January 8, 2008

Visual Effects Society Announces Nominees for VES Awards

Los Angeles - The Visual Effects Society (VES) has announced the nominees for the 6th Annual VES Awards ceremony recognizing outstanding visual effects in more than a dozen categories of film, television, commercials, and video games. Nominees were chosen Saturday, January 5, 2008 by panels of VES members who viewed submissions at the FotoKem screening facilities in Burbank.  
“We received hundreds of submissions from around the world and we are proud to present nominees that push the boundaries of how visual effects can enhance the storytelling process,” says Jeff Okun, VES Chair. 
 
The nominees for the 6th Annual VES Awards are the following:
 

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects Driven Motion Picture

I Am Legend
Janek Sirrs, Mike Chambers, Jim Berney, Crys Forsyth-Smith

Transformers
Scott Farar, Shari Hanson, Russel Earl, Scott Benza

The Golden Compass
Michael Fink, Susan MacLeod, Bill Westenhofer, Ben Morris

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
John Knoll, Jill Brooks, Hal Hickel, Charlie Gibson

Spider-Man 3
Scott Stokdyk, Terry Clotiaux, Peter Nofz, Spencer Cook
 
 
Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Motion Picture

Ratatouille
Michael Fong, Apurva Shah, Christine Waggoner, Michael Fu

Zodiac
Eric Barba, Craig Barron, Janelle Croshaw, Chris Evans

We Own the Night
Kelly Port, Julian Levi, Brad Parker, Olivier Sarda

The Kite Runner
David Ebner, Les Jones, Todd Perry, Leif Einarsson

Blades of Glory
Mark Breakspear, Randy Starr, Shauna Bryan, Kody Sabourin
 

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Broadcast Miniseries, Movie or Special

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA  - Razor
Mike Gibson, Gary Hutzel, Sean Jackson, Pierre Drolet

RACE TO MARS - Getting to Mars
Manon Barriault, Jacques Levesque, Olivier Goulet, Benoit Girard

DOCTOR WHO CHRISTMAS SPECIAL 2007 - Voyage of the Damned
David Houghton, Will Cohen

BEN 10: RACE AGAINST TIME - VFX Compilation
Dina Benadon, Evan Jacobs, Brent Young, Chris Christman

TIN MAN - Night One
Lee Wilson, Lisa Sepp-Wilson, Sebastien Bergeron

 
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Broadcast Series
 
HEROES - Episode 208 - “Four Months Ago”
Eric Grenaudier, Mark Spatny, Diego Galtieri, Mike Enriquez
 
DOCTOR WHO  “THE LAST OF THE TIME LORDS” - Series 3, Episode 13
David Houghton, Will Cohen
 
STARGATE ATLANTIS - Adrift
Mark Savela, Shannon Gurney, Erica Henderson, Jamie Yukio Kawano

FIGHT FOR LIFE - Episode 4
Philip Dobree, Nicola Instone, Marco Iozzi, Matt Chandler

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA  - Episode 316 - “Maelstrom”
Mike Gibson, Gary Hutzel, Michael J. Davidson, Kyle Toucher

 
Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Broadcast Program

GREY'S ANATOMY - WALK ON WATER - Ferryboat Crash
Sam Nicholson, Scott Ramsey, Valeri Pfahning, Mike Enriquez

MARIE-ANTOINETTE - Miniseries
Richard Martin, Pierre Raymond, Sebastien Rioux, Nadine Homier
 
DRIVE EPISODE 101 “THE STARTING LINE” - Driving Sequence
Raoul Yorke Bolognini, Loni Peristere, Steve Meyer, Chris Jones
 
ROME 2 - Episode 6 - “Philippi”
James Madigan, Barrie Hemsley, Duncan Kinnard, Gary Broznich
 
PUSHING DAISIES - Pilot Episode
Craig Weiss, Toni Pace Carstensen, Brian Vogt, Jimmy Berndt
 
 
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Commercial
 
BACARDI - Bacardi Sun
Vittorio Giannini, Franck Lambertz, Robin Carlisle, Nico Cotta

ZUNE - The Ballad of Tina Pink
Luisa Murray, Laurent Ledru, Katrina Salicrup, Miles Essmiller

BMW COMMERCIAL - Hydrogen
Simon Maddison, Dave Kelly, Mike Bain, Sam Cole

BMW - Road
Chris Fieldhouse, Jay Barton, Ron Herbst, Dave Stern

SMIRNOFF - Sea
William Bartlett, Scott Griffin, Dan Seddon, David Mellor

 
Best Single Visual Effect of the Year

TRANSFORMERS - Desert Highway Sequence
Scott Farrar, Shari Hanson, Shawn Kelly, Michael Jamieson

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD'S END  - Jack and Davy Duel
John Knoll, Jill Brooks, Francois Lambert, Philippe Rebours

