February 22, 2009

Visual Effects Society Announces Winners of Annual Awards

Los Angeles, Calif. - The Visual Effects Society (VES) announced the recipients of the 7th Annual VES Awards, at a black-tie event at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles. The annual event recognizes outstanding visual effects in more than a dozen categories of film, animation, television, commercials, and video games. Filmmakers, producers, media, and guests joined more than 1100 professionals from the visual effects industry for the gala.“This year’s recipients exemplify true excellence in the field of visual and special effects,” says VES executive director Eric Roth. “On behalf of the VES Board of Directors, I congratulate all of this year’s nominees on their incredible work.”

Recipients of the 7th Annual VES Awards include:

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects Driven Motion Picture
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Eric Barba, Edson Williams, Nathan McGuinness, Lisa Beroud

Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Motion Picture
Changeling
Michael Owens, Geoffrey Hancock, Jinnie Pak, Dennis Hoffman

Outstanding Animation in an Animated Motion Picture
Wall-E
Andrew Stanton, Jim Morris, Lindsey Collins, Nigel Hardwidge

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Broadcast Miniseries, Movie or Special
"John Adams – Join or Die"
Steve Kullback, Erik Henry, Robert Stromberg, Jeff Goldman

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Broadcast Series
"Battlestar Galactica Season Four – BSG Space Battle"
Gary Hutzel, Michael Gibson, Doug Drexler, Kyle Toucher

Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Broadcast Program
"Fringe – Episode 101 - Pilot"
Kevin Blank, Jay Worth, Andrew Orloff, Barbara Genicoff

Best Single Visual Effect of the Year
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Benjamin’s Secret
Eric Barba, Lisa Beroud, Steve Preeg, Jonathan Litt

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Commercial
Bacardi - Sundance
Alex Thiesen, Nikos Kalaitzidis, Jay Barton, Zsolt Krajcsik

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Special Venue Project
U2 3D – Selected Shots
Peter Anderson, Steve Schklair, David Franks, Jeremy Nicolaides

Outstanding Real Time Visuals in a Video Game
Crysis Warhead
Zoltan Pocza, Gabor Mogyorosi, Tamas Schlagl

Outstanding Pre-Rendered Visuals in a Video Game
World of Warcraft – Wrath of the Lich King – Intro Cinematic
Jeff Chamberlain, Phillip Hillenbrand

Outstanding Animated Character in a Live Action Motion Picture
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Benjamin Button
Steve Preeg, Matthias Wittmann, Tom St. Amand, David McLean

Outstanding Animated Character in an Animated Motion Picture
Wall-E – Wall-E and Eve Truck Sequence
Ben Burtt, Victor Navone, Austin Lee, Jay Shuster

Outstanding Animated Character in a Live Action Broadcast Program or Commercial
Brains Dance
James Sindle, Jesus Parra, Josh Fourtwells

Outstanding Effects Animation in an Animated Feature Motion Picture
Wall-E – Effects in Wall-E
Jason Johnston, Keith Klohn, Enrique Vila, Bill Watral

Outstanding Matte Paintings in a Feature Motion Picture
Changeling – 1928 Downtown L.A.
Romain Bayle, Abel Milanes , Allan Lee, Debora Dunphy

Outstanding Matte Paintings in a Broadcast Program or Commercial
Doctor Who – Series 4 – Silence in the Library
Simon Wickers, Charlie Bennett, Tim Barter, Arianna Lago

Outstanding Models and Miniatures in a Feature Motion Picture
The Dark Knight – Garbage Truck Crash Models and Miniatures
Ian Hunter, Forest Fischer, Scott Beverly, Adam Gelbart

Outstanding Models and Miniatures in a Broadcast Program or Commercial
New Balance - Anthem
Ian Hunter, Jon Warren, Matt Burlingame, Raymond Moore

Outstanding Created Environment in a Feature Motion Picture
The Dark Knight – IMAX Gotham City Scapes
Peter Bebb, Stuart Farley, Philippe Leprince, Andrew Lockley

Outstanding Created Environment in a Broadcast Program or Commercial
"John Adams" – Join or Die – Episode 1 – The Boston Harbor
Paul Graff, Robert Stromberg, Adam Watkins

Outstanding Compositing in a Feature Motion Picture
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Benjamin Comes Together
Janelle Croshaw, Paul Lambert, Sonja Burchard, Sarahjane Javelo

Outstanding Compositing in a Broadcast Program or Commercial
"John Adams" – Join or Die – Episode 1 – The Boston Harbor
Paul Graff, Joshua LaCross, Matt Collorafice

Outstanding Special Effects in a Motion Picture
The Dark Knight – Overall
Chris Corbould, Peter Notley, Ian Lowe

Outstanding Effects in a Student Project
Plastic – Transformation Sequence
Sandy Widyanata, Courtney Wise

In addition, director David Fincher (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) presented producers Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall with the VES Lifetime Achievement Award, while ILM’s Dennis Muren presented Phil Tippett with the Georges Méliès Award.