The Visual Effects Society tends to break with other major Hollywood awards shows pretty often, as lots of movies get nominated which aren’t technically all that great, but which had beautiful special effects. Such is the case with Battleship, which took a nomination earlier today for the VES’s top award.The reasons for this are pretty obvious: the VES aren’t celebrating accomplishments in writing a screenplay or acting; they want to celebrate the best visual effects that blow moviegoers away.That said, the other nominees in that category include a couple of movies that have been topping most critics’ year’s-best lists: Marvel’s The Avengers and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Life of Pi and Prometheus rounded out the category, with things like Argo, Game of Thrones and Mockingbird Lane taking nominations in other categories.You can check out the full release below for more details.
Los Angeles – 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 are as follows:Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects-Driven Feature Motion PictureThe Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Joe Letteri Eileen Moran Eric Saindon Kevin L. SherwoodPrometheus Paul Butterworth Charley Henley Allen Maris Richard StammersLife of Pi Thomas Fisher Susan Macleod Guillaume Rocheron Bill WestenhoferThe Avengers Susan Pickett Janek Sirrs Jeff White Guy WilliamsBattleship Grady Cofer Pablo Helman Jeanie King Glen McintoshOutstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Feature Motion PictureRust and Bones Béatrice Bauwens Cédric Fayolle Nicolas Rey Stéphane ThibertThe Impossible Felix Bergés Sandra Hermida Pau Costa MoellerArgo Matt Dessero Leslie Hough Gregory Mcmurry Tom SmithFlight Kevin Baillie Michael Lantieri Chris Stoski Ryan TudhopeZero Dark Thirty Geoff Anderson Chris Harvey Jeremy HattinghOutstanding Visual Effects in a Broadcast ProgramGame of Thrones: Volar Morghulis Rainer Gombos Steve Kullback Sven Martin Juri StanossekOnce Upon A Time: The Stranger Dale Fay Laura Jones Nathan Matsuda Andrew OrloffFalling Skies: Worlds Apart James Hattin Suzanne Maclennan Curt Miller Andrew OrloffCuriosity Nathan Larouche Lon Molnar Geoff Scott Bojan ZoricMunsters: Mockingbird Lane Leslie Ekker Jonah Hall Livia Hanich Jason ZimmermanOutstanding Real-Time Visuals in a Video GameCall of Duty: Black Ops II Jason Blundell Barry Whitney Colin WhitneyHalo 4 Mike Cronin Brien Goodrich Kiki Wolfkill Jon WoodDirt Showdown Peter Asberg Peter Clark Nathan Fisher Julie McgurrenForza Horizon Michel Bastien Terrance Newell Gareth Richards Andrew SageDishonored Viktor Antonov Sebastien Mitton Jean-Luc Monnet Julien RobyOutstanding Animation in an Animated Feature Motion PictureBrave Mark Andrews Steve May Katherine Sarafian Bill WiseParaNorman Chris Butler Sam Fell Travis Knight Brad SchiffRise of the Guardians Nancy Bernstein David Prescott Peter Ramsey Christina SteinbergWreck-It Ralph Sean Jenkins Scott Kersavage Rich Moore Clark SpencerHotel Transylvania Lydia Bottegoni James Crossley Mike Ford Daniel KramerOutstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Broadcast ProgramHemingway & Gellhorn Nathan Abbot Kip Larsen Chris Morley Christopher PaizisBoardwalk Empire: Episode 308 John Bair Parker Chehak Paul Graff Lesley Robson-FosterMen Who Built America: Episode 2 Glenn Allen Matthew Conner Eran Dinur David ReynoldsHell On Wheels: Blood Moon Matt Von Brock Jason