Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is the film to beat in the 13th Annual VES Awards. Slipping the announcement in just before the Oscar nominations are made public this Thursday, the Visual Effects Society nominated the science-fiction franchise film for five awards — including two for outstanding performance of an animated character for the film's ape hero Caesar and its ape antagonist, Koba.
Dawn will compete in the VES category honoring work in a VFX-driven photoreal or live-action feature film against Guardians of the Galaxy, Interstellar, Maleficent, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, and X-Men: Days of Future Past. In a second category for "supporting VFX work" in a feature film, Birdman, Divergent, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Imitation Game, and Unbroken are competing. The award for outstanding animation in a feature film will go to Big Hero 6, How to Train Your Dragon 2, Rio 2, The Boxtrolls, or The Lego Movie.
On the television side, Game of Thrones was the most-named program, with five nominations in categories honoring overall VFX, animated characters, created environments, and compositing. Leading the pack of animated films, both Big Hero 6 and The Boxtrolls were also cited five times each.
J.J. Abrams is slated to receive the VES Visionary Award at the February 4 ceremony, to be held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, but Ridley Scott's Lifetime Achievement Award has been put on hold until a future date due to the director's scheduling conflict.
VES Award nominees are selected by VES members at events held in Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, New York, Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, London, Australia and New Zealand. "The VES Awards is proud that we are the only organization that showcases and honors these amazing artists in depth and across a wide range of fields," said VES Chair Jeffrey A. Okun in a prepared statement.
The complete list of VES Award nominees follows below.
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects-Driven Photoreal/Live Action Feature Motion Picture
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Joe Letteri
Ryan Stafford
Matt Kutcher
Dan Lemmon
Hannah Blanchini
Guardians of the Galaxy
Stephane Ceretti
Susan Pickett
Jonathan Fawkner
Nicolas Aithadi
Paul Corbould
Interstellar
Paul Franklin
Kevin Elam
Ann Podlozny
Andrew Lockley
Scott Fisher
Maleficent
Carey Villegas
Barrie Hemsley
Adam Valdez
Kelly Port
Michael Dawson
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Joe Letteri
David Conley
Eric Saindon
Kevin Sherwood
Steve Ingram
X-Men: Days of Future Past
Richard Stammers
Blondel Aidoo
Lou Pecora
Anders Langlands
Cameron Waldbauer
Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal/Live Action Feature Motion Picture
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Ara Khanikian
Ivy Agregan
Sebastien Moreau
Isabelle Langlois
Divergent
Jim Berney
Greg Baxter
Matt Dessero
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Gabriel Sanchez
Jenny Foster
Simon Weisse
Jan Burda
The Imitation Game
Stuart Bullen
Lucy Ainsworth-Taylor
Simon Rowe
Unbroken
Bill George
Steve Gaub
Erin Dusseault
Dave Morley
Brian Cox
Outstanding Animation in an Animated Feature Motion Picture
Big Hero 6
Don Hall
Chris Williams
Roy Conli
Zach Parrish
How to Train Your Dragon 2
Bonnie Arnold
Dean DeBlois
Dave Walvoord
Simon Otto
Rio 2
Carlos Saldanha
Bruce Anderson
John C. Donkin
Kirk Garfield
The Boxtrolls
Travis Knight
Anthony Stacchi
Graham Annable
Brad Schiff
The Lego Movie
Chris McKay
Amber Naismith
Jim Dodd
David Williams
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects-Driven Photoreal/Live Action Broadcast Program
Constantine; A Feast of Friends
Kevin Blank
Elizabeth Castro
Yafei Wu
Chris LeDoux
Game of Thrones; The Children
Joe Bauer
Steve Kullback
Stuart Brisdon
Thomas Schelesny
Sven Martin
Hemlock Grove
Matt Whelan
Chris Brown
Todd Masters
Johnathan Banta
Eric McAvoy
Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Mark Kolpack
Sabrina Arnold
Gary D Amico
Kevin Lingenfelser
David Beedon
The Flash
Armen Kevorkian
James Baldanzi
Jeremy Jozwick
Andranik Taranyan
Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Visual Effects-Driven Photoreal/Live Action Broadcast Program
American Horror Story; Freak Show; Edward Mordrake, Part 2
Jason Piccioni
Jason Spratt
Mike Kirylo
Justin Ball
Eric Roberts
Black Sails, Episode 1
Erik Henry
Annemarie Griggs
Paul Graff
George Murphy
Crossbones
Kevin Blank
