Gravity Leads the VES Awards Feature-Film Nominations; Frozen and The Croods Are Top Animated Film Contenders
January 14, 2014

Gravity Leads the VES Awards Feature-Film Nominations; Frozen and The Croods Are Top Animated Film Contenders

LOS ANGELES – The Visual Effects Society (VES), the industry’s professional honorary society, has announced the nominees for the 12th Annual VES Awards, the prestigious yearly celebration that recognizes outstanding visual effects artistry and innovation in film, animation, television, commercials and video games, as well as the VFX supervisors, VFX producers and hands-on-the-keys artists who bring this work to life.

Nominees were selected by VES members via concurrent events in Los Angeles and within the eight global VES sections - New York, Bay Area, New Zealand, Sydney, UK, Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver. The VES Awards will be held on February 12 at the Beverly Hilton.

As previously announced, the Visionary Award will be presented to Alfonso Cuarón, acclaimed filmmaker and director/producer/co-writer/editor of the film Gravity. The Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to John Dykstra, award-winning visual effects pioneer and innovator.

"The artistry, ingenuity and passion of visual effects practitioners around the world have come together to tell the most amazing stories imaginable," said Jeffrey A. Okun, VES Chair. "This year, more than ever, we have seen the fantastic become normal, the unimaginable become reality and the artistry of VFX drive box office. The VES Awards is the only place where this amazing work is showcased and honored. We are extremely proud of our nominees!"

The nominees for the 12th Annual VES Awards are as follows:

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects-Driven Feature Motion Picture

Gravity - Tim Webber, Nikki Penny, Chris Lawrence, Richard Mcbride

Iron Man 3 - Christopher Townsend, Mark Soper ,Guy Williams, Bryan Grill

Pacific Rim -John Knoll, Susan Greenhow, Chris Raimo, Hal Hickel

Star Trek: Into Darkness - Roger Guyett, Luke O'Byrne, Ron Ames, Ben Grossman

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug - Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, Kevin Sherwood, David Clayton

Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Feature Motion Picture

Rush - Jody Johnson, Moriah Etherington-Sparks, Mark Hodgkins, Antoine Moulineau

The Great Gatsby - Chris Godfrey, Prue Fletcher, Joyce Cox

The Lone Ranger - Tim Alexander, Gary Brozenich, Shari Hanson, Kevin Martel

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty - Guillaume Rocheron, Kurt Williams, Monette Dubin, Ivan Moran

The Wolf of Wall Street - Robert Legato, Mark Russell, Joseph Farrell, Lisa Spence

White House Down - Marc Weigert, Volker Engel, Julia Frey, Ollie Rankin

Outstanding Animation in an Animated Feature Motion Picture

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2 - Peter Nash, Michael Ford, Chris Juen, Mandy Tankenson

Despicable Me 2 - Chris Meledandri, Janet Healy, Chris Renaud, Pierre Coffin

Frozen - Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee, Peter Del Vecho, Lino Di Salvo

Monsters University - Kori Rae, Sanjay Bakshi, Jon Reisch, Scott Clark

The Croods - Jane Hartwell, Chris Sanders, Kirk Demicco, Markus Manninen

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Broadcast Program

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Pilot - Mark Kolpack, Sabrina Arnold, David Altenau, H Haden Hammond

Almost Human - Jay Worth, Robert Habros, Michael Cliett, David Beedon

Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome - Gary Hutzel, Michael Gibson, Derek Ledbetter, Heather Mcauliff

Game of Thrones: Valar Dohaeris - Steve Kullback, Joe Bauer, Jörn Großhans, Sven Martin

Inseparable: Chernobyl - Egor Olesov, Egor Borschevsky, Dmitry Ovcharenko, Mykhailo Datsyk

Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Broadcast Program

Banshee: Pilot - Armen Kevorkian, Mark Skowronski, Jeremy Jozwik, Ricardo Ramirez

Da Vinci's Demons: The Lovers - Kevin Blank, Simon Frame, Ante Dekovic, Oliver Arnold

Hawaii 5-0: Ho'onani Makuakane - Armen Kevorkian, Alexander Soltes, Jane Sharvina, Andranik Taranyan

Mob City: A Guy Walks in to A Bar - Jason Sperling, Michael Morreale, Valeri Pfahning, Mike Enriquez

Moonfleet: Episode 2 - Ed Bruce, Alan Collins, John O'Connell, Joe Courtis

The Borgias: Relics - Wojciech Zielinski, Neishaw Ali, Bill Halliday, Jp Giamos

Outstanding Real-Time Visuals in a Video Game

Call of Duty: Ghosts - Mark Rubin, Richard Kriegler, David Johnson, Alessandro Nardini

Crysis 3 - Magnus Larbrant, Tiago Sousa, Steven Bender, Cevat Yerli

Killzone Shadow Fall - Marijn Giesbertz, Jan-Bart, Van Beek, Angie Smets

NBA 2K14 - Heather Marshall, Joseph Clark, Jeff Thomas, Anton Dawson

Ryse: Son of Rome - Cevat Yerli, Peter Gornstein, Chris Evans, Brian Chambers

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Commercial

Call of Duty: Epic Night Out - Leighton Greer, Robert Sethi, Felix Urquiza, Chris Knight

