Avatar: The Way of Water sets VES Awards record

VES awards

The James Cameron feature film Avatar: The Way of Water was the big winner at the 21st annual VES Awards.

Going into the Visual Effects Society’s 21st annual VES Awards, James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water had 14 nominations, which set an earlier record by none other than the director’s original Avatar film, which, in 2010, scored 11 nominations (and took home six awards). Then, like this year’s competition, Avatar received the top prize for Outstanding Visual Effects, along with eight other wins.

The VES Awards celebrate the outstanding work by visual effects practitioners in film, animation, television, commercials, video games, and special venues. What makes these awards special is that they honor practitioners from across the various disciplines.

In addition to winning for Outstanding Visual Effects, Avatar: The Way of Water also garnered wins in the following categories: Outstanding Animated Character in an Animated Feature, Outstanding Created Environment in a Photoreal Feature, Outstanding Virtual Cinematography in a CG Project, Outstanding Model in a Photoreal or Animated Project, Outstanding Effects Simulation in a Photoreal Feature, Outstanding Compositing Lighting in a Feature, and Outstanding Special (Practical) Effects in a Photoreal Project. The movie also received the new Emerging Technology Award.

(Source: 20th Century Studios, Lightstorm Entertainment)

The complete list of winners are as follows:

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE

Avatar: The Way of Water
Richard Baneham
Walter Garcia
Joe Letteri
Eric Saindon
JD Schwalm

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE

Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio
Aaron Weintraub
Jeffrey Schaper
Cameron Carson
Emma Gorbey

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A COMMERCIAL

Frito-Lay; Push It
Tom Raynor
Sophie Harrison
Ben Cronin
Martino Madeddu

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL EPISODE

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power; Udûn
Jason Smith
Ron Ames
Nigel Sumner
Tom Proctor
Dean Clarke

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE

Thirteen Lives
Jason Billington
Thomas Horton
Denis Baudin
Michael Harrison Brian Cox

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL EPISODE

Five Days at Memorial; Day Two
Eric Durst
Danny McNair
Matt Whelan
Goran Pavles
John MacGillivray

OUTSTANDING ANIMATED CHARACTER IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE

Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio; Pinocchio
Oliver Beale
Richard Pickersgill
Brian Leif Hansen
Kim Slate

OUTSTANDING ANIMATED CHARACTER IN AN EPISODE, COMMERCIAL OR REAL-TIME PROJECT

The Umbrella Academy; Pogo
Aidan Martin
Hannah Dockerty
Olivier Beierlein
Miae Kang

OUTSTANDING ANIMATED CHARACTER IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE

Avatar: The Way of Water; Kiri
Anneka Fris
Rebecca Louise Leybourne
Guillaume Francois
Jung Rock Hwang

OUTSTANDING EFFECTS SIMULATIONS IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE

Avatar: The Way of Water; Water Simulations
Johnathan Nixon
David Moraton
Nicolas James Illingworth
David Caeiro Cebrian

OUTSTANDING EFFECTS SIMULATIONS IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
Derek Cheung
Michael Losure
Kiem Ching Ong
Jinguang Huang

OUTSTANDING EFFECTS SIMULATIONS IN AN EPISODE, COMMERCIAL, OR REAL-TIME PROJECT

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power; Udûn; Water and Magma
Rick Hankins
|Aron Bonar
Branko Grujcic
Laurent Kermel

OUTSTANDING COMPOSITING & LIGHTING IN A FEATURE

Avatar: The Way of Water; Water Integration
Sam Cole
Francois Sugny
Florian Schroeder
Jean Matthews

OUTSTANDING COMPOSITING & LIGHTING IN A COMMERCIAL

Ladbrokes; Rocky
Greg Spencer
Theajo Dharan
Georgina Ford
Jonathan Westley

OUTSTANDING COMPOSITING & LIGHTING IN AN EPISODE

Love, Death + Robots; Night of the Mini Dead
Tim Emeis
José Maximiano
Renaud Tissandié
Nacere Guerouaf

OUTSTANDING SPECIAL (PRACTICAL) EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL PROJECT

Avatar: The Way of Water; Current Machine and Wave Pool
JD Schwalm
Richard Schwalm
Nick Rand
Robert Spurlock

OUTSTANDING MODEL IN A PHOTOREAL OR ANIMATED PROJECT

Avatar: The Way of Water; The Sea Dragon
Sam Sharplin
Stephan Skorepa
Ian Baker
Guillaume Francois

OUTSTANDING VIRTUAL CINEMATOGRAPHY IN A CG PROJECT

Avatar: The Way of Water
Richard Baneham
Dan Cox
Eric Reynolds
A.J Briones

OUTSTANDING CREATED ENVIRONMENT IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE

Avatar: The Way of Water; The Reef
Jessica Cowley
Joe W. Churchill
Justin Stockton
Alex Nowotny

OUTSTANDING CREATED ENVIRONMENT IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE

Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio; In the Stomach of a Sea Monster
Warren Lawtey
Anjum Sakharkar
Javier Gonzalez Alonso
Quinn Carvalho

OUTSTANDING CREATED ENVIRONMENT IN AN EPISODE, COMMERCIAL, OR REAL-TIME PROJECT

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power; Adar; Númenor City
Dan Wheaton
Nico Delbecq
Dan Letarte
Julien Gauthier

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A REAL-TIME PROJECT

The Last of Us Part I
Erick Pangilinan
Evan Wells
Eben Cook
Mary Jane Whiting

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A SPECIAL VENUE PROJECT

ABBA: Voyage
Ben Morris
Edward Randolph
Stephen Aplin
Ian Comley

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A STUDENT PROJECT (Sponsored by Autodesk)

A Calling. From the Desert. To the Sea
Mario Bertsch
Max Pollmann
Lukas Löffler
Till Sander-Titgemeyer

EMERGING TECHNOLOGY AWARD

Avatar: The Way of Water; Water Toolset
Alexey Dmitrievich Stomakhin
Steve Lesser
Sven Joel Wretborn
Douglas McHale