‘Dune, ‘Encanto’ lead Visual Effects Society (VES) winners

The Visual Effects Society (VES) has announced the winners for the 20th Annual VES Awards, where Dune and Encanto topped the winners list with four awards apiece, including top prizes of the night, Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature (Dune) and Outstanding Visual Effects in an Animated Feature (Encanto). The films had led the nominations with six apiece. Dune is nominated for the Visual Effects Oscar where it’s the frontrunner, and Encanto is the Animated Feature Oscar frontrunner with three nominations.

In television, The Witcher, Foundation and Loki were single category winners in top categories.

The yearly celebration that recognizes outstanding visual effects artistry and innovation in film, animation, television, commercials and video games and the VFX supervisors, VFX producers and hands-on artists who bring visual effects to life. 

Nominees in 25 categories were selected by VES members at 27 virtual nomination events conducted across the globe. All active VES members vote on the winners.

Academy Award-winning director Guillermo del Toro (The Shape of Water) was honored with the VES Award for Creative Excellence and Lucasfilm EVP/General Manager Lynwen Brennan was the recipient of the VES Lifetime Achievement Award.

Here is the complete list of winners.

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature

DUNE – WINNER
Paul Lambert
Brice Parker
Tristan Myles
Brian Connor
Gerd Nefzer

GODZILLA VS. KONG
John “D.J.” Des Jardin
Tamara Kent
Bryan Hirota
Kevin Smith
Mike Meinardus

THE MATRIX RESURRECTIONS
Dan Glass
Nina Fallon
Tom Debenham
Huw J Evans
James Schwalm

NO TIME TO DIE
Charlie Noble
Mara Bryan
Joel Green
Jonathan Fawkner
Chris Courbold

SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS
Christopher Townsend
Damien Carr
Joe Farrell
Sean Walker
Dan Oliver

SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME
Kelly Port
Julia Neighly
Chris Waegner
Scott Edelstein
Dan Sudick

Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature

CANDYMAN
Andrew Zink
James McQuaide
Josh Simmonds
Drew Dir
Ryan Evans

LAST NIGHT IN SOHO – WINNER
Tom Proctor
Gavin Gregory
Julian Gnass
Fabricio Baessa

NIGHTMARE ALLEY
Dennis Berardi
Ryan MacDuff
Mark Hammond
David Roby
Geoff Hill

THE LAST DUEL
Gary Brozenich
Helen Judd
Jessica Norman
Yann Blondel
Stefano Pepin

THE TRAGEDY OF MACBETH
Alex Lemke
Michael Huber
Michael Ralla
Benedikt Laubenthal

Outstanding Visual Effects in an Animated Feature

ENCANTO – WINNER
Scott Kersavage
Bradford Simonsen
Thaddeus P. Miller
Ian Gooding

LUCA
Enrico Casarosa
Andrea Warren
David Ryu
Jon Reisch

RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON
Kyle Odermatt
Osnat Shurer
Kelsey Hurley
Paul Felix

SING 2
Patrick Delage
Nathalie Vancauwenberghe
Christophe Lourdelet
Boris Jacq

THE MITCHELLS VS. THE MACHINES
Alan Hawkins
Carey A. Smith
Mike Lasker
Nicola Lavender

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Episode

FOUNDATION; The Emperor’s Peace – WINNER
Chris MacLean
Addie Manis
Mike Enriquez
Chris Keller
Paul Byrne

LOKI; Journey Into Mystery
Dan DeLeeuw
Allison Paul
Sandra Balej
David Seager

LOST IN SPACE; Trust
Jabbar Raisani
Terron Pratt
Juri Stanossek
Niklas Jacobson
Paul Benjamin

THE NEVERS; Ignition
Johnny Han
Jack Geist
Justin Mitchell
Emanuel Fuchs
Michael Dawson

THE STAND
Jake Braver
Phillip Hoffman
Laurent Hugueniot
Vincent Papaix

Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Episode

9-1-1 LONE STAR; Hold the Line
Brigitte Bourque
Tyler Deck
Jason Gottlieb
Josephine Noh
Elia Popov

SEE; Rock-A-Bye – WINNER
Chris Wright
Parker Chehak
Javier Roca
Tristan Zerafa
Tony Kenny

SQUID GAME; VIPS
Jaihoon Jung
Hyejin Kim
Hyungrok Kim
Sungman Jun

SWEET TOOTH; Sorry About All the Dead People
Rob Price
Danica Tsang
Matt Bramante
Jayme Vandusen

