Behind the scenes at the 2015 Academy Awards

TENSE-looking security guards, hundreds of tourists and some really big Oscar awards. This is what it’s really like as Hollywood gears up for 2015 Academy Awards.

THE red carpet has officially been rolled out at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood and the excitement is palpable.

In just a few hours, some of the biggest names in Hollywood will converge on this theatre for the movie industry’s biggest night - the 87th annual Academy Awards.

The Dolby Theatre is located on iconic Hollywood Boulevard, which has been closed off to traffic for days - the street transformed into one 152 metre long, 10 metre wide red carpet.

The carpet is surrounded by tall black curtains so onlookers can’t see in, but there are a few gaps through which hundreds of tourists have gathered to take photos.

Security is tight with guards in abundance and the mood among them is intense — so much so that members of the press have already been banned from attending the Oscars after posting photos of their credentials on social media.

Try to access the wrong area with your credentials and you’ll be banned. Post a photo from inside the Dolby theatre and you’ll be banned. Bring a suit instead of a tuxedo and you also run the risk of being turned away when you arrive at the ceremony.

Standing in front of the venue among a throng of excited tourists, press and Oscars staff, you get a sense of just how big this production really is.

It’s not just an awards show with the biggest stars in the world, it’s also a live TV show being beamed out to 225 countries around the world with an expected audience of several hundred million people.

When the ceremony kicks off, 40 ushers will guide the 3,300 guests inside, with 300 people working in the telecast production office to make sure it’s beamed seamlessly around the world.

Another 350 crew will be working behind the scenes to make sure the night runs smoothly as 1,676 members of the press wait to report on who the 6,124 Academy members have cast their votes for in the 24 award categories.

In the Best Picture category, it’s a two horse race between Boyhood and Birdman. For Best Actor, Eddie Redmayne is the hot tip over comeback kid Michael Keaton.

Best Actress will almost certainly go to Julianne Moore and J.K. Simmons is a safe bet for Best Supporting Actor. Patricia Arquette is the favourite for Best Supporting Actress and Birdman director Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu is also expected to win an Oscar.

It’s Hollywood’s night of nights and hardly anything can ruin it, although the weather could lessen the glamour. Temperatures are expected to hover around 15-20 degrees all day and for the first time since 2010, there’s a chance of some rain on Oscars day.

If there is drizzle, the entire red carpet will be covered by a marquee. The stars will stay dry, but the 771 fans who have scored one of the coveted seats in the public bleachers will be on their own to face the elements.

Although everyone in Hollywood has Oscars fever, the same can’t be said for locals in greater Los Angeles.

“It’s an industry thing,” one cab driver said. “If you don’t work in the industry, or have friends or family nominated, you really don’t care that much.”

He’s not alone. Most ordinary people in LA are more interested in discussing sport than the biggest entertainment event in the world.

Meanwhile, across town at the Hyde Sunset Kitchen + Cocktails in Losa Angeles Oscar nominees Meryl Streep, Rosamund Pike, and Laura Dern kicked off the big weekend at the eighth annual Women in Film Pre-Oscar Cocktail Party.

Streep had been worried she might miss the Friday event entirely due to traffic, but she breezed in just in time to pose with her fellow nominees, and snap a few selfies with fans.

The atmosphere inside was relaxed and celebratory, with nominees representing a wide array of categories, from actors and directors, including Laura Poitras (”Citizenfour”) to producers, such as Cathleen Sutherland (”Boyhood”) and Helen Estabrook (”Whiplash”), and production designers, makeup artists and composers.