15 February 2011 Last updated at 14:57 GMT 
This is Paul Franklin's second Oscar nomination Paul Franklin has been nominated for an Oscar for his work on the mind-bending visual effects of Inception.
Among the film's most memorable sequences are the city of Paris folding in on itself, and the creation and destruction of "Limbo City".
Paul's London-based FX company Double Negative also worked on Christopher Nolan's films Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. The latter film earned Franklin a visual effects Oscar nomination in 2009.
Here Paul tells us about his experiences in the run-up to Hollywood's biggest night of the year.
Finally, after two days, my Bafta hangover has gone. Free champagne all night - quality, mind you, none of your cheap stuff - it would have been rude to refuse!
I have been nominated for a Bafta twice before, but this time felt completely different.
My first two nods had been great honours, but there'd been no real prospect of a win in either case.
With Inception it looked like we were in with a real chance and my nerves had been steadily building all week.
After getting ready at home (the offers of free hair styling, make-up and jewellery being wasted on a fortysomething bloke who's thinning on top), we wound our way through south London, across the Thames to the Royal Opera House and stepped onto the red carpet.
A huge crowd, undeterred by the inevitable drizzling rain, pressed against the crush barriers, eager for a glimpse of celebrity.
It was a case of third time lucky for Paul at the Baftas The paparazzi flashed their cameras as the car doors opened - no doubt hoping to grab a knicker shot of someone famous failing to exit gracefully.
Clearly that wasn't us, and within seconds all eyes and cameras had turned to the next limo in the line.
We walked up the red carpet, sandwiched between Danny Boyle and Gemma Arterton, and once inside joined a swish cocktail reception where I relaxed to the point that I almost forgot why I was there.
But soon enough the master of ceremonies in full regalia ordered us to our places and the show began.
Bafta is a celebration of all aspects of filmmaking, but glamour counts.
Whilst all the nominees were seated in the same part of the auditorium, those in the technical categories are put at the edges at the back, safely hidden from the TV cameras.
At least it meant we didn't have to affect rictus grins the whole evening.
Unlike some other awards shows Bafta doesn't hang about, and within moments of Jonathan Ross's arrival on stage the gongs started coming thick and fast.
It was pretty clear that the evening would belong to The King's Speech, but Inception picked up best sound and production design along the way and I dared to believe that we might really have a serious chance.
Suddenly our category was up: clips of the five movies, representing cumulative centuries of staff hours from the various SFX and VFX teams rolled past in seconds. And then Jesse Eisenberg was tearing open the envelope and reading out... Inception.
Instant elation!
After fighting our way out of our row and a quick handshake with director Chris Nolan we bowled down the aisle and stepped up onto the stage.
At the end of my speech, as I thanked my beautiful wife, the camera cut to a shot of her for the teary-eyed reaction. Only they got the wrong wife.
Paul (far right) was honoured alongside (from left) Peter Bebb, Chris Corbould and Andrew Lockley But at least the wrong wife is married to Pete, my co-winner, who hopefully will see the funny side.
One quick backstage interview later we returned - via a very, very long route - to our seats clutching our surprisingly heavy prizes and we happily watched Tom Hooper's King's Speech clean up the rest of the awards.
At the winners' group photo I got to say hello to JK Rowling. As a veteran of three Harry Potter films that was a real thrill.
Then onto a lavish dinner (and more champagne) at the Grosvenor, with Squeeze blasting out their greatest hits at the after party.
Then it was all over and I was back home, very tired but very, very happy.
Bertie, as the children have christened the gong, will be residing on our mantlepiece. (I know you're supposed to keep them in the loo, but we don't have a shelf.)
The buzz even lasted through the 7am school run a few hours later. But now I really do need a sleep.
Today we had the first major Oscar-related event, the nominees' luncheon. The key thing about the lunch is that there's minimal press and no TV cameras in the event itself - it's about celebrating all of the film-makers rather than just the stars (or "above the line" as they say here in Hollywood).
Everyone is that bit more relaxed than at the actual awards and you have a chance to mingle with the great and the good of Tinsel Town. Two years ago I was lucky enough to be nominated for my work on The Dark Knight, but I couldn't make it to the lunch as I was tied up on another movie.
Paul Franklin was also nominated in 2009 for The Dark Knight My producer Mike Chambers was my lunch guest and as we entered the grand ballroom of the Beverly Hilton we were greeted with a milling throng of smartly-dressed people. It was so tightly packed that, initially, it was impossible to recognise anyone.
However, after a short while I began to spot familiar faces from the visual effects community (which is quite small and always up for a free drink) and said hello to friends from Pixar and some of the other nominated VFX teams.
Eventually I took my place for lunch to find I was seated next to Mark Ruffalo, nominated as best supporting actor for his tremendous performance in The Kids Are All Right.
I always get star struck, regardless of how many celebrities I meet and generally am at a loss for what to say. Fortunately, I remembered that Mark had just been cast as Bruce Banner/the Hulk in the Avengers movie and we talked about motion capture (used to create the animation for creatures such as the Hulk). We also discussed the perils of the unflattering spandex leotards that the actors have to wear.
It's safe territory for a tech geek like me.
Once the starter was over all the nominees shuffled up onto the podium for a group photograph and I found myself jammed in between Geoffrey Rush and Colin Firth. One by one we were called out and given a certificate (as well as a massively outsized nominee's sweatshirt). Everyone got a round of applause but I'm sure that when my name came up most people were saying to themselves, "who he"?
Afterwards we were shown a short film of tips on dos and don'ts for the big night itself presented by Tom Hanks - the basic message was keep it short and don't be boring. You get 45 seconds to thank everyone for 18 months of work and anyone who goes over gets a giant Oscar dropped on top of them.
I could have stayed all afternoon - and I think quite a few did - but my boss, Chris Nolan, was giving us all pointed looks so it was in the car and back to the studio to continue pre-production on our next project. After all, someone's got to keep making movies.
Paul Franklin was Inception's VFX supervisor and is a founding member of FX company Double Negative (DNeg). He is nominated along with SFX supervisor Chris Corbould and DNeg's VFX supervisors Peter Bebb and Andrew Lockley.
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