THE HANDMAID’S TALE; Chicago
Brendan Taylor
Stephen Lebed
Kayla Cabral
Brannek Gaudet

THE MYSTERIOUS BENEDICT SOCIETY; A Bunch of Smart Orphans
Philippe Thibault
Marie-Pierre Boucher
Alexis Belanger
Gabriel Beauvais

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Real-Time Project

BATTLEFIELD 2042
Anders Egleus
Jeremy Chubb
Gray Horsfield
Sean Ellis

CALL OF DUTY: VANGUARD – WINNER
Sandy Lin-Chiang
Joseph Knox
Gareth Richards
Shane Daley

FORZA HORIZON 5
Don Arceta
Valentyn Minytskyi
Conar Cross
George Ilenei

RATCHET & CLANK: RIFT APART
Grant Hollis
Yancy Young
Steven Russell
Sean Applegate

RETURNAL; Playstation 5
Harry Krueger
Tony Salkovuo
Risto Jankkila
Sharman Jagadeesan

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Commercial

Far Cry 6; Chicharrón Run
Niklas Ström
Kajsa Kurtén
Nicklas Andersson
Adrian Tsang

Lego; Rebuild the World
Fabian Frank
Anandi Peiris
Kiril Mirkov
Platon Filimonov

Lexus; Parking Spot
Alex Thomas
Andrew McLintock
JD Yepes
Clement Renaudin

Sheba; Hope Reef – WINNER
Grant Walker
Sophie Harrison
Hernan Llano
Michael Baker

Zillow; The Journey
Ben Kwok
Ashley Goodwin
Oliver Varteressian
Yebin Ahn
Tom Bussell

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Special Venue Project

Hôtel de la Marine
Franck Lambertz
Hugues Allart
Olivier Jarry
Pierre Jury

JURASSIC WORLD ADVENTURE – WINNER
Eugénie von Tunzelmann
Maximilian McNair MacEwan
Stephen Goalby
Brad Silby

Outstanding Animated Character in a Photoreal Feature

FINCH; Jeff – WINNER
Harinarayan Rajeev
Matthias Schoenegger
Simon Allen
Paul Nelson

FLORA & ULYSSES; Ulysses
Pierre-Loïc Hamon
Sachin Tyagi
Nandini Nambiar
Loïc Mireault

JUNGLE CRUISE; Aguirre
Alexander Lee
Claus Pedersen
Rasely Ma
Gary Wu

VENOM: LET THERE BE CARNAGE; Carnage
Richard Spriggs
Ricardo Silva
Lucas Cuenca
Federico Frassinelli

Outstanding Animated Character in an Animated Feature

ENCANTO; Mirabel Madrigal – WINNER
Kelly McClanahan
Sergi Caballer
Mary Twohig
Jose Luis “Weecho” Velasquez

LUCA; Luca
Gwendelyn Enderoglu
Laurie Nguyen Kim
Tanja Krampfert
Maria Lee

RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON; Tuk Tuk
Brian Menz
Punn Wiantrakoon
Erik Hansen
Vicky YuTzu Lin

THE MITCHELLS VS. THE MACHINES; Katie Mitchell
Lindsey Olivares
Kurt Judson
Soh-I Jeong
Rohini Kumar

Outstanding Animated Character in an Episode or Real-Time Project

LISEY’S STORY; The Long Boy
Mohsen Mousavi
Salauddin “Sallu” Kazi
Mattias Brunosson
Pablovsky Ramos-Nieves

LOVE, DEATH & ROBOTS; SNOW IN THE DESERT; Hirald
Maxime Luere
Zoé Pelegrin-Bomel
Laura Guerreiro
Florent Duport

THE WITCHER; Leshy Eskel; Tree Branch Creature
Hannes Faupel
Stéphane Paccolat
Ivan Cadena Ayala
Laurent Fortin

THE WITCHER; Nivellen the Cursed Man – WINNER
Marko Chulev
Rasely Ma
Mike Beaulieu
Robin Witzsche

Y: THE LAST MAN; Ampersand
Mike Beaulieu
Michael Dharney
Peter Pi
Aidana Sakhvaliyeva

Outstanding Animated Character in a Commercial

Avanti West Coast; Feel Good Travel; Terri
Tom Raynor
Chloe Dawe
Suvi Jokiniemi
Alex Doyle

