“Avatar: The Way of Water” has set a new record for Visual Effects Society VES Award nominations, which were announced Tuesday morning.
James Cameron’s sci-fi epic earned 14 nominations across 25 VES categories, surpassing the 13 received by “The Mandalorian” in 2021. The previous record for a feature film was 11, which was set by the original “Avatar” in 2010. . .
“The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” led all streaming nominees with seven, while “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” was best animated feature with six.
The 14 nominations for “Avatar: The Way of Water” include one for Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photorealistic Motion Picture, the category that serves as the most direct point of comparison to the Oscars’ Best Visual Effects category. At the VES Awards, it will compete in that category with “Fantastic Beasts: Dumbledore’s Secrets,” “Jurassic World: Dominion,” “The Batman” and “Top Gun: Maverick.”
The five nominated films appear in the list of 10 films nominated for an Oscar in its category of visual effects. Of the other five shortlisted films, only “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” and “Thirteen Lives” earned nominations at the VES Awards, with the former nominated for Outstanding Effects Simulations in a Photorealistic Feature and the latter nominated for Outstanding Secondary Visual Effects in a Photorealistic Feature. a movie. Photorealistic feature. “All Quiet on the Western Front,” “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” and “Nope” were passed over at the VES Awards.
“The Batman” and “Top Gun: Maverick” each received three nominations, and “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore” and “Jurassic World: Dominion” received two.
While “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” earned six nominations, other animated films “Strange World” and “The Sea Beast” received four each, while “Turning Red” received three.
“The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” led all other episodic entries with seven nominations, with “Stranger Things 4” earning three nominations and “House of the Dragon” and “The Book of Boba Felt” receiving two each. .
Here is the list of nominated projects. A complete list with the names of the individual VFX artists is available at www.vesglobal.org.
OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE
“Avatar: The Path of Water”
“Fantastic Beasts: Dumbledore’s Secrets”
“Jurassic World: Dominion”
“Batman”
“Top Gun: Maverick”
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING VISUAL EFFECTS ON A PHOTOREAL FEATURE
“Death on the Nile”
“I want to dance with someone”
“The Fabelmans”
“The Gray Man”
“The Pale Blue Eye”
“Thirteen Lives”
OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN AN ANIMATED MOVIE
“Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio”
“Mad God”
“Strange world”
“The Bad Boys”
“The Beast from the Sea”
“turning red”
OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL EPISODE
“The House of the Dragon”: The Black Queen
“Prehistoric Planet”: Ice Worlds
“Stranger Things 4”: The little horse
“The Boys”: Revenge
“The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power”: Udûn
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL EPISODE
“Five Days at the Memorial”: Day Two
“See”: I see you
“Indemnity”: Pilot
“The Old Man”: Episode III
“Vikings: Valhalla”: The Bridge
OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A REAL-TIME PROJECT
“God of War: Ragnarok”
Gotham Knights
“La Cantera”: Supermassive Games
“The Callisto Protocol”
“The Last of Us Part I”
HIGHLIGHTED VISUAL EFFECTS IN A COMMERCIAL
B&Q: “Flip”
Frito-Lay: “Push It”
Ladbrokes: “Rocky”
“Minions: The Rise of Gru”
Virgin Media: “The Highland Horseman”
OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A SPECIAL LOCATION PROJECT
“ABBA: Journey”
“Avengers: Quantum Encounter”
“Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind”
“Jumanji: The Adventure”
“Star Wars: Galactic Star Cruiser”
“Stranger Things: The Experience”
ANIMATED CHARACTER FEATURED IN A PHOTO-REAL FEATURE
“Avatar: The Path of Water”: Kiri
“Beast”: Lion
“Disney’s Pinocchio”: Honest John
“Slumberland”: Pig
OUTSTANDING ANIMATED PERSON IN AN ANIMATED FILM
“Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio”: Geppetto
“Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio”: Pinocchio
“Strange World”: Splat
“Going Red”: Panda Mei
OUTSTANDING ANIMATED CHARACTER IN A REAL-TIME EPISODE, COMMERCIAL OR PROJECT
“She-Hulk: Lawyer”: She-Hulk
“Skull and Bones”: Sam
“The Callisto Protocol”: Jacob Lee
“The Umbrella Academy”: Pogo
EXCEPTIONAL CREATED ENVIRONMENT ON A PHOTOREAL FEATURE
“Avatar: The Path of Water”: Metkayina Village
“Avatar: The Path of Water”: The Reef
“Jurassic World Dominion”: Biosyn Valley
“Slumberland”: The wonderful Cuban hotel dream
EXCEPTIONAL AMBIENCE CREATED IN AN ANIMATED MOVIE
“Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio”: In the stomach of a sea monster
“Light Year”: T’Kani Main Forest
“Strange World”: The Windy Jungle
“The Sea Beast”: The Hunting Boat
“Wendell & Wild”: The Shout Fair
EXCEPTIONAL AMBIANCE CREATED IN AN EPISODE, COMMERCIAL OR PROJECT IN REAL TIME
“Andor”: Computing; ferrix
“The Book of Boba Fett”: In the Name of Honor; mos spa
“The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power”: Adar; Numenor City
“The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power”: Adrift; Khazud Dum
OUTSTANDING VIRTUAL CINEMATOGRAPHY IN A CG PROJECT
“ABBA: Journey”
“Avatar: The Path of Water”
“Prehistoric Planet”
“The Batman”: Rain-Soaked Car Chase
FEATURED MODEL IN A PHOTO OR ANIMATED PROJECT
“Avatar: The Way of Water”: The Sea Dragon
“The Beast from the Sea”
“Top Gun: Maverick”: F-14 Tomcat
“Wendell & Wild”: Fair of Dreams
SