Jessica Biel Photo by: Alberto E. Rodriguez / Getty

On a weekend when the Grammys were attracting most of the attention, Jessica Biel grabbed some Oscar spotlight for the people who make the movies look so good – and the actress looked pretty good herself.

Wearing a strapless, silver-and-gold, floor-length Oscar De La Renta gown with magenta trim, Biel hosted the 81st Annual Science and Technical Oscars Saturday night, handing out awards to the unsung heroes who design Hollywood's lighting systems, playback monitors, zoom lenses and computer graphics.

The job required more than just looks, however.

"They should call this show 'Are You Smarter Than a 15th Grader,'" joked Biel as she valiantly waded through a river of difficult technical jargon.

Befitting the industry's ongoing transformation from hand-drawn to computer animation, the highest award –­ and the evening's lone Oscar statuette –­ went to digital graphics pioneer and Pixar Animation Studios president Ed Catmull.

Past starlets who have paid tribute to the industry's top scientists and inventors include Jessica Alba, Scarlett Johansson and Jennifer Garner.

While not televised, excerpts from the evening will be played during the telecast of the 81st Academy Awards on Feb. 22.