MUMBAI: Narrowing the race for films in the ‘Visual Effects‘ category, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences has declared the names of fifteen films that would view to be among the finalists.

The films that have been selected are Captain America: The First Avenger,Cowboys & Aliens, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, Hugo, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Real Steel,Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, Sucker Punch, Super 8,Thor, Transformers: Dark of the Moon,The Tree of Life and X-Men: First Class.

Going by the quality of the visual effects, films like Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Hugo, Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon and Harry Potter and the Death Hallows, Part 2 would definitely be among the finalists.

The next step is that in early January, members connected to the Academy‘s Visual Effects, who selected the abovementioned films, will narrow the list to 10. All members of the Visual Effects branch will be invited to view 10-minute excerpts from each of the 10 short listed films on January 19 and after the screenings, the members will vote to nominate five films for final Oscar consideration.

The 84th Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on January 24 next year.