During an evening when his breakthrough film Inception won every category it was in the running for, director/writer Christopher Nolan also received the Visual Effects Society‘s inaugural Visionary Award at the 9th annual VES Awards ceremony held Tuesday (2/1) at the Beverly Hilton.
Nolan earned the Visionary honor on the strength of an ambitious filmography which includes Memento, Batman Begins, The Prestige, The Dark Knight and Inception. He garnered Directors Guild of America (DGA) Award nominations for Memento, The Dark Knight and Inception. In accepting the VES Visionary Award, Nolan said that it meant all the more because it was the Society’s inaugural presentation. He quipped, however, that “the true weight of the honor won’t be known until we see who you give it to” in subsequent years. He suggested tongue firmly in cheek that the VES consider posthumous honors, noting that in five years he’d like to see his name followed by a list of recipients that includes D.W. Griffith and Stanley Kubrick.
Actor Tom Hardy of Inception was on hand to present the Visionary Award to Nolan.
Meanwhile Inception was the evening’s most honored project, topping four VES categories led by Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects-Driven Feature Motion Picture. Inception also won for Outstanding Created Environment (Paris Dreamscape) in a Live-Action Feature, Outstanding Models and Miniatures (Hospital Fortress Destruction) in a Feature, and Outstanding Compositing in a Feature. The lead VFX house on the film was Double Negative Visual Effects, which maintains studios in London and Singapore. Models and miniatures for the film came out of New Deal Studios, Los Angeles.
Right behind Inception with three VES Award wins apiece were: the feature film How to Train Your Dragon, and the HBO TV miniseries The Pacific. DreamWorks Animation saw How to Train Your Dragon earn distinction for Outstanding Effects Animation in an Animated Feature Motion Picture, Outstanding Animation in an Animated Feature, and Outstanding Animated Character (Toothless) in an Animated Feature.
The Pacific took the categories Outstanding Visual Effects in a Broadcast Miniseries, Movie or a Special; Outstanding Created Environment (The Battle of Iwo Jima) in a Live Action Broadcast Program; and Outstanding Compositing (Peieliu landing) in a Broadcast Program or Commercial. Lead VFX house was Flash Film Works, Hollywood, with compositing at Crazy Horse Effects, Venice, Calif.
Spot categories
There were three honorees among commercials. Taking the VES Award as Outstanding Animated Commercial was Cadbury’s “Spots V Stripes” for VFX house Moving Picture Company (MPC), London. “Spots V Stripes” was directed by Nick Gordon of Academy Films, London, for agency Fallon, London.
Topping the Outstanding Visual Effects in a Live-Action Commercial category was Halo: Reach’s “Deliver Hope” out of VFX house Method Studios, bicoastal. Noam Murro of Biscuit Filmworks, Los Angeles, directed for agencytwofifteen, San Francisco.
And winning for Outstanding Animated Character in a Broadcast Program or Commercial was the dog Citro in the Citroen C3 Picasso automobile ad titled “The Spacebox.” VFX house was France’s Mikros Image. “The Spacebox” was directed by Sebastian Strasser of Wanda Productions, Paris, for Agence H, Paris.
Lifetime Achievement Award
The evening was also marked by several video tributes to pioneering visual effects creator, stop-motion model animator and producer Ray Harryhausen who won the VES Lifetime Achievement Award. Harryhausen’s body of work was so cutting edge for his time that he is considered the godfather of all modern visual effects.
Harryhausen’s films include The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, The 3 Worlds of Gulliver, Mysterious Island, Jason and the Argonauts, and Clash of the Titans.
A pair of multiple VFX Oscar winners, Randy Cook and Dennis Muren, presented the honor to the London-based Harryhausen who accepted via video.
Industry issues
In his welcoming remarks, VES executive director Eric Roth touched upon several issues, noting that this is a time of transition for the VFX industry. On the corporate level, he said, there’s much grappling over business models with execs mulling over filmmaking-related tax incentives in different locales and what the nature of investments in 3-D and other technologies should be.
Roth added that shrinking profit margins have put some VFX businesses on the endangered species list. He cited an article in Tuesday’s Los Angeles Times regarding the squeeze on the VFX biz and the closure of several shops in Southern California. Among those shops was the recently shuttered Asylum (SHOOTonline, 11/19/10).
