At the VES Awards, it is the artists and the artistry, not the movie itself, that garners votes. But having a movie that requires state-of-the-art animation and visual effects is certainly a plus.
Work on “Life of Pi,” Ang Lee’s unique tale that unfolds in open water with stranded main characters Pi (actor Suraj Sharma) and Richard Parker (a CG tiger), earned digital artists four top prizes at the 11th annual Visual Effects Society’s (VES) Awards, including Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects-Driven Feature. It also won for Outstanding Animated Character in a Live Action Feature Motion Picture, Outstanding FX and Simulation Animation in a Live Action Feature Motion Picture, and Outstanding Composition in a Feature Motion Picture.
Also snaring four wins was the animated feature “Brave,” for Outstanding Animation in an Animated Feature Motion Picture, Outstanding Created Environment in an Animated Feature Motion Picture, Outstanding FX and Simulation Animation in an Animated Feature Motion Picture, and Outstanding Animated Character in an Animated Feature Motion Picture.
The winners were:
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects-Driven Feature Motion Picture Life of Pi; Donald R. Elliott, Susan MacLeod, Guillaume Rocheron, Bill Westenhofer
Outstanding Animation in an Animated Feature Motion Picture
Brave; Mark Andrews, Steve May, Katherine Sarafian, Bill Wise
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Broadcast Program
Game of Thrones: Volar Morghulis; Rainer Gombos, Steve Kullback, Sven Martin, Juri Stanossek
Outstanding Models in a Feature Motion Picture
The Avengers: Helicarrier; Rene Garcia, Bruce Holcomb, Polly Ing Aaron Wilson
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Special Venue Project
Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem; Heather Drummons, Joel Friesch, Troy Griffin, Chris Hummel
Outstanding Virtual Cinematography in a Commercial or Broadcast Program
ZombiU; Dominique Boidin, Léon Bérelle, Rémi Kozyra, Maxime Luère
Outstanding Virtual Cinematography in a Live Action Feature Motion Picture
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey; Matt Aitken, Victor Huang, Christian Rivers, R. Christopher White
Outstanding Created Environment in a Commercial or Broadcast Program
Game of Thrones: Pyke; Rene Borst, Thilo Ewers, Adam Figielski, Jonas Stuckenbrock
Outstanding Created Environment in an Animated Feature Motion Picture
Brave: The Forest; Tim Best, Steve Pilcher; Inigo Quilez, Andrew Whittock
Outstanding Created Environment in a Live Action Feature Motion Picture
The Avengers: Midtown Manhattan; Richard Bluff, Barry Williams, David Meny, Andy Proctor
Outstanding FX and Simulation Animation in a Commercial or Broadcast Program
Guinness: Cloud; Tom Bussell, Neil Davies
Outstanding FX and Simulation Animation in an Animated Feature Motion Picture
Brave; Chris Chapman, Dave Hale, Michael K. O’Brien, Bill Watral
Outstanding FX and Simulation Animation in a Live Action Feature Motion Picture
Life of Pi: Storm of God; Harry Mukhopadhyay, David Stopford, Mark Williams, Derek Wolfe
Outstanding Animated Character in a Commercial or Broadcast Program
Game of Thrones: Training the Dragons; Irfan Celik, Florian Friedmann, Ingo Schachner. Chris Stenner
Outstanding Animated Character in a Live Action Feature Motion Picture
Life of Pi: Richard Parker; Erik De Boer, Sean Comer, Betsy Asher Hall, Kai-Hua Lan
Outstanding Animated Character in an Animated Feature Motion Picture
Brave: Merida; Travis Hathaway, Olivier Soares, Peter Sumanaseni, Brian Tindall
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Student Project
Natalis; Daniel Brkovic, David Kirchner, Jan-Marcel Kuehn, Tom Ferstl -
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Outstanding Real-Time Visuals in a Video Game
Call of Duty: Black Ops II; Jason Blundell, Barry Whitney, Colin Whitney
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Commercial
Nike: Biomorph; Rafael Colon; Aladino Debert; David Liu; Nicola Wiseman
Outstanding Compositing in a Broadcast Program
Game of Thrones: White Walker Army, Falk Boje, Esther Engel, Alexey Kuchinsky, Klaus Wuchta
Outstanding Compositing in a Commercial
Chevy 2012 Silverado; Dominik Bauch, Nicholas Kim, Benjamin Walsh
Outstanding Compositing in a Feature Motion Picture
Life of Pi: Storm of God; Ryan Clarke, Jose Fernandez, Sean Oharas, Hamish Schumacher
Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Broadcast Program
Boardwalk Empire: Episode 308; John Bair, Parker Chehak, Paul Graff, Lesley Robson-Foster
Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Feature Motion Picture
The Impossible; Felix Bergés, Sandra Hermida, Pau Costa Moeller
Visionary Award Ang Lee
Lifetime Achievement Award Richard Edlund
See CGW’s Special VES Issue for a list of all the contenders and information about the VES.