Ceremony Will Recognize Outstanding Visual Effects in Over a Dozen Categories

The Visual Effects Society (VES) today announced the nominees for the 6th Annual VES Awards ceremony recognizing outstanding visual effects in over a dozen categories of film, television, commercials and video games. Nominees were chosen Saturday, January 5, 2008 by numerous panels of VES members who viewed submissions at the FotoKem screening facilities in Burbank.
“We received hundreds of submissions from around the world and we are proud to present nominees that push the boundaries of how visual effects can enhance the storytelling process,” says Jeff Okun, VES Chair. “Looking at the level of complexity and creativity of this year’s nominees, it is clear that the VES is the single most important pool of talent, experience and knowledge in the visual effects world.”

The nominees for the 6th Annual VES Awards are the following:

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects Driven Motion Picture

I Am Legend
Janek Sirrs, Mike Chambers, Jim Berney, Crys Forsyth-Smith

Transformers
Scott Farar, Shari Hanson, Russel Earl, Scott Benza

The Golden Compass
Michael Fink, Susan MacLeod, Bill Westenhofer, Ben Morris

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
John Knoll, Jill Brooks, Hal Hickel, Charlie Gibson

Spider-Man 3
Scott Stokdyk, Terry Clotiaux, Peter Nofz, Spencer Cook

Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Motion Picture

Ratatouille
Michael Fong, Apurva Shah, Christine Waggoner, Michael Fu

Zodiac
Eric Barba, Craig Barron, Janelle Croshaw, Chris Evans

We Own the Night
Kelly Port, Julian Levi, Brad Parker, Olivier Sarda

The Kite Runner
David Ebner, Les Jones, Todd Perry, Leif Einarsson

Blades of Glory
Mark Breakspear, Randy Starr, Shauna Bryan, Kody Sabourin

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Broadcast Miniseries, Movie or Special

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA – Razor
Mike Gibson, Gary Hutzel, Sean Jackson, Pierre Drolet

RACE TO MARS – Getting to Mars
Manon Barriault, Jacques Levesque, Olivier Goulet, Benoit Girard

DOCTOR WHO CHRISTMAS SPECIAL 2007 – Voyage of the Damned
David Houghton, Will Cohen

BEN 10: RACE AGAINST TIME – VFX Compilation
Dina Benadon, Evan Jacobs, Brent Young, Chris Christman

TIN MAN – Night One
Lee Wilson, Lisa Sepp-Wilson, Sebastien Bergeron

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Broadcast Series

HEROES – Episode 208 – “Four Months Ago”
Eric Grenaudier, Mark Spatny, Diego Galtieri, Mike Enriquez

DOCTOR WHO “THE LAST OF THE TIME LORDS” – Series 3, Episode 13
David Houghton, Will Cohen

STARGATE ATLANTIS – Adrift
Mark Savela, Shannon Gurney, Erica Henderson, Jamie Yukio Kawano

FIGHT FOR LIFE – Episode 4
Philip Dobree, Nicola Instone, Marco Iozzi, Matt Chandler

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA – Episode 316 – “Maelstrom”
Mike Gibson, Gary Hutzel, Michael J. Davidson, Kyle Toucher

Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Broadcast Program

GREY'S ANATOMY – WALK ON WATER – Ferryboat Crash
Sam Nicholson, Scott Ramsey, Valeri Pfahning, Mike Enriquez

MARIE-ANTOINETTE – Miniseries
Richard Martin, Pierre Raymond, Sebastien Rioux, Nadine Homier

DRIVE EPISODE 101 “THE STARTING LINE” – Driving Sequence
Raoul Yorke Bolognini, Loni Peristere, Steve Meyer, Chris Jones

ROME 2 – Episode 6 – “Philippi”
James Madigan, Barrie Hemsley, Duncan Kinnard, Gary Broznich

PUSHING DAISIES – Pilot Episode
Craig Weiss, Toni Pace Carstensen, Brian Vogt, Jimmy Berndt

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Commercial

BACARDI – Bacardi Sun
Vittorio Giannini, Franck Lambertz, Robin Carlisle, Nico Cotta

ZUNE – The Ballad of Tina Pink
Luisa Murray, Laurent Ledru, Katrina Salicrup, Miles Essmiller

BMW COMMERCIAL – Hydrogen
Simon Maddison, Dave Kelly, Mike Bain, Sam Cole

BMW – Road
Chris Fieldhouse, Jay Barton, Ron Herbst, Dave Stern

SMIRNOFF – Sea
William Bartlett, Scott Griffin, Dan Seddon, David Mellor

Best Single Visual Effect of the Year

TRANSFORMERS – Desert Highway Sequence
Scott Farrar, Shari Hanson, Shawn Kelly, Michael Jamieson

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD'S END – Jack and Davy Duel
John Knoll, Jill Brooks, Francois Lambert, Philippe Rebours

