Force- ful Showing
Stakes four top VFX honors, with in TV categories at the 14th annual VES Awards.
tar Wars: The Force Awakens won a leading four categories at the 14th annual VES Awards, including Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature, while HBO’s hit series Game of Thrones similarly dominated the TV side, also with four awards.
Presented Feb. 2 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, Pixar’s The Good Dinosaur led animated features with three wins — a tally matched by VFX wins for The Revenant.
Hosted by comedian Patton Oswalt, the show kicked off with VES director Eric Roth mistakenly referring to Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Sir Ridley Scott as “Ridley Thomas,” prompting an evening-long meme of name errors. Presenters included Pete Docter, Zack Snyder, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Terry Crews, Michael Pena, Dennis Haysbert, Portia Doubleday, Erika Christensen and Camilla Luddington.
Highlights included presentation of the VES Visionary Award to futurist and conceptual artists Syd Mead, who has contributed to dozens of films from Scott’s Blade Runner to more-recent films such as Elysium.
“This is phenomenal,” said Mead. “It’s at once humbling and exhilarating.”
Scott delivered a rambling acceptance speech that started with his work on Alien and Blade Runner through The Martian and his next project, the about-to-shoot Alien: Covenant.
“My hat comes off to all you guys and gals, with all your passion and genius and evolving ideas,” said Scott. “You save our asses frequently, let me tell ya,” said Scott. The full list of winners follows. Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature: Star Wars: The Force Awakens — Roger Guyett, Luke O’Byrne, Patrick Tubach, Paul Kavanagh, Chris Corbould Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature: The Revenant — Rich McBride, Ivy Agregan, Jason Smith, Nicolas Chevallier, Visual Effects in an Animated Feature: The Good Dinosaur — Sanjay Bakshi, Denise Ream, Michael Venturini, Jon Reisch Visual Effects in a Real-Time Project: The Order: 1886 — Nathan Phail-Liff, Dana Jan, Anthony Vitale, Scot Andreason Visual Effects in a Photoreal Episode: Game of Thrones, “The Dance of Dragons” — Joe Bauer, Steve Kullback, Eric Carney, Derek Spears, Stuart Brisdon Visual Effects in a Commercial: SSE, “Pier” — Neil Davies, Tim Lyall, Hitesh Patel, Jorge Montiel Visual Effects in a Special Venue Project: Fast and Furious: Supercharged — Chris Shaw, Alysia Cotter, Ben White, Diego Guerrero Created Environment in a Photoreal Feature: Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Falcon Chase / Graveyard — Yanick Dusseault, Mike Wood, Justin van der Lek, Quentin Marmier Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Episode: Vikings, “To the Gates” — Dominic Remane, Bill Halliday, Paul Wishart, Ovidiu Cinazan, Paul Byrne Animated Performance in a Photoreal Feature: The Revenant, “The Bear” — Matt Shumway, Gaelle Morand, Karin Cooper, Leandro Estebecorena Animated Performance in an Animated Feature: Inside Out, “Joy” — Shawn Krause, Tanja Krampfert, Jacob Merrell, Alexis Angelidis Created Environment in an Animated Fea-
matching its tally
ture: The Good Dinosaur, The Farm — David Munier, Matthew Webb, Matt Kuruc, Tom Miller Animated Performance in an Episode, Commercial, or Real-Time Project: SSE, “Pier,” Orangutan — Jorge Montiel, Sauce Vilas, Philippe Moine, Sam Driscoll Created Environment in an Episode, Commercial, or Real-Time Project: Game of Thrones, City of Volantis — Dominic Piche, Christine Leclerc, Patrice Poissant, Thomas Montminy-Brodeur Virtual Cinematography in a Photoreal Project: Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Falcon Chase / Graveyard — Paul Kavanagh, Colin Benoit, Susumu Yukuhiro, Greg Salter Effects Simulations in an Episode, Commercial, or Real-Time Project: Game of Thrones, “Hardhome” — David Ramos, Antonio Lado, Piotr Weiss, Félix Bergés Compositing in a Photoreal Feature: The Revenant, Bear Attack — Donny Rausch, Alan Travis, Charles Lai, TC Harrison Models in a Photoreal or Animated Project: Star Wars: The Force Awakens, “BB-8” — Joshua Lee, Matthew Denton, Landis Fields, Cyrus Jam Effects Simulations in a Photoreal Feature: Mad Max: Fury Road, Toxic Storm — Dan Bethell, Clinton Downs, Chris Young Compositing in a Photoreal Episode: Game of Thrones, “Hardhome” — Eduardo Díaz, Guillermo Orbe, Oscar Perea, Inmaculada Nadela Effects Simulations in an Animated Feature: The Good Dinosaur — Stephen Marshall, Magnus Wrenninge, Michael Hall, Hemagiri Arumugam Compositing in a Photoreal Commercial: SSE, “Pier” — Gary Driver, Greg Spencer, Grant Connor Visual Effects in a Student Project: Citipati — Andreas Feix, Francesco Faranna [
Animag: What is your aim in curating the Cartoons on the Bay festival? Roberto Genovesi: Since 2009, my main goal has been to prove that animation is a language, not a product. A language that can be parsed in seemingly widely separated worlds. Cartoons on the Bay is the first European festival that opened the door to cross-media — a choice made when it seemed a heresy. The aim of the festival is to look beyond the horizon to see the future of animation. Animag: Are there any big changes to the festival this year? Genovesi: This year, the festival turns 20. To celebrate, we decided to establish the children’s prize, because kids are the main target audience of the festival and we need to know not only what the experts think, but what the audience thinks. Animag: What sort of trends are you seeing in this year’s submissions? Genovesi: 3D and CGI are the most-used techniques and, in some cases, the mostabused. I think the choice of technique should depend not on trends but on what you want to communicate and who your audience is. Animag: Are there any special guests lined up? Genovesi: This year, we will have two gurus of audiovisual language: Richard Garriott, the father of online games, and Chris Vogler, the father of animation screenwriting. And, we anticipate the arrival of hundreds of students Animag: Do you have any predictions for the animation industry in the next few years? Genovesi: A change not only in the techniques of realization, but also and above all in the script. A radical change in the concept of the project that puts creative vision and business on the same level. And then, the final and definitive expansion into other, contiguous worlds. [ The official selection for Cartoons on the Bay 2016 will be announced March 31. Responses have been edited for clarity of language.