Avengers: Infinity War
Marvel Studios
Marvel’s Avengers: Infinity War and Netflix’s Lost in Space lead this year’s Visual Effects Society (VES) Awards contenders with six nominations each, followed closely by Incredibles 2 with five.
VES members selected nominees in 24 different categories honoring outstanding visual effects for film, animation, television, commercials and video games. Nominating events were hosted in Australia, the San Francisco Bay area, Germany, London, Los Angeles, Montréal, New York, New Zealand, Toronto, Vancouver, and Washington.
“The artistry, ingenuity and passion of visual effects practitioners around the world have come together to create truly remarkable imagery in a variety of media,” said VES Chair Mike Chambers in a prepared statement. “We are seeing best in class work that elevates the art of storytelling and engages the audience in new and innovative ways. The VES Awards is the only venue that showcases and honors these outstanding artists across a wide range of disciplines, and we are extremely proud of all our nominees.”
The nominations track fairly closely with the Oscars, at least so far — all five of the nominations for feature-film VFX are on the Academy’s current 10-film shortlist. Interestingly, while First Man remains on the Oscar shortlist, the VFX work has been categorized as “supporting” for the purpose of the VES Awards. Other films under consideration by the Academy show up in various other VES categories, but two Oscar-shortlisted films didn’t make the cut for VES at all: Black Panther and Mary Poppins Returns.
VES nods can be a good predictor of Oscar glory, but not always — three years ago, the $15 million SF picture Ex Machina wasn’t recognized by VES at all and then went on to win the VFX Oscar.
The VES Awards are scheduled to be presented on February 5 at a ceremony at the Beverly Hilton Hotel to be hosted by Patton Oswalt. Also being handed out at the show are the VES Visionary Award, which goes to Jonathan Nolan, the co-creator of HBO’s Westworld, and the VES Award for Creative Excellence, which will be presented to HBO’s Game of Thrones ringleaders David Benioff and D.B. Weiss.
The complete list of nominees for the 17th Annual VES Awards follows:
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature
Avengers: Infinity War
Daniel DeLeeuw
Jen Underdahl
Kelly Port
Matt Aitken
Daniel Sudick
Christopher Robin
Chris Lawrence
Steve Gaub
Michael Eames
Glenn Melenhorst
Chris Corbould
Ready Player One
Roger Guyett
Jennifer Meislohn
David Shirk
Matthew Butler
Neil Corbould
Solo: A Star Wars Story
Rob Bredow
Erin Dusseault
Matt Shumway
Patrick Tubach
Dominic Tuohy
Welcome to Marwen
Kevin Baillie
Sandra Scott
Seth Hill
Marc Chu
James Paradis
Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature
12 Strong
Roger Nall
Robert Weaver
Mike Meinardus
Bird Box
Marcus Taormina
David Robinson
Mark Bakowski
Sophie Dawes
Mike Meinardus
Bohemian Rhapsody
Paul Norris
Tim Field
May Leung
Andrew Simmonds
First Man
Paul Lambert
Kevin Elam
Tristan Myles
Ian Hunter
JD Schwalm
Outlaw King
Alex Bicknell
Dan Bethell
Greg O’Connor
Stefano Pepin
Outstanding Visual Effects in an Animated Feature
Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch
Pierre Leduc
Janet Healy
Bruno Chauffard
Milo Riccarand
Incredibles 2
Brad Bird
John Walker
Rick Sayre
Bill Watral
Isle of Dogs
Mark Waring
Jeremy Dawson
Tim Ledbury
Lev Kolobov
Ralph Breaks the Internet
Scott Kersavage
Bradford Simonsen
Ernest J. Petti
Cory Loftis
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Joshua Beveridge
Christian Hejnal
Danny Dimian
Bret St. Clair
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Episode
Altered Carbon; “Out of the Past”
Everett Burrell
