As had been generally expected, Gareth Edwards’ futuristic sci-fi film“The Creator” proved to be the favorite among visual effects practitioners. The film topped the feature competition at the 22ndVisual Effects Society Awards, claiming five wins including one in the leading category for outstanding VFX in a photoreal feature.
Wednesday night at the Beverly Hilton, it also won the categories for created environment, model, compositing and lighting and effects simulations. Also, in the feature competition, “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” collected two awards for the digital character (the emotive Rocket) and virtual cinematography. “Oppenheimer” grabbed the trophy for practical effects, and “Nyad” took home the award for supporting VFX. Sony Pictures Animation’s “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” was the big winner among the animated features, collecting four awards.
“The Creator,” whose VFX was led by Industrial Light + Magic, and Guardians 3, whose work was shared by roughly 10 VFX companies, including framestore and Weta FX, are also nominated for the VFX Oscar. The Academy Award nominees in the category also include “Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part 1,” “Godzilla Minus One” and “Napoleon,” which were all shut out at the VES Awards.
The VES has an uneven record for predicting the eventual Oscar winner in visual effects. In only four of the last 10 years has the VES’ top category winner for outstanding VFX gone on to win that Oscar. And last weekend, “Poor Things” — which failed to earn an Oscar or VES nomination — won the BAFTA in VFX.
On the TV side, “The Last of Us” was the big winner in the episodic categories, collecting four awards. A tie in the category for a special venue project delivered a VES Award to “Postcard from Earth,” the first movie created for the Las Vegas Sphere, and Rembrandt Immersive Artwork.
In her opening remarks, without being specific, VES executive director NancyWard pointed to a practice in which some productions promote a movie in a way that minimizes — or in some cases doesn’t acknowledge at all — the contributions of VFX artists. She noted that “at a time when some are discounting the pivotal role of visual effects,” the VES “proudly “salutes these “technical visionaries and creative risk takers.”
During the ceremony, Seth MacFarlane presented the Lifetime Achievement Award to VFX producer Joyce Cox. MacFarlane also presented the VES Award for Creative Excellence to William Shatner, and VFX supervisor Richard Hollander gave the Lifetime Achievement Award to VFX producer Joyce Cox, VES.
When reflecting on receiving the VES Award for Creative Excellence, Shatner said it felt “grandiose.”
“This room is probably filled with the most creative people in the industry. I mean every one of them is an artist and thinking ahead all the time,” Shatner said. “In the beginning, it was a flashlight and a little cardboard enterprise, and that became reality. That’s quite amazing to be here with all these wonderful people.”
See the complete list of winners below.
OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE
“Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves”
Ben Snow
Diana Giorgiutti
Khalid Almeerani
Scott Benza
Sam Conway
“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3”
Stephane Ceretti
Susan Pickett
Alexis Wajsbrot
Guy Williams
Dan Sudick
“Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny”
Andrew Whitehurst
Kathy Siegel
Robert Weaver
Julian Hutchens
Alistair Williams
“Oppenheimer”
Andrew Jackson
Mike Chambers, VES
Giacomo Mineo
Dave Drzewiecki
Scot Fisher
“The Creator”
Jay Cooper
Julian Levi
Ian Comley
Charmaine Chan
Neil Corbould, VES
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE
“John Wick: Chapter 4”
Janelle Croshaw Ralla
Reina Sparks
Jonathan Rothbart
Javier Roca
Gerd Nefzer
“Killers of the Flower Moon”
Pablo Helman
Brian Barlettani
Sam Bassett
Brandon Keys McLaughlin
“Napoleon”
Charley Henley
Sarah Tulloch
Luc-Ewen Martin-Fenouillet
Simone Coco
Neil Corbould, VES
“Nyad”
Jake Braver
Fiona Campbell Westgate
R. Christopher White
Mohsen Mousavi
“Society of the Snow”
Félix Bergés
Micaela Gagliano
Laura Pedro
Ezequiel Larrú
Pau Costa
OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE
“Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget”
Jon Biggins
Jim Lewis
Charles Copping
Matthew Perry
“Elemental”
Peter Sohn
Denise Ream
Sanjay Bakshi
Stephen Marshall
“Nimona”
Archie Donato
Yancy Lindquist
Theodore Ty
Anthony Kemp
“Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse”
Alan Hawkins
Christian Hejnal
Michael Lasker
Matt Hausman
“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem”
Matthieu Rouxel
Marie Balland
Jacques Daigle
Vincent Leroy
OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL EPISODE
“Ahsoka”; Season 1; Dreams and Madness
Richard Bluff
Jakris Smittant
Paul Kavanagh
Enrico Damm
Scott Fisher
“Loki”; Season 2; Glorious Purpose
Christopher Townsend
Allison Paul
Matthew Twyford
Christopher Smallfield
John William Van Der Pool
“Monarch: Legacy of Monsters”
Sean Konrad
Jessica Smith
Jed Glassford
Khalid Almeerani
Paul Benjamin
“The Last of Us”; Season 1; Infected
Alex Wang
Sean Nowlan
Stephen James
Simon Jung
Joel Whist
“The Mandalorian”; Season 3; The Return
Grady Cofer
Abbigail Keller
Victor Schutz IV
Cameron Neilson Scott Fisher
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL EPISODE
“A Murder at The End of the World”; Season 1; Crypt
Aaron Raff
Tavis Larkham
Douglas Stichbury
Mat Ellin
“Citadel”; Season 1; Secrets in Night Need Early Rains
Wesley Froud
Scott Shapiro
Aladino Debert
Greg Teegarden
“Ted Lasso”; Season 3; Mom City
Gretchen Bangs
Bill Parker
Lenny Wilson
“The Crown”; Season 6; Dis-Moi Oui
Ben Turner
Reece Ewing
Oliver Bersey
Joe Cork
“Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty”; Season 2; Beat LA
Raymond McIntyre Jr.