Ron Pogue
Andy Weder
Niklas Jacobson
Mans Bjorklund
Penny Dreadful; Séance
James Cooper
Bill Halliday
Sarah McMurdo
Lorne Kwechansky
Ripper Street; Whitechapel Terminus
Ed Bruce
Alan Collins
Joe Courtis
John O'Connell
Outstanding Real-Time Visuals in a Video Game
Alien: Isolation
Jude Bond
Al Hope
Howard Rayner
Oriol Sans Gomez
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare
Yi-chao Sandy Lin-Chiang
Joseph Salud
Demetrius Leal
Dave Blizard
inFAMOUS: Second Son
Matt Vainio
Horia Dociu
Jason Connell
Bill Rockenbeck
Sunset Overdrive
Jacinda Chew
Bryan Intihar
Grant Hollis
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Commercial
Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare; Discover Your Power
Paul O'Shea
Michael Wigart
Andy Boyd
Jacob Montgomery
Benoit Mannequin
Destiny; Become Legend
Eric Barba
Carla Attanasio
Greg Teegarden
Dan Akers
ESA; Ambition
Jakub Knapik
Tomasz Wachnik
Lukasz Sobisz
Michal Skrzypiec
General Electric; Childlike Imagination
Benjamin Walsh
Jennie Burnett
Brian Burke
Dominik Bauch
SSE; Maya the Orangutan
Neil Davies
Alex Hammond
Jorge Montiel
Beth Vander
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Special Venue Project
Hubei in the Air
Andrew Roberts
Claudia Lachnitt
Yas Takata
Boris Schmidt
Sebastian Butenberg
Ratatouille: L’Aventure Totalement Torquee de Remy
Tony Apodaca
Marianne McLean
Gilles Martin
Edwin Chang
Mark Mine
Star Journey
Adam Watkins
Viktorija Ogureckaja
Thilo Ewers
Omid Arzhang
Yas Takata
The Hogwarts Express
Chris Shaw
Rich Yeomans
Steven Godfrey
Peter Jopling
John Richardson
The Lost Temple
John Hughes
Walt Jones
Brent Young
Michael Smith
Outstanding Performance of an Animated Character in a Photoreal/Live Action Feature Motion Picture
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes; Caesar
Paul Story
Eteuati Tema
Andrea Merlo
Emiliano Padovani
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes; Koba
Daniel Barrett
Alessandro Bonora
Mark Edward Allen
Masaya Suzuki
Guardians of the Galaxy; Rocket
Kevin Spruce
Rachel Williams
Laurie Brugger
Mark Wilson
Maleficent; Thistlewit
Darren Hendler
Matthias Wittmann
Jeremy Buttell
Elliot Rosenstein
Outstanding Animated Character in an Animated Feature Motion Picture
Big Hero 6; Baymax
Colin Eckart
John Kahwaty
Zach Parrish
Zack Petroc
How to Train Your Dragon 2; Hiccup
Jakob Hjort Jensen
Fabio Lignini
Stephen Candell
Hongseo Park
Rio 2; Gabi
Jason Sadler
Ignacio Barrios
Drew Winey
Diana Diriwaechter
The Boxtrolls; Archibald Snatcher
Travis Knight
Jason Stalman
Michael Laubach
Kyle Williams
Outstanding Performance of an Animated Character in a Commercial, Broadcast Program, or Video Game
Freesat Freetime; Sheldon
Russell Dodgson
Grant Walker
Juan Sebastian Nino
Amar Chundavadra
Game of Thrones; Drogon
Philip Meyer
Thomas Kutschera
Igor Majdandzic
Mark Spindler
John Lewis; Monty the Penguin
Diarmid Harrison Murray
Tim Van Hussen
Amir Bazazi
Georgios Kyparissous
SSE; Maya the Orangutan
Jorge Montiel
Alex Hammond
Daniel Kmet
Philippe Moine
Outstanding Created Environment in a Photoreal/Live Action Feature Motion Picture
Captain America: The Winter Soldier; Triskelion Headquarters
Johan Thorngren
Greg Kegel
Quentin Marmier
Luis Calero
Interstellar; Tesseract
Tom Bracht
Graham Page
Thomas Døhlen
Kirsty Clark
Lucy; Times Square
Richard Bluff
Steve Bevins
Steve DeLuca
Tiffany Yung
Noah; Antediluvian Earth
Grady Cofer
Dan Wheaton
Susumu Yukuhiro
Ben O'Brien
Outstanding Created Environment in an Animated Feature Motion Picture
Big Hero 6; Into the Portal
Ralf Habel
David Hutchins
Michael Kaschalk
Olun Riley
How to Train Your Dragon 2; Oasis
Sun Yoon
Liang-Yuan Wang
Ted Davis
Shannon Thomas
The Book of Life; Magical Land of the Remembered
Glo Minaya
Amy Chen
Sean McEwan
Jeff Masters
The Boxtrolls; Boxtroll Cavern
Curt Enderle
Rob DeSue
Emily Greene
Jesse Gregg
Outstanding Created Environment in a Commercial, Broadcast Program, or Video Game
Coca-Cola; Snowy Forest
Tom Bardwell
Kevin Ives
Kyle Cody
Jimmy Gass
Game of Thrones; Braavos Establisher
Rene Borst
Christian Zilliken
Jan Burda
Steffen Metzner
Penny Dreadful; Séance
Mathew Borrett
Lorne Kwechansky
Graham Day
Jason Gougeon
War Thunder; Battlefield
Andrey Bogdanov
Mikhail Datcik
Dmitriy Ovcharenko
Ekaterina Bogdanova
Outstanding Virtual Cinematography in a Photoreal/Live Action Motion Media Project
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Keith Miller
Jonathan Paquin
Alessandro Saponi
David Houghton Williams
Edge of Tomorrow; Beach and Paris Attacks
Albert Cheng
Jose Enrique Astacio Jr.
