‘Dune’ and ‘Encanto’ Take Top Honors at Visual Effects Society Awards

Jazz Tangcay

March 9, 2022 at 1:29 AM·4 min read

“Dune” has taken top honors at the VES Awards garnering four awards including Photoreal feature winner. Disney’s “Encanto” was named top animated film, also winning four awards.

The Visual Effects Society (VES), the industry’s global professional honorary society, held the 20th Annual VES Awards, the prestigious yearly celebration that recognizes outstanding visual effects artistry and innovation in film, animation, television, commercials, video games and special venues.

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This marks the Society’s 20th VES Awards program, and is being celebrated during the organization’s milestone 25th Anniversary.

Industry guests gathered at the Beverly Hilton to celebrate VFX talent in 25 awards categories. “Foundation” The Emperor’s Peace was named best photoreal episode.

Jim Morris, VES, President of Pixar Animation and founding VES Chair, presented the VES Lifetime Achievement award to EVP/General Manager of Lucasfilm, Lynwen Brennan. Academy Award-winning VFX pioneer Phil Tippett, VES presented the VES Award for Creative Excellence to Academy Award-winning filmmaker Guillermo del Toro. Presenters also included: Academy Award-nominated director Denis Villeneuve; actors Alfred Molina, Tawny Newsome, Mouzam Makkar, Emma Caulfield and Deborah Cox. Eric Bourque, Autodesk’s Senior Director of Engineering, presented the Autodesk Student Award.

“As we celebrate the Society’s 25th Anniversary and 20th Annual VES Awards, we’re honored to keep shining a light on remarkable visual effects artistry and innovation,” said VES Chair Lisa Cooke. “In all of our colleagues honored tonight, we see best in class work that elevates the art of storytelling and exemplifies the spirit of adaptation and ingenuity — talents that have kept audiences engaged and uplifted, now, more than ever. The VES Awards is the only venue that showcases and honors these outstanding global artists across a wide range of disciplines, and we are extremely proud of all our winners and nominees!”

Winners of the 20th Annual VES Awards are as follows:

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE

“Dune”
Paul Lambert
Brice Parker
Tristan Myles
Brian Connor
Gerd Nefzer

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE

“Last Night in Soho”
Tom Proctor
Gavin Gregory
Julian Gnass
Fabricio Baessa

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE

“Encanto”
Scott Kersavage
Bradford Simonsen
Thaddeus P. Miller
Ian Gooding

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL EPISODE

“Foundation” (The Emperor’s Peace)
Chris MacLean
Addie Manis
Mike Enriquez
Chris Keller
Paul Byrne

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL EPISODE

“See” (Rock-A-Bye)
Chris Wright
Parker Chehak
Javier Roca
Tristan Zerafa
Tony Kenny

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A REAL-TIME PROJECT

“Call of Duty: Vanguard”
Yi-chao Sandy Lin-Chiang
Joseph Knox
Gareth Richards
Shane Daley

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A COMMERCIAL

“Sheba” Hope Reef
Grant Walker
Sophie Harrison
Hernan Llano
Michael Baker

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A SPECIAL VENUE PROJECT

“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

OUTSTANDING ANIMATED CHARACTER IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE

“Encanto” (Mirabel Madrigal)
Kelly McClanahan
Sergi Caballer
Mary Twohig
Jose Luis “Weecho” Velasquez

OUTSTANDING ANIMATED CHARACTER IN AN EPISODE OR REAL-TIME PROJECT

“The Witcher” (Nivellen the Cursed Man)
Marko Chulev
Rasely Ma
Mike Beaulieu
Robin Witzsche

OUTSTANDING ANIMATED CHARACTER IN A COMMERCIAL

Smart Energy; Einstein Knows Best; Einstein
Alex Hammond
Harsh Borah
Clare Williams
Andreas Graichen

OUTSTANDING CREATED ENVIRONMENT IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE

“Spider-Man: No Way Home” (The Mirror Dimension)
Eric Le Dieu de Ville
Thomas Dotheij
Ryan Olliffe
Claire Le Teuff

OUTSTANDING CREATED ENVIRONMENT IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE

“Encanto” (Antonio’s Room)
Camille Andre
Andrew Finley
Chris Patrick O’Connell
Amol Sathe

OUTSTANDING CREATED ENVIRONMENT IN AN EPISODE, COMMERCIAL, OR REAL-TIME PROJECT

“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

OUTSTANDING MODEL IN A PHOTOREAL OR ANIMATED PROJECT

“Dune” (Royal Ornithopter)
Marc Austin
Anna Yamazoe
Michael Chang
Rachael Dunk

OUTSTANDING EFFECTS SIMULATIONS IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE

“Dune” (Dunes of Arrakis)
Gero Grimm
Ivan Larinin
Hideki Okano
Zuny Byeongjun An

OUTSTANDING EFFECTS SIMULATIONS IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE

“Raya and the Last Dragon”
Le Joyce Tong
Henrik Fält
Rattanin Sirinaruemarn
Jacob Rice

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

OUTSTANDING COMPOSITING & LIGHTING IN A FEATURE

“Dune” (Attack on Arrakeen)
Gregory Haas
Francesco Dell’Anna
Abhishek Chaturvedi
Cleve Zhu

OUTSTANDING COMPOSITING & LIGHTING IN AN EPISODE

“Loki” (Lamentis – Shuroo City Destruction)
Paul Chapman
Tom Truscott
Biagio Figliuzzi
Attila Szalma

OUTSTANDING COMPOSITING & LIGHTING IN A COMMERCIAL

Verizon; The Reset
David Piombino
Rajesh Kaushik
Manideep Sanisetty
Tim Crean

OUTSTANDING SPECIAL (PRACTICAL) EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL PROJECT

“Jungle Cruise”

JD Schwalm
Nick Rand
Robert Spurlock
Nick Byrd

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A STUDENT PROJECT

Green
Camille Poiriez
Arielle Cohen
Eloise Thibaut
Louis Florean

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