The Visual Effects Society (VES) today announced the nominees for the 4th Annual VES Awards. Recognizing outstanding visual effects in film, television, commercials, music videos and games, the ceremony will be held on Feb. 15 at the Hollywood Palladium, where Pixar Animation Studios founder John Lasseter will follow George Lucas and Robert Zemeckis as the third recipient of the Georges Melies Award for Artistic Excellence.
This year, four films are in contention for the top award. Vying for Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects Driven Motion Picture are Disney/Walden Media’s The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Dean Wright, Randy Starr, Bill Westenhofer, Jim Berney), Warner Bros.’ Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Jim Mitchell, Theresa Corrao, Tim Alexander, Tim Webber), Universal’s King Kong (Eileen Moran, Joe Letteri, Christian Rivers, Eric Saindon) and 20th Century Fox’s Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith (John Knoll, Roger Guyett, Rob Coleman, Denise Ream).
Another big kudo is the Best Single Visual Effect of the Year Award. This year’s nominees are the Nut Room sequence from Warner Bros. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Nick Davis, Nikki Penny, Jon Thum, Ben Morris), the opening space battle from Star Wars: Episode III’Revenge of the Sith (John Knoll, Jill Brooks, David Weitzberg, Jeff Sutherland) and the ‘fleeing the neighborhood’ scene in Paramount’s War of the Worlds (Dennis Muren, Pablo Helman, Sandra Scott, Marshall Krasser).
Up for Outstanding Animated Character in an Animated Motion Picture are King Julian from DreamWorks Animation’s Madagascar (Rex Grignon, Denis Couchon), Fender from Fox Animation’s Robots (Robin Williams, David Torres, Mark Piretti, Ben Williams) and Gromit from DreamWorks Animation/Aardman Animations’ Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit-Gromit (Loyd Price). Meanwhile, the award for an animated character in a live-action motion picture will go to one of the following: Aslan in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Richie Baneham, Erik De Boer, Matt Logue, Joe Ksander), The Dragon form Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Steve Rawlins, Eric Wong, Robert Weaver, Steve Nichols) and the titular ape in King Kong (Andy Serkis, Atsushi Sato, Guy Williams, Eric Saindon).
A panel of more than 60 visual effects professionals selected the nominees on Saturday, Jan. 7. ‘We received over 200 submissions from over a half dozen countries around the world this year, which mirrors the kind of growth we’re experiencing as a global organization,’ says VES exec director Eric Roth. ‘With that growth has come greater diversity, complexity and creativity’hallmarks of the best and brightest the visual effects field has to offer.’
This year’s nominees will present their work at a special ‘Show and Tell’ session at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles on Jan. 21. The event is free to VES members and is also open to the public at $20 per ticket. Tickets are available by calling the VES office at (310) 822-9181, and may also be purchased at the door. Final voting for all categories will take place between Jan. 25 and Feb. 12.
Other 2006 VES Nominees:
Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Motion Picture
Jarhead‘Pablo Helman, Jeanie King, Grady Cofer, Brett Northcutt
Kingdom of Heaven‘ Wes Sewell, Victoria Alonso, Tom Wood, Gary Brozenich
Memoirs of a Geisha‘Robert Stromberg, Julia Frey, Paul Graff, Adam Watkins
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Broadcast Miniseries, Movie or Special
Comet Collision‘John Gross, Nick Black, Christian Bloch, Casey Benn
Superbowl XXXIX: Open’Benoit Girard, Jason Crosby, Jerome Morin, Chris Del Conte
Walking With Monsters‘Tim Greenwood, Jo Nodwell, Neil Glasbey, Darren Byford
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Broadcast Series
Invasion, ‘Origin of Species”Armen Kevorkian, Matt Scharf, John Karner, Neil Sopata
Rome, ‘Episode 1”Barrie Hemsley, James Madigan, Duncan Kinnaird, Joe Pavlo
Smallville, ‘Commencement”Mat Beck, John Wash, John Han, Trent Smith
Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Broadcast Program
Alias, ‘The Index”Kevin Blank, Armen Kevorkian, Eric Chauvin, Jonathan Spencer Levy
Lost, ‘Exodus Part 2”Kevin Blank, Mitchell Ferm, Eric Chauvin, John Teska
Warm Springs‘Camille Cellucci, Jonathan Keeton, Kirk Cadrette, John Baker