Tony Meagher
Steve Moncur
Christine Lemon
Joel Whist
Krypton; “The Phantom Zone”
Ian Markiewicz
Jennifer Wessner
Niklas Jacobson
Martin Pelletier
Lost in Space; “Danger, Will Robinson”
Jabbar Raisani
Terron Pratt
Niklas Jacobson
Joao Sita
The Terror; “Go For Broke”
Frank Petzold
Lenka Líkařová
Viktor Muller
Pedro Sabrosa
Westworld;”The Passenger”
Jay Worth
Elizabeth Castro
Bruce Branit
Joe Wehmeyer
Michael Lantieri
Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Episode
Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan; “Pilot”
Erik Henry
Matt Robken
Bobo Skipper
Deak Ferrand
Pau Costa
The Alienist; “The Boy on the Bridge”
Kent Houston
Wendy Garfinkle
Steve Murgatroyd
Drew Jones
Paul Stephenson
The Deuce; “We’re All Beasts”
Jim Rider
Steven Weigle
John Bair
Aaron Raff
The First; “Near and Far”
Karen Goulekas
Eddie Bonin
Roland Langschwert
Bryan Godwin
Matthew James Kutcher
The Handmaid’s Tale; “June”
Brendan Taylor
Stephen Lebed
Winston Lee
Leo Bovell
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Real-Time Project
Age of Sail
John Kahrs
Kevin Dart
Cassidy Curtis
Theresa Latzko
Cycles
Jeff Gipson
Nicholas Russell
Lauren Nicole Brown
Jorge E. Ruiz Cano
Dr Grordbort’s Invaders
Greg Broadmore
Mhairead Connor
Steve Lambert
Simon Baker
God of War
Maximilian Vaughn Ancar
Corey Teblum
Kevin Huynh
Paolo Surricchio
Marvel’s Spider-Man
Grant Hollis
Daniel Wang
Seth Faske
Abdul Bezrati
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Commercial
Beyond Good & Evil 2
Maxime Luere
Leon Berelle
Remi Kozyra
Dominique Boidin
John Lewis; “The Boy and the Piano”
Kamen Markov
Philip Whalley
Anthony Bloor
Andy Steele
McDonald’s; “#ReindeerReady”
Ben Cronin
Josh King
Gez Wright
Suzanne Jandu
U.S. Marine Corps; “A Nation’s Call”
Steve Drew
Nick Fraser
Murray Butler
Greg White
Dave Peterson
Volkswagen; “Born Confident”
Carsten Keller
Anandi Peiris
Dan Sanders
Fabian Frank
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Special Venue Project
Beautiful Hunan; Flight of the Phoenix
B. R. Rajeev
Suhit Saha
Arish Fyzee
Unmesh Nimbalkar
Childish Gambino’s Pharos
Keith Miller
Alejandro Crawford
Thelvin Cabezas
Jeremy Thompson
DreamWorks Theatre Presents Kung Fu Panda
Marc Scott
Doug Cooper
Michael Losure
Alex Timchenko
Osheaga Music and Arts Festival
Andre Montambeault
Marie-Josee Paradis
Alyson Lamontagne
David Bishop Noriega
Pearl Quest
Eugénie von Tunzelmann
Liz Oliver
Ian Spendloff
Ross Burgess
Outstanding Animated Character in a Photoreal Feature
Avengers: Infinity War; Thanos
Jan Philip Cramer
Darren Hendler
Paul Story
Sidney Kombo-Kintombo
Christopher Robin; Tigger
Arslan Elver
Kayn Garcia
Laurent Laban
Mariano Mendiburu
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom; Indoraptor
Jance Rubinchik
Ted Lister
Yannick Gillain
Keith Ribbons
Ready Player One; Art3mis
David Shirk
Brian Cantwell
Jung-Seung Hong
Kim Ooi
Outstanding Animated Character in an Animated Feature
Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch; The Grinch
David Galante
Francois Boudaille
Olivier Luffin
Yarrow Cheney
Incredibles 2; Helen Parr
Michal Makarewicz
Ben Porter
Edgar Rodriguez
Kevin Singleton
Ralph Breaks the Internet; Ralphzilla
Dong Joo Byun
Dave K. Komorowski
Justin Sklar
Le Joyce Tong
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse; Miles Morales
Marcos Kang
Chad Belteau
Humberto Rosa
Julie Bernier Gosselin
Outstanding Animated Character in an Episode or Real-Time Project
“Cycles”; Rae
Jose Luis Gomez Diaz
Edward Everett Robbins III
Jorge E. Ruiz Cano
Jose Luis -Weecho- Velasquez
Lost in Space; Humanoid
Chad Shattuck
Paul Zeke
Julia Flanagan
Andrew McCartney
Nightflyers; “All That We Have Found”; Eris
Peter Giliberti
James Chretien
Ryan Cromie
Cesar Dacol Jr.