Victor DiMichina
Javier Menéndez Platas
Damien Stantina
OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A REAL-TIME PROJECT
Alan Wake 2
Janne Pulkkinen
Johannes Richter
Daniel Kończyk
Damian Olechowski
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty
Jakub Knapik
Paweł Mielniczuk
Maciej Włodarkiewicz
Kacper Niepokólczycki
Immortals of Aveum
Joseph Hall
Kevin Boyle
Dave Bogan
Julia Lichtblau
Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
Jacinda Chew
Jeannette Lee
Bryanna Lindsey
Alan Weider
Mortal Kombat 1
Christopher Chapman
Scott Quinn
James DeSousa
Jeff Palmer
Matt Gilmore
OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A COMMERCIAL
Accenture; Changing Tree
Simon French
Vic Lovejoy
David Filipe
Matteo La Motta
Apple; Air Pods Pro; Quiet The Noise
Iain Murray
Oscar Wendt
Dean Robinson
Sergio Morales Paz
Coca-Cola; Masterpiece
Ryan Knowles
Antonia Vlasto
Gregory McKneally
Dan Yargici
Jean Paul Gaultier; Divine Perfume
Stéphane Pivron
Cécile Hubin
Guillaume Dadaglio
Mathias Barday
Virgin Media; Goat Glider
Ben Cronin
George Reid
Sam Driscoll
Christian Baker
OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A SPECIAL VENUE PROJECT
Hypersphere 360; SeaWorld Abu Dhabi
Daren Ulmer
Cedar Connor
Lindsey Sprague
Ryan Kravetz
Postcard From Earth
Aruna Inversin
Eric Wilson
Corey Turner
Bill George
Rembrandt Immersive Artwork
Andrew McNamara
Sebastian Read
Andrew Kinnear
Sam Matthews
“The Marvels:” Goose the Flerken Cat
Tim Kafka
Mari Suarez
Toya Drechsler
Sebastian Niño Florez
“Zootopia: Hot Pursuit”
Blaine Kennison
Jeanne Angel
Darin Hollings
Aaron Arendt
OUTSTANDING ANIMATED CHARACTER IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE
“Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom”; Topo the Octopus
Thomas Ward
Andrew Butler
Felix Slinger-Thompson
Jacob Burstein
“Godzilla Minus One”; Godzilla
Kosuke Taguchi
Takashi Yamazaki
“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3”; Rocket
Nathan McConnel
Andrea De Martis
Antony Magdalinidis
Rachel Williams
“Wonka”; Oompa Loompa
Dale Newton
Kunal Ayer
Valentina Ercolani
Gabor Foner
OUTSTANDING ANIMATED CHARACTER IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE
“Elemental”; Ember
Gwendelyn Enderoglu
Jared Fong
Jonathan Hoffman
Patrick Witting
“Elemental”; Wade
Max Gilbert
Jacob Kuenzel
Dave Strick
Benjamin Su
“Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse”; Spot
Christopher Mangnall
Craig Feifarek
Humberto Rosa
Nideep Varghese
“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem”; Superfly
Gregory Coelho
Anne-Claire Leroux
Simon Cuisinier
Olivier Pierre
OUTSTANDING ANIMATED CHARACTER IN AN EPISODE, COMMERCIAL, GAME CINEMATIC OR REAL-TIME PROJECT
Diablo IV; Inarius and Lilith Cinematic; Lilith
Matt Onheiber
Jason Huang
Maia Neubig
“Shadow and Bone”; Season 2; No Funerals; Nichevo’ya the Shadow Monster
José María del Fresno
Matthieu Poirey
Carlos Puigdollers
Guillermo Ramos
“The Last of Us”; Endure & Survive; Bloater
Gino Acevedo
Max Telfer
Pascal Raimbault
Fabio Leporelli
“The Nevers”; It’s a Good Day; Robot Dog
Christian Leitner
Bernd Nalbach
Sebastian Plank
Martin Wellstein
Virgin Media; Goat Glider; The Goat
Sam Driscoll
Kanishk Chouhan
Suvi Jokiniemi
Chloe Dawe
OUTSTANDING CREATED ENVIRonMENT IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE
