Congrats to all the winning teams at this weekend’s Creative Arts Emmys. Special congrats to the world wide team that was behind Game of Thrones (GOT). HBO’s GOT: Beyond The Wall episode won on Saturday night the Outstanding Special Visual Effects. This makes GOT sixth Emmy win in this category of outstanding special visual effects at the Emmys.
“Beyond the Wall” had an incredible 2,106 visual effects shots. The episode was directed by Alan Taylor and shot in an Irish quarry which was then heavily modified in VFX, populated with re-animated corpses and fire breathing dragons.
Season 7 set the bar even higher, with Beyond the Wall calling for unprecedented levels of creative and technical planning to seamlessly integrate live actors, digital dragons, real sets, stage elements and CG environment extensions, as well as fight choreography, crowd effects and carefully orchestrated fire and dunk tank shoots. “From battles with wights on a frozen lake to ice dragons and even a zombie polar bear, ‘Beyond the Wall’ had it all,” said The Third Floor’s Previs Supervisor Michelle Blok.
“Game of Thrones has a huge focus on producing believable visuals and that’s one of the amazing things about watching – and working on — the program. Whether visualizing an epic battle, moving multiple actors on a motion base-mounted dragon torso or flying a flamethrower attached to a Spydercam system, we’re thrilled to be helping inform production through our specialties in sequence design, pre-planning and virtual production” she explained. She then went on to thank “Steve, Joe, HBO and everyone on the crew for this epic work and collaboration! I’d also like to congratulate previs lead Pat Gehlen, virtual production supervisor Kaya Jabar, visual effects supervisor Eric Carney and our entire show crew at The Third Floor, who share collectively in this award.”
Here are some of the key teams that won over the weekend:
Outstanding Special Visual Effects: Beyond The Wall (Game Of Thrones )
Game Of Thrones • HBO • HBO Entertainment in association with Bighead, Littlehead; 360 Television/Startling Television
- Steve Kullback, Lead Visual Effects Producer
- Joe Bauer, Lead Visual Effects Supervisor
- Adam Chazen, Visual Effects Associate Producer
- Michelle Blok, Previs Lead
- Sam Conway, Special Effects Supervisor
- Ted Rae, Visual Effects Plate Supervisor
- David Ramos, Visual Effects Supervisor
- Wayne Stables, Lead CG & Animation Supervisor
- Derek Spears, Lead CG Supervisor
Outstanding Special Visual Effects In A Supporting Role:The Boy On The Bridge (The Alienist)
The Alienist • The Boy On The Bridge • TNT • A Paramount Television and Turner’s Studio T co-production
- Kent Houston, VFX Supervisor
- Wendy Garfinkle, VFX Producer
- Tim Barter, Lead 2D Supervisor
- Rasik Gorecha, Lead CG Supervisor
- Martin Lake, Associate VFX Producer
- Doug Larmour, VFX Supervisor
- Alison Griffiths, VFX Producer
- Steve Murgatroyd, VFX Supervisor
- Harin Hirani, Lead Lighting TD
TNT’s psychological thriller The Alienist is based on the Anthony Award-winning international bestseller by Caleb Car, the series takes place in 1896 New York City. At that time, people suffering from mental illness were thought to be alienated from their own true natures. Experts who studied them were therefore known as alienists.
Outstanding Television Movie: USS Callister (Black Mirror)
USS Callister (Black Mirror) • Netflix • House of Tomorrow
- Annabel Jones, Executive Producer
- Charlie Brooker, Executive Producer
- Louise Sutton, Producer
See our story here: Black Mirror
Outstanding Prosthetic Makeup For A Series, or Special: The Dragon And The Wolf (Game Of Thrones )
Game Of Thrones • The Dragon And The Wolf • HBO • HBO Entertainment in association with Bighead, Littlehead; 360 Television/Startling Television
- Jane Walker, Department Head Makeup Artist
- Paul Spateri, Special Makeup Effects Artist
- Emma Faulkes, Special Makeup Effects Artist
- Barrie Gower, Prosthetic Designer
Outstanding Main Title Design: Counterpart
Counterpart • Starz • Gilbert Films and Anonymous Content in association with MRC
- Karin Fong, Creative Director
- Jake Ferguson, Lead Designer/Animator
- Filipe Carvalho, Designer
- Nathan Lee, Designer
- Zach Kilroy, Editor
- Kiyoon Nam, Animator
The creative cast and crew of Star Trek was also honoured
The Television Academy honoured the Star Trek franchise with the Governors Award this year. Accepting the award were creatives and cast from each of the TV series: William Shatner and Walter Koenig from Star Trek: The Original Series, LeVar Burton from The Next Generation, Terry Farrell from Deep Space Nine, Jeri Ryan from Voyager, Linda Park from Enterprise and Sonequa Martin-Green from Discovery. Also on stage was Discovery co-creator, Alex Kurtzman, along with some Klingon who photo bombed the event.
(Photo: Television Academy)
Presentation of the award included an extensive highlights reel from all the Trek series. Bill Nye handed out the actual award, commenting (via Deadline) “It may have started off as an entertainment series but it changed the world — and I feel that it changed the world for the better.”
William Shatner accept the award and the team received a standing ovation, saying. “I accept this award on behalf of all the artists who worked to make the show a success.”
Also see our story on fxguide’s great friends the Diamond Bros winning their Emmy here.
Thanks so much for reading our article. We've been a free service since 1999 and now rely on the generous contributions of readers like you. If you'd like to help support our work, please join the hundreds of others and become an fxinsider member.