Making an Oscar statuette
The Academy Award of Merit, more commonly known as The Oscar Statuette, has been awarded by The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences since 1929. The statue was designed by MGM art director Cedric Gibbons and created in 3D form by sculptor George Stanley.
学院奖,以奥斯卡金像奖更广为人知,自1929年由电影艺术与科学学院颁发。这雕像是由米高梅美术指导Cedric Gibbons所设计,并由雕刻师George Stanley以3D形式做出。
The statuette is of a knight holding a sword on top of a reel of film. Each spoke in the film reel represents the original five branches of the Academy: producers, directors, writers, actors, and technicians. The statue stands at 13.5 inches tall with the diameter of 5.25 inches, and weighs 8.5 pounds.
这小雕像是一名骑士在一卷电影底片上头握着一把剑。每个电影底片上的轮轴代表了最初学院的五个分部:制作人、导演、剧作家、演员、和技术人员。这雕像达13.5英寸(约35公分)高,有5.25英寸(约13公分)的直径,重8.5磅(约4公斤)。
But where do these beautiful gold statues come from?
但这些漂亮的金色雕像是怎么来的?
They are created here at R.S. Owens in Chicago. Each year, R.S. Owens produces 50 to 60 of these hand-crafted statues for the Oscar ceremony.
他们在芝加哥的R.S. Owens公司这里制作。每一年,R.S. Owens制作出50到60个手工雕像给奥斯卡典礼。
The Oscar first takes shape in the casting process. First, the mold of the Oscar statue is constructed. Then the 960-degree molten britannia metal is poured. And in just moments, the metal solidifies. The stem is cut, and all rough seams are sanded before moving on to the polishing stage.
奥斯卡首先在铸造过程中成形。首先,奥斯卡雕像的模具被打造出来。然后960度熔化的锡锑铜合金被倒进去。只要一下下,金属会固化。握柄被切下,在继续进行到抛光阶段前,所有粗糙的接缝被用砂纸磨光。
Each statue is carefully hand-polished to a bright mirror finish, ensuring that all of Oscar's features stay intact. And then it's on to the electroplating. Electroplating involves the statue being hand-dipped into four electroplating metal solutions.
每尊雕像被仔细地手工磨光成闪亮的镜面抛光,确保所有奥斯卡的特征完整无缺。然后进行到电镀。电镀需要让雕像以手工浸到四种电镀金属溶液中。
First, the Oscar is plated with copper to prevent corrosion. Second, it will be dipped into a nickel solution to improve the adhesive qualities of the surface. Silver becomes the third layer, creating a bright, shiny base for the final solution—the 24-karat gold.
首先,奥斯卡镀上铜以防止腐蚀。第二步,它会被浸到镍溶液中以加强表面的附着性。银成了第三层,形成明亮、闪烁的基底,为了最后的溶液--24K金。
Meanwhile, the base is being spun from a raw brass material and polished and plated with black nickel. Once this base has taken shape, a small plate is affixed to identify the statue as an official Academy Award.
同时,这个基底是从黄铜原料旋转制成的,被抛光,并镀上黑镍。一旦这个基底成形,一块小牌子会被固定上去,以验证这尊雕像是官方的奥斯卡金像奖。
When Oscar's plating is finished, he receives a unique identification number, and he's ready for the final process. Oscar is carefully mounted on the base, and a circular felt pad is placed on the bottom. Then Oscar is placed inside custom packing material to ensure that he arrives to the ceremony unharmed.
当奥斯卡的电镀完成,他得到一个特殊的识别号码,他准备好到最后阶段了。奥斯卡被仔细的装到基底上,一块圆形的棉垫被放在底部。接着奥斯卡被放进订做的包装材料里,以确保他毫发无伤地到达典礼现场。
There is one final touch before Oscar is finished, and that's the personal engraved tag identifying the winner. But we'll have to wait until the Oscar ceremony to find out whose name will be on this Oscar.
在奥斯卡完成之前还有一个最后的装饰,那就是识别出得主的个人刻印标签。但我们必须要等到奥斯卡典礼才能知道谁的名字会在这座奥斯卡上。