“Avatar: Fire and Ash” has won the top Visual Effects Society Award for outstanding VFX in a photoreal feature at the 24th Visual Effects Society Awards.
The film which dominated with 10 nominations, took home seven awards in total including outstanding character in a photoreal feature for Varang (played by Oona Chaplin, outstanding CG cinematography, and the Emerging Technology Award, given to the Kora Fire Toolset.
In total, “Avatar: Fire and Ash” needed over 3,000 visual effects shots. And since this was the third film in the franchise, the team upped their game. Aside from improving character animation, visual effects supervisor Eric Saindon at Weta FX says, technology-wise, fire was one of the hardest things to do properly in visual effects. Not only do people know what fire looks like, but it never looks the same. “Every time you look at a fire, it could dance a little differently depending on the environment it’s in or burn a different color.” That meant that any scene with fire required them to ensure they were pushing the right amount of fuel and oxygen to get the fire right. “The scale of the embers gives the idea of size,” he told Variety.
“KPop Demon Hunters” won three awards, including the top prize of outstanding animation in an animated feature, and outstanding character in an animated feature for Rumi.
“Zootopia 2” won outstanding environment in an animated feature for Marsh Market. 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, who are adept in water and on land.
“Sinners” won the award for outstanding supporting visual effects in a photoreal feature.
“The VES is honored to recognize brilliant artistry and technological innovation across a wide range of disciplines,” said VES Board Chair, Kim Davidson. “The craft of visual effects is constantly evolving to push the limits of our imaginations, and tonight’s inspiring winners and nominees represent best-in-class work from around the world. Congratulations to all!”
In TV, “Andor” took home two awards including outstanding special (practical) effects in a photoreal project. “Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age” also nabbed two awards taking home the prize for outstanding visual effects in a photoreal episode.
Comedy duo Randy and Jason Sklar (the Sklar Brothers) hosted the 24th Annual VES Awards for the second consecutive year.
This year’s special honorees included film producer Jerry Bruckheimer receiving the VES Lifetime Achievement Award, and Wētā Workshop co-founder and Chief Creative Officer Sir Richard Taylor receiving the VES Visionary Award.
In his speech, Bruckheimer said, “You create the magic. You create the things that people go to theaters for. 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.”
The VES Awards were held on Feb. 25 at The Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles.
Below is the full list of winners for the 24th Annual VES Awards:
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
Francois 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 Centeno
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
Chloe 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
AJ 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 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 PROJECT
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