Visual Effects Society (VES) Awards – nominations

Warner Bros.’ ‘The Hobbit,’ Paramount’s ‘The Avengers’ and Fox’s ‘Life of Pi’ Lead Feature Nominations

The Visual Effects Society (VES) is pleased to announce the nominees for the 11th  Annual VES Awards, which recognize outstanding visual effects artistry in 24 categories of film, animation, television, commercials and video games. Nominees were selected Saturday, January 5 by VES members at SPY/ a FotoKem Company in the Bay Area and at FotoKem in Burbank in California; and at Blue Sky Studios in New York, Weta Digital in New Zealand, Fuel VFX in Sydney, Molinare in the UK and Image Engine in Vancouver.

Jeffrey A. Okun, Chair of the Visual Effects Society, comments, "Visual effects have helped define the experience of going to the cinema. Every year, visual effects artists put their technical skill, ingenuity and passion to work in the creation of images that astound and move us. We congratulate all of our nominees on their amazing accomplishments in – and contributions to – the worlds of film, animation, television, special venue and games."

As previously announced, acclaimed director Ang Lee will be honored with the VES Visionary Award. Richard Edlund ASC, VES will be presented the Lifetime Achievement Award.

The 11th Annual VES Awards will take place on Tuesday, February 5, 2013 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.


The nominees for the 11th Annual VES Awards

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects-Driven Feature Motion Picture
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Joe Letteri, Eileen Moran, Eric Saindon, Kevin L. Sherwood
Prometheus
Paul Butterworth, Charley Henley, Allen Maris, Richard Stammers
Life of Pi
Thomas Fisher, Susan Macleod, Guillaume Rocheron, Bill Westenhofer
The Avengers
Susan Pickett, Janek Sirrs, Jeff White, Guy Williams
Battleship
Grady Cofer, Pablo Helman, Jeanie King, Glen Mcintosh

Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Feature Motion Picture
Rust and Bone
Béatrice Bauwens, Cédric Fayolle, Nicolas Rey, Stéphane Thibert
The Impossible
Felix Bergés, Sandra Hermida, Pau Costa Moeller
Argo
Matt Dessero, Leslie Hough, Gregory Mcmurry, Tom Smith
Flight
Kevin Baillie, Michael Lantieri, Chris Stoski, Ryan Tudhope
Zero Dark Thirty
Geoff Anderson, Chris Harvey, Jeremy Hattingh

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Broadcast Program
Game of Thrones: Volar Morghulis
Rainer Gombos, Steve Kullback, Sven Martin, Juri Stanossek
Once Upon A Time: The Stranger
Dale Fay, Laura Jones, Nathan Matsuda, Andrew Orloff
Falling Skies: Worlds Apart
James Hattin, Suzanne Maclennan, Curt Miller, Andrew Orloff
Curiosity
Nathan Larouche, Lon Molnar, Geoff Scott, Bojan Zoric
Munsters: Mockingbird Lane
Leslie Ekker, Jonah Hall, Livia Hanich, Jason Zimmerman

Outstanding Real-Time Visuals in a Video Game
Call of Duty: Black Ops II
Jason Blundell, Barry Whitney, Colin Whitney
Halo 4
Mike Cronin, Brien Goodrich, Kiki Wolfkill, Jon Wood
Dirt Showdown
Peter Asberg, Peter Clark, Nathan Fisher, Julie Mcgurren
Forza Horizon
Michel Bastien, Terrance Newell, Gareth Richards, Andrew Sage
Dishonored
Viktor Antonov, Sebastien Mitton, Jean-Luc Monnet, Julien Roby

Outstanding Animation in an Animated Feature Motion Picture
Brave
Mark Andrews, Steve May, Katherine Sarafian, Bill Wise
ParaNorman
Chris Butler, Sam Fell, Travis Knight, Brad Schiff
Rise of the Guardians
Nancy Bernstein, David Prescott, Peter Ramsey, Christina Steinberg
Wreck-It Ralph
Sean Jenkins, Scott Kersavage, Rich Moore, Clark Spencer
Hotel Transylvania
Lydia Bottegoni, James Crossley, Mike Ford, Daniel Kramer

Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Broadcast Program
Hemingway & Gellhorn
Nathan Abbot, Kip Larsen, Chris Morley, Christopher Paizis
Boardwalk Empire: Episode 308
John Bair, Parker Chehak, Paul Graff, Lesley Robson-Foster
Men Who Built America : Episode 2
Glenn Allen, Matthew Conner, Eran Dinur, David Reynolds
Hell On Wheels : Blood Moon
Matt Von Brock, Jason Fotter, Tim Jacobsen, Bill Kent
Hawaii Five-O: La O Na Makuahine
Gevork Babityan, Jon Howard, Armen Kevorkian, Ricardo Ramirez