Fotter Tim Jacobsen Bill KentHawaii Five-O: La O Na Makuahine Gevork Babityan Jon Howard Armen Kevorkian Ricardo RamirezOutstanding Visual Effects in a CommercialPepsi: Crowd Surfing Martin Aufinger Russell Dodgson Abby Orchard Chris ReddingNike: Biomorph Rafael Colon Aladino Debert David Liu Nicola WisemanLady Gaga: Fame Kait Boehm Juan Gomez Kurt Lawson Greg TeegardenNorfolk Southern: City of Possibilities Chris Bernier Kyle Cody Jeff Lopez Boo WongCall of Duty: Surprise Steve Beck Chris Knight Robert Sethi Christina ThompsonOutstanding Animated Character in a Live Action Feature Motion PictureThe Hobbit: Goblin King Jung Min Chan James Jacobs David Clayton Guillaume FrancoisThe Hobbit: Gollum Gino Acevedo Alessandro Bonora Jeff Capogreco Kevin EsteyThe Avengers: The Hulk Marc Chu John Doublestein Cyrus Jam Jason SmithLife of Pi: Richard Parker Erik De Boer Sean Comer Betsy Asher Hall Kai-Hua LanOutstanding Animated Character in an Animated Feature Motion PictureBrave: Argument Travis Hathaway Olivier Soares Peter Sumanaseni Brian TindallHotel Transylvania: Dracula Bill Haller Tim Pixton Jorge VigaraWreck-It Ralph: Vanellope John Kahwaty Suzan Kim Michelle Robinson Tony SmeedThe Pirates: Band of Misfits Will Becher Jay Grace Loyd PriceOutstanding Animated Character in a Commercial or Broadcast ProgramTed: Jimmy Kimmel Live! James W. Brown Brad Fox Ross Nakamura Jeff WooSinbad: Episode 1 Andy Guest James Moxon James Reid Greg SpencerHallmark: Motherbird Vince Baertsoen Kevin Ives Laurent Makowski Joshua MerckGame of Thrones: Training the Dragons Irfan Celik Florian Friedmann Ingo Schachner Chris StennerOutstanding Created Environment in a Live Action Feature Motion PictureThe Hobbit: Goblin Caverns Ryan Arcus Simon Jung Alastair Maher Anthony M. PattiPrometheus: LV-233 Julien Bolbach Marco Genovesi Martin Riedel Marco RolandiThe Avengers: Midtown Manhattan Richard Bluff Giles Hancock David Meny Andy ProctorLife of Pi: Open Ocean Jason Bayever Sho Hasegawa Jimmy Jewell Walt JonesOutstanding Created Environment in an Animated Feature Motion PictureBrave: The Forest Tim Best Steve Pilcher Inigo Quilez Andy WhittockParaNorman: Graveyard Phil Brotherton Robert Desue Oliver Jones Nick MarianaParaNorman: Main Street Alice Bird Matt Delue Caitlin PashalekRise of the Guardians: The North Pole Eric Bouffard Sonja Burchard Andy Harbeck Peter MaynezOutstanding Virtual Cinematography in a Live Action Feature Motion PictureThe Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Matt Aitken Victor Huang Christian Rivers R. Christopher WhiteThe Avengers: Downtown Manhattan Colin Benoit Jeremy Goldman Tory Mercer Anthony RispoliTotal Recall: Hover Car Chase Daniel Baldwin Mattias Forsstrom Sam Schwier Joshua WassungThe Amazing Spider-Man Rob Engle David Schaub Cosku Turhan Max TyrieOutstanding Models in a Feature Motion PictureThe Avengers: Helicarrier Rene Garcia Bruce Holcomb Polly Ing Aaron WilsonThe Impossible: Orchid Hotel Markus Donhauser Patrick Lehn Angel Martinez Juergen PirmanMen in Black 3: Cape Canaveral / Apollo Launch Craig Feifarek Hee-Chel Nam Erik Neill Taehyun ParkThe Dark Knight Rises: Airplane Heist Scott Beverly Alan Faucher Ian Hunter Steve NewburnOutstanding FX and Simulation Animation in an Animated Feature Motion PictureBrave Chris Chapman Dave Hale Michael K. O’Brien Bill WatralParaNorman: Practical Volumetrics Aidan Fraser Joe Gorski Eric Kuehne Andrew NawrotParaNorman: Angry