James Cameron’s “Avatar: Fire and Ash” was a huge winner at the Visual Effects Society’s VES Awards, which took place on Wednesday night at the Beverly Hilton.
“Fire and Ash” won seven awards, including one for Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature, the VES category that most closely corresponds to the Oscar for Best Visual Effects.
It was also recognized for Outstanding Character in a Photoreal Feature (the villainess Varang), Outstanding CG Cinematography, Outstanding Environment in a Photoreal Feature, Outstanding Model in a Photoreal or Animated Project, Outstanding Effects Simulation in a Photoreal Feature and with the Emerging Technology Award.
The only category in which the film was nominated but did not win was Outstanding Compositing & Lighting in a Feature, where it had two of the four nominations but lost to the racing scenes in “F1.”
The win makes “Avatar” the second franchise to win the top VES Award three times, placing it behind only the four wins for the “Planet of the Apes” franchise. (The “Lord of the Rings” movies won twice, and most likely would have three wins if the VES Awards had begun in 2002, when “The Fellowship of the Ring” would have been eligible, rather than 2003, when its sequel, “The Two Towers,” won the first VES Award.)
“KPop Demon Hunters” won three awards in the animation categories while “Zootopia 2” won one. “Sinners” won in the Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature category.
In the TV categories, “Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age” and “Andor” won two awards each, while “The Residence” and “The Last of Us” won one.
Over the years, the VES Awards have not been a particularly accurate predictor of the Oscar for Best Visual Effects. The two awards have matched only twice in the last eight years, three times in the last 10 and 12 times in the 23-year history of the VES Awards. (An additional two Oscar winners first won the VES Award for supporting visual effects.)
The first two installments in the “Avatar” franchise, however, are among the films that have won both awards, and “Fire and Ash” is a strong Oscar favorite.
Also at the ceremony, producer Jerry Bruckheimer received the VES Lifetime Achievement Award from “F1” director Joseph Kosinski and saluted the VFX artists in the audience. “You’re the people that we dream about when we go to the movies, when we go into that dark space in the theater, and the work that you do is truly phenomenal,” he said. Wētā Workshop co-founder and Chief Creative Officer Richard Taylor received the VES Visionary Award.
Randy and Jason Sklar hosted the show, with presenters including Oona Chaplin, Haley Joel Osment, Lil Rel Howley and Raphael Saadiq.
The winners:
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature:
“Avatar: Fire and Ash”
Richard Baneham
Peter Litvack
Eric Saindon
Nicky Muir
Steve Ingram
Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature:
“Sinners”
Michael Ralla
James Alexander
Nick Marshall
Espen Nordahl
Donnie Dean
Outstanding Animation in an Animated Feature:
“KPop Demon Hunters”
Joshua Beveridge
Jacky Priddle
Benjamin Hendricks
Clara Chan
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Episode:
“Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age,” “The Big Freeze”
Russell Dodgson
Tracey Gibbons
François Dumoulin
Gavin McKenzie
Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Episode:
“The Residence,” “The Fall of the House of Usher”
Seth Hill
Tesa Kubicek
John Nelson
Gabriel Vargas
Outstanding Visual Arts in a Real-Time Project
“Ghost of Yōtei”
Jason Connell
Matt Vainio
Joanna Wang
Jasmin Patry
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Commercial:
BMW, “Heart of Joy | Meet Okto the Octopus”
Tom Raynor
Helen Tang
Jack Harris
Alex Kulikov
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Special Venue Project:
“The Wizard of Oz at Sphere”
Ben Grossmann
Tamara Watts Kent
Dr. Irfan Essa
Matt Dougan
Glenn Derry
Outstanding Character in a Photoreal Feature:
“Avatar: Fire and Ash,” Varang: Leader of the Ash Clan
Stephen Clee
Stuart Adcock
Keven Norris
Joseph Kim
Outstanding Character in an Animated Feature
“KPop Demon Hunters,” Rumi
Sophia (Seung Hee) Lee
Andrea Matamoros
Marc Souliere
Joshua Beveridge
Outstanding Character in an Episodic, Commercial, Game Cinematic or Real-Time Project:
“It: Welcome to Derry”: “The Thing in the Dark,” The Pickle Monster
Philip Harris-Genois
Pierric Danjou
Chloé Ostiguy
Jonathan Bourdua
Outstanding Environment in a Photoreal Feature:
“Avatar: Fire and Ash,” Bridgehead Industrial City
Gianluca Pizzaia
Steve Bevins
Dziga Kaiser
Zsolt Máté
Outstanding Environment in an Animated Feature:
“Zootopia 2,” Marsh Market
Limei Z. Hshieh
Alexander Nicholas Whang
Joshua Fry
Ryan DeYoung
Outstanding Environment in an Episodic, Commercial, Game Cinematic or Real-Time Project:
“Andor”: “Welcome to the Rebellion,” The Senate District
John O’Connell
Falk Boje
Hasan Ilhan
Kevin George
Outstanding CG Cinematography:
“Avatar: Fire and Ash”
Steve Deane
A.J. Briones
Zachary Brake
Andrew Moffett
Outstanding Model in a Photoreal or Animated Project:
“Avatar: Fire and Ash,” The Windtraders’ Gondola
Michael Smale
Sam Sharplin
Joe W. Churchill
Jacqi Dillon
Outstanding Effects Simulations in a Photoreal Feature:
“Avatar: Fire and Ash,” Simulating Pandora
Nicholas James Illingworth
Sarah C. Farmer
James Robinson
Ryan Bowden
Outstanding Effects Simulations in an Animated Feature:
“KPop Demon Hunters”
Filippo Maccari
Nikolaos Finizio
Daniel La Chapelle
Srdjan Milosevic
Outstanding Effects Simulations in an Episode, Commercial, Game Cinematic or Real-Time Project:
“Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age”: “The Big Freeze”
Edward Ferrysienanda
Kevin Christensen
Guy Schuleman
Kevin Tarpinian
Outstanding Compositing & Lighting in a Feature:
“F1: The Movie,” Modern Race and POV Footage
Hugo Gauvreau
Chris Davies
Raushan Raj
Amaury Rospars
Outstanding Compositing & Lighting in an Episode:
“The Last of Us”: “Through the Valley,” A Storm of Ice, Fire and Flesh
Tobias Wiesner
Mark Julien
Owen Longstaff
Brendan Naylor
Outstanding Compositing & Lighting in a Commercial:
BMW, “Heart of Joy | Meet Okto the Octopus”
Alex Kulikov
Jack Harris
Adam Chabane
Nicola Borsari
Outstanding Special (Practical) Effects in a Photoreal Feature:
“Andor”: “Who Are You?”
Luke Murphy
Dean Ford
Jody Eltham
Darrell Guyon
Emerging Technology Award:
“Avatar: Fire and Ash,” Kora Fire Toolset
Alexey Dmitrievich Stomakhin
John Edholm
Murali Ramachari
Aleksandr Isakov
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Student Project:
“Azimuth”
Thomas Teisseire
Cassandre Cinier
Martin Bluy
Mathis Giraudeau