300 – Crazy Horse Sequence
Chris Watts, Gayle Busby, Kirsty Millar

SURF’S UP – Riding the Visual Effects Tube
Rob Bredow, Lydia Bottegoni, Daniel Kramer, Matt Hausman

SPIDER-MAN 3 – The Birth of Sandman
Scott Stokdyk, Terry Clotiaux, Spencer Cook, Doug Bloom

Outstanding Real Time Visuals in a Video Game

NEED FOR SPEED PRO STREET – ProStreet
Michael Mann, Wilson Tang, Eduardo Agostini, Carl Jarrett

CRYSIS – Realtime Visuals
Michael Endres, Michael Khaimzon

TEAM FORTRESS 2
Jason Mitchell, Moby Franke, Chris Green, Dhabih Eng

HALO 3 – Halo 3 Footage
Marcus Lehto, Jonty Barnes, Stephen Scott, CJ Cowan

MASS EFFECT – Game Sequence
Derek Watts, Casey Hudson

Outstanding Pre-Rendered Visuals in a Video Game

COMMAND AND CONQUER 3 TIBERIUM WARS – GDI, NOD & Scrin Scenes
Richard Taylor, Matt Britton, Ben Hopkins, Tang Katai

HELLGATE: LONDON
Tim Miller, Jerome Denjean, Al Shier

WORLD OF WARCRAFT: THE BURNING CRUSADE – Cinematic Intro
Jeff Chamberlain, Scott Abeyta

THE WITCHER CINEMATIC – Intro
Tomek Baginski, Marcin Kobylecki, Grzegorz Kukus, Maciek Jackiewicz

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Special Venue Project

DINOSAURS-GIANTS OF PATAGONIA – 38_011
Mario Couturier, Vincent Roberge, Richard Bergeron, Martin L'Heureux

MONSTERS, INC. LAUGH FLOOR – Show Edit
Roger Gould, Liz Gazzano, Joe Garlington, Dan Colajacomo

SEA MONSTERS
Sean Phillips, Jack Geist, Robin Aristorenas, Mark Dubeau

Outstanding Animated Character in a Live Action Motion Picture

SPIDER-MAN 3 – Sandman
Chris Yang, Bernd Anger, Dominick Cecere, Remington Scott

THE WATER HORSE: LEGEND OF THE DEEP – Crusoe
Richard Frances-Moore, Martin Hill, Marco Revelant, Daniel Barrett

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD’S END – Davy Jones
Hal Hickel, Marc Chu, Jakub Pistecky, Maia Kayser

ENCHANTED – Pip
Tom Gibbons, James W. Brown, David Richard Nelson, John Koester

TRANSFORMERS – Optimus Prime
Rick O'Connor , Doug Sutton, Keiji Yamaguchi, Jeff White

I AM LEGEND – The Infected Leader
David Schaub, Marco Marenghi, Josh Beveridge

Outstanding Animated Character in an Animated Motion Picture

SURF'S UP – Chicken Joe
David Schaub, Moon Jun Kang, Brian Casper, Andreas Procopiou

SHREK THE THIRD – King Harold
John Cleese, Guillaume Aretos, Tim Cheung, Sean Mahoney

BEOWULF – Beowulf
Keith Smith, Scott Holmes, Pericles Michielin, Kenn McDonald

SURF'S UP – Cody
David Schaub, Pete Nash, James Crossley, Shia LaBeouf

RATATOUILLE – Colette
Janeane Garofalo, Jaime Landes, Sonoko Konishi , Paul Aichele

Outstanding Animated Character in a Live Action Broadcast Program or Commercial

DOCTOR WHO 'THE LAST OF THE TIME LORDS' – Series 3 Episode 13
Nicolas Hernandez, Adam Burnett, Neil Roche

CHEMICAL BROTHERS – SALMON DANCE – Fatlip shots
Nicklas Andersson, Mike Mellor, Sylvain Marc, Florent DeLa Taille

PRIMEVAL – Episode 6 – Predator Animation
Mathieu Vig, Antoine Birot, Simon Thistlethwaite, Kevin O'Sullivan

AMP – Paper
Fred Raimondi, Chris De Santis, Angie Jones, Narbeh Mardirossian

BEN 10: RACE AGAINST TIME – Grey Matter Sequence
Brent Young, Michael Smith

PROPEL – Stress Monster
Mitch Drain, Sean Faden, Matt Hackett, Denis Gauthier

Outstanding Effects in an Animated Motion Picture

BEOWULF – Dragon Chase
Theo Vandernoot, Vincent Serritella, Rob Engle, Pericles Michielin

SHREK THE THIRD – Effects
Matt Baer, Greg Hart, Krzysztof Rost, Anthony Field

RATATOUILLE – Food
Jon Reisch, Jason Johnston, Eric Froemling, Tolga Goktekin

SURF’S UP – Riding Wave – CG Style
Rob Bredow, Daniel Kramer, Matt Hausman, Danny Dimian

