

1. Nominations for the Certificate of Merit for Achievement by an Assistant Director shall be made as follows:
   1. A preliminary slate of one assistant and/or unit manager from each studio shall be selected by a Nominating Committee, to be appointed by the Chairman of the Assistant Directors Section. This slate shall be voted upon by the general membership of the Assistant Directors Section, and the three assistant directors and/or unit managers receiving the highest number of votes shall be nominated for further consideration for the Award.

THIRTEEN

Special Rules for Short Subjects Award

1. The Awards recognition shall be given for the best short subject in each of four [sic] classifications:
   1. CARTOONS: Cartoons and other animation photography of inanimate objects.
   2. COMEDIES: Short subjects of comedy intent as commonly referred to in the trade, performed predominately by human actors, and including musical comedies.
   3. NOVELTIES: All short subjects not otherwise classified, including educational, animal, travel and scenic subjects.
2. Nomination entries shall be submitted as follows:
   1. Subjects of less than 3,000 feet in length, first publicly exhibited in the Los Angeles District in the period from January 1, 1934, to December 31, 1934, or first put into general release in the United States during such period if not exhibited in Los Angeles.
   2. No producer may submit more than two entries in each of the three classifications.
   3. Producers entering short subjects must arrange to have prints available at the office of the Academy before noon of Thursday, January 24, and provide such prints for screening on request of the authorized committees during the succeeding ten days.
3. The nomination procedure shall be as follows:
   1. The reels submitted shall be screened before a committee of not less than twelve members of the Academy who specialize in short subject creation. The committee shall work as three sub-committees who will each review and make nominations from one classification only, under an arrangement by which the members of each sub-committee will vote on different classification of production than they themselves are engaged in.
   2. Three subjects shall be nominated in each classification by a majority vote of the sub-committee.
   3. In the event of any question or dispute as to whether any subject properly be longs in the classification in which submitted, the sub-committee for such classification shall make the final decision.
4. The final selections shall be made as follows:
   1. The three subjects nominated in each classification shall be exhibited before a special committee of Academy members now engaged in feature production, which committee shall include at least one representative of each of the five Academy Branches. Academy members and guests may be invited to this exhibition.
   2. The one subject in each classification finally selected by the above method shall receive joint recognition in the Short Subject Award. The vote of the final committee shall be by secret ballot which shall not be opened for counting until the night fixed for the bestowal of Awards.

FOURTEEN

Special Rules for the Scientific or Technical Awards

1. Awards for Scientific or Technical Achievement shall be for a device, method, formula, discovery or invention of special and outstanding value to the art, science or industry of motion picture production and actually employed in production during the Awards year. The decision on the Award shall be made as follows:
   1. The Chairman of the Technicians Branch shall appoint a Board of qualified Judges, members of the Branch, who shall take notice of all achievements within or of the industry as herein described, and fully acquaint themselves as to the merits of such achievements to thus be able to render a just decision.
   2. Any individual or company may submit to the Board of Judges nominations in writing for this Award.
   3. The Judges shall meet at such times as they elect to consider nominations, or achievements which may be brought to their notice whether nominated or not, and shall thereafter, not later than February 10, 1935, recommend to the Awards Committee the person, persons, group or corporation on whom the Award shall be bestowed, and the manner in which such recognition shall be accorded.
   4. It shall be within the discretion of the Board of Judges to divide the Award, or to make no Award.