The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the shortlist for the Visual Effects category on Thursday and it contains plenty of hobbits, robots and space.
According to Deadline, the shortlist is put together by the Visual Effects Branch Executive, who then passes the list on for all members of the Visual Effects Branch. They watch 10 minute snippets of each of the 10 films and votes to decide which five films are then nominated for an Oscar.
The list consists of the following films: Elysium, Gravity, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, Iron Man 3, The Lone Ranger, Oblivion, Star Trek Into Darkness, Thor: The Dark World, Pacific Rim and World War Z.
The Hollywood Reporter notes that several films have Oscar winning VFX people, including The Hobbit's Joe Letteri, who has won four Oscars - including The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and The Return of the King. John Knoll (Pacific Rim) has won for Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.
Oblivion VFX supervisor Eric Barba, who previously won for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
All films, except The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug have already been in theaters.
image: Warner Bros