There’s also talk in the artists’ camp, related Roth, about possibly forming a union, spurred on by concerns over “crazy Hours” and the desire to gain greater access to group healthcare.
On a separate front, Roth noted that VFX credits for movies should be in “a more respectful place” in the crawl and not relegated to being situated “below the caterer.”
Roth affirmed that the VES will have a voice on these and various other emerging issues in the months ahead.
Rundown of categories
Here’s a full rundown of VES Award winners across 20-plus categories:
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual-Effects Driven Feature Motion Picture
Inception
Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Mike Chambers, Matthew Plummer
Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Feature Motion Picture
Hereafter
Michael Owens, Joel Mendias, Bryan Grill, Danielle Plantec
Outstanding Animation in an Animated Feature Motion Picture
How to Train Your Dragon
Simon Otto, Craig Ring, Bonnie Arnold
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Broadcast Miniseries, Movie or a Special
The Pacific
John Sullivan, David Taritero, William Mesa, Marco Requay
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Broadcast Series
Caprica
Michael Gibson, Gary Hutzel, Davey Morton, Jesse Mesa Toves
Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Broadcast Program
Boardwalk Empire
Robert Stromberg, Dave Taritero, Richard Friedlander, Paul Graff
Outstanding Achievement in an Animated Short
Day & Night
Teddy Newton, Kevin Reher, Michael Fu, Tom Gately
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Live Action Commercial
Halo: Reach’s “Deliver Hope”
Dan Glass, Dan Seddon, Matt Dessero, Stephanie Gilgar
Outstanding Animated Commercial
Cadbury’s “Spots V Stripes”
Jake Mengers, Julie Evans, Jorge Montiel Meurer, Michael Gregory
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Special Venue Project
King Kong 360 3D
Matt Aitken, Kevin Sherwood, Eric Reynolds, R. Christopher White
Outstanding Real-Time Visual Effects in a Video Game
Halo: Reach
Marcus Lehto, Joseph Tung, Stephen Scott, CJ Cowan
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Video Game Trailer
World of Warcraft
Marc Messenger, Phillip Hillenbrand, Jr.
Outstanding Animated Character in a Live Action Feature Motion Picture
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 – Dobby
Mathieu Vig, Ben Lambert, Laurie Brugger, Marine Poirson
Outstanding Animated Character in an Animated Feature Motion Picture
How to Train Your Dragon — Toothless
Gabe Hordos, Cassidy Curtis, Mariette Marinus, Brent Watkins
Outstanding Animated Character in a Broadcast Program or Commercial
Citron C3’s “The Spacebox”–Citro
Michael Nauzin, Anne Chatelain, Gregory Mougne, Cedric Nicolas
Outstanding Animated Character in a Video Game
StarCraft II – Sarah Kerrigan
Fausto De Martini, Xin Wang, Glenn Ramos, Scott Lange
Outstanding Effects Animation in an Animated Feature Motion Picture
How to Train Your Dragon
Andy Hayes, Laurent Kermel, Jason Mayer, Brett Miller
Outstanding Created Environment in a Live Action Feature Motion Picture
Inception – Paris Dreamscape
Bruno Baron, Dan Neal, Graham Page, Per Mork-Jensen
Outstanding Created Environment in a Live Action Broadcast Program
The Pacific – The Battle of Iwo Jima
Marco Recuay, Morgan McDermott, Nick Lund-Ulrich
Outstanding Models & Miniatures in a Feature Motion Picture
Inception – Hospital Fortress Destruction
Ian Hunter, Scott Beverly, Forest Fischer, Robert Spurlock
Outstanding Models & Miniatures in a Broadcast Program or Commercial
Boardwalk Empire – The Ivory Tower
J. John Corbett, Matthew Conner, Brendan Fitzgerald
Outstanding Compositing in a Feature Motion Picture
Inception
Astrid Busser-Casas, Scott Pritchard, Jan Maroske, George Zwier
Outstanding Compositing in a Broadcast Program or Commercial
The Pacific – Peleliu landing
Jeremy Nelson, John P. Mesa, Dan Novy, Tyler Cote
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Student Project
LOOM
Regina Welker, Jan Bitzer, Ilija Brunck, Csaba Letay
