Avatar: Fire and Ash won the Visual Effects Association Award for Best Photorealistic VFX at the 24th Annual Visual Effects Association Awards.
The film, which swept 10 nominations, won a total of seven awards, including Outstanding Photorealistic Feature Character for Oona Chaplin’s Varan, Outstanding CG Cinematography, and Emerging Technology Award for Kora Fire Toolset.
Avatar: Fire and Ash required more than 3,000 total visual effects shots. And since this was the third movie in the series, the team stepped up their game. Eric Saindon, visual effects supervisor at Weta FX, says that apart from character animation improvements, fire is one of the most difficult visual effects to get right from a technology perspective. Not only do people know what fire looks like, but it never looks the same. “Every time you see a fire, it can dance a little bit differently or burn a different color depending on its environment.” That meant ensuring the right amount of fuel and oxygen was available at the scene of the fire to properly extinguish it. “You can tell the size by the size of the embers,” he told Variety.
“KPop Demon Hunters” won three awards, including the top award for Outstanding Animation in the Feature Animation category and the Outstanding Character Award in the Animation Feature category for Rumi.
“Zootopia 2” won Marsh Market’s Outstanding Environmental Award for Animated Features. In building that biome, co-director Jared Bush told Variety, “Marsh Market is for semi-aquatic animals, it’s for marine mammals.” He added that it would be a very comfortable place for beavers, which are good both in the water and on land.
“Sinners” received an award for outstanding auxiliary visual effects in a photorealistic feature film.
“VES is honored to recognize brilliant artistry and innovation across a wide range of fields,” said Kim Davidson, VES Board Chair. “Visual effects technology is constantly evolving to push the limits of our imagination, and tonight’s inspiring winners and nominees represent best-in-class work from around the world. Congratulations, everyone!”
In television, “Andor” won two awards, including Outstanding Special (Practical) Effects in a Photorealistic Project. “Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age” also won two awards for outstanding visual effects for photorealistic episodes.
Comedy duo Randy and Jason Sklar (The Sklar Brothers) hosted the 24th Annual VES Awards for the second year in a row.
This year’s special winners include film producer Jerry Bruckheimer, winner of the VES Lifetime Achievement Award, and Sir Richard Taylor, co-founder and chief creative officer of Wētā Workshop, winner of the VES Visionary Award.
In his speech, Mr. Bruckheimer said, “You create the magic. You create the purpose for people to go to the theater. You are the people we dream about when we go to the movies, when we walk into that dark space of the theater. And your work is truly phenomenal.”
The VES Awards were held on February 25th at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles.
Below is the complete list of winners for the 24th Annual VES Awards.
Excellent visual effects in photographic works
“Avatar: Fire and Ash”
Richard Baneham
Peter Litvak
Eric Saindon
nicky muir
steve ingram
Excellent support visual effects in photo works
“Sinners”
michael lara
james alexander
nick marshall
Espen Nordahl
donnie dean
Great animation with animation features
“KPop Demon Hunters”
joshua beveridge
Jackie Priddle
benjamin hendricks
clara chan
Excellent visual effects in photo episodes
Prehistoric planet: ice age. “Big Freeze”
Russell Dodgson
Tracy Gibbons
François Dumoulin
gavin mackenzie
Excellent auxiliary visual effects in photo episodes
Residence; “The Fall of the House of Usher”
Seth Hill
Tessa Kubicek
John Nelson
Gabriel Vargas
Great visual art in real-time projects
“Ghost of Yotei”
Jason Connell
matt vainio
Joanna Wang
Jasmine Patry
Great visual effects in commercials
BMW; “Heart of Joy | Meet Octo the Octopus”
tom rayner
Helen Tan
jack harris
Alex Kulikov
Outstanding visual effects for special venue projects
wizard of oz sphere
ben grossman
tamara watts kent
Dr. Irfan Essa
matt dogan
Glen Derry
Outstanding people featured in photos
“Avatar: Fire and Ash”; Varan: Leader of the Ashe clan
Stephen Cree
stuart adcock
Keven Norris
joseph kim
Outstanding characters from animated works
“KPop Demon Hunter”; Rumi
Sophia (Seung Hee) Lee
andrea centeno
marc sourière
joshua beveridge
A standout character in an episode, commercial, game film, or real-time project.
It: Welcome to Delhi. “What’s in the Dark” Pickle Monster
philip harris genoa
Pierrick Danjo
chloe ostigai
Jonathan Bourdour
Expressing the excellent environment in photos
“Avatar: Fire and Ash” Beachhead Industrial City
Gianluca Pizzaia
steve bevins
Jigga Kaiser
Solt Mate
Great environment with animation features
“Zootopia 2”; Marsh Market
Laimei Z. Shay
Alexander Nicholas Wang
joshua fry
ryan deyoung
Great environments for episodes, commercials, game movies, or real-time projects
Andor. “Welcome to the Rebellion” Senate District
John O’Connell
Folk Bauge
Hasan Ilhan
kevin george
Excellent CG cinematography
“Avatar: Fire and Ash”
steve dean
AJ Briones
Zachary Brake
Andrew Moffett
Excellent model for photo or animation projects
“Avatar: Fire and Ash”; Windtraders Gondola
michael smail
Sam Sharplin
Joe W. Churchill
Jackie Dillon
Great simulation of effects in photo features
“Avatar: Fire and Ashes”; Pandora Simulation
Nicholas Illingworth
Sarah C. Farmer
james robinson
ryan bowden
Great simulation of effects with animation features
“KPop Demon Hunters”
Filippo Maccari
Nikolaos Finizio
Daniel La Chapelle
Srdjan Milosevic
Great effects simulation for episodes, commercials, game movies, or real-time projects
“Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age”; Big Freeze
Edward Felicienanda
Kevin Christensen
Guy Schulman
Kevin Tarpinian
Excellent compositing and lighting in features
“F1: The Movie”; modern racing and POV footage
Hugo Gauvreau
chris davis
Raushan Raj
Amaury Rosparz
Excellent compositing and lighting within the episode
The Last of Us; “Through the Valley” A Storm of Ice, Fire, and Flesh
tobias wizner
mark julian
owen longstaff
Brendan Naylor
Superior compositing and lighting in commercials
BMW; “Heart of Joy | Meet Octo the Octopus”
Alex Kulikov
jack harris
Adam Chabane
nicola borsari
Great special (practical) effects for your photo projects
Andor. “Who are you?”
luke murphy
dean ford
Jody Eltham
Darrell Guyon
Emerging Technology Award
“Avatar: Fire and Ash”; Korra Fire Tool Set
Alexei Dmitrievich Stomakin
John Edholm
Murali Ramachari
Alexander Isakov
Great visual effects for student projects
“Azimuth”
Thomas Teseire
Cassandre Sinier
Martin Bluey
Matisse Girodeau