Galaxy Chauffeur - Helen Hughes, Simon French, William Bartlett, Stephen Cullingford

Liberty Group Limited: Answer - James Atkinson, Rachel Mariscal, Scott Meadows, David Liu

PETA: 98% Human - Angus Kneale, Vince Baertsoen, Colin Blaney, Kyle Cody

Sony PlayStation: Perfect Day - Charlotte Arnold, Joji Tsuruga, Gavin Wellsman, Olivier Mitonneau

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Special Venue Project

Hayden Planetarium's Dark Universe - Vivian Trakinski, Jon Parker, Carter Emmart, Andreas Wetteborn

Mysteries of the Unseen World - Sean Phillips, Andy Yamada, Fred Pienkos, Matthew Sugars

Mystic Manor - Tim Landry, John Guerra, Mark Schirmer, Ken Horii

Space Shuttle Atlantis - Daren Ulmer, John Gross, Cedar Connor, Christian Bloch

SpongeBob SquarePants 4D: The Great Jelly Rescue! - Kate Crandall, Brent Young, Michael "Oz" Smith, Andrei Brovcenco

Outstanding Animated Character in a Live Action Feature Motion Picture

Gravity: Ryan - Max Solomon, Mathieu Vig, Michael Brunet, David Shirk

Oz the Great and Powerful: China Girl - Troy Saliba, In-Ah Roediger, Carolyn Vale, Kevin Souls

Pacific Rim: Kaiju - Leatherback - Jakub Pistecky, Frank Gravatt, Cyrus Jam, Chris Havreberg

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug: Smaug - Eric Reynolds, David Clayton, Myriam Catrin, Guillaume Francois

Outstanding Animated Character in an Animated Feature Motion Picture

Epic: Bomba - Thom Roberts, Haven Gordon Cousins, Tim Bower, Daniel Lima

Epic: Mary Katherine - Jeff Gabor, Dylan C. Maxwell, Sang Jun, Lee Chris Pagoria

Frozen: Bringing the Snow Queen to Life - Alexander Alvarado, Joy Johnson, Chad Stubblefield, Wayne Unten

The Croods: Eep - Line Andersen, Won Young, Byun Koji Morihiro, Chris De St. Jeor

Outstanding Animated Character in a Commercial or Broadcast Program

Game of Thrones: Raising the Dragons - Philip Meyer, Ingo Schachner, Travis Nobles, Florian Friedmann

PETA: 98% Human - Vince Baertsoen, Alex Allain, Henning Koczy

Smithwick's: Squirrel - Tom Bussell, Jorge Montiel, Tom Raynor, Leonardo Costa

Three, The Pony - Carsten Keller, Jake Mengers, Tim Van Hussen

Toy Story of Terror - Paul Aichele, Kiki Mei, Kee Poh, Andrew Coats

Outstanding Created Environment in a Live Action Feature Motion Picture

Elysium: Torus - Votch Levi, Joshua Ong, Barry Poon

Gravity: Interior - Harry Bardak, Nathan Walster, Jonathan Fawkner, Claire Michaud

Gravity: Exterior - Paul Beilby, Kyle Mcculloch, Stuart Penn, Ian Comley

Iron Man 3: Shipyard - John Stevenson-Galvin, Greg Notzelman, Paul Harris, Justin Stockton

Pacific Rim: Virtual Hong Kong - Johan Thorngren, Jeremy Bloch, David Meny, Polly Ing

Outstanding Created Environment in an Animated Feature Motion Picture

Epic: Pod Patch - Aaron Ross, Travis Price, Jake Panian, Antelmo Villarreal

Frozen: Elsa's Ice Palace - Virgilio John Aquino, Alessandro Jacomini, Lance Summers, David Womersley

Monsters University: Campus - Robert Kondo, Eric Andraos, Dale Ruffolo, Peter Sumanaseni

The Croods: The Maze -Jonathan Harman, Violette Sacre-Shaik, Benjamin Venancie, Philippe Brochu

Outstanding Created Environment in a Commercial or Broadcast Program

Game of Thrones: The Climb - Patrick Zentis, Mayur Patel, Nitin Singh, Tim Alexander

Hell On Wheels: Big Bad Wolf - Steve Meyer, Matt Von Brock, Mitch Gates, Antonio Chang

Inseparable: Chernobyl - Dmitry Ovcharenko, Igor Chopenko, Dmitry Eremenko, Andrey Bogdanov

Liberty Group Limited: Answer - Greg Teegarden, Kevin Bouchez, Brian Creasey, Kurt Lawson

