Toys, battle angels and photoreal lions dominate the VES Awards
Tuesday, January 7, 2020 at 8:54PM by Nathaniel R
Alita Battle Angel, The Lion King and Toy Story 4 led the pack at the annual Visual Effects Society nominations though Toy Story 4 is not one of the finalists for the Visual Effects Oscar. (Inexplicably the Oscar finals had to make room for Cats which received zero nominations from the VES.) Sadly the VES completely ignored Ad Astra which was an unfortunate miss for the Oscar finalist list and suffers a further indignity here. What's a beautiful well reviewed sci-fi drama gotta do to get some respect?
The nominations and a few comments are after the jump...
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature
“Alita: Battle Angel”
“Avengers: Endgame”
“Gemini Man”
“Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker”
“The Lion King”
Hmmm, no Terminator Dark Fate?
Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature
“1917”
“Ford v Ferrari”
“Joker”
“The Aeronauts”
“The Irishman”
They really dug de-aging this year (see also Gemini Man in the main category)
Outstanding Visual Effects in an Animated Feature
“Frozen II”
“Klaus”
“Missing Link”
“The Lego Movie 2”
“Toy Story 4”
Not the best film in the mix but the visual effects in Frozen II were something else, weren't they?
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Episode
“Game of Thrones”: “The Bells”
“His Dark Materials”: “The Fight to the Death”
“Lady and the Tramp”
“Lost in Space”: Episode: Ninety-Seven
“Stranger Things”: “Chapter Six: E Pluribus Unum”
“The Mandalorian”: “The Child”
Everybody loves Baby Yoda.
Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Episode
“Chernobyl”: 1:23:45
“Living With Yourself”: “Nice Knowing You”
“See”: “Godflame”
“The Crown”: “Aberfan”
“Vikings”: “What Happens in the Cave”
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Real-Time Project
“Call of Duty Modern Warfare”
“Control”
“Gears 5”
“Myth: A Frozen Tale”
“Vader Immortal: Episode I”
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Commercial
Anthem “Conviction”
BMW “Legend”
Hennessy: “The Seven Worlds”
PlayStation: “Feel The Power of Pro”
Purdey’s: “Hummingbird”
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Special Venue Project
“Avengers: Damage Control”
“Jurassic World: The Ride”
“Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run”
“Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance”
“Universal Sphere”
Outstanding Animated Character in a Photoreal Feature
“Alita: Battle Angel”: Alita
“Avengers: Endgame”: Smart Hulk
“Gemini Man”: Junior
“The Lion King”: Scar
Outstanding Animated Character in an Animated Feature
“Frozen II”: The Water Nøkk
“Klaus”: Jesper
“Missing Link”: Susan
“Toy Story 4”: Bo Peep
What a great lineup of characters, huh?
Outstanding Animated Character in an Episode or Real-Time Project
“Lady and the Tramp”: Tramp
“Stranger Things 3”: Tom/Bruce Monster
“The Mandalorian”: The Child; Mudhorn
“The Umbrella Academy”: Pilot; Pogo
Outstanding Animated Character in a Commercial
“Apex Legend”: Meltdown; Mirage
“Churchill”: Churchie
“Cyberpunk 2077”: Dex
“John Lewis”: Excitable Edgar; Edgar
Outstanding Created Environment in a Photoreal Feature
“Aladdin”: Agrabah
“Alita: Battle Angel”: Iron City
“Motherless Brooklyn”: Penn Station
“Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker”: Pasaana Desert
“The Lion King”: The Pridelands
Outstanding Created Environment in an Animated Feature
“Frozen II”: Giants’ Gorge
“How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World”: The Hidden World
“Missing Link”: Passage to India Jungle
“Toy Story 4”: Antiques Mall
Outstanding Created Environment in an Episode, Commercial, or Real-Time Project
“Game of Thrones”: The Iron Throne; Red Keep Plaza
“Lost in Space”: Precipice; The Trench
“The Dark Crystal: The Age of Resistance”: The Endless Forest
"The Mandalorian”: Nevarro Town
Outstanding Virtual Cinematography in a CG Project
“Alita: Battle Angel”
“The Lion King”
“The Mandalorian”: The Prisoner; The Roost
“Toy Story 4”
Outstanding Model in a Photoreal or Animated Project
“Lost in Space”: The Resolute
“Missing Link”: The Manchuria
“The Man in the High Castle”: Rocket Train
“The Mandalorian”: The Sin; The Razorcrest
Outstanding Effects Simulations in a Photoreal Feature
“Dumbo”: Bubble Elephants
“Spider-Man: Far From Home”: Molten Man
“Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker”
“The Lion King”
Outstanding Effects Simulations in an Animated Feature
“Abominable”
“Frozen II”
“How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World”: Water and Waterfalls
“Toy Story 4”
Outstanding Effects Simulations in an Episode, Commercial, or Real-Time Project
“Game of Thrones”: The Bells
“Hennessy: The Seven Worlds”
“Lost in Space”: Precipice; Water Planet
“Stranger Things 3”: Melting Tom/Bruce
“The Mandalorian”: The Child; Mudhorn
Outstanding Compositing in a Feature
“Alita: Battle Angel”
“Avengers: Endgame”
“Captain Marvel”: Young Nick Fury
“Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker”
“The Irishman”
Outstanding Compositing in an Episode
“Game of Thrones”: The Bells
“Game of Thrones”: The Long Night; Dragon Ground Battle
“Stranger Things 3”: Starcourt Mall Battle
“Watchmen”: Pilot; Looking Glass
Outstanding Compositing in a Commercial
“BMW Legend”
“Feeding America; I Am Hunger in America”
“Hennessy; The Seven Worlds”
“PlayStation: Feel the Power of Pro”
Outstanding Special (Practical) Effects in a Photoreal or Animated Project
“Aladdin”: Magic Carpet
“Game of Thrones”: The Bells
“Terminator: Dark Fate”
“The Dark Crystal: The Age of Resistance”: “She Knows All the Secrets”
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Student Project
“Downfall”
“Love and Fifty Megatons”
“Oeil Pour Oeil”
“The Beauty”
As a reminder there are ten finalists for the VISUAL EFFECTS OSCAR and here's how they fared with the VES...
5 nominations each
Alita Battle Angel
The Lion King
4 nominations
Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker
3 nominations
Avengers Endgame
2 nominations each
Gemini Man
The Irishman
1 nomination each
1917
Terminator Dark Fate
Captain Marvel
zero nominations
Cats
Reader Comments (4)
It's my understanding that the de-aging in "Gemini Man" was done quite differently than in other movies (e.g. "The Irishman", "Captain Marvel"); in other movies, they basically film the actor as-is and then de-age the image - like digital makeup. For "Gemini Man", they did something more like an Andy Serkis character, where they had Will Smith act out the scenes and then used that to basically create a puppet from that performance.
The blanket dismissal of AD ASTRA this year has been absolutely mystifying and indefensible.
AD ASTRA and THE WANDERING EARTH are so above and beyond most of these movies, it's just nuts. CAPTAIN MARVEL had the best de-aging of the bunch this year. THE GREAT HACK had vivid effects that were truly 'supporting' but it's a documentary so they probably don't even count. I don't understand visual effects in computer animated movies. Aren't they just... animations? Stuff like MISSING LINK I get because they're supporting a real creation. But what's the difference between visual effects in an animated movie and just the animation? Ugh.
"The Irishman " fx work was horrendous