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Commercial
Pepsi: Crowd Surfing
Martin Aufinger, Russell Dodgson, Abby Orchard, Chris Redding
Nike: Biomorph
Rafael Colon, Aladino Debert, David Liu, Nicola Wiseman
Lady Gaga: Fame
Kait Boehm, Juan Gomez, Kurt Lawson, Greg Teegarden
Norfolk Southern: City of Possibilities
Chris Bernier, Kyle Cody, Jeff Lopez, Boo Wong
Call of Duty:  Surprise
Steve Beck, Chris Knight, Robert Sethi, Christina Thompson

Outstanding Animated Character in a Live Action Feature Motion Picture
The Hobbit: Goblin King
Jung Min Chan, James Jacobs, David Clayton, Guillaume Francois
The Hobbit: Gollum
Gino Acevedo, Alessandro Bonora, Jeff Capogreco, Kevin Estey
The Avengers: The Hulk
Marc Chu, John Doublestein, Cyrus Jam, Jason Smith
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: Argument
Travis Hathaway, Olivier Soares, Peter Sumanaseni, Brian Tindall
Hotel Transylvania: Dracula
Bill Haller, Tim Pixton, Jorge Vigara
Wreck-It Ralph: Vanellope
John Kahwaty, Suzan Kim, Michelle Robinson, Tony Smeed
The Pirates: Band of Misfits
Will Becher, Jay Grace, Loyd Price

Outstanding Animated Character in a Commercial or Broadcast Program
Ted: Jimmy Kimmel Live!
James W. Brown, Brad Fox, Ross Nakamura, Jeff Woo
Sinbad: Episode 1
Andy Guest, James Moxon, James Reid, Greg Spencer
Hallmark: Motherbird
Vince Baertsoen, Kevin Ives, Laurent Makowski, Joshua Merck
Game of Thrones: Training the Dragons
Irfan Celik, Florian Friedmann, Ingo Schachner, Chris Stenner

Outstanding Created Environment in a Live Action Feature Motion Picture
The Hobbit: Goblin Caverns
Ryan Arcus, Simon Jung, Alastair Maher, Anthony M. Patti
Prometheus: LV-233
Julien Bolbach, Marco Genovesi, Martin Riedel, Marco Rolandi
The Avengers: Midtown Manhattan
Richard Bluff, Giles Hancock, David Meny, Andy Proctor
Life of Pi: Open Ocean
Jason Bayever, Sho Hasegawa, Jimmy Jewell, Walt Jones

Outstanding Created Environment in an Animated Feature Motion Picture
Brave: The Forest
Tim Best, Steve Pilcher, Inigo Quilez, Andy Whittock
ParaNorman: Graveyard
Phil Brotherton, Robert Desue, Oliver Jones, Nick Mariana
ParaNorman: Main Street
Alice Bird, Matt Delue, Caitlin Pashalek
Rise of the Guardians: The North Pole
Eric Bouffard, Sonja Burchard, Andy Harbeck, Peter Maynez

Outstanding Virtual Cinematography in a Live Action Feature Motion Picture
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Matt Aitken, Victor Huang, Christian Rivers, R. Christopher White
The Avengers: Downtown Manhattan
Colin Benoit, Jeremy Goldman, Tory Mercer, Anthony Rispoli
Total Recall: Hover Car Chase
Daniel Baldwin, Mattias Forsstrom, Sam Schwier, Joshua Wassung
The Amazing Spider-Man
Rob Engle, David Schaub, Cosku Turhan, Max Tyrie

Outstanding Models in a Feature Motion Picture
The Avengers: Helicarrier
Rene Garcia, Bruce Holcomb, Polly Ing, Aaron Wilson
The Impossible: Orchid Hotel
Markus Donhauser, Patrick Lehn, Angel Martinez, Juergen Pirman
Men in Black 3: Cape Canaveral/ Apollo Launch
Craig Feifarek, Hee-Chel Nam, Erik Neill, Taehyun Park
The Dark Knight Rises: Airplane Heist
Scott Beverly, Alan Faucher, Ian Hunter, Steve Newburn

Outstanding FX and Simulation Animation in an Animated Feature Motion Picture
Brave
Chris Chapman, Dave Hale, Michael K. O'Brien, Bill Watral
ParaNorman: Practical Volumetrics
Aidan Fraser, Joe Gorski, Eric Kuehne, Andrew Nawrot
ParaNorman: Angry Aggie Ink-Blot Electricity
Michael Cordova, Grant Laker, Susanna Luck, Peter Vickery
Rise of the Guardians: Last Stand
Andy Hayes, Carl Hooper, Andrew Wheeler, Stephen Wood

