Comedian Patton Oswalt served as host to the more than 1000 guests gathered at the Beverly Hilton to celebrate VFX talent in 24 awards categories and herald the 20th anniversary of the Visual Effects Society.
Winners of the 15th Annual VES Awards:
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature
The Jungle Book
Robert Legato, Joyce Cox, Andrew R. Jones, Adam Valdez, JD Schwalm
Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature
Deepwater Horizon
Craig Hammack, Petra Holtorf-Stratton, Jason Snell, John Galloway, Burt Dalton
Outstanding Visual Effects in an Animated Feature
Kubo and the Two Strings
Travis Knight, Arianne Sutner, Steve Emerson, Brad Schiff
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Episode
Game of Thrones; Battle of the Bastards
Joe Bauer, Steve Kullback, Glenn Melenhorst, Matthew Rouleau, Sam Conway
Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Episode
Black Sails; XX
Erik Henry, Terron Pratt, Aladino Debert, Yafei Wu, Paul Stephenson
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Real-Time Project
Uncharted 4
Bruce Straley, Eben Cook, Iki Ikram
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Commercial
John Lewis; Buster the Boxer
Diarmid Harrison-Murray, Hannah Ruddleston, Fabian Frank, William Laban
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Special Venue Project
Pirates of the Caribbean; Battle for the Sunken Treasure
Bill George, Amy Jupiter, Hayden Landis, David Lester
Outstanding Animated Performance in a Photoreal Feature
The Jungle Book; King Louie
Paul Story, Dennis Yoo, Jack Tema, Andrei Coval
Outstanding Animated Performance in an Animated Feature
Finding Dory; Hank
Jonathan Hoffman, Steven Clay Hunter, Mark Piretti, Audrey Wong
Outstanding Animated Performance in an Episode or Real-Time Project
Game of Thrones; Battle of the Bastards; Drogon
James Kinnings, Michael Holzl, Matt Derksen, Joseph Hoback
Outstanding Animated Performance in a Commercial
John Lewis; Buster the Boxer
Tim van Hussen, David Bryan, Chloe Dawe, Maximilian Mallmann
Outstanding Created Environment in a Photoreal Feature
Doctor Strange; New York City
Adam Watkins, Martijn van Herk, Tim Belsher, Jon Mitchell
Outstanding Created Environment in an Animated Feature
Moana; Motunui Island
Rob Dressel, Andy Harkness, Brien Hindman, Larry Wu
Outstanding Created Environment in an Episode, Commercial, or Real-Time Project
Game of Thrones; Battle of the Bastards; Meereen City
Deak Ferrand, Dominic Daigle, François Croteau, Alexandru Banuta
Outstanding Virtual Cinematography in a Photoreal Project
The Jungle Book
Bill Pope, Robert Legato, Gary Roberts, John Brennan
Outstanding Model in a Photoreal or Animated Project
Deepwater Horizon; Deepwater Horizon Rig
Kelvin Lau, Jean Bolte, Kevin Sprout, Kim Vongbunyong
Outstanding Effects Simulations in a Photoreal Feature
The Jungle Book; Nature Effects
Oliver Winwood, Fabian Nowak, David Schneider, Ludovic Ramisandraina
Outstanding Effects Simulations in an Animated Feature
Moana
Marc Henry Bryant, David Hutchins, Ben Frost, Dale Mayeda
Outstanding Effects Simulations in an Episode, Commercial, or Real-Time Project
Game of Thrones; Battle of the Bastards; Meereen City
Thomas Hullin, Dominik Kirouac, James Dong, Xavier Fourmond
Outstanding Compositing in a Photoreal Feature
The Jungle Book
Christoph Salzmann, Masaki Mitchell, Matthew Adams, Max Stummer
Outstanding Compositing in a Photoreal Episode
Game of Thrones; Battle of the Bastards; Retaking Winterfell
Dominic Hellier, Morgan Jones, Thijs Noij, Caleb Thompson
Outstanding Compositing in a Photoreal Commercial
John Lewis; Buster the Boxer
Tom Harding, Alex Snookes, David Filipe, Andreas Feix
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Student Project
Breaking Point
Johannes Franz, Nicole Rothermel, Thomas Sali, Alexander Richter
In addition Director Taika Waititi presented the VES Visionary Award to acclaimed producer and Marvel Studios Executive Vice President of Physical Production Victoria Alonso.
Jim Morris, President, Pixar Animation Studios, presented the VES Lifetime Achievement Award to multiple Academy Award®-winning visual effects pioneer Ken Ralston.
Awards presenters included directors Gareth Edwards and Albert Hughes, Yara Shahidi, Auli’I Cravalho, Jessica Parker Kennedy and Brenton Thwaites.