RATATOUILLE – Rapids
Darwyn Peachey, Chen Shen

Outstanding Created Environment in a Live Action Motion Picture

SWEENEY TODD – The Old Bailey
Raf Morant, Julian Gnass, Nakia McGlynn, Christine Wong

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD'S END – The Maelstrom
Frank Losasso Petterson, Paul Sharpe, Joakim Arnesson, David Meny

ZODIAC – Washington and Cherry
Wei Zheng, Greg Szafranski, Janelle Croshaw, Karl Denham

HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX – The Hall of Prophecy
David Vickery, Philippe LePrince, Trina Roy, Jolene McCaffrey

RUSH HOUR 3
Barry Williams, Robert Weaver , Jay Cooper , Masahiko Tani

I AM LEGEND – Times Square Hunt
Daniel Eaton, Blaine Kennison, Ron Gress, Daveed Shwartz

Outstanding Created Environment in a Live Action Broadcast Program or Commercial

BURY MY HEART AT WOUNDED KNEE – 002_05
Phi Tran, Matthew Lee, Martin Hilke, Andrew Roberts

TIN MAN – Night One
Les Quinn, Ken Less, Andrew Domachowski, Jonah West

UGLY BETTY – “A League of their Own”
Chris Martin, Michael Cook, Cedric Tomacruz

SMALLVILLE – Metropolis City
Kaz Yoshida, Jack Matsumoto, Andrea Shear, Eli Jarra

SUBARU – “Peel Out”
Graham Fyffe, Chris Nichols, Chris Bankoff, Daniel Buck

Outstanding Models or Miniatures in a Motion Picture

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD'S END – Practical and Digital Ships
Ken Bailey, Bruce Holcomb, Carl Miller , Geoff Heron

LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD – Freeway Sequence – F35 Miniature and Effects
Ian Hunter, Scott Schneider, Scott Beverly, John Cazin

TRANSFORMERS
Dave Fogler , Ron Woodall , Alex Jaeger, Brian Gernand

HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX – Hogwarts School
Jose Granell, Nigel Stone

SPIDER-MAN 3 – Building / Crane Destruction Miniature and Effects
Ian Hunter, Scott Beverly, Forest Fischer, Raymond Moore

Outstanding Compositing in a Motion Picture

TRANSFORMERS
Pat Tubach, Beth D'Amato, Todd Vaziri, Mike Conte

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD'S END – Death of Beckett
Lou Pecora, Joel Behrens, Ted Andre, Kevin Lingenfelser

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD'S END
Eddie Pasquarello , Katrin Klaiber, Jen Howard, Shawn Hillier

I AM LEGEND – Seaport Evacuation
Darren Lurie, John Sasaki, Rita Kunzler, Fish Essenfeld

THE WATER HORSE: LEGEND OF THE DEEP – Crusoe
Areito Echevarria, Gareth Dinneen, Norman Cates, Caterina Schiffers

HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX – Hall of Prophecy and Comp Shots
Jolene McCaffrey, Jelena Stojanovic, Victor Wade, Adam Pashke

Outstanding Compositing in a Broadcast Program or Commercial

SMALLVILLE, SEASON 6 – Episode 11, Justice
Rob Reinhart, Jack Matsumoto, Takashi Takeoka, Christina Spring

TIN MAN – Night One
Todd Liddiard, Philippe Thibault, Lionel Lim, Annabelle Kent

NIKE – Leave Nothing
James Allen, Rob Trent

SMALLVILLE – Bizarro Flood
David Alexander, Kaz Yoshida, Geeta Basantani, Tony White

LEVIS – Change
Tim Davies, Jason Schugardt, Yuichiro Yamashito

Outstanding Special Effects in a Motion Picture

HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX
John Richardson, Stephen Hamilton, Richard Farns, Stephen Hutchinson

Outstanding Special Effects in a Broadcast Program or Commercial

ACTIVELY SAFE – Lexus Hydrant
Dave Peterson, Anthony De La Cruz

The 6th Annual VES Awards will take place on Feb. 10, 2008 at the Kodak Theatre Grand Ballroom in Hollywood. Last year’s event attracted more than eight hundred celebrities, visual effects and animation artists, dozens of nominees and members of the film, television and gaming industries. Winners from 2007 included Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (John Knoll, Jill Brooks, Hal Hickel, Charlie Gibson) for Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects Driven Motion Picture and Battlestar Galactica – Episode 303b “Exodus” (Gary Hutzel, Michael Gibson, Alec McClymont, Brenda Campbell) for Outstanding Visual Effects in a Broadcast Series.

This year the VES will present Steven Spielberg the VES Lifetime Achievement Award. This award recognizes the contribution that his vast body of work, as both a director and producer, has made to the art and science of visual effects.

Updated information on the VES Awards can be found at www.vesawards.com.