"Rango" was the big winner at Tuesday night's VES Awards, winning four awards from the Visual Effects Society for its effects, character creation, created environment and virtual cinematography.
"Rise of the Planet of the Apes" won two awards, including Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects-Driven Feature Motion Picture. That is the VES Award that most often corresponds to the Oscar winner for Visual Effects.
"Hugo" and "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" also won a pair of awards each, with "Hugo" director Martin Scorsese making a surprise appearance on behalf of his film.
Steven Spielberg's "The Adventures of Tintin," which came into the ceremony with the most nominations, did not win anything.
In the television categories, the HBO series "Game of Thrones" and "Boardwalk Empire" each won two awards.
The awards were handed out at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, and were hosted by Patton Oswalt – who also handled the hosting duties at Saturday night's Annie Awards, another event at which "Rango" took home the most awards.
Comic book icon Stan Lee and visual effects pioneer Douglas Trumbull received honorary awards.
The winners:
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects-Driven Feature Motion Picture
"Rise of the Planet of the Apes": Dan Lemmon, Joe Letteri, Cyndi Ochs, Kurt Williams
Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Feature Motion Picture
"Hugo": Ben Grossmann, Alex Henning, Rob Legato, Karen Murphy
Outstanding Visual Effects in an Animated Feature Motion Picture
"Rango": Tim Alexander, Hal Hickel, Jacqui Lopez, Katie Lynch
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Broadcast Miniseries, Movie, or Special
"Inside the Human Body": Phil Dobree, Sophie Orde, Dan Upton
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Broadcast Series
"Terra Nova – Occupation & Resistance": Kevin Blank, Colin Brady, Adica Manis, Jason Zimmerman
Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Broadcast Program
"Game of Thrones – Winter is Coming": Lucy Ainsworth-Taylor, Angela Barson, Ed Bruce, Adam McInnes
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Live Action Commercial
"Dior J'adore": Pascal Giroux, Julien Meesters, Stephane Pivron, Manuel Souillac
Outstanding Visual Effects in an Animated Commercial or Video Game Trailer
"Diablo III: The Black Soulstone": Nicholas S. Carpenter, Graham Cunningham, Chris Thunig, Taka Yasuda
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Outstanding Visual Effects in a Special Venue Project
"Transformers the Ride: The Ultimate 3D Battle": Lori Arnold, Yanick Dusseault, Delio Tramontozzi, Jeff White
Outstanding Animated Character in a Live Action Feature Motion Picture
"Rise of the Planet of the Apes" – Caesar: Daniel Barrett, Florian Fernandez, Matthew Muntean, Eric Reynolds
Outstanding Animated Character in an Animated Feature Motion Picture
"Rango" – Rango: Frank Gravatt, Kevin Martel, Brian Paik, Steve Walton
Outstanding Animated Character in a Broadcast Program or Commercial
"Canal + The Bear": Laurent Creusot, Guillaume Ho, Olivier Mitonneau, Michal Nauzin
Outstanding Created Environment in a Live Action Feature Motion Picture
"Transformers: Dark of the Moon" – 155 Wacker Drive: Giles Hancock, John Hanson, Tom Martinek, Scott Younki
Outstanding Created Environment in an Animated Feature Motion Picture
"Rango" – Main Street Dirt: John Bell, Polly Ing, Martin Murphy, Russell Paul
Outstanding Created Environment in a Broadcast Program or Commercial
"Game of Thrones" – The Icewall: Markus Kuha, Dante Harbridge Robinson, Damien Mac, Fani Vassiadi
Outstanding Virtual Cinematography in a Live Action Feature Motion Picture
"Hugo": Martin Chamney, Rob Legato, Adam Watkins, Fabio Zangla
Outstanding Virtual Cinematography in an Animated Feature Motion Picture
"Rango" – The Dirt Saloon: Colin Benoit, Philippe Rebours, Nelson Sepulveda, Nick Walker
Outstanding Virtual Cinematography in a Broadcast Program or Commercial
"Gears of War 3 – Dust to Dust": Niles Heckman, Richard Morton, Vernon Wilbert Jr.
Outstanding Models in a Feature Motion Picture
"Transformers: Dark of the Moon" – Driller: Tim Brakensiek, Kelvin Chu, David Fogler, Rene Garcia
Outstanding Models in a Broadcast Program or Commercial
"Boardwalk Empire" – Georgia Peaches: Matthew Conner, Eran Dinur, David Reynolds, Szymon Weglarski
Outstanding Compositing in a Feature Motion Picture
"Captain America: The First Avenger" – Skinny Steve: Casey Allen, Trent Claus, Brian Hajek, Cliff Welsh
Outstanding Compositing in a Broadcast Program or Commercial
"Boardwalk Empire" – Gimcrack & Bunkum: Anton Dawson. Eran Dinur, Austin Meyers, David Reynolds
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Student Project
a.maize: Roman Kaelin, Falko Paeper, Florian Wittmann