Spider-Man; Doc Ock
Brian Wyser
Henrique Naspolini
Sophie Brennan
William Salyers
Outstanding Animated Character in a Commercial
McDonald’s; Bobbi the Reindeer
Gabriela Ruch Salmeron
Joe Henson
Andrew Butler
Joel Best
Overkill’s The Walking Dead; Maya
Jonas Ekman
Goran Milic
Jonas Skoog
Henrik Eklundh
Peta; Best Friend; Lucky
Bernd Nalbach
Emanuel Fuchs
Sebastian Plank
Christian Leitner
Volkswagen; Born Confident; Bam
David Bryan
Chris Welsby
Fabian Frank
Chloe Dawe
Outstanding Created Environment in a Photoreal Feature
Ant-Man and the Wasp; Journey to the Quantum Realm
Florian Witzel
Harsh Mistri
Yuri Serizawa
Can Yuksel
Aquaman; Atlantis
Quentin Marmier
Aaron Barr
Jeffrey De Guzman
Ziad Shureih
Ready Player One; The Shining, Overlook Hotel
Mert Yamak
Stanley Wong
Joana Garrido
Daniel Gagiu
Solo: A Star Wars Story; Vandor Planet
Julian Foddy
Christoph Ammann
Clement Gerard
Pontus Albrecht
Outstanding Created Environment in an Animated Feature
Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch; Whoville
Loic Rastout
Ludovic Ramiere
Henri Deruer
Nicolas Brack
Incredibles 2; Parr House
Christopher M. Burrows
Philip Metschan
Michael Rutter
Joshua West
Ralph Breaks the Internet; Social Media District
Benjamin Min Huang
Jon Kim Krummel II
Gina Warr Lawes
Matthias Lechner
Spider-Man; Into the Spider-Verse; Graphic New York City
Terry Park
Bret St. Clair
Kimberly Liptrap
Dave Morehead
Outstanding Created Environment in an Episode, Commercial, or Real-Time Project
“Cycles”; The House
Michael R.W. Anderson
Jeff Gipson
Jose Luis Gomez Diaz
Edward Everett Robbins III
Lost in Space; “Pilot”; Impact Area
Philip Engström
Kenny Vähäkari
Jason Martin
Martin Bergquist
The Deuce; 42nd St
John Bair
Vance Miller
Jose Marin
Steve Sullivan
The Handmaid’s Tale; “June”; Fenway Park
Patrick Zentis
Kevin McGeagh
Leo Bovell
Zachary Dembinski
The Man in the High Castle; Reichsmarschall Ceremony
Casi Blume
Michael Eng
Ben McDougal
Sean Myers
Outstanding Virtual Cinematography in a Photoreal Project
Aquaman; Third Act Battle
Claus Pedersen
Mohammad Rastkar
Cedric Lo
Ryan McCoy
Echo; Time Displacement
Victor Perez
Tomas Tjernberg
Tomas Wall
Marcus Dineen
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom; Gyrosphere Escape
Pawl Fulker
Matt Perrin
Oscar Faura
David Vickery
Ready Player One; New York Race
Daniele Bigi
Edmund Kolloen
Mathieu Vig
Jean-Baptiste Noyau
Welcome to Marwen; Town of Marwen
C. Kim Miles
Matthew Ward
Ryan Beagan
Marc Chu
Outstanding Model in a Photoreal or Animated Project
Avengers: Infinity War; Nidavellir Forge Megastructure
Chad Roen
Ryan Rogers
Jeff Tetzlaff
Ming Pan
Incredibles 2; Underminer Vehicle
Neil Blevins
Philip Metschan
Kevin Singleton
Mortal Engines; London
Matthew Sandoval
James Ogle
Nick Keller
Sam Tack
Ready Player One; DeLorean DMC-12
Giuseppe Laterza
Kim Lindqvist
Mauro Giacomazzo
William Gallyot
Solo: A Star Wars Story; Millennium Falcon
Masa Narita
Steve Walton
David Meny
James Clyne
