VES Awards Winners: ‘Star Wars’ Takes Top Prize

VES Awards Winners 2016 — Courtesy of Lucasfilm Ltd.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens topped the feature competition of the 14th annual Visual Effects Society Awards on Tuesday night, winning four trophies, including the top category of outstanding VFX in a photoreal feature in addition to outstanding models, created environments and virtual cinematography.

The ceremony was held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles.

The Revenant took home three trophies in the categories of best supporting VFX, outstanding animated performance (for the bear) and best compositing (for the bear attack).

Mad Max: Fury Road won in the category for effects simulation.

Star Wars, The Revenant and Fury Road, along with Ex Machina and The Martian, are nominated for this year's Oscar in the VFX category. In nine of the 13 previous years, the winner of the VES Award in the top category (previously called outstanding VFX in a VFX-driven feature) went on to win the Oscar for VFX. Once, for Hugo, the Oscar went to the winner in the VES category for outstanding supporting VFX.

The Good Dinosaur won the most awards in the animated feature competition, with three honors including for outstanding VFX in an animated feature.

In the television competition, Game of Thrones won four awards, including outstanding VFX in a photoreal episode, as well as for created environment, compositing and effects simulation.

During the ceremony, actress Kate Mara presented filmmaker Ridley Scott with the VES' Lifetime Achievement Award, and VFX veteran Scott Ross presented the Visionary Award to visual futurist and conceptual artist Syd Mead.

In all, VES presented awards in 23 categories, including features, television, animation, video games and other forms of content. The list of winners follows:

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature

Image Credit: Courtesy of Lucasfilm

Star Wars: The Force Awakens (WINNER)
Roger Guyett
Luke O'Byrne
Patrick Tubach
Paul Kavanagh
Chris Corbould

Furious 7
Mike Wassel
Karen Murphy
Martin Hill
Kevin McIlwain
Dan Sudick

San Andreas
Colin Strause
Randall Starr
Bryan Grill
Nordin Rahhali
Brian Cox

Mad Max: Fury Road
Andrew Jackson
Holly Radcliffe
Tom Wood
Dan Oliver
Andy Williams

The Martian
Richard Stammers
Barrie Hemsley
Matt Sloan
Chris Lawrence
Steven Warner
Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature

Image Credit: 'Revenant,' Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox

The Revenant (WINNER)
Rich McBride
Ivy Agregan
Jason Smith
Nicolas Chevallier
Cameron Waldbauer

In the Heart of the Sea
Jody Johnson
Leslie Lerman
Sean Stranks
Bryan Hirota
Mark Holt

Bridge of Spies
Sven Martin
Jennifer Meislohn
Charlie Noble
Sean Stranks
Gerd Nefzer

The Walk
Kevin Baillie
Camille Cellucci
Viktor Muller
Sebastien Moreau

Everest
Dadi Einarsson
Roma O'Connor
Matthias Bjarnasson
Glen Pratt
Richard Van Den Bergh
Outstanding Visual Effects in an Animated Feature

Image Credit: Courtesy of Pixar/Disney

The Good Dinosaur (WINNER)
Sanjay Bakshi
Denise Ream
Michael Venturini
Jon Reisch

The Peanuts Movie
Steve Martino
Michael J. Travers
Nick Bruno
Scott Carroll

Inside Out
Michael Fong
Jonas Rivera
Victor Navone
Paul Mendoza

Anomalisa
Derek Smith
Rosa Tran
Joe Passarelli
John Joyce

Hotel Transylvania 2
Karl Herbst
Skye Lyons
Alan Hawkins
Genndy Tartakovsky
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Real-Time Project

Image Credit: Courtesy of Sony Computer Entertainment

The Order: 1886 (WINNER)
Nathan Phail-Liff
Dana Jan
Anthony Vitale
Scot Andreason

Halo 5: Guardians
Nicolas Bouvier
Jon Wood
Brien Goodrich
Matt Aldridge

The Hobbit: A Thief in the Shadows
Alasdair Coull
Daniel Smith
Nick Donaldson
Tim Elek

