Meryl Streep in "The Iron Lady"

Credit: The Weinstein Company

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The Academy has announced rule changes for the 85th annual Academy Awards, which were voted upon Tuesday. All of the changes are quite minimal.

However, in the makeup category -- which will now be known as Best Makeup and Hairstyling -- I'm guessing the change has a lot to do with "The Iron Lady" hair stylist Marese Langan not being able to share in the win last year when she could at the BAFTA Awards. But things were actually reversed there, where prosthetics designer Mark Coulier originally wasn't allowed to share in the honor across the pond.

All of that caused a bit of a dust-up last year, thanks in part to Guy's spotlighting a post from blogger Bradley Porter (who worked on the film and later removed the post as a favor) on the matter.

The press release also notes changes in the Best Music (Original Song), Best Visual Effects and Best Foreign Language Film categories. Sadly, no news on Best Picture. So unless the new president has strong feelings on that in August, it's another season of variable nominees.

The press release in full:

Beverly Hills, CA (June 28, 2012) – The Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences approved rules for the 85th Academy Awards. The most significant changes affect the Music, Foreign Language Film, Makeup and Visual Effects categories.

In the Music (Original Song) category, the Executive Committee may recommend that a fourth songwriter for an individual song be considered in rare and extraordinary circumstances. This amends the rule that has been in effect since 2005, whereby up to two songwriters could be eligible per song, although a third songwriter could be added if he or she were found to be an essentially equal contributor.

In the Foreign Language Film category, films must be submitted to the Academy in 35mm or DCP, but are no longer required to be exhibited in those formats in their countries of origin.

The award given in the Makeup category will now be known as the Makeup and Hairstyling Award. Additionally, during the nominations process, all branch members who have seen the seven shortlisted titles will receive ballots to list their top three choices.

In the Visual Effects category, nominees will be selected from a pool of ten films chosen by the Branch Executive Committee by secret ballot. Previously, the committee could put forward as many as ten productions or as few as seven.

Other adjustments to the rules include standard date changes and other "housekeeping" adjustments.

Rules are reviewed annually by individual branch and category committees. The Awards Rules Committee then reviews all proposed changes before presenting its recommendations to the Academy's Board of Governors for approval.

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2012 will be presented on Sunday, February 24, 2013, at the Dolby Theatre® at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live on the ABC Television Network. The Oscar® presentation also will be televised live in more than 225 countries worldwide.

Kristopher Tapley
Editor-at-Large

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Kristopher Tapley has covered the film awards landscape for over a decade. He founded In Contention in 2005. His work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Times of London and Variety. He begs you not to take any of this too seriously.