The Golden Compass makes viewers believe that animals can metamorphose from moth to mouse to cat, and carry on conversations in the process. © 2007 New Line Cinema.

Each year at this time, we get to do what we love: talk about, revel in and celebrate last year's coolest visual effects films and the ridiculously talented folks who made them. This year, though, things are a bit different. The mood of the industry is a bit subdued, certainly, as the WGA strike is in its 11th week now, and, as of this writing, only the Spirit Awards is confirmed to air. Despite those conflicts, however, exciting changes are already changing this fascinating voting process.

Each year, committee members of the Visual Effects branch of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences hang their partisan colors at the door and work tirelessly to select seven remarkable pieces of work, which are later voted on by voting members of the Visual Effects branch, whose votes reduce those seven to the three films brought to the general membership of the Academy, whose final selection results in an Academy Award (phew). This year, the task was even more complex. Under the leadership of Visual Effects branch Chairman Bill Taylor (with governors Craig Barron and Richard Edlund), the branch devised a necessary solution to counteract the daunting combination of an increasingly early awards season and late-releasing visual effects-heavy films. Rather than wait until Jan. 3rd to select the much- awaited short list, on Dec. 14, the committee released a list of 15 films as highly recommended viewing. According to Taylor, this way, members had a very manageable list of recommended films to see before Jan. 3rd, and studios could opt to arrange screenings for the branch.

Transformers with its nimble and athletic, ninja-style moves, even appeals to those outside the target demographic. © DreamWorks LLC/Paramount.

The initial list was impressive, illustrating diverse projects, blockbusters, hidden treasures and -- for the first time -- a couple animated features: Beowulf; The Bourne Ultimatum; Evan Almighty; The Golden Compass; Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix; I Am Legend; Live Free or Die Hard; National Treasure: Book of Secrets; Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End; Ratatouille; Spider-Man 3; Sunshine; 300; Transformers and The Water Horse. In addition to remarking on the inclusion of smaller films on the list, Taylor said of the animated features, "Why not?" noting that the Animation branch is now considering motion capture a form of animation. (The industry has obviously evolved beyond the last decade's scores of emotional conversations and SIGGRAPH panels that argued this very point.)

As Taylor noted, fully animated features now include copious amounts of simulations of water, wind and what used to be called effects animation, so where do you draw the distinction? Now you look at a fully animated feature and wonder, if it had been a live-action film, which sequences would have been generated by effects? Taylor adds that, "it gets complicated when you consider that one of the watermarks of an effects film is seeing how the effects are integrated into the film." When the film is all animation, that point is moot.