Outstanding Effects Simulations in a Photoreal Feature
Avengers: Infinity War; Titan
Gerardo Aguilera
Ashraf Ghoniem
Vasilis Pazionis
Hartwell Durfor
Avengers: Infinity War; Wakanda
Florian Witzel
Adam Lee
Miguel Perez Senent
Francisco Rodriguez
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald
Dominik Kirouac
Chloe Ostiguy
Christian Gaumond
Venom
Aharon Bourland
Jordan Walsh
Aleksandar Chalyovski
Federico Frassinelli
Outstanding Effects Simulations in an Animated Feature
Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch; Snow, Clouds and Smoke
Eric Carme
Nicolas Brice
Milo Riccarand
Incredibles 2
Paul Kanyuk
Tiffany Erickson Klohn
Vincent Serritella
Matthew Kiyoshi Wong
Ralph Breaks the Internet; Virus Infection & Destruction
Paul Carman
Henrik Fält
Christopher Hendryx
David Hutchins
Smallfoot
Henrik Karlsson
Theo Vandernoot
Martin Furness
Dmitriy Kolesnik
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Ian Farnsworth
Pav Grochola
Simon Corbaux
Brian D. Casper
Outstanding Effects Simulations in an Episode, Commercial, or Real-Time Project
Altered Carbon
Philipp Kratzer
Daniel Fernandez
Xavier Lestourneaud
Andrea Rosa
Lost in Space; Jupiter is Falling
Denys Shchukin
Heribert Raab
Michael Billette
Jaclyn Stauber
Lost in Space; The Get Away
Juri Bryan
Will Elsdale
Hugo Medda
Maxime Marline
The Man in the High Castle; Statue of Liberty Destruction
Saber Jlassi
Igor Zanic
Nick Chamberlain
Chris Parks
Outstanding Compositing in a Photoreal Feature
Avengers: Infinity War; Titan
Sabine Laimer
Tim Walker
Tobias Wiesner
Massimo Pasquetti
First Man
Joel Delle-Vergin
Peter Farkas
Miles Lauridsen
Francesco Dell’Anna
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
John Galloway
Enrik Pavdeja
David Nolan
Juan Espigares Enriquez
Welcome to Marwen
Woei Lee
Saul Galbiati
Max Besner
Thai-Son Doan
Outstanding Compositing in a Photoreal Episode
Altered Carbon
Jean-François Leroux
Reece Sanders
Stephen Bennett
Laraib Atta
Handmaids Tale; June
Winston Lee
Gwen Zhang
Xi Luo
Kevin Quatman
Lost in Space; Impact; Crash Site Rescue
David Wahlberg
Douglas Roshamn
Sofie Ljunggren
Fredrik Lönn
Silicon Valley; Artificial Emotional Intelligence; Fiona
Tim Carras
Michael Eng
Shiying Li
Bill Parker
Outstanding Compositing in a Photoreal Commercial
Apple; Unlock
Morten Vinther
Michael Gregory
Gustavo Bellon
Rodrigo Jimenez
Apple; Welcome Home
Michael Ralla
Steve Drew
Alejandro Villabon
Peter Timberlake
Genesis; G90 Facelift
Neil Alford
Jose Caballero
Joseph Dymond
Greg Spencer
John Lewis; The Boy and the Piano
Kamen Markov
Pratyush Paruchuri
Kalle Kohlstrom
Daniel Benjamin
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Student Project
Chocolate Man
David Bellenbaum
Aleksandra Todorovic
Jörg Schmidt
Martin Boué
Proxima-b
Denis Krez
Tina Vest
Elias Kremer
Lukas Löffler
Ratatoskr
Meike Müller
Lena-Carolin Lohfink
Anno Schachner
Lisa Schachner
Terra Nova
Thomas Battistetti
Mélanie Geley
Mickael Le Mezo
Guillaume Hoarau
