During an evening when his breakthrough film Avatar won nearly every category it was in the running for, filmmaker James Cameron also received the Visual Effects Society‘s Lifetime Achievement Award at the 8th annual VES Awards ceremony held Sunday (2/28) in Los Angeles.
Cameron won the Lifetime Achievement honor in recognition of a body of pioneering filmmaking and VFX work that includes Titanic, The Terminator, Aliens, The Abyss and Avatar. In accepting the award, he paid homage to artisans who inspired him, a prime example being the late legendary character/creature creator Stan Winston.
Cameron recalled years back sharing with Winston some 3D material he had shot. At the time, Cameron’s plan was to apply his 3D findings to a smaller project which could get his feet wet in the new technology. However Winston suggested a different course, telling Cameron to “do your Star Wars with this.” Cameron said that it was at this moment that he decided he would one day make Avatar. Cameron offered “special thanks to Stan who didn’t live to see the dream of Avatar but always believed it would happen.” Winston passed away in 2008.
Six pack
Avatar wound up topping six VES Award categories: Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects-Driven Feature Motion Picture, Best Single Visual Effect of the Year (for Neytiri Drinking), Outstanding Animated Character in a Live-Action Feature (Neytiri), Outstanding Matte Paintings in a Feature Motion Picture (Pandora), Outstanding Models and Miniatures in a Feature (Samson/Home Tree/Floating Mountains Ampsuit), and Outstanding Created Environment in a Feature (Jungle/Biolume). The VFX studio behind the winning Avatar entries was Weta Digital in Wellington, N.Z.
The only category which Avatar failed to win among its body of nominations was Outstanding Compositing in a Feature, which went to District 9 and Vancouver, B.C.-based studio Image Engine.
Things looking Up
Akin to the dual lifetime achievement/year’s best showing of Cameron and Avatar was the performance of Pixar and Dr. Ed Catmull, president, Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios.
Catmull received the VES’ Georges Melies Award honoring individuals who have “pioneered a significant and lasting contribution to the art and/or science of the visual effects industry by a way of artistry, invention and groundbreaking work.”
Meanwhile Pixar’s feature film Up collected three VES Awards for: Outstanding Animation in an Animated Feature Motion Picture; Outstanding Effects Animation in an Animated Feature; and Outstanding Animated Character in an Animated Feature (Carl).
Spot on
Commercials also scored at the VES competition. Audi’s “Intelligently Combined” earned Digital Domain artisans the Outstanding Visual Effects in a Commercial category. Carl Erik Rinsch directed the spot via Markenfilm, Hamburg, for agency Kempertrautmann, Hamburg.
The Mill L.A. took the category Outstanding Animated Character in a Broadcast Program or Commercial for AMF’s “The Caterpillar.” Filip Engstrom directed via Camp David, Stockholm, for agency Forsman & Bodenfors, Stockholm.
And Kaiser-Permananete’s “Emerald City” topped the category Outstanding Matte Paintings in a Broadcast Program or Commercial. Effects studio was Animal Logic. The spot was directed by Noam Murro of Biscuit Filmworks for Campbell-Ewald, Los Angeles.
TV, game trailer
The big TV program winner was Zoic Studios which scored three VES Awards, two for CSI Crime Scene Investigation ‘s Ep 1001 “Opening Sequence”–Outstanding Compositing in a Broadcast Program or Commercial, and Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Broadcast Program. Zoic’s remaining honor came for Outstanding Created Environment in a Broadcast Program or Commercial on the strength of the V pilot’s “Atrium and Ship Interiors.”
Among the other winners was Asylum Visual Effects for Outstanding Visual Effects in a Video Game Trailer on the basis of Halo 3: ODST-The Life.
For a full rundown of VES Award winners, log onto www.visualeffectssociety.com.