Aggie Ink-Blot Electricity Michael Cordova Grant Laker Susanna Luck Peter VickeryRise of the Guardians: Last Stand Andy Hayes Carl Hooper Andrew Wheeler Stephen WoodOutstanding Created Environment in a Commercial or Broadcast ProgramSinbad James Moxon Lyndall Spagnoletti Greg Spencer Simon WickerPyke Rene Borst Thilo Ewers Adam Figielski Jonas StuckenbrockCall of Duty: Eclipse – Surprise Chris Bayol Steve Beck Chris Knight Robert Sethi5 Gum RPM: Choose Your Energy Kaan Atilla Kevin Gillen Isaac Irvin Brandon LesterOutstanding Virtual Cinematography in a Commercial or Broadcast ProgramToyota: Real Deal Adam Berg Niles Heckman Ronald Herbst Vernon WilbertHalo 4: Forward Unto Dawn Steven Chen Phil Dakin Paul StodolnyCall of Duty: Eclipse – Surprise Chris Bayol Steve Beck Chris Knight Robert SethiZombiU Dominique Boidin Léon Bérelle Rémi Kozyra Maxime LuèreOutstanding FX and Simulation Animation in a Live Action Feature Motion PictureThe Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Areito Echevarria Chet Leavai Garry Runke Francois SugnyLife of Pi: Storm of God Harry Mukhopadhyay David Stopford Mark Williams Derek WolfeBattleship Florent Andorra Willi Geiger Rick Hankins Florian WitzelLife of Pi: Ocean Jason Bayever David Horsley Scott Townsend Miles VignolOutstanding FX and Simulation Animation in a Commercial or Broadcast ProgramNike: Biomorph Aladino Debert Eric Ebling Ken Mitchel Jones Jason MortimerLast Resort: Captain Matt Von Brock Bruce Coy Junaid Farooq Aldo RuggieroGuinness: Cloud Tom Bussell Neil DaviesNissan Altima: Wouldn’t it be Cool Tim Borgmann David Forcada Aron Hjartarson Shayne RyanOutstanding Compositing in a Feature Motion PictureThe Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Jean-Luc Azzis Steven Mcgillen Christoph Salzmann Charles TaitLife of Pi: Storm of God Ryan Clarke Jose Fernandez Sean Oharas Hamish SchumacherThe Avengers: Hulk Punch Chris Balog Peter Demarest Nelson Sepulveda Alan TravisPrometheus: Engineers & the Orrery Xavier Bourque Sam Cole Simone Riginelli Denis ScolanOutstanding Compositing in a Broadcast ProgramHemingway & Gellhorn Nathan Abbot Shelley Campbell Chris Morley Christopher PaizisLast Resort: Captain Matt Von Brock Jason Fotter Aldo Ruggiero Brian WilliamsWhite Walker Army Falk Boje Esther Engel Alexey Kuchinsky Klaus WuchtaHell On Wheels: Blood Moon Antonio Chang Jason Fotter Eric Hayden Josh MiyajiOutstanding Compositing in a CommercialChevy 2012 Silverado Dominik Bauch Nicholas Kim Benjamin WalshNorfolk Southern: City of Possibilities Tom Bardwell Chris Bernier Kyle Cody Jeff LopezCall of Duty: Eclipse – Surprise Chris Bayol Steve Beck Chris Knight Robert SethiNike: Game On, World Daniel Marsh Paul O’SheaOutstanding Visual Effects in a Special Venue ProjectDespicable Me: Minion Mayhem Heather Drummons Joel Friesch Troy Griffin Chris HummelSeaWorld: Turtle Trek 3D / 360 Timur “Taron” Baysal Jae Choel Hong Cecil Magpuri Michael RoderickEarthquake: Evidence of a Restless Planet Matthew Blackwell Tom Kennedy Jeroen Lapré Mike SchmittThe Ball Unleashed Gianni Aliotti Lisa Zusmer Delprete Marc Dominic Rienzo Eric SanfordOutstanding Visual Effects in a Student ProjectVoile Noir Michael Balthazart Raphaël Gaudin Clément Granjon De Lepinay Quentin SauvinetGlobosome Sascha Geddert Johannes Peter Patrick Schuler Philipp WolfRollin’ Safari Kyra Buschor Anna Habermehl Constantin PäplowNatalis Daniel Brkovic David Kirchner Jan-Marcel Kuehn