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Commercial
Esuvee, ‘Keep it on all Fours”William Bartlett, Scott Griffin, Jake Mengers, Andrew Boyd
Guinness, ‘noitulovE”William Bartlett, Scott Griffin, Andrew Boyd, Dan Seddon
Motorola, ‘PEBL”Eric Barba, Lisa Beroud, Janelle Croshaw, Greg Teegarden
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Music Video
The Chemical Brothers, ‘Believe’ ‘Ben Cronin, Rebecca Barbour, Andrew Boyd, Jamie Isles
Nine Inch Nails, ‘Only”Eric Barba, Lisa Beroud, Jay Barton, Jim Gaczkowski
Rob Thomas, ‘Lonely No More’ ‘Bert Yukich
Outstanding Real Time Visuals in a Video Game
From Russia With Love‘David Carson, Darren Pattenden, Ben Wanat
Madden NFL 06 for Xbox 360’Mark Mongie, Jim Spoto, Tommy Cinquegrano, Dale Jackson
NBA Live 06 for Xbox 360’Greg Juby, Tim Tschirner, Jim Perkins, Alex Ferrier
Need For Speed Most Wanted‘Habib Zargarpour, Greg D’Esposito, Eduardo Agostini, Colin O’Connor
Outstanding Pre-Rendered Visuals in a Video Game
Need For Speed Most Wanted‘Habib Zargarpour, Michael Mann, Mataio Gardi, Jason Dowdeswell
Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones, battle cinematic’Jean-Jacques Tremblay, Raphael Lacoste, Kun Chang
Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones, palace balcony cinematic’Jean-Jacques Tremblay, Raphael Lacoste, Anne Mai Le Bouyonnec
Stranger’s Wrath, In-game story clips’Sherry McKenna, Lorne Lanning, Raymond Swanland, Iain Morton
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Special Venue Project
Curse of Darkastle: The Ride!‘Dina Benadon, Brent Young, Chuck Comisky, Mario Kamberg
Deepo’s 3-D Underwater Wondershow‘Michel Heroux, Benoit Girard, Jerome Morin, Chris Del Conte
Magnificent Desolation: Walking on the Moon‘Jack Geist, Sean Phillips, Johnathan Banta, Jerome Morin
Outstanding Animated Character in a Live Action Broadcast Program, Commercial, or Music Video
Cylon from Battlestar Galactica, Episode 2’Dustin Adair, Mark Shimer, Lane Jolly, Steve Graves
Cylon from Battlestar Galactica, Season 2, Episode 3 ‘Fragged”‘Gary Hutzel, Andrew Karr, Gary Hughes, Allan Henderson
Baby Sea Creature from Surface, Episode 102’Eric Hance, Robert Bonchune, John Teska, Sean Jackson
Outstanding Created Environment in a Live Action Motion Picture
Batman Begins, Gotham City monorail chase’Alex Wuttke, Pete Bebb, Dayne Cowan, Imery Watson
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Black Lake environment’Andy Kind, Ivan Moran, Rob Allman, Justin Martin
King Kong, New York dawn attack’Dan Lemmon, R. Christopher White, Matt Aitken, Charles Tait
Star Wars: Episode III’Revenge of the Sith‘Jonathan Harb, Hilmar Koch, Yanick Dusseault, Brett Northcutt
Outstanding Created Environment in a Live Action Broadcast Program, Commercial, or Music Video
Into The West Parts I, II and III‘Cedric Tomacruz, David Bailey, Valeri Pfahning, Siddhartha Jayakar
Motorola, ‘PEBL”Jim Gaczkowski, Daniel Thron, Janelle Croshaw, Greg Teegarden
Nine Inch Nails, ‘Only’ ‘Janelle Croshaw, Greg Teegarden, Jim Gaczkowski, Scott Edelstein
Outstanding Models and Miniatures in a Motion Picture
Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire‘Jose Granell, Nigel Stone
Star Wars: Episode III’Revenge of the Sith‘Brian Gernand, Pamela Choy, Ron Woodall, Kevin Reuter
War of the Worlds‘Ed Hirsh, Steve Gawley, Joshua Ong, Russell Paul
Outstanding Models and Miniatures in a Broadcast Program
Ford, ‘World Traveler” Matthew Gratzner, Greg Boettcher, Enrico Altmann, Matt Burlingame
Las Vegas, Episode 308 “Bold, Beautiful and Blue”‘Michael Cook, Anthony O’Campo, Eugene Kim, Renaud Talon
Walgreens Giving Tree / Last Minute, ‘Winter Neighborhood’Ian Hunter, Forest Fischer, Seth Curlin, Joachim (Joe) Duppel
Outstanding Compositing in a Motion Picture
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Voldemort’s nose’Ben Shepherd, Uel Horman, Charley Henley, Nicolas Aithadi
King Kong, V-Rex fight’Erik Winquist, Michaell Pangrazio, Steve Cronin, Suzanne Jandu
War of the Worlds‘Marshall Krasser, Michael Jamieson, Jeff Saltzman, Regan McGee
Outstanding Compositing in a Broadcast Program, Commercial, or Music Video
Empire‘Stefano Trivelli, Michele Moen, Kelly Bumbarger, Sean Wilson
Into The West Part I ‘Wheel to the Stars”Jared Jones, Jason Korber, Geeta Basantani, Ryan Dutour
Mezzo Djarum, ‘Race”Mark Rienzo, Feliciano di Giorgio, Maciek Sokalski,
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