Destiny: The Taken King
Michael Zak
Mark Noseworthy
Stephen Scott
Dave Matthews

Assassin's Creed Syndicate
Thierry Dansereau
Francois Pelland
Marc-Andre Clermont
Mathieu Chouinard
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Episode

Image Credit: Courtesy of HBO

Game of Thrones; The Dance of Dragons (WINNER)
Joe Bauer
Steve Kullback
Eric Carney
Derek Spears
Stuart Brisdon

Nezlamna; Sea Dogfight
Dmitriy Ovcharenko
Igor Klimovsky
Egor Borschevsky
Vladimir Mikheyenko

Childhood's End; Night Three
Kevin Blank
Adica Manis
Niklas Jacobson
Glenn Melenhorst

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell; Arabella
Jean-Claude Deguara
Natalie Reid
Nicolas Hernandez
Sara Bennett

The Strain; Identity
Dennis Berardi
Luke Groves
Matt Glover
Trey Harrell
Warren Appleby
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Commercial

Image Credit: Screengrab

SSE; Pier (WINNER)
Neil Davies
Tim Lyall
Hitesh Patel
Jorge Montiel

Ikea; T-shirts
Diarmid Harrison Murray
Julie Evans
Tom Harding
Tim van Hussen

Halo 5; The Hunt Begins
Benjamin Walsh
Pip Malone
Brian Burke
Ian Holland

Audi; Birth
Andrew Proctor
Gemma Humphries
Mike Chapman
Gianluca Di Marco

Game of War; Rooftop Alliance
David Lawson
Erin Hicke
Becky Porter
Krystal Sae Eua
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Special Venue Project

Image Credit: Courtesy of Universal Studios Hollywood

Fast and Furious: Supercharged (WINNER)
Chris Shaw
Alysia Cotter
Ben White
Diego Guerrero

Goosebumps VR Adventure
Jason Schugardt
Mike Wigart
Alex Harding
Daniel Marsh

Nike; The Neymar Jr. Effect
Janelle Croshaw
Ian Markiewicz
Lou Pecora
Aruna Inversin

Kaka's Great Adventure
Neelesh Gore
Rajiv Kessop
Amogh Vaidya
Shaffi Mahammad

SpongeBob SubPants
Brent Young
John Kokum
Michael Smith
Timothy Williams
Outstanding Created Environment in a Photoreal Feature

Image Credit: Disney

Star Wars: The Force Awakens; Falcon Chase / Graveyard (WINNER)
Yanick Dusseault
Mike Wood
Justin van der Lek
Quentin Marmier

The Walk; World Trade Center
Jim Gibbs
Brian Flora
Laurent Taillefer
Pavel Kolar

Ant-Man; The Microverse
Florian Witzel
Taylor Shaw
Alexis Hall
Heath Kraynak

Jurassic World; Jungle Chase
Martyn Culpitt
Joao Sita
Yuta Shimizu
Michael Billette

Tomorrowland; Tomorrowland Center
Barry Williams
Greg Kegel
Quentin Marmier
Thang Le
Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Episode

Image Credit: Courtesy of History Channel

Vikings; To the Gates (WINNER)
Dominic Remane
Bill Halliday
Paul Wishart
Ovidiu Cinazan
Paul Byrne

Black Sails; XVIII
Erik Henry
Annemarie Griggs
Kevin Rafferty
Aladino Debert
Paul Stephenson

Penny Dreadful; And They Were Enemies
James Cooper
Bill Halliday
Sarah McMurdo
Mai-Ling Lee

Daredevil; Speak of the Devil
Bryan Godwin
David Van Dyke
Karl Coyner
Julie Long
Johan Kunz

Agent Carter; Now Is Not the End
Sheena Duggal
Addie Manis
Richard Bluff
Jayesh Dalal
Kenneth C. Clark
Outstanding Animated Performance in a Photoreal Feature

Image Credit: Courtesy of 20th Century Fox

The Revenant; The Bear (WINNER)
Matt Shumway
Gaelle Morand
Karin Cooper
Leandro Estebecorena

Star Wars: The Force Awakens; Maz
Joel Bodin
Arslan Elver
Ian Comley
Stephen Cullingford