300 - Crazy Horse Sequence
Chris Watts, Gayle Busby, Kirsty Millar

SURF’S UP - Riding the Visual Effects Tube
Rob Bredow, Lydia Bottegoni, Daniel Kramer, Matt Hausman

SPIDER-MAN 3 - The Birth of Sandman
Scott Stokdyk, Terry Clotiaux, Spencer Cook, Doug Bloom

 
Outstanding Real Time Visuals in a Video Game

NEED FOR SPEED PRO STREET - ProStreet
Michael Mann, Wilson Tang, Eduardo Agostini, Carl Jarrett

CRYSIS - Realtime Visuals
Michael Endres, Michael Khaimzon

TEAM FORTRESS 2
Jason Mitchell, Moby Franke, Chris Green, Dhabih Eng

HALO 3 - Halo 3 Footage
Marcus Lehto, Jonty Barnes, Stephen Scott, CJ Cowan

MASS EFFECT - Game Sequence
Derek Watts, Casey Hudson

 
Outstanding Pre-Rendered Visuals in a Video Game
 
COMMAND AND CONQUER 3 TIBERIUM WARS - GDI, NOD & Scrin Scenes
Richard Taylor, Matt Britton, Ben Hopkins, Tang Katai

HELLGATE: LONDON
Tim Miller, Jerome Denjean, Al Shier

WORLD OF WARCRAFT: THE BURNING CRUSADE - Cinematic Intro
Jeff Chamberlain, Scott Abeyta

THE WITCHER CINEMATIC - Intro
Tomek Baginski, Marcin Kobylecki, Grzegorz Kukus, Maciek Jackiewicz
 
 
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Special Venue Project

DINOSAURS-GIANTS OF PATAGONIA - 38_011
Mario Couturier, Vincent Roberge, Richard Bergeron, Martin L'Heureux

MONSTERS, INC. LAUGH FLOOR - Show Edit
Roger Gould, Liz Gazzano, Joe Garlington, Dan Colajacomo

SEA MONSTERS
Sean Phillips, Jack Geist, Robin Aristorenas, Mark Dubeau
 
 
Outstanding Animated Character in a Live Action Motion Picture

SPIDER-MAN 3 - Sandman
Chris Yang, Bernd Anger, Dominick Cecere, Remington Scott
 
THE WATER HORSE: LEGEND OF THE DEEP - Crusoe
Richard Frances-Moore, Martin Hill, Marco Revelant, Daniel Barrett
 
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD’S END - Davy Jones
Hal Hickel, Marc Chu, Jakub Pistecky, Maia Kayser
 
ENCHANTED - Pip
Tom Gibbons, James W. Brown, David Richard Nelson, John Koester

TRANSFORMERS - Optimus Prime
Rick O'Connor , Doug Sutton, Keiji Yamaguchi, Jeff White

I AM LEGEND - The Infected Leader
David Schaub, Marco Marenghi, Josh Beveridge

 
Outstanding Animated Character in an Animated Motion Picture

SURF'S UP - Chicken Joe
David Schaub, Moon Jun Kang, Brian Casper, Andreas Procopiou

SHREK THE THIRD - King Harold
John Cleese, Guillaume Aretos, Tim Cheung, Sean Mahoney

BEOWULF - Beowulf
Keith Smith, Scott Holmes, Pericles Michielin, Kenn McDonald

SURF'S UP - Cody
David Schaub, Pete Nash, James Crossley, Shia LaBeouf

RATATOUILLE - Colette
Janeane Garofalo, Jaime Landes, Sonoko Konishi , Paul Aichele
 
 
Outstanding Animated Character in a Live Action Broadcast Program or Commercial
 
DOCTOR WHO 'THE LAST OF THE TIME LORDS' - Series 3 Episode 13
Nicolas Hernandez, Adam Burnett, Neil Roche
 
CHEMICAL BROTHERS - SALMON DANCE - Fatlip shots
Nicklas Andersson, Mike Mellor, Sylvain Marc, Florent DeLa Taille
 
PRIMEVAL - Episode 6 - Predator Animation
Mathieu Vig, Antoine Birot, Simon Thistlethwaite, Kevin O'Sullivan
 
AMP - Paper
Fred Raimondi, Chris De Santis, Angie Jones, Narbeh Mardirossian
 
BEN 10: RACE AGAINST TIME - Grey Matter Sequence
Brent Young, Michael Smith
 
PROPEL - Stress Monster
Mitch Drain, Sean Faden, Matt Hackett, Denis Gauthier
 
Outstanding Effects in an Animated Motion Picture

BEOWULF - Dragon Chase
Theo Vandernoot, Vincent Serritella, Rob Engle, Pericles Michielin