Michael Havart
Dion Beebe
Interstellar; Tesseract
Faraz Hameed
Stephen Painter
Hoyte van Hoytema
Dorian Knapp
X-Men: Days of Future Past; Kitchen Scene
Austin Bonang
Casey Schatz
Dennis Jones
Newton Thomas Sigel
Outstanding Models in any Motion Media Project
Big Hero 6; City of San Fransokyo
Brett Achorn
Minh Duong
Scott Watanabe
Larry Wu
The Boxtrolls; Mecha-Drill
Tom McClure
Oliver Jones
Raul Martinez
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies; Laketown
Leslie Chan
Alastair Mayer
Niklas Preston
Justin Stockton
Transformers: Age of Extinction; Knightship
Landis Fields
John Goodson
Anthony Rispoli
Dae Han
Outstanding Effects Simulations in a Photoreal/Live Action Feature Motion Picture
Captain America: The Winter Soldier; Helicarrier Broadside and Crash
Dan Pearson
Sheldon Serrao
Jose Burgos
Eric Jennings
Edge of Tomorrow; Destruction and Sand
Steve Avoujageli
Pawel Grochola
Atsushi Ikarashi
Paul Waggoner
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Jon Allitt
David Caeiro
Ronnie Menahem
X-Men: Days of Future Past; Quicksilver Pentagon Kitchen
Adam Paschke
Premamurti Paetsch
Sam Hancock
Timmy Lundin
Outstanding Effects Simulations in an Animated Feature Motion Picture
Big Hero 6
Henrik Falt
David Hutchins
Michael Kaschalk
John Kosnik
How to Train Your Dragon 2; The Battle
Spencer Knapp
Baptiste Van Opstal
Lucas Janin
Jason Mayer
The Boxtrolls
Kent Estep
Peter Stuart
Ralph Procida
Timur Khodzhaev
The Lego Movie
Carsten Kolve
Jayandera Danappal
Matt Ebb
Miles Green
Outstanding Effects Simulations in a Commercial, Broadcast Program, or Video Game
Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey
Dominique Vidal
Isabelle Perin-Leduc
Sandrine Lurde
Alexandre Lerouge
DirecTV; Landing
Jeffrey Dates
Jimmy Gass
Iwan Zwarts
Ryan Coster
SSE; Maya
Alex Hammond
Peter Agg
Sam Driscoll
Jimmy Gass
Vikings; Invasion Storm Sequence
Jeremy Dineen
Eric Lacroix
Kyle Yoneda
Norman Ran
Outstanding Compositing in a Photoreal/Live Action Feature Motion Picture
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Christoph Salzmann
Florian Schroeder
Quentin Hema
Simone Riginelli
Edge of Tomorrow; Beach
Craig Wentworth
Matthew Welford
Marie Victoria Denoga
Frank Fieser
Interstellar; Water
Raphael Hamm
Isaac Layish
Sebastian Von Overheidt
Tristan Myles
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Simon Jung
Ben Roberts
Matthew Adams
Jordan Schilling
Outstanding Compositing in a Photoreal/Live Action Broadcast Program
American Horror Story: Freak Show; Edward Mordrake, Part 2
Tommy Tran
JV Pike
Rob Lutz
Matt Lefferts
Game of Thrones; Wight Attack
Keegan Douglas
Okan Ataman
Brian Fortune
David Lopez
Game of Thrones; The Watchers on the Wall
Dan Breckwoldt
Martin Furman
Sophie Marfleet
Eric Andrusyszyn
The Knick; Abigail's Nose
Vance Miller
Aaron Raff
John Bair
Rebecca Dunn
Vikings; Invasion
Ovidiu Cinazan
Gary Couto
Doug Cook
Angel Li
Outstanding Compositing in a in a Photoreal/Live Action Commercial
Destiny Become Legend
Dan Akers
Nitant Karnik
Matt Smith
Kym Olsen
Kia The Truth
Paul Lambert
Dan Akers
Carlos Morales
Holly Horter
Nike Hypervenom "Mirrors ft. Neymar Jr."
Dan Williams
Daniel Morris
Ilia Mokhtareizadeh
Greg Spencer
SSE
Neil Davies
Leonardo Costa
Gianluca DiMarco
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Student Project
Deep Dance
Marco Erbrich
Christoph Westphal
Vincent Langer
Dragon Clan
Yahui Fan
Sheng Xu
Murphy
Bruno LeVeque
Xavier Lafarge
Wrapped
Roman Kaelin
Falko Paeper
Florian Wittmann
Paolo Tamburrino