Avengers: Age of Ultron; Hulk
Jakub Pistecky
Lana Lan
John Walker
Sean Comer

Chappie; Chappie
Earl Fast
Chris Harvey
Mark Wendell
Robert Bourgeault
Outstanding Animated Performance in an Animated Feature

Image Credit: Courtesy of Disney/Pixar

Inside Out; Joy (WINNER)
Shawn Krause
Tanja Krampfert
Jacob Merrell
Alexis Angelidis

The Peanuts Movie; Snoopy
Jeff Gabor
Joseph Antonuccio
Ignacio Barrios
Sabine Heller

The Peanuts Movie; Charlie Brown
Matthew Doble
Steve Vanseth
Stephen Gressak
Nikki Tomaino

The Good Dinosaur; Spot
Ana Gabriela Lacaze
Jacob Brooks
Lou Hamou-Lhadj
Mark C. Harris
Outstanding Created Environment in an Animated Feature

The Good Dinosaur; The Farm (WINNER)
David Munier
Matthew Webb
Matt Kuruc
Tom Miller

Inside Out; Imagination Land
Amy L. Allen
Steve Karski
Eric Andraos
Jose L. Ramos Serrano

The Peanuts Movie; Charlie Brown's Neighborhood
Jon Townley
Angel Camacho-Torres
Cleveland Hibbert
Ken Lee

Shaun the Sheep Movie; Under the Arches
Matt Perry
Charles Copping
Alfred Llupia Perez
Andy Brown
Outstanding Animated Performance in an Episode, Commercial or Real-Time Project

Image Credit: Screengrab

SSE; Pier; Orangutan (WINNER)
Jorge Montiel
Sauce Vilas
Philippe Moine
Sam Driscoll

Game of Thrones; Mother's Mercy; Wounded Drogon
Florian Friedmann
Jonathan Symmonds
Sven Skoczylas
Sebastian Lauer

Game of Thrones; Dance of Dragons; Drogon Arena Rescue
James Kinnings
Michael Holzl
Joseph Hoback
Matt Derksen

Sainsbury's; Mog
Sebastian Nino
Chris Hurtt
Joseph Henson
Gez Wright
Outstanding Created Environment in an Episode, Commercial or Real-Time Project

Image Credit: Helen Sloan/HBO

Game of Thrones; City of Volantis (WINNER)
Dominic Piche
Christine Leclerc
Patrice Poissant
Thomas Montminy-Brodeur

Vikings; Paris
Paul Wishart
Karol Wlodarczyk
Tom Morrison
Matt Ralph

Game of Thrones; Drogon Arena
Rajeev B R.
Loganathan Perumal
Ramesh Shankers
Anders Ericson

Black Sails; Charles Town Harbor
Aladino Debert
Matt Dougan
Greg Teegarden
Ken Jones
Outstanding Virtual Cinematography in a Photoreal Project

Image Credit: Courtesy of Lucasfilm

Star Wars: The Force Awakens; Falcon Chase / Graveyard (WINNER)
Paul Kavanagh
Colin Benoit
Susumu Yukuhiro
Greg Salter

Ant-Man; Macro Action
James Baker
Alex Kahn
Thomas Luff
Rebecca Baehler

Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation; Underwater Torus Chamber
Vincent Aupetit
Margaux Durand-Rival
Christopher Anciaume
Robert Elswit

The Walk; Towers Walk
Shawn Hull
Suzanne Cipolletti
Laurent Taillefer
Dariusz Wolski
Outstanding Effects Simulations in an Episode, Commercial, or Real-Time Project

Image Credit: Courtesy of HBO

Game of Thrones; Hardhome (WINNER)
David Ramos
Antonio Lado
Piotr Weiss
Félix Bergés

SSE; Pier
Peter Agg
Sam Driscoll
Matthew Fuller

Halo 5: The Hunt Begins
Vladislav Tushevskiy
Tomas Zaveckas
Sho Hasegawa
Sergey Kosareff

Lipton; The Revolution in Tea
Jonathan -Wes- Westley
Tom Raynor
Christos Parliaros
Outstanding Compositing in a Photoreal Feature

