Competing for feature visual effects are the frontrunning “Dune,” “Godzilla vs. Kong,” “The Matrix Resurrections,” Daniel Craig’s Bond finale, “No Time to Die,” and Marvel’s “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” and “Spider-Man: No Way Home.” All have been shortlisted for the VFX Oscar, with “Dune” as the heavy favorite, in which DNEG supplied windblown sand, raging sandstorms, flying insect-like ornithopters, and the iconic CG sandworms. Supporting visual effects nominees include “Candyman,” “Last Night in Soho,” “Nightmare Alley,” “The Last Duel,” and “The Tragedy of Macbeth.”
The animated feature visual effects race pits “Encanto” against Pixar’s “Luca,” Disney’s “Raya and the Last Dragon,” Universal/Illumination’s “Sing 2,” and Netflix/Sony’s “The Mitchells vs. The Machines.” The magical realism of the Colombian-based “Encanto” has the edge here with its six nominations. “Dune” additionally collected nominations for environment (Arrakeen City), model (Royal Ornithopter), effects simulations (Dunes of Arrakis), compositing & lighting (Attack on Arrakeen and Hologram & Hunter Seeker). “Encanto” additionally earned nominations for animated character (Mirabel Madrigal), environment (Antonio’s Room), CG cinematography (We Don’t Talk about Bruno), model (Casita Madrigal), effects simulations. Disney On the TV side, “Loki” (Journey Into Mystery) competes against Apple TV+’s “Foundation” (The Emperor’s Peace), Netflix’s “Lost in Space” (Trust), HBO’s “The Nevers” (Ignition), and CBS All Access’ “The Stand.” Supporting TV visual effects nominees include Fox’s 9-1-1 Lone Star (Hold the Line), Apple TV+’s “See” (Rock-A-Bye), Netflix’s cultural phenomenon, “Squid Game” (VIPS), Netflix’s DC “Sweet Tooth” (Sorry About All the Dead People), Hulu’s “The Handmaid’s Tale” (Chicago), and Disney+’s “The Mysterious Benedict Society” (A Bunch of Smart Orphans). Lifetime Achievement and Creative Excellence recipients will be announced at a later date. The nominees for the 20th Annual VES Awards in 25 categories are as follow: OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE “Dune” Paul Lambert Brice Parker Tristan Myles Brian Connor Gerd Nefzer “Godzilla vs. Kong” John “D.J.” Des Jardin Tamara Kent Bryan Hirota Kevin Smith Mike Meinardus “The Matrix Resurrections” Dan Glass Nina Fallon Tom Debenham Huw J Evans James Schwalm
“No Time To Die” Charlie Noble Mara Bryan Joel Green Jonathan Fawkner Chris Courbold “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” Christopher Townsend Damien Carr Joe Farrell Sean Walker Dan Oliver “Spider-Man: No Way Home” Kelly Port Julia Neighly Chris Waegner Scott Edelstein Dan Sudick OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE “Candyman” Andrew Zink James McQuaide Josh Simmonds Drew Dir Ryan Evans “Last Night in Soho” Tom Proctor Gavin Gregory Julian Gnass Fabricio Baessa “Nightmare Alley” Dennis Berardi Ryan MacDuff Mark Hammond David Roby Geoff Hill “The Last Duel” Gary Brozenich Helen Judd Jessica Norman Yann Blondel Stefano Pepin “The Tragedy of Macbeth” Alex Lemke Michael Huber Michael Ralla Benedikt Laubenthal OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE “Encanto” Scott Kersavage Bradford Simonsen Thaddeus P. Miller Ian Gooding “Luca” Enrico Casarosa Andrea Warren David Ryu Jon Reisch “Raya and the Last Dragon” Kyle Odermatt Osnat Shurer Kelsey Hurley Paul Felix “Sing 2” Patrick Delage Nathalie Vancauwenberghe Christophe Lourdelet Boris Jacq “The