“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3”; Knowhere
Omar Alejandro Lavrador Ibanez
Fabien Julvecourt
Klaudio Ladavac
Benjamin Patterson
“Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny”; Underwater Wreck Environment
Johan Gabrielsson
Adrian Tsang
Stefan Andersson
Martin Eneroth
“John Wick: Chapter 4”; Place de L’Étoile
Joelle Xin Zhow
Fabrice Vienne
Vignesh Ravi
Laurent Makowski
“The Creator”; Floating Village
John Seru
Guy Williams
Vincent Techer
Timothée Maron
OUTSTANDING CREATED ENVIRonMENT IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE
“Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget”; Chicken Island
Charles Copping
Matthew Perry
Jim Lewis
Jon Biggins
“Elemental”; Element City
Chris Bernardi
Brandon Montell
David Shavers
Ting Zhang
“Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse”; Mumbattan City
Taehyun Park
YJ Lee
Pepe Orozco
Kelly Han
“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem”; Midtown Manhattan
Olivier Mitonneau
Eddy Frechou
Guillaume Chevet
Arnaud Philippe-Giraux
OUTSTANDING CREATED ENVIRonMENT IN AN EPISODE, COMMERCIAL, GAME CINEMATIC OR REAL-TIME PROJECT
“Loki”; Season 2: 1983; World’s Fair White City
Christian Waite
Ben Aickin
Francesco Ferraresi
Pieter Warmington
“Star Trek: Strange New Worlds”; The Broken Circle
Nathaniel Larouche
Owen Deveney
Mujia Liao
Alex Morin
“The Last Of Us”; Look for the Light; Salt Lake City
Pascal Raimbault
Nick Cattell
Jasper Hayward
Kristine-Joeann Jasper
“The Last of Us:” Post-Outbreak Boston
Melaina Mace
Adrien Lambert
Juan Carlos Barquet
Christopher Anciaume
OUTSTANDING VIRTUAL CINEMATOGRAPHY IN A CG PROJECT
“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3”
Joanna Davison
Cheyana Wilkinson
Michael Cozens
Jason Desjarlais
“Migration”
Guylo Homsy
Damien Bapst
Antoine Collet
David Dangin
“Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse”
Rich Turner
Randolph Lizarda
Daniela Campos Little
Thomas Campos
“The Creator”
Roel Coucke
Christopher Potter
Amanda Johnstone-Batt
Jeremy Bloch
OUTSTANDING MODEL IN A PHOTOREAL OR ANIMATED PROJECT
“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3”; The Arête
Kenneth Johansson
Jason Galeon
Tim Civil
Artur Vil
“Peter Pan & Wendy”; Jolly Roger
Patrick Comtois
Thomas Gallardo
Harrison Stark
David Thibodeau
“Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse”; Spider HQ
Dongick David Sheen
Mark JeongWoong Lee
Mikaela Bantog
René Völker
“The Creator”; Nomad
Oliver Kane
Mat Monro
Florence Green
Serban Ungureanu
OUTSTANDING EFFECTS SIMULATIONS IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE
“Napoleon”
Koen Hofmeester
Gianmichele Mariani
Clair Bellens
Hernan Llano Duque
“Nyad”; Stormy Waters
Korbinian Meier
Sindy Saalfeld
David Michielsen
Andreas Vrhovsek
“The Creator”
Ludovic Ramisandraina
Raul Essig
Mathieu Chardonnet
Lewis Taylor
“The Nun 2”
Laurent Creusot
Sebastien Podsiadlo
Michael Moercant
Benjamin Saurine
OUTSTANDING EFFECTS SIMULATIONS IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE
“Elemental”
Kristopher Campbell
Greg Gladstone
Jon Reisch
Kylie Wijsmuller
“Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse”
Pav Grochola
Filippo Maccari
Naoki Kato
Nicola Finizio
“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem”
Louis Marsaud
Paul-Etienne Bourde
Serge Martin
Marine Pommereul