Image Credit: Courtesy of 20th Century Fox

The Revenant; Bear Attack (WINNER)
Donny Rausch
Alan Travis
Charles Lai
TC Harrison

San Andreas; Los Angeles Destruction
Sandro Blattner
Hamish Schumacher
Nicholas Kim
Mario Rokicki

Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Jay Cooper
Marian Mavrovic
Jean Lapointe
Alex Prichard

Tomorrowland
Francois Lambert
Jean Lapointe
Peter Demarest
Conny Fauser

Mad Max: Fury Road
Lindsay Adams
Matthew Wynne
Chris Davies
Phil Outen
Outstanding Models in a Photoreal or Animated Project

Image Credit: Lucasfilm/Screenshot

Star Wars: The Force Awakens; BB-8 (WINNER)
Joshua Lee
Matthew Denton
Landis Fields
Cyrus Jam

Avengers: Age of Ultron; Hulkbuster
Howie Weed
Robert Marinic
Daniel Gonzalez
Myriam Catrin

Everest; Mt. Everest
Matthias Bjarnasson
Olafur Haraldsson
Kjartan Hardarson
Petur Arnorsson

Jurassic World; Indominus Rex
Steve Jubinville
Martin Murphy
Aaron Grey
Kevin Reuter
Outstanding Effects Simulations in a Photoreal Feature

Mad Max: Fury Road; Toxic Storm (WINNER)
Dan Bethell
Clinton Downs
Chris Young

Avengers: Age of Ultron; Hulk vs Hulkbuster
Michael Balog
Jim Van Allen
Florent Andorra
Georg Kaltenbrunner

San Andreas; Hoover Dam / San Francisco Tsunami
Joe Scarr
Lukas Lepicovsky
Yves D-Incau
Marcel Kern

San Andreas; Los Angeles Destruction
Remy Torre
Marc Horsfield
Niall Flinn
Victor Grant

Star Wars: The Force Awakens; Starkiller Base
Rick Hankins
Dan Bornstein
John Doublestein
Gary Wu
Outstanding Compositing in a Photoreal Episode

Image Credit: Courtesy of HBO

Game of Thrones; Hardhome (WINNER)
Eduardo Díaz
Guillermo Orbe
Oscar Perea
Inmaculada Nadela

Vikings; To the Gates
Ovidiu Cinazan
Olivia Yapp
Greg Lamar
Meng Angel Li

Game of Thrones; Drogon Arena
Michael Crane
Travis Nelson
Joe Salazar
Beverly Bernacki

Game of Thrones; Drogon Lair
Travis Nobles
Mark Spindler
Max Riess
Nadja Ding
Outstanding Effects Simulations in an Animated Feature

Image Credit: Courtesy of Disney/Pixar

The Good Dinosaur (WINNER)
Stephen Marshall
Magnus Wrenninge
Michael Hall
Hemagiri Arumugam

Inside Out
Amit Baadkar
Dave Hale
Vincent Serritella
Paul Mendoza

The Peanuts Movie
Alen Lai
Ilan Gabai
Chris Chapman
Douglas Seiden

Home
Greg Gladstone
Michael Losure
Chris De St Jeor
Alex Timchenko
Outstanding Compositing in a Photoreal Commercial

Image Credit: Screengrab

SSE; Pier (WINNER)
Gary Driver
Greg Spencer
Grant Connor

Game of War; Rooftop Alliance
Becky Porter
Jeannie Huynh
Patrick Heinen
Don Kim

Halo 5; The Hunt Begins
Ian Holland
Brian Delmonico
Brandon Nelson
Nicholas Kim

Under Armour; Rule Yourself
Gavin Wellsman
Nathan Kane
Michael Smith
Ilia Mokhtareizadeh
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Student Project

Citipati (WINNER)
Andreas Feix
Francesco Faranna

Skål
Marco Hakenjos
Christian Zehetmeier
Timm Wagener
Manuel Seifert

Jagon
Julian Weiss
Vincent Ullmann
Fabian Fricke
Yafes Sahin

Korser
Guillaume Menard
Vincent Desgrippes
Jessie Hereng
Tangi Vaillant