Mitchells vs. The Machines” Alan Hawkins Carey A. Smith Mike Lasker Nicola Lavender OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL EPISODE “Foundation: The Emperor’s Peace” Chris MacLean Addie Manis Mike Enriquez Chris Keller Paul Byrne “Loki: Journey Into Mystery” Dan DeLeeuw Allison Paul Sandra Balej David Seager “Lost in Space: Trust” Jabbar Raisani Terron Pratt Juri Stanossek Niklas Jacobson Paul Benjamin “The Nevers: Ignition” Johnny Han Jack Geist Justin Mitchell Emanuel Fuchs Michael Dawson “The Stand” Jake Braver Phillip Hoffman Laurent Hugueniot Vincent Papaix OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL EPISODE “9-1-1 Lone Star: Hold the Line” Brigitte Bourque Tyler Deck Jason Gottlieb Josephine Noh Elia Popov “See: Rock-A-Bye” Chris Wright Parker Chehak Javier Roca Tristan Zerafa Tony Kenny “Squid Game: VIPS” Jaihoon Jung Hyejin Kim Hyungrok Kim Sungman Jun “Sweet Tooth: Sorry About All the Dead People” Rob Price Danica Tsang Matt Bramante Jayme Vandusen “The Handmaid’s Tale: Chicago” Brendan Taylor Stephen Lebed Kayla Cabral Brannek Gaudet “The Mysterious Benedict Society: A Bunch of Smart Orphans” Philippe Thibault Marie-Pierre Boucher Alexis Belanger Gabriel Beauvais OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A REAL-TIME PROJECT “Battlefield 2042” Anders Egleus Jeremy Chubb Gray Horsfield Sean Ellis “Call of Duty: Vanguard” Sandy Lin-Chiang Joseph Knox Gareth Richards Shane Daley “Forza Horizon 5” Don Arceta Valentyn Minytskyi Conar Cross George Ilenei “Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart” Grant Hollis Yancy Young Steven Russell Sean Applegate “Returnal: Playstation 5” Harry Krueger Tony Salkovuo Risto Jankkila Sharman Jagadeesan
OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A COMMERCIAL “Far Cry 6: Chicharrón Run” Niklas Ström Kajsa Kurtén Nicklas Andersson Adrian Tsang “Lego: Rebuild the World” Fabian Frank Anandi Peiris Kiril Mirkov Platon Filimonov “Lexus: Parking Spot” Alex Thomas Andrew McLintock JD Yepes Clement Renaudin “Sheba: Hope Reef” Grant Walker Sophie Harrison Hernan Llano Michael Baker “Zillow: The Journey” Ben Kwok Ashley Goodwin Oliver Varteressian Yebin Ahn Tom Bussell OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A SPECIAL VENUE PROJECT “Hôtel de la Marine” Franck Lambertz Hugues Allart Olivier Jarry Pierre Jury “Jurassic World Adventure” Eugénie von Tunzelmann Maximilian McNair MacEwan Stephen Goalby Brad Silby OUTSTANDING ANIMATED CHARACTER IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE “Finch: Jeff” Harinarayan Rajeev Matthias Schoenegger Simon Allen Paul Nelson “Flora & Ulysses: Ulysses” Pierre-Loïc Hamon Sachin Tyagi Nandini Nambiar Loïc Mireault “Jungle Cruise: Aguirre” Alexander Lee Claus Pedersen Rasely Ma Gary Wu “Venom: Let There Be Carnage: Carnage” Richard Spriggs Ricardo Silva Lucas Cuenca Federico Frassinelli OUTSTANDING ANIMATED CHARACTER IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE “Encanto: Mirabel Madrigal” Kelly McClanahan Sergi Caballer Mary Twohig Jose Luis “Weecho” Velasquez “Luca: Luca” Gwendelyn Enderoglu Laurie Nguyen Kim Tanja Krampfert Maria Lee “Raya and the Last Dragon: Tuk Tuk” Brian Menz Punn Wiantrakoon Erik Hansen Vicky YuTzu Lin “The Mitchells vs. The Machines: Katie Mitchell” Lindsey Olivares Kurt Judson Soh-I Jeong Rohini Kumar OUTSTANDING ANIMATED CHARACTER IN AN EPISODE OR REAL-TIME PROJECT “Lisey’s Story”; The Long Boy Mohsen Mousavi Salauddin “Sallu” Kazi