Scientific or Technical Awards (Class I) 1953: For developing a method of producing and exhibiting motion pictures known as VistaVision. (Included among the winners at Paramount are Loren L. Ryder and "all the members of the technical and engineering staff").
VistaVision runs standard 35mm film horizontally. Each frame spans 8 perforations, twice the area of a regular frame. It was Paramount's entry in the wide screen race, and had the advantage of compensating for the high grain of early color negative stocks. It debuted in 1954 with WHITE CHRISTMAS. Except for limited roadshow engagements, release prints were reductions to normal 35mm 4-perf.
Eventually, it too was replaced by Panavision, but was resurrected in 1977 for visual effects work on Star Wars and is still in common use.
1 Scientific/Technical Award