VES Awards 2018: ‘War for the Planet of the Apes,’ ‘Coco’ Win Top VFX Prizes

“War for the Planet of the Apes” from Weta Digital could well be on its way to the elusive VFX Oscar after winning four VES trophies Tuesday night at the Beverly Hilton (including the top feature prize). Christopher Nolan’s “Dunkirk” won for supporting VFX, Pixar’s “Coco” earned four awards (including VFX for animation), and “Game of Thrones” took home five awards (including VFX for TV).

The “Apes” finale, directed by Matt Reeves, benefited from a Shakespearean performance from Andy Serkis as Caesar, with Weta working its wizardry in much harsher conditions for the performance-captured animation. Not surprisingly, “Apes” additionally won for Caesar, the effects simulations for the thrilling avalanche, and compositing. However, although both “Rise” and “Dawn” captured VES prizes, neither won the Oscar, so “War” is not a certainty in its race with “Blade Runner 2049.”

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Speaking of which, Denis Villeneuve’s “Blade Runner” sequel won two awards for the brutal LA environment and the model of LAPD Headquarters.

“Coco,” the animated Oscar frontrunner, also took home prizes for the skeleton Hector, the City of the Dead environment, and effects simulations.

The biggest loser was “The Last Jedi,” which marked the second year in a row that “Star Wars” was shut out after taking the VES award for “The Force Awakens.” But Luke Skywalker’s Mark Hamill made a surprise appearance to hand out the final award to “War.”

Oscar winner Jon Favreau (“The Jungle Book”) scored the VES Lifetime Achievement Award, and four-time Oscar winner Joe Letteri, Weta’s senior VFX supervisor, earned the Georges Méliès Award.

Winners of the 16th Annual VES Awards are as follows:

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature
“War for the Planet of the Apes”
Joe Letteri
Ryan Stafford
Daniel Barrett
Dan Lemmon
Joel Whist

Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature
“Dunkirk”
Andrew Jackson
Mike Chambers
Andrew Lockley
Alison Wortman
Scott Fisher

Outstanding Visual Effects in an Animated Feature
“Coco”
Lee Unkrich
Darla K. Anderson
David Ryu
Michael K. O’Brien

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Episode
“Game of Thrones; Beyond the Wall”
Joe Bauer
Steve Kullback
Chris Baird
David Ramos
Sam Conway

Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Episode
“Black Sails; XXIX”
Erik Henry
Terron Pratt
Yafei Wu
David Wahlberg
Paul Dimmer

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Real-Time Project
“Assassin’s Creed Origins”
Raphael Lacoste
Patrick Limoges
Jean-Sebastien Guay
Ulrich Haar

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Commercial
“Samsung; Do What You Can’t; Ostrich”
Diarmid Harrison-Murray
Tomek Zietkiewicz
Amir Bazazi
Martino Madeddu

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Special Venue Project
“Avatar: Flight of Passage”
Richard Baneham
Amy Jupiter
David Lester
Thrain Shadbolt

Outstanding Animated Character in a Photoreal Feature
“War for the Planet of the Apes; Caesar”
Dennis Yoo
Ludovic Chailloleau
Douglas McHale
Tim Forbes

Outstanding Animated Character in an Animated Feature
“Coco”; Hèctor
Emron Grover
Jonathan Hoffman
Michael Honsel
Guilherme Sauerbronn Jacinto

Outstanding Animated Character in an Episode or Real-Time Project
“Game of Thrones”; “The Spoils of War”; Drogon Loot Train Attack
Murray Stevenson
Jason Snyman
Jenn Taylor
Florian Friedmann

Outstanding Animated Character in a Commercial
Samsung; “Do What You Can’t”; Ostrich
David Bryan
Maximilian Mallmann
Tim Van Hussen
Brendan Fagan

Outstanding Created Environment in a Photoreal Feature
“Blade Runner 2049”; Los Angeles
Chris McLaughlin
Rhys Salcombe
Seungjin Woo
Francesco Dell’Anna

Outstanding Created Environment in an Animated Feature
“Coco”; City of the Dead
Michael Frederickson
Jamie Hecker
Jonathan Pytko
Dave Strick

Outstanding Created Environment in an Episode, Commercial, or Real-Time Project
“Game of Thrones:”; Beyond the Wall; Frozen Lake
Daniel Villalba
Antonio Lado
José Luis Barreiro
Isaac de la Pompa

Outstanding Virtual Cinematography in a Photoreal Project
“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2”; Groot Dance/Opening Fight
James Baker
Steven Lo
Alvise Avati
Robert Stipp

Outstanding Model in a Photoreal or Animated Project
“Blade Runner 2049”; LAPD Headquarters
Alex Funke
Steven Saunders
Joaquin Loyzaga
Chris Menges

Outstanding Effects Simulations in a Photoreal Feature
“War for the Planet of the Apes”
David Caeiro Cebrián
Johnathan Nixon
Chet Leavai
Gary Boyle

Outstanding Effects Simulations in an Animated Feature
“Coco”
Kristopher Campbell
Stephen Gustafson
Dave Hale
Keith Klohn

Outstanding Effects Simulations in an Episode, Commercial, or Real-Time Project
“Game of Thrones”; The Dragon and the Wolf; Wall Destruction
Thomas Hullin
Dominik Kirouac
Sylvain Nouveau
Nathan Arbuckle

Outstanding Compositing in a Photoreal Feature
“War for the Planet of the Apes”
Christoph Salzmann
Robin Hollander
Ben Warner
Beck Veitch

Outstanding Compositing in a Photoreal Episode
“Game of Thrones”; The Spoils of War; Loot Train Attack
Dom Hellier
Thijs Noij
Edwin Holdsworth
Giacomo Matteucci

Outstanding Compositing in a Photoreal Commercial
Samsung; “Do What You Can’t”; Ostrich
Michael Gregory
Andrew Roberts
Gustavo Bellon
Rashabh Ramesh Butani

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Student Project
“Hybrids”
Florian Brauch
Romain Thirion
Matthieu Pujol
Kim Tailhades

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