Visual Effects Society Awards: Gravity and Frozen Sweep

Adding one more lock to its inevitable Oscar win, Gravity dominated the Visual Effects Society’s (VES) awards, winning six of its seven nominations, including the main win of the night, Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects-Driven Motion Picture. Last night’s wins just add to the caché of awards that Gravity has collected in the last few weeks, including wins from the Art Directors Guild, the American Society of Cinematographers and the Directors Guild of America. Gravity director Alfonso Cuarón, upon accepting the awards said, “Finally, visual effects are merging into the whole process of the cinematic experience,” the filmmaker said in his acceptance speech. “It’s about the integration of lights, sets and even actors.”

Frozen continued its own icy path to Oscar with 4-for-4 wins with the VES, including the main award, Outstanding Animation in an Animated Feature Film. Frozen is on its way to a secure Animated Feature Oscar, securing its front-runner status with its wins last night.

On the television side, Game of Thrones won in three of its four competitions.

The complete list of winners:

FILM

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects-Driven Feature Motion Picture
Gravity
Tim Webber, Nikki Penny, Neil Corbould, Richard McBride

Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Feature Motion Picture
The Lone Ranger
Tim Alexander, Gary Brozenich, Shari Hanson, Kevin Martel

Outstanding Animated Character in a Live Action Feature Motion Picture
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug: Smaug
Eric Reynolds, David Clayton, Myriam Catrin, Guillaume Francois

Outstanding Created Environment in a Live Action Feature Motion Picture
Gravity: Exterior
Paul Beilby, Kyle Mcculloch, Stuart Penn, Ian Comley

Outstanding Virtual Cinematography in a Live Action Feature Motion Picture
Gravity
Tim Webber, Emmanuel Lubezki, Richard McBride, Dale Newton

Outstanding Models in a Feature Motion Picture
Gravity: ISS Exterior
Ben Lambert, Paul Beilby, Chris Lawrence, Andy Nicholson

Outstanding FX and Simulation Animation in a Live Action Feature Motion Picture
Gravity: Parachute and ISS Destruction
Alexis Wajsbrot, Sylvain Degrotte, Horacio Mendoza, Juan-Luis Sanchez

Outstanding Compositing in a Feature Motion Picture
Gravity
Mark Bakowski, Anthony Smith, Theodor Groeneboom, Adrian Metzelaar

ANIMATION

Outstanding Animation in an Animated Feature Motion Picture
Frozen
Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee, Peter Del Vecho, Lino Di Salvo

Outstanding Animated Character in an Animated Feature Motion Picture
Frozen: Bringing the Snow Queen to Life
Alexander Alvarado, Joy Johnson, Chad Stubblefield, Wayne Unten

Outstanding Created Environment in an Animated Feature Motion Picture
Frozen: Elsa’s Ice Palace
Virgilio John Aquino, Alessandro Jacomini, Lance Summers, David Womersley

Outstanding FX and Simulation Animation in an Animated Feature Motion Picture
Frozen: Elsa’s Blizzard
Eric W. Araujo, Marc Bryant, Dong Joo Byun. Tim Molinder

TELEVISION

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Broadcast Program
Game of Thrones: Valar Dohaeris
Steve Kullback, Joe Bauer, Jörn Großhans, Sven Martin

Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Broadcast Program
Banshee: Pilot
Armen Kevorkian, Mark Skowronski, Jeremy Jozwik, Ricardo Ramirez

Outstanding Created Environment in a Commercial or Broadcast Program
Game of Thrones: The Climb
Patrick Zentis, Mayur Patel, Nitin Singh, Tim Alexander

Outstanding Compositing in a Broadcast Program
Game of Thrones: The Climb
Kirk Brillon, Steve Gordon, Geoff Sayer, Winston Lee

MULTI-MEDIA/VIDEO GAMES/COMMERCIALS

Outstanding Real-Time Visuals in a Video Game
Call of Duty: Ghosts
Mark Rubin, Richard Kriegler, David Johnson, Alessandro Nardini

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Commercial
Call of Duty: Epic Night Out
Chris Knight, Daniel Thuresson. Nick Tayler. Dag Ivarsory

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Special Venue Project
Space Shuttle Atlantis
Daren Ulmer, John Gross, Cedar Connor, Christian Bloch

Outstanding Animated Character in a Commercial or Broadcast Program
PETA: 98% Human
Vince Baertsoen, Jimmy Gass, Dave Barosin

Outstanding Virtual Cinematography in a Live Action Commercial or Broadcast Program
The Crew
Dominique Boidin, Rémi Kozyra, Léon Bérelle, Maxime Luère

Outstanding FX and Simulation Animation in a Commercial or Broadcast Program
PETA: 98% Human
Vince Baertsoen, Jimmy Gass, Dave Barosin

Outstanding Compositing in a Commercial
Call of Duty: Epic Night Out
Chris Knight, Daniel Thuresson. Nick Tayler. Dag Ivarsory

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Student Project
Rugbybugs
Matthias Baeuerle, Carl Schroeter, Martin Lapp. Emanuel Fuchs

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Erik Anderson

Erik Anderson is the founder/owner and Editor-in-Chief of AwardsWatch and has always loved all things Oscar, having watched the Academy Awards since he was in single digits; making lists, rankings and predictions throughout the show. This led him down the path to obsessing about awards. Much later, he found himself in film school and the film forums of GoldDerby, and then migrated over to the former Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), before breaking off to create AwardsWatch in 2013.

He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.

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