Outstanding Virtual Cinematography in a Live Action Feature Motion Picture

Gravity - Tim Webber, Emmanuel Lubezki, Richard Mcbride, Dale Newton

Iron Man 3 - Mark Smith, Aaron Gilma, Thelvin Cabezas, Gerardo Ramirez

Man of Steel - Daniel Paulsson, Edmund Kolloen, Joel Prager, David Stripinis

Pacific Rim: Hong Kong Ocean Brawl - Colin Benoit, Nick Walker, Adam Schnitzer, Victor Schutz

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug - Christian Rivers, Phil Barrenger, Mark Gee Thelvin, Tico Cabezas

Outstanding Virtual Cinematography in a Live Action Commercial or Broadcast Program

Mad Max: Ethos - Aladino Debert, Neil Huxley, David Liu, Michael Harbour

Murdered: Soul Suspect - Vernon Wilber, Tim Jones, Rafael Colon, April Warren

Qualcomm Snapdragon: A Dragon is Coming - Joshua Wassung, Shannon Justison, Shayne Ryan, Seth Gollub

The Crew - Dominique Boidin, Rémi Kozyra, Léon Bérelle, Maxime Luère

Outstanding Models in a Feature Motion Picture

Gravity: ISS Exterior - Ben Lambert, Paul Beilby, Chris Lawrence, Andy Nicholson

Pacific Rim - David Fogler, Alex Jaeger, Aaron Wilson, David Behrens

Star Trek: Into Darkness - Bruce Holcomb, Ron Woodall, John Goodson, Thomas Fejes

The Lone Ranger: Colby Locomotive - Rene Garcia, Steve Walton, Brian Paik, Gerald Gutschmidt

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

Man of Steel - Brian Goodwin, Gray Horsfield, Mathieu Chardonnet, Adrien Toupet

Pacific Rim: Fluid Simulation & Destruction - Ryan Hopkins, Michael Balog, Patrick Conran, Rick Hankins

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug - Areito Echevarria, Andreas Soderstrom, Ronnie Menahem, Christoph Sprenger

Outstanding FX and Simulation Animation in an Animated Feature Motion Picture

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2 - Andrew Hofman, Alex Moaveni

Epic: Boggan Crowds - Thierry Dervieux-Lecocq, David Gatenby, Mark Adams, Matthew D. Simmons

Frozen: Elsa's Blizzard - Eric W. Araujo, Marc Bryant, Dong Joo Byun, Tim Molinder

The Croods - Jeff Budsberg, Andre Le Blanc, Jason Mayer, Michael Losure

Outstanding FX and Simulation Animation in a Commercial or Broadcast Program

PETA: 98% Human - Vince Baertsoen, Jimmy Gass, Dave Barosin

Sony PlayStation: Perfect Day - Joji Tsuruga, Gavin Wellsman, Nick Couret, Hassan Taimur

Toyota Avalon: Formula - Ed Laag, Eugene Gauran, Josh Hatton

Toy Story of Terror - Jane Yen, Rogan Griffin, Amit Baadkar, Keith Daniel Klohn

Outstanding Compositing in a Feature Motion Picture

Elysium - Jean Lapointe, Jordan Benwick, Robin Hackl, Janeen Elliott

Gravity - Mark Bakowski, Anthony Smith, Theodor Groeneboom, Adrian Metzelaar

Iron Man 3: Barrel of Monkeys - Michael Maloney, Francis Puthanangadi, Justin Van Der Lek, Howard Cabalfin

Iron Man 3: House Attack - Darren Poe, Stefano Trivelli, Josiah Howison, Zach Zaubi

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug - Charles Tait, Robin Hollander, Giuseppe Tagliavini, Sean Heuston

Outstanding Compositing in a Broadcast Program

Banshee: Pilot - Gevork Babityan, Andranik Taranyan, Matt Kelly, Matthieu Perin

Game of Thrones: The Climb - Kirk Brillon, Steve Gordon, Geoff Sayer, Winston Lee

The Conquering of Yunkai - Sean Faden, Greg Szafranski, Florian Friedmann, Travis Nobles

Vikings: Dispossessed - Ovidiu Cinazan, Gary Couto, Marco Lee, Maria Gordon

Outstanding Compositing in a Commercial

Call of Duty: Epic Night Out - Chris Knight, Daniel Thuresson, Nick Tayler, Dag Ivarsory

Jean-Paul Gaultier: The Sailor - Jerome Billet Arnaud Leviez

Mercedes Sensations - Laurent Creusot, Pierre Emmanuel Genin, David Roubah, Damien Canameras

Sony PlayStation: Greatness Awaits - Kyle Cody Dan Difelice

Sony PlayStation: Perfect Day - Gavin Wellsman, John Mangia, Leonardo Costa, Kristen Johnson

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Student Project

Initium - Alexandre Dechel, Adrien Lambert, Larochette Emeric, James Ross-Greetham

Morphium - Linus Stetter

Rugbybugs - Alexandra Stautmeister

Runaway - Ludovic Fregé, Quentin Medda, Romain Chauliac, Yoann Gouraud

Where the Dream Begins - Dun Ma, Dan Wen Lei, Xuan Xia