The ceremony ran for 15 minutes.

Winners were announced to media three months earlier. That was changed for the second ceremony in 1930. Since then, for the rest of the first decade, the results were given to newspapers for publication at 11:00 pm on the night of the awards. This method was used until 1940, when the Los Angeles Times announced the winners before the ceremony began; as a result, the Academy has, since 1941, used a sealed envelope to reveal the names of the winners.

Notable milestones
The first Best Actor awarded was Emil Jannings, for his performances in The Last Command and The Way of All Flesh. He had to return to Europe before the ceremony, so the Academy agreed to give him the prize earlier; this made him the firstAcademy Honorary Award, the Technical Achievement Award, and the Student Academy Awards, which are presented annually):
 Governors Awards:
 The Academy Honorary Award (annual) (which may or may not be in the form of an Oscar statuette); 
 The Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award (since 1938) (in the form of a bust of Thalberg);
 The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award (since 1957) (in the form of an Oscar statuette); 
 The Academy Scientific and Technical Awards:
 Academy Award of Merit (non-competitive) (in the form of an Oscar statuette);
 Scientific and Engineering Award (in the form of a bronze tablet);
 Technical Achievement Award (annual) (in the form of a certificate);
 The John A. Bonner Medal of Commendation (since 1978) (in the form of a medal);
 The Gordon E. Sawyer Award (since