“The Super Mario Bros. Movie”
Simon Pate
Christophe Vazquez
Milo Riccarand
OUTSTANDING EFFECTS SIMULATIONS IN AN EPISODE, COMMERCIAL, GAME CINEMATIC OR REAL-TIME PROJECT
“Citadel”; Secrets in Night Need Early Rains; Ocean Water
James Reid
Mathew Rotman
Filipp Elizarov
Nardeep Chander
“Invasion”; Season 2; A Voice from the Other Side
Zybrand Jacobs
Alex Marlow
Tim Jenkinson
Tobias Grønbeck Andersen
“Loki”; Season 2; Science/Fiction; Spaghettification
Rafael Camacho
Jonathan Lyddon-Towl
Julien Legay
Benedikt Roettger
“The Mandalorian”; Season 3; Lake Monster Attack Water
Travis Harkleroad
Florian Wietzel
Rick Hankins
Aron Bonar
“Willow”; Children of the Wyrm; Crone Duststorm and Magical Effects
Michael Cashmore
Robert Zeltsch
Jiyong Shin
Audun Ase
OUTSTANDING COMPOSITING & LIGHTING IN A FEATURE
“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3”
Indah Maretha
Beck Veitch
Nathan Abbot
Steve McGillen
“John Wick: Chapter 4”; Apartment Massacre Videogame Style
Javier Roca
Julien Forest
Thomas Bourdis
Dominik Kirouac
“Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse”
Bret St.Clair
Kieron Cheuk-Chi Lo
Kelly Christophers
Rowan Young
“The Creator”; Bar
Phil Prates
Min Kim
Nisarg Suthar
Toshiko Miura
“The Creator”; Spaceships
Ben O-Brien
Juan Espigares Enriquez
Wesley Roberts
Hayes Brien
OUTSTANDING COMPOSITING & LIGHTING IN AN EPISODE
“The Last of Us”; Endure and Survive; Infected Horde Battle
Matthew Lumb
Ben Roberts
Ben Campbell
Quentin Hema
“The Last of Us”; Infected; Boston
Casey Gorton
Francesco Dell’Anna
Vaclav Kubant
Natalia Valbuena
“The Mandalorian”; Season 3; The Return
Sam Wirch
Tory Mercer
Donny Rausch
Erich Ippen
“Willow”; Children of the Wyrm
Jeremy Sawyer
Steve Hardy
Martin Tardif
Miguel Macaya Ten
OUTSTANDING COMPOSITING & LIGHTING IN A COMMERCIAL
Accenture; Changing Tree
David Filipe
Matteo La Motta
Jordan Dunstall
Taran Spear
Coca-Cola; Masterpiece
Ryan Knowles
Greg Mckneally
Taran Spear
Jordan Dunstall
Smirnoff; Cocktail
Vittorio Barabani
Peter Hodsman
Giacomo Verri
Marc Greyvenstein
Starfield
Jimmy Bullard
Ajit Menon
Ruairi Twohig
Karim Moussa
OUTSTANDING SPECIAL (PRACTICAL) EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL PROJECT
“I’m a Virgo”
John McLeod
Scott Kirvan
Alec Gillis
Carl Miller
“Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One”
Neil Corbould, VES
Ray Ferguson
Keith Dawson
Chris Motjuoadi
“Oppenheimer”
Scott Fisher
James Rollins
Mario Vanillo
“Society of the Snow”
Pau Costa
Carlos Laguna
Guillermo F. Aldunate
Eloy Cervera
EMERGING TECHNOLOGY AWARD
“Blue Beetle”; Machine Learning Cloth
JohnMark Gibbons
Allen Ruilova
Momme Carl
David Minor
“Elemental”; Volumetric Neural Style Transfer
Vinicius C. Azevedo
Byungsoo Kim
Raphael Ortiz
|Paul Kanyuk
“The Flash;” Volumetric Capture
Stephan Trojansky
Thomas Ganshorn
Oliver Pilarski
Lukas Lepicovsky
“Wish”; Dynamic Screen Space Textures for Coherent Stylization
Brent Burley
Daniel Teece
Brian J. Green
OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A STUDENT PROJECT (AWARD SPonSORED BY AUTODESK)
Au 8ème Jour
Flavie Carin
Agathe Sénéchal
Alicia Massez
Elise Debruyne
L’Animal Sauce Ail
Aurélien Duchez
Ysaline Debut
Diane Mazella
Camille Rostan
Loup y es-tu?
Célina Lebon
Louise Laurent
Emma Fessart
Annouck François
Silhouette
Alexis Lafuente
Antoni Nicolaï
Chloé Stricher
Elliot Dreuille
