Archive notice: This article was originally published on February 8, 2017. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
The show was hosted by comedian Patton Oswalt (known from “King of Queens”). “The Jungle Book” received the award for the best photorealistic visual effects in a feature film, while the award in the “Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature” category went to “Deepwater Horizon”. Laika delivered the most impressive VFX in an animated feature film with “Kubo and the Two Strings”. The best photorealistic environments could be seen in “Doctor Strange” (New York City), and the most successful animated ones in “Moana” (Motunui Island).
Series
In the series category, the Visual Effects Society honored the VFX work for the “Game of Thrones” episode “Battle of the Bastards”; the episode “XX” from “Black Sails” contained the best supporting VFX.
Commercials
MPC received the VES Award for the “Buster the Boxer” spot, which the team produced for client John Lewis. And octopus character Hank from “Finding Dorie” was honored for “Outstanding Animated Performance in an Animated Feature”.
Student project
Congratulations to the “BreakingPoint” team from Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg! The team received the VES prize in the “Outstanding Visual Effects in a Student Project” category. In the upcoming DP issue on February 17, the team explains how the elaborate project, with its many explosions and a baby in the middle of it all, was created.
All 2017 VES winners
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature
“The Jungle Book”
Robert Legato
Joyce Cox
Andrew R. Jones
Adam Valdez
JD Schwalm
Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature
“Deepwater Horizon”
Craig Hammack
Petra Holtorf-Stratton
Jason Snell
John Galloway
Burt Dalton
Outstanding Visual Effects in an Animated Feature
“Kubo and the Two Strings”
Travis Knight
Arianne Sutner
Steve Emerson
Brad Schiff
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Episode
“Game of Thrones” — “Battle of the Bastards”
Joe Bauer
Steve Kullback
Glenn Melenhorst
Matthew Rouleau
Sam Conway
Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Episode
“Black Sails” — “XX”
Erik Henry
Terron Pratt
Aladino Debert
Yafei Wu
Paul Stephenson
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Real-Time Project
“Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End”
Bruce Straley
Eben Cook
Iki Ikram
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Commercial
John Lewis — “Buster the Boxer”
Diarmid Harrison-Murray
Hannah Ruddleston
Fabian Frank
William Laban
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Special Venue Project
“Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for the Sunken Treasure”
Bill George
Amy Jupiter
Hayden Landis
David Lester
Outstanding Animated Performance in a Photoreal Feature
“The Jungle Book” — King Louie
Paul Story
Dennis Yoo
Jack Tema
Andrei Coval
Outstanding Animated Performance in an Animated Feature
“Finding Dory” — Hank
Jonathan Hoffman
Steven Clay Hunter
Mark Piretti
Audrey Wong
Outstanding Animated Performance in an Episode or Real-Time Project
“Game of Thrones — “Battle of the Bastards” — Drogon
James Kinnings
Michael Holzl
Matt Derksen
Joseph Hoback
Outstanding Animated Performance in a Commercial
John Lewis — “Buster the Boxer”
Tim van Hussen
David Bryan
Chloe Dawe
Maximilian Mallmann
Outstanding Created Environment in a Photoreal Feature
“Doctor Strange” — New York City
Adam Watkins
Martijn van Herk
Tim Belsher
Jon Mitchell
Outstanding Created Environment in an Animated Feature
“Moana” — Motunui Island
Rob Dressel
Andy Harkness
Brien Hindman
Larry Wu
Outstanding Created Environment in an Episode, Commercial, or Real-Time Project
“Game of Thrones” — Battle of the Bastards” — Meereen City
Deak Ferrand
Dominic Daigle
François Croteau
Alexandru Banuta
Outstanding Virtual Cinematography in a Photoreal Project
“The Jungle Book”
Bill Pope
Robert Legato
Gary Roberts
John Brennan
Outstanding Model in a Photoreal or Animated Project
“Deepwater Horizon” — Deepwater Horizon Rig
Kelvin Lau
Jean Bolte
Kevin Sprout
Kim Vongbunyong
Outstanding Effects Simulations in a Photoreal Feature
“The Jungle Book” — Nature Effects
Oliver Winwood
Fabian Nowak
David Schneider
Ludovic Ramisandraina
Outstanding Effects Simulations in an Animated Feature
“Moana”
Marc Henry Bryant
David Hutchins
Ben Frost
Dale Mayeda
Outstanding Effects Simulations in an Episode, Commercial, or Real-Time Project
“Game of Thrones” — “Battle of the Bastards” — Meereen City
Thomas Hullin
Dominik Kirouac
James Dong
Xavier Fourmond
Outstanding Compositing in a Photoreal Feature
“The Jungle Book”
Christoph Salzmann
Masaki Mitchell
Matthew Adams
Max Stummer
Outstanding Compositing in a Photoreal Episode
“Game of Thrones” — “Battle of the Bastards” — Retaking Winterfell
Dominic Hellier
Morgan Jones
Thijs Noij
Caleb Thompson
Outstanding Compositing in a Photoreal Commercial
John Lewis — “Buster the Boxer”
Tom Harding
Alex Snookes
David Filipe
Andreas Feix
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Student Project
“Breaking Point”
Johannes Franz
Nicole Rothermel
Thomas Sali
Alexander Richter
More information from: www.visualeffectssociety.com