FAR CRY 6; Chicharrón
Elin Laven
Gustav Ahren
Anton Stattin
Simon Decombel

France Télévision; Sumo
Geoffroy Barbet-Massin
Vincent Venchiarutti
Antoine Antin
Mathias Lachal

ING; Do Your Thing; Roary the Lion
Chris Welsby
Clementine Supiot
Kiril Mirkov
Arnau Gilabert

Smart Energy; Einstein Knows Best; Einstein – WINNER
Alex Hammond
Harsh Borah
Clare Williams
Andreas Graichen

Outstanding Created Environment in a Photoreal Feature

DUNE; Arrakeen City
Rhys Salcombe
Seungjin Woo
Jeremie Touzery
Marc Austin

JUNGLE CRUISE; Waterfall Canyon
Mark McNicholl
Frédéric Valleur
Hamish Beachman
Mark Wainwright

SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME; The Mirror Dimension – WINNER
Eric Le Dieu de Ville
Thomas Dotheij
Ryan Olliffe
Claire Le Teuff

THE SUICIDE SQUAD; Valle Del Marre
Nick Cattell
Jason Desjarlais
Matt Fitzgerald
Jerome Moo

Outstanding Created Environment in an Animated Feature

ENCANTO; Antonio’s Room – WINNER
Camille Andre
Andrew Finley
Chris Patrick O’Connell
Amol Sathe

LUCA; Portorosso Piazza
Airton Dittz, Jr.
Jack Hattori
Michael Rutter
Joshua West

RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON; Talon
Mingjue Helen Chen
Chaiwon Kim
Virgilio John Aquino
Diana Jiang LeVangie

SING 2; Crystal Theater
Ludovic Ramière
Théo Rivoalen
Henri Deruer
Frédéric Mainil

VIVO; Mambo Cabana
Bertrand Bry-Marfaing
Josef “Dylan” Swift
Geeta Basantani
Jeremy Kim

Outstanding Created Environment in an Episode, Commercial, or Real-Time Project

FOUNDATION; Trantor Cityscape
Samuel Simanjuntak
Melaina Mace
Benjamin Ruiz
Alessandro Vastalegna

HAWKEYE; Echoes; Manhattan Bridge
Nicholas Hodgson
David Abbott
Nick Cattell
Jin Choi

HAWKEYE; Season 1, Episode 6; Rockefeller Center
John O’Connell
Tiffany Yung
Orion Terry
Ho Kyung Ahn

SHEBA; Hope Reef – WINNER
Henrique Campanha
Baptiste Roy
Luca Veronese
Timothee Maron

Outstanding Virtual Cinematography in a CG Project

ENCANTO; We Don’t Talk about Bruno – WINNER
Nathan Detroit Warner
Dorian Bustamante
Tyler Kupferer
Michael Woodside

GODZILLA VS. KONG; Ocean Battle
Shawn Hull
Robert Wiese
Steven Tom
Eric Petey

LOKI; LAMENTIS; Race to the Ark
Jesse Lewis-Evans
Luke Avery
Autumn Durald Arkapaw
Scott Inkster

RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON
Rob Dressel
Adolph Lusinsky
Paul Felix

SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS
Sebastian Trujillo
Louis-Daniel Poulin
Nathan Abbot
Shannon Justison

Outstanding Model in a Photoreal or Animated Project

BLACK WIDOW; The Red Room
Tristan John Connors
Bo Kwon
James Stuart
Ryan Duhaime

DUNE; Royal Ornithopter – WINNER
Marc Austin
Anna Yamazoe
Michael Chang
Rachael Dunk

ENCANTO; Casita Madrigal
Jonathan Lin
Chris Patrick O’Connell
Christoffer Pedersen
Alberto Abril

THE SUICIDE SQUAD; Jotunheim
Simon Dean Morley
Cedric Enriquez Canlas
Layne Howe
Alberto R. S. Hernandez

Outstanding Effects Simulations in a Photoreal Feature

DUNE; Dunes of Arrakis – WINNER
Gero Grimm
Ivan Larinin
Hideki Okano
Zuny An

GODZILLA VS. KONG; Ocean Water & Battle Destruction
Jonathan Freisler
Nahuel Alberto Letizia
Eloi Andaluz Fullà
Saysana Rintharamy

SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS; Water, Bubbles & Magic
Simone Riginelli
Claude Schitter
Teck Chee Koi
Arthur Graff

THE SUICIDE SQUAD; Corto Maltese City Destruction
David R. Davies
Rogier Fransen
Sandy Sutherland
Brandon James Fleet

Outstanding Effects Simulations in an Animated Feature

ENCANTO
Francisco Rodriguez
Christopher Hendryx
Brent Burley
David Hutchins

LUCA
Amit Baadkar
Greg Gladstone
Emron Grover
Tim Speltz

RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON – WINNER
Le Joyce Tong
Henrik Fält
Rattanin Sirinaruemarn
Jacob Rice

SING 2
Richard Adenot
Guillaume Gay
Frédéric Valz-Gris
Antoine Brémont

Outstanding Effects Simulations in an Episode, Commercial, or Real-Time Project

FOUNDATION; Collapse of the Galactic Empire
Giovanni Casadei
Mikel Zuloaga
Steven Moor
Louis Manjarres

LOKI; Journey Into Mystery; Alioth Cloud
George Kuruvilla
Menno Dijkstra
Matthew Hanger
Jiyong Shin

THE NEVERS
David Stopford
Michele Stocco
Mike Hsu
Justin Mitchell

WANDAVISION; Vision’s Destruction
Sylvain Nouveau
Hakim Harrouche
Omar Meradi
Laurent Meste

Outstanding Compositing & Lighting In a Feature

BLACK WIDOW; Red Room Crashing Back to Earth
Michael Melchiorre
Simon Twine
Daniel Harkness
Tim Crowson

DUNE; Attack on Arrakeen – WINNER
Gregory Haas
Francesco Dell’Anna
Abhishek Chaturvedi
Cleve Zhu

DUNE; Hologram & Hunter Seeker
Patrick Heinen
Jacob Maymudes
Tj Burke
James Jooyoung Lee

SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS; Macau City
Jeremie Maheu
Mathieu Dupuis
Karthic Ramesh
Jiri Kilevnik

SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME; Liberty Island Battle & Christmas Swing Finale
Zac Campbell
Frida Nerdal
Louis Corr
Kelvin Yee

Outstanding Compositing & Lighting in an Episode

LOKI; LAMENTIS; Shuroo City Destruction – WINNER
Paul Chapman
Tom Truscott
Biagio Figliuzzi
Attila Szalma
 
THE FALCON AND THE WINTER SOLDIER; New World Order
Nathan Abbot
Beck Veitch
Markus Reithoffer
James Aldous

WANDAVISION; Goodbye, Vision
David Zaretti
Bimpe Alliu
Michael Duong
Mark Pascoe

WANDAVISION; The Hex
Charles Labbé
Xavier Fourmond
Reuben Barkataki
Vanessa Delarosbil

Outstanding Compositing & Lighting in a Commercial

Toyota – Never Stop
Michael Ralla
Alejandro Villabon
Alexander Osvaldsson
Paul Krist

Toyota – Upstream
JD Yepes
Paul Krist
Carlos Adarraga Gomez
Minsang Lee

Verizon; The Reset – WINNER
David Piombino
Rajesh Kaushik
Manideep Sanisetty
Tim Crean

Zillow; The Journey
Ben Kwok
Yebin Ahn
Robert Bruce
Tuna Unalan

Outstanding Special (Practical) Effects in a Photoreal Project

ETERNALS
Neil Corbould
Keith Corbould
Ray Ferguson
Chris Motjuoadi

JUNGLE CRUISE – WINNER
JD Schwalm
Nick Rand
Robert Spurlock
Nick Byrd

THE MATRIX RESURRECTIONS
JD Schwalm
Brendon O’Dell
Michael Kay
Pau Costa Moeller

THE TOMORROW WAR
JD Schwalm
Wayne Rowe
Jim Schwalm
Haukur Karlsson

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Student Project

GREEN – WINNER
Camille Poiriez
Arielle Cohen
Eloise Thibaut
Louis Florean

LE SOUFFLEUR DE RÊVES
Lea Desrozier
Paul Denis
Gregoire Hoarau
Lisa Ripper

NEOSHIN EPISODE 01: COLD BLOOD
Sebastian Selg
Ramon Schauer
Jiayan Chen
Bea Hoeller

RELATIVITY
Hugo Astesano
Loïc Ciaux
Guillaume Hulot
Loïc Remy