The 19th Annual VES Awards, presented by the Visual Effects Society (VES), were handed out on Tuesday night, April 6, 2021, to celebrate the outstanding visual effects artistry and innovation in film, animation, television, commercials and video games and the VFX supervisors, VFX producers and hands-on artists who bring this work to life.
The Visual Effects Society presented what could be this season’s virtual awards ceremony to beat in a fun online platform filled with VES members from all over the globe, chattering and cheering on the nominees and winners, showing the true camaraderie amongst the VFX field.
Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios’ Soul took home the most VES Awards of the night, essentially winning every single Animated category for five awards total. Lucasfilm‘s The Mandalorian, which received the most overall nominations, took home three VES Awards total, including “Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Episode.”
It was a particularly good night for Netflix, as Oscar Visual Effects nominee, The Midnight Sky, and Project Power received two VES Awards apiece, while David Fincher‘s Mank also received one for “Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects.” Walt Disney Pictures‘s Mulan and The One and Only Ivan, both nominated at the Oscars for Achievement in Visual Effects, each received one.
Sacha Baron Cohen presented the VES Award for Creative Excellence to Rob Legato, ASC (Hugo, Titanic, Apollo 13, The Jungle Book), while actors Andy Serkis, Ian McKellen, Naomi Watts, Cate Blanchett, Elijah Wood, filmmakers James Cameron and Jon Landau and many of the VFX artists (many from Weta Digital), all whom have worked with Director Peter Jackson, presented the VES Lifetime Achievement award to their long-time collaborator. (Check back on Wednesday for quotes from their acceptance speeches.
All of the night’s winners and the awards presenters are below.
Filmmaker Zack Snyder presented the final two categories of the night.
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature
The Midnight Sky
Matt Kasmir
Greg Baxter
Chris Lawrence
Max Solomon
David Watkins
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Episode
The Mandalorian; The Marshal
Joe Bauer
Abbigail Keller
Hal Hickel
Actor Danny DeVito presented two more Outstanding Visual Effects categories:
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Commercial
Walmart; Famous Visitors
Chris “Badger” Knight
Lori Talley
Yarin Mares
Matt Fuller
Outstanding Visual Effects in an Animated Feature
Soul
Pete Docter
Dana Murray
Michael Fong
Bill Watral Richard Bluff
Roy Cancino
Coincidentally, Soul director Pete Docter from Pixar was on-hand to present the next few categories:
Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Episode
The Crown; Gold Stick
Ben Turner
Reece Ewing
Andrew Scrase
Jonathan Wood
Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature
Mank
Wei Zheng
Peter Mavromates
Simon Carr
James Pastorius
Actor Demian Bichir presented the next few categories:
Outstanding Virtual Cinematography in a CG Project
Soul
Matt Aspbury
Ian Megibben
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Real-Time Project
Ghost of Tsushima
Jason Connell
Matt Vainio
Jasmin Patry
Joanna Wang
Actor Colman Domingo (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom) presented two animated character categories.
Outstanding Animated Character in an Animated Feature
Soul; Terry
Jonathan Hoffman
Jonathan Page
Peter Tieryas
Ron Zorman
Outstanding Animated Character in an Episode or Real-Time Project
The Mandalorian; The Jedi; The Child
John Rosengrant
Peter Clarke
Scott Patton
Hal Hickel
The Walking Dead’s Lauren Cohan presented the next two animated character categories.
Outstanding Animated Character in a Commercial
Arm & Hammer; Once Upon a Time; Tuxedo Tom
Shiny Rajan
Silvia Bartoli
Matias Heker
Tiago Dias Mota
Outstanding Animated Character in a Photoreal Feature
The One and Only Ivan; Ivan
Valentina Rosselli
Thomas Huizer
Andrea De Martis
William Bell
Actress Jenna Elfman presented all three “Created Environment” categories:
Outstanding Created Environment in a Photoreal Feature
Mulan; Imperial City
Jeremy Fort
Matt Fitzgerald
Ben Walker
Adrian Vercoe
Outstanding Created Environment in an Animated Feature
Soul; You Seminar
Hosuk Chang
Sungyeon Joh
Peter Roe
Frank Tai
Outstanding Created Environment in an Episode, Commercial, or Real-Time Project
The Mandalorian; The Believer; Morak Jungle
Enrico Damm
Johanes Kurnia
Phi Tran
Tong Tran
Marcus Scribner presented the “Model in a Photoreal or Animated Project” category.
Outstanding Model in a Photoreal or Animated Project
The Midnight Sky; Aether
Michael Balthazart
Jonathan Opgenhaffen
John-Peter Li
Simon Aluze
Chris Sullivan from This Is Us presented the next three categories for Outstanding Effects Simulations.
Outstanding Effects Simulations in a Photoreal Feature
Project Power
Yin Lai Jimmy Leung
Jonathan Edward Lyddon-Towl
Pierpaolo Navarini
Michelle Lee
Outstanding Effects Simulations in an Animated Feature
Soul
Alexis Angelidis
Keith Daniel Klohn
Aimei Kutt
Melissa Tseng
Outstanding Effects Simulations in an Episode, Commercial, or Real-Time Project
Lovecraft Country; Strange Case; Chrysalis
Federica Foresti
Johan Gabrielsson
Hugo Medda
Andreas Krieg
The compositing awards were given out by Anson Mount from Star Trek: Discovery.
Outstanding Compositing in a Feature
Project Power
Russell Horth
Matthew Patience
Julien Rousseau
Outstanding Compositing in an Episode
Lovecraft Country; Strange Case; Chrysalis
Viktor Andersson
Linus Lindblom
Mattias Sandelius
Crawford Reilly
Outstanding Compositing in a Commercial
Burberry; Singin’ In the Rain
Alex Lovejoy
Mithun Alex
David Filipe
Amresh Kumar
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Special Venue Project
The Bourne Stuntacular
Salvador Zalvidea
Tracey Gibbons
George Allan
Matthías Bjarnason
Scott Smith
Outstanding Special (Practical) Effects in a Photoreal or Animated Project
Fear the Walking Dead; Bury Her Next to Jasper’s Leg
Frank Iudica
Scott Roark
Daniel J. Yates
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Student Project (presented by Autodesk)
Migrants
Antoine Dupriez
Hugo Caby
Lucas Lermytte
Zoé Devise
You can read interviews and watch all of the amazing student projects here.
