If Gravity goes on to win the Best Visual Effects Oscar next month, it will mark the ninth time in the past 12 years that the winner of the Visual Effects Society’s marquee category—Outstanding Visual Effects in a VFX-Driven Feature—corresponded to the Academy Award recipient. And one other time, Hugo—which took the VES Award for Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects—later took home the VFX Oscar in 2012.
Though the track record in animation doesn’t extend quite so long as the dozen year run dating back to the inception of the VES Awards, there’s also a parallel track with Oscar as reflected in last year’s lead animation VES honor going to Pixar’s Brave followed weeks later by the Academy Award for Best Animated Film.
But beyond VFX and animation, the VES Awards evening has of late smacked of Oscar on another prominent front—Best Director. Last year, director Ang Lee’s Life of Pi was the big winner at VES, topping four categories, including the top honor for Outstanding Visual Effects in a VFX-Driven Feature. Lee also won the special VES Visionary Award that year.
Life of Pi went on to win the VFX Oscar, which was no great surprise. But quite a bit more unexpected was Lee winning the Best Director Oscar.
This year, a strong case of deja vu seems to be developing. Gravity dominated the VES Awards earlier this month, garnering six honors. Additionally the Visionary Award was bestowed upon Alfonso Cuarón, director/producer/co-writer/editor of Gravity. Clearly Gravity is the odds-on favorite to take the Visual Effects Oscar. And Cuarón too has frontrunner status for the Best Director Oscar given that he earlier won the DGA Award.
Perhaps VES with its categories and Visionary Award action of the past couple of years reflects a coming of age for the VFX community as a whole. VFX are integral to more movies than ever and their integration into storyline by talented directors is fast gaining recognition and appreciation throughout the industry. This bodes well come Oscar night not only for Cuarón but also Framestore, London, which was the lead VFX studio on Gravity with Tim Webber serving as the film’s VFX supervisor.
Additionally, Disney’s Frozen had a dominating performance at the 2014 VES Awards, winning all the categories in which it was nominated: Outstanding Animation in an Animated Feature; Outstanding Animated Character in an Animated Feature (for bringing the Snow Queen to life); Outstanding Created Environment in an Animated Feature (for Elsa’s Ice Palace); and Outstanding FX and Simulation Animation in an Animated Feature (for Elsa’s Blizzard). Frozen too would appear to be the leading contender for the Animated Film Oscar.
The Lone Ranger won the VES Award for Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Feature.
TV dominance
There were also dominant showings on the television side of the VES Awards ledger—both on the program and commercialmaking fronts.
On the latter score, PETA’s commercial “98% Human” won every category in which it was nominated.
Produced by The Mill and Mill+ for agency BBDO New York, “98% Human” was lauded as much for what’s in the spot as what isn’t. We see an ape about to commit suicide after enduring major abuse while being forced to perform in a film. What’s amazing is an ending line which informs us that “no real apes were used in this commercial.”
BBDO’s script called for a CG chimpanzee to be created that would appear completely authentic. BBDO and PETA wanted a key part of that message to be that CG animals could be created, precluding the need to use real animals in moving imagery. PETA’s “98% Human” won three VES Awards: Outstanding Visual Effects in a Commercial; Outstanding Animated Character in a Commercial or Broadcast Program; and Outstanding FX and Simulation Animation in a Commercial or Broadcast Program.
Game of Thrones (HBO) also won three VES Awards, taking all but one category in which it was nominated (losing out to “98% Human” in the Outstanding Animated Character in a Commercial or Broadcast Program).
Game of Thrones topped the following categories: Outstanding Visual Effects in a Broadcast Program (for the “Valar Dohaeris” episode); Outstanding Created Environment in a Commercial or Broadcast Program (in “The Climb” episode); and Outstanding Compositing in a Broadcast Program (also for “The Climb” episode).
Special honor
John Dykstra, ASC, won the VES Lifetime Achievement Award, presented to him by visual effects icon and pioneer Douglas Trumbull.
Among Dykstra’s accomplishments was assembling the creative group that designed and built the miniatures and camera systems which were used to create the film sequences that won for Star Wars.