Outstanding Created Environment in a Commercial or Broadcast Program
Sinbad
James Moxon, Lyndall Spagnoletti, Greg Spencer, Simon Wicker
Pyke
Rene Borst, Thilo Ewers, Adam Figielski, Jonas Stuckenbrock
Call of Duty: Eclipse - Surprise
Chris Bayol, Steve Beck, Chris Knight, Robert Sethi
5 Gum RPM: Choose Your Energy
Kaan Atilla, Kevin Gillen, Isaac Irvin, Brandon Lester

Outstanding Virtual Cinematography in a Commercial or Broadcast Program
Toyota: Real Deal
Adam Berg, Niles Heckman, Ronald Herbst, Vernon Wilbert
Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn
Steven Chen, Phil Dakin, Paul Stodolny
Call of Duty: Eclipse - Surprise
Chris Bayol, Steve Beck, Chris Knight, Robert Sethi
ZombiU
Dominique Boidin, Léon Bérelle, Rémi Kozyra, Maxime Luère

Outstanding FX and Simulation Animation in a Live Action Feature Motion Picture
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Areito Echevarria, Chet Leavai, Garry Runke, Francois Sugny
Life of Pi: Storm of God
Harry Mukhopadhyay, David Stopford, Mark Williams, Derek Wolfe
Battleship
Florent Andorra, Willi Geiger, Rick Hankins, Florian Witzel
Life of Pi: Ocean
Jason Bayever, David Horsley, Scott Townsend, Miles Vignol

Outstanding FX and Simulation Animation in a Commercial or Broadcast Program
Nike: Biomorph
Aladino Debert, Eric Ebling, Ken Mitchel Jones, Jason Mortimer
Last Resort: Captain
Matt Von Brock, Bruce Coy, Junaid Farooq, Aldo Ruggiero
Guinness: Cloud
Tom Bussell, Neil Davies
Nissan Altima: Wouldn't it be Cool
Tim Borgmann, David Forcada, Aron Hjartarson, Shayne Ryan

Outstanding Compositing in a Feature Motion Picture
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Jean-Luc Azzis, Steven Mcgillen, Christoph Salzmann, Charles Tait
Life of Pi: Storm of God
Ryan Clarke, Jose Fernandez, Sean Oharas, Hamish Schumacher
The Avengers: Hulk Punch
Chris Balog, Peter Demarest, Nelson Sepulveda, Alan Travis
Prometheus: Engineers & the Orrery
Xavier Bourque, Sam Cole, Simone Riginelli, Denis Scolan

Outstanding Compositing in a Broadcast Program
Hemingway & Gellhorn
Nathan Abbot, Shelley Campbell, Chris Morley, Christopher Paizis
Last Resort: Captain
Matt Von Brock, Jason Fotter, Aldo Ruggiero, Brian Williams
White Walker Army
Falk Boje, Esther Engel, Alexey Kuchinsky, Klaus Wuchta
Hell On Wheels: Blood Moon
Antonio Chang, Jason Fotter, Eric Hayden, Josh Miyaji

Outstanding Compositing in a Commercial
Chevy 2012 Silverado
Dominik Bauch, Nicholas Kim, Benjamin Walsh
Norfolk Southern: City of Possibilities
Tom Bardwell, Chris Bernier, Kyle Cody, Jeff Lopez
Call of Duty: Eclipse - Surprise
Chris Bayol, Steve Beck, Chris Knight, Robert Sethi
Nike: Game On, World
Daniel Marsh, Paul O'Shea

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Special Venue Project
Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem
Heather Drummons, Joel Friesch, Troy Griffin, Chris Hummel
SeaWorld: Turtle Trek 3D/ 360
Timur "Taron" Baysal, Jae Choel Hong, Cecil Magpuri, Michael Roderick
Earthquake: Evidence of a Restless Planet
Matthew Blackwell, Tom Kennedy, Jeroen Lapré, Mike Schmitt
The Ball Unleashed
Gianni Aliotti, Lisa Zusmer Delprete, Marc Dominic Rienzo, Eric Sanford

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Student Project
Voile Noir
Michael Balthazart, Raphaël Gaudin, Clément Granjon De Lepinay, Quentin Sauvinet
Globosome
Sascha Geddert, Johannes Peter, Patrick Schuler, Philipp Wolf
Rollin' Safari
Kyra Buschor, Anna Habermehl, Constantin Päplow
Natalis
Daniel Brkovic, David Kirchner, Jan-Marcel Kuehn