SHREK THE THIRD - Effects
Matt Baer, Greg Hart, Krzysztof Rost, Anthony Field

RATATOUILLE - Food
Jon Reisch, Jason Johnston, Eric Froemling, Tolga Goktekin
 
SURF’S UP - Riding Wave - CG Style
Rob Bredow, Daniel Kramer, Matt Hausman, Danny Dimian
 
RATATOUILLE - Rapids
Darwyn Peachey, Chen Shen
 
 
Outstanding Created Environment in a Live Action Motion Picture

SWEENEY TODD - The Old Bailey
Raf Morant, Julian Gnass, Nakia McGlynn, Christine Wong

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD'S END  - The Maelstrom
Frank Losasso Petterson , Paul Sharpe , Joakim Arnesson , David Meny

ZODIAC - Washington and Cherry
Wei Zheng, Greg Szafranski, Janelle Croshaw, Karl Denham

HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX - The Hall of Prophecy
David Vickery, Philippe LePrince, Trina Roy, Jolene McCaffrey

RUSH HOUR 3
Barry Williams, Robert Weaver , Jay Cooper , Masahiko Tani

I AM LEGEND - Times Square Hunt
Daniel Eaton, Blaine Kennison, Ron Gress, Daveed Shwartz
 
 
Outstanding Created Environment in a Live Action Broadcast Program or
Commercial
 
BURY MY HEART AT WOUNDED KNEE - 002_05
Phi Tran, Matthew Lee, Martin Hilke, Andrew Roberts

TIN MAN - Night One
Les Quinn, Ken Less, Andrew Domachowski, Jonah West

UGLY BETTY - “A League of their Own”
Chris Martin, Michael Cook, Cedric Tomacruz

SMALLVILLE - Metropolis City
Kaz Yoshida, Jack Matsumoto, Andrea Shear, Eli Jarra

SUBARU - “Peel Out”
Graham Fyffe, Chris Nichols, Chris Bankoff, Daniel Buck

 
Outstanding Models or Miniatures in a Motion Picture

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD'S END  - Practical and Digital Ships
Ken Bailey, Bruce Holcomb, Carl Miller , Geoff Heron

LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD - Freeway Sequence - F35 Miniature and Effects
Ian Hunter, Scott Schneider, Scott Beverly, John Cazin

TRANSFORMERS
Dave Fogler , Ron Woodall , Alex Jaeger, Brian Gernand

HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX - Hogwarts School
Jose Granell, Nigel Stone

SPIDER-MAN 3 - Building / Crane Destruction Miniature and Effects
Ian Hunter, Scott Beverly, Forest Fischer, Raymond Moore
 
 
Outstanding Compositing in a Motion Picture

TRANSFORMERS
Pat Tubach , Beth D'Amato , Todd Vaziri , Mike Conte
 
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD'S END - Death of Beckett
Lou Pecora, Joel Behrens, Ted Andre, Kevin Lingenfelser

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD'S END
Eddie Pasquarello , Katrin  Klaiber, Jen Howard, Shawn Hillier

I AM LEGEND - Seaport Evacuation
Darren Lurie, John Sasaki, Rita Kunzler, Fish Essenfeld

THE WATER HORSE: LEGEND OF THE DEEP - Crusoe
Areito Echevarria, Gareth Dinneen, Norman Cates, Caterina Schiffers

HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX - Hall of Prophecy and Comp Shots
Jolene McCaffrey, Jelena Stojanovic, Victor Wade, Adam Pashke

Outstanding Compositing in a Broadcast Program or Commercial
 
SMALLVILLE, SEASON 6  - Episode 11, Justice
Rob Reinhart, Jack Matsumoto, Takashi Takeoka, Christina Spring

TIN MAN - Night One
Todd Liddiard, Philippe Thibault, Lionel Lim, Annabelle Kent

NIKE - Leave Nothing
James Allen, Rob Trent

SMALLVILLE - Bizarro Flood
David Alexander, Kaz Yoshida, Geeta Basantani, Tony White

LEVIS - Change
Tim Davies, Jason Schugardt, Yuichiro Yamashito
 
 
Outstanding Special Effects in a Motion Picture
 
HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX
John Richardson, Stephen Hamilton, Richard Farns, Stephen Hutchinson
 
 
Outstanding Special Effects in a Broadcast Program or Commercial

ACTIVELY SAFE - Lexus Hydrant
Dave Peterson, Anthony De La Cruz


The 6th Annual VES Awards will take place on Feb. 10, 2008 at the Kodak Theatre Grand Ballroom in Hollywood.
Last year’s event attracted more than 800 celebrities, visual effects and animation artists, dozens of nominees, and members of the film, television, and gaming industries. 
 
This year the VES will present Steven Spielberg the VES Lifetime Achievement Award. This award recognizes the contribution that his body of work, as both a director and producer, has made to the art and science of visual effects.