Mattias Brunosson Pablovsky Ramos-Nieves “Love, Death & Robots”: Snow in the Desert; Hirald Maxime Luere Zoé Pelegrin-Bomel Laura Guerreiro Florent Duport “The Witcher”: Leshy Eskel; Tree Branch Creature Hannes Faupel Stéphane Paccolat Ivan Cadena Ayala Laurent Fortin “The Witcher”: Nivellen the Cursed Man Marko Chulev Rasely Ma Mike Beaulieu Robin Witzsche “Y: The Last Man”; Ampersand Mike Beaulieu Michael Dharney Peter Pi Aidana Sakhvaliyeva OUTSTANDING ANIMATED CHARACTER IN A COMMERCIAL “Avanti West Coast”: Feel Good Travel; Terri Tom Raynor Chloe Dawe Suvi Jokiniemi Alex Doyle “Far Cry 6”: Chicharrón Elin Laven Gustav Ahren Anton Stattin Simon Decombel “France Télévision”: Sumo Geoffroy Barbet-Massin Vincent Venchiarutti Antoine Antin Mathias Lachal “ING”: Do Your Thing; Roary the Lion Chris Welsby Clementine Supiot Kiril Mirkov Arnau Gilabert “Smart Energy”: Einstein Knows Best; Einstein Alex Hammond Harsh Borah Clare Williams Andreas Graichen OUTSTANDING CREATED ENVIRONMENT IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE “Dune”: Arrakeen City Rhys Salcombe Seungjin Woo Jeremie Touzery Marc Austin
“Jungle Cruise”: Waterfall Canyon Mark McNicholl Frédéric Valleur Hamish Beachman Mark Wainwright “Spider-Man: No Way Home”: The Mirror Dimension Eric Le Dieu de Ville Thomas Dotheij Ryan Olliffe Claire Le Teuff “The Suicide Squad”: Valle Del Marre Nick Cattell Jason Desjarlais Matt Fitzgerald Jerome Moo OUTSTANDING CREATED ENVIRONMENT IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE “Encanto”: Antonio’s Room Camille Andre Andrew Finley Chris Patrick O’Connell Amol Sathe “Luca”: Portorosso Piazza Airton Dittz, Jr. Jack Hattori Michael Rutter Joshua West “Raya and the Last Dragon”: Talon Mingjue Helen Chen Chaiwon Kim Virgilio John Aquino Diana Jiang LeVangie “Sing 2”: Crystal Theater Ludovic Ramière Théo Rivoalen Henri Deruer Frédéric Mainil “Vivo”: Mambo Cabana Bertrand Bry-Marfaing Josef Dylan Swift Geeta Basantani Jeremy Kim OUTSTANDING CREATED ENVIRONMENT IN AN EPISODE, COMMERCIAL, OR REAL-TIME PROJECT “Foundation”: Trantor Cityscape Samuel Simanjuntak Melaina Mace Benjamin Ruiz Alessandro Vastalegna “Hawkeye”: Echoes; Manhattan Bridge Nicholas Hodgson David Abbott Nick Cattell Jin Choi “Hawkeye”: Season 1, Episode 6; Rockefeller Center John O’Connell Tiffany Yung Orion Terry Ho Kyung Ahn “Sheba”: Hope Reef Henrique Campanha Baptiste Roy Luca Veronese Timothee Maron OUTSTANDING VIRTUAL CINEMATOGRAPHY IN A CG PROJECT “Encanto”: We Don’t Talk about Bruno Nathan Detroit Warner Dorian Bustamante Tyler Kupferer Michael Woodside “Godzilla vs. Kong”: Ocean Battle Shawn Hull Robert Wiese Steven Tom Eric Petey “Loki”: Lamentis; Race to the Ark Jesse Lewis-Evans Luke Avery Autumn Durald Arkapaw Scott Inkster “Raya and the Last Dragon” Rob Dressel Adolph Lusinsky Paul Felix “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” Sebastian Trujillo Louis-Daniel Poulin Nathan Abbot Shannon Justison OUTSTANDING MODEL IN A PHOTOREAL OR ANIMATED PROJECT “Black Widow”: The Red Room Tristan John Connors Bo Kwon James Stuart Ryan Duhaime “Dune”: Royal Ornithopter Marc Austin Anna Yamazoe Michael Chang Rachael Dunk “Encanto”: Casita Madrigal Jonathan Lin Chris Patrick O’Connell Christoffer Pedersen Alberto Abril “The Suicide Squad”: Jotunheim Simon Dean Morley Cedric Enriquez Canlas Layne Howe Alberto R. S. Hernandez OUTSTANDING EFFECTS SIMULATIONS IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE “Dune”: Dunes of Arrakis Gero Grimm Ivan Larinin Hideki Okano Zuny An “Godzilla vs. Kong”: Ocean Water & Battle Destruction Jonathan Freisler Nahuel Alberto Letizia Eloi Andaluz Fullà Saysana Rintharamy “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings”: Water, Bubbles & Magic Simone Riginelli Claude Schitter Teck Chee Koi Arthur Graff “The Suicide Squad”: Corto Maltese City Destruction David R. Davies Rogier Fransen Sandy Sutherland Brandon James Fleet
OUTSTANDING EFFECTS SIMULATIONS IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE “Encanto” Francisco Rodriguez Christopher Hendryx Brent Burley David Hutchins “Luca” Amit Baadkar Greg Gladstone Emron Grover Tim Speltz “Raya and the Last Dragon” Le Joyce Tong Henrik Fält Rattanin Sirinaruemarn Jacob Rice “Sing 2” Richard Adenot Guillaume Gay Frédéric Valz-Gris Antoine Brémont OUTSTANDING EFFECTS SIMULATIONS IN AN EPISODE, COMMERCIAL, OR REAL-TIME PROJECT “Foundation”: Collapse of the Galactic Empire Giovanni Casadei Mikel Zuloaga Steven Moor Louis Manjarres “Loki”: Journey Into Mystery; Alioth Cloud George Kuruvilla Menno Dijkstra Matthew Hanger Jiyong Shin “The Nevers” David Stopford Michele Stocco Mike Hsu Justin Mitchell “WandaVision”: Vision’s Destruction Sylvain Nouveau Hakim Harrouche Omar Meradi Laurent Meste OUTSTANDING COMPOSITING & LIGHTING IN A FEATURE “Black Widow”: Red Room Crashing Back to Earth Michael Melchiorre Simon Twine Daniel Harkness Tim Crowson “Dune”: Attack on Arrakeen Gregory Haas Francesco Dell’Anna Abhishek Chaturvedi Cleve Zhu “Dune”: Hologram & Hunter Seeker Patrick Heinen Jacob Maymudes Tj Burke James Jooyoung Lee “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings”: Macau City Jeremie Maheu Mathieu Dupuis Karthic Ramesh Jiri Kilevnik “Spider-Man: No Way Home”: Liberty Island Battle & Christmas Swing Finale Zac Campbell Frida Nerdal Louis Corr Kelvin Yee OUTSTANDING COMPOSITING & LIGHTING IN AN EPISODE “Loki”: Lamentis; Shuroo City Destruction Paul Chapman Tom Truscott Biagio Figliuzzi Attila Szalma “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier”: New World Order Nathan Abbot Beck Veitch Markus Reithoffer James Aldous “WandaVision”: Goodbye, Vision David Zaretti Bimpe Alliu Michael Duong Mark Pascoe “WandaVision”: The Hex Charles Labbé Xavier Fourmond Reuben Barkataki Vanessa Delarosbil OUTSTANDING COMPOSITING & LIGHTING IN A COMMERCIAL Toyota – “Never Stop” Michael Ralla Alejandro Villabon Alexander Osvaldsson Paul Krist Toyota – “Upstream” JD Yepes Paul Krist Carlos Adarraga Gomez Minsang Lee Verizon: “The Reset” David Piombino Rajesh Kaushik Manideep Sanisetty Tim Crean Zillow: “The Journey” Ben Kwok Yebin Ahn Robert Bruce Tuna Unalan OUTSTANDING SPECIAL (PRACTICAL) EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL PROJECT “Eternals” Neil Corbould Keith Corbould Ray Ferguson Chris Motjuoadi “Jungle Cruise” JD Schwalm Nick Rand Robert Spurlock Nick Byrd “The Matrix Resurrections” JD Schwalm Brendon O’Dell Michael Kay Pau Costa Moeller “The Tomorrow War” JD Schwalm Wayne Rowe Jim Schwalm Haukur Karlsson OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A STUDENT PROJECT “Green” Camille Poiriez Arielle Cohen Eloise Thibaut Louis Florean “Le Souffleur de Rêves” Lea Desrozier Paul Denis Gregoire Hoarau Lisa Ripper “Neoshin” Episode 01: Cold Blood Sebastian Selg Ramon Schauer Jiayan Chen Bea Hoeller
“Relativity” Hugo Astesano Loïc Ciaux Guillaume Hulot Loïc Remy Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here.
