VES Awards Nominations: ‘Blade Runner 2049’ and ‘War for the Planet of the Apes’ Are Top Film Contenders
Announcing the nominees for their 16th annual VES Awards, the Visual Effects Society brought welcome news for Denis Villeneuve’s “Blade Runner 2049” and Matt Reeves’s “War for the Planet of the Apes,” each up for seven statuettes. “Despicable Me 3” is the most-nominated animated film of the year (5), while the most-honored title overall is “Game of Thrones” (11).
The 21-year-old organization consists of 3,400-plus members in 35 nations. Each year, it recognizes visual effects innovators in film, animation, television, commercials, and video games.
In 2017, Disney’s “The Jungle Book” remake claimed five VES trophies, more than any other feature (nominations leader “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” was shutout). It’s director-producer, Jon Favreau, will receive this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award; Weta Digital director and four-time Oscar winner Joe Letteri will accept the Georges Méliès Award, named for the late French illusionist and filmmaker. Letteri is also a nominee this year for his work on “War for the Planet of the Apes.”
Returning host Patton Oswalt will preside over the ceremony’s 24 categories at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Tuesday, February 13. Read the full list of nominees below.
Read More: VES Awards: ‘The Jungle Book’ and ‘Kubo and the Two Strings’ Win Top VFX Prizes
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature
“Blade Runner 2049” (John Nelson, Karen Murphy Mundell, Paul Lambert, Richard Hoover, and Gerd Nefzer)
“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” (Christopher Townsend, Damien Carr, Guy Williams, Jonathan Fawkner, and Dan Sudick)
“Kong: Skull Island” (Jeff White, Tom Peitzman, Stephen Rosenbaum, Scott Benza, and Michael Meinardus)
“Star Wars: The Last Jedi” (Ben Morris, Tim Keene, Eddie Pasquarello, Daniel Seddon, and Chris Corbould)
“War for the Planet of the Apes” (Joe Letteri, Ryan Stafford, Daniel Barrett, Dan Lemmon, and Joel Whist)
Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature
“Darkest Hour” (Stephane Naze, Warwick Hewitt, Guillaume Terrien, and Benjamin Magana)
“Downsizing” (James E. Price, Susan MacLeod, Lindy De Quattro, and Stéphane Nazé)
“Dunkirk” (Andrew Jackson, Mike Chambers, Andrew Lockley, Alison Wortman, and Scott Fisher)
“Mother!” (Dan Schrecker, Colleen Bachman, Ben Snow, Wayne Billheimer, and Peter Chesney)
“Only the Brave” (Eric Barba, Dione Wood, Matthew Lane, Georg Kaltenbrunner, and Michael Meinardus)
Outstanding Visual Effects in an Animated Feature
“Captain Underpants” (David Soren, Mark Swift, Mirielle Soria, and David Dulac)
“Cars 3” (Brian Fee, Kevin Reher, Michael Fong, and Jon Reisch)
“Coco” (Lee Unkrich, Darla K. Anderson, David Ryu, and Michael K. O’Brien)
“Despicable Me 3” (Pierre Coffin, Chris Meledandri, Kyle Balda, and Eric Guillon)
“The LEGO Batman Movie” (Rob Coleman, Amber Naismith, Grant Freckelton, and Damien Gray)
“The LEGO Ninjago Movie” (Gregory Jowle, Fiona Chilton, Miles Green, and Kim Taylor)
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Episode
“Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.; Orientation Part 1” (Mark Kolpack, Sabrina Arnold, David Rey, Kevin Yuille, and Gary D’Amico)
“Game of Thrones; Beyond the Wall” (Joe Bauer, Steve Kullback, Chris Baird, David Ramos, and Sam Conway)
“Legion; Chapter 1” (John Ross, Eddie Bonin, Sebastien Bergeron, Lionel Lim, and Paul Benjamin)
“Star Trek: Discovery; The Vulcan Hello” (Jason Michael Zimmerman, Aleksandra Kochoska, Ante Dekovic, and Mahmoud Rahnama)
“Stranger Things 2; The Gate” (Paul Graff, Christina Graff, Seth Hill, Joel Sevilla, and Caius the Man)
Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Episode
“Black Sails; XXIX” (Erik Henry, Terron Pratt, Yafei Wu, David Wahlberg, and Paul Dimmer)
“Fear The Walking Dead; Sleigh Ride” (Peter Crosman, Denise Gayle, Philip Nussbaumer, Martin Pelletier, and Frank Ludica)
“Mr. Robot; eps3.4_runtime-err0r.r00” (Ariel Altman, Lauren Montuori, John Miller, and Luciano DiGeronimo)
“Outlander; Eye of the Storm” (Richard Briscoe, Elicia Bessette, Aladino Debert, Filip Orrby, and Doug Hardy)
“Taboo; Pilot” (Henry Badgett, Tracy McCreary, Nic Birmingham, Simon Rowe, and Colin Gorry)
“Vikings; On the Eve” (Dominic Remane, Mike Borrett, Ovidiu Cinazan, Paul Wishart, and Paul Byrne)
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Real-Time Project
“Assassin’s Creed Origins” (Raphael Lacoste, Patrick Limoges, Jean-Sebastien Guay, and Ulrich Haar)
“Call of Duty: WWII” (Joe Salud, Atsushi Seo, Danny Chan, and Jeremy Kendall)
“Fortnite; A Hard Day’s Night” (Michael Clausen, Gavin Moran, Brian Brecht, and Andrew Harris)
“Sonaria” (Scot Stafford, Camille Cellucci, Kevin Dart, and Theresa Latzko)
“Uncharted: The Lost Legacy” (Shaun Escayg, Tate Mosesian, and Eben Cook)
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Commercial
“Beyond Good and Evil 2” (Leon Berelle, Maxime Luère, Dominique Boidin, and Remi Kozyra)
“Kia Niro; Hero’s Journey” (Robert Sethi, Anastasia von Rahl, Tom Graham, Chris Knight, and Dave Peterson)
“Mercedes Benz; King of the Jungle” (Simon French, Josh King, Alexia Paterson, and Leonardo Costa)
“Monster; Opportunity Roars” (Ruben Vandebroek, Clairellen Wallin, Kevin Ives, and Kyle Cody)
“Samsung; Do What You Can’t; Ostrich” (Diarmid Harrison-Murray, Tomek Zietkiewicz, Amir Bazazi, and Martino Madeddu)
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Special Venue Project
“Avatar: Flight of Passage” (Richard Baneham, Amy Jupiter, David Lester, and Thrain Shadbolt)
“Corona; Paraiso Secreto” (Adam Grint, Jarrad Vladich, Roberto Costas Fernández, Ed Thomas, and Felipe Linares)
“Guardians of the Galaxy; Mission: BREAKOUT!” (Jason Bayever, Amy Jupiter, Mike Bain, and Alexander Thomas)
“National Geographic Encounter: Ocean Odyssey” (Thilo Ewers, John Owens, Gioele Cresce, and Mariusz Wesierski)
“Nemo and Friends SeaRider” (Anthony Apodaca, Kathy Janus, Brandon Benepe, Nick Lucas, and Rick Rothschild)
“Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire” (Ben Snow, Judah Graham, Ian Bowie, Curtis Hickman, and David Layne)
Outstanding Animated Character in a Photoreal Feature
“Blade Runner 2049; Rachael” (Axel Akkeson, Stefano Carta, Wesley Chandler, and Ian Cooke-Grimes)
“Kong: Skull Island; Kong” (Jakub Pistecky, Chris Havreberg, Karin Cooper, and Kris Costa)
“War for the Planet of the Apes; Bad Ape” (Eteuati Tema, Aidan Martin, Florian Fernandez, and Mathias Larserud)
“War for the Planet of the Apes; Caesar” (Dennis Yoo, Ludovic Chailloleau, Douglas McHale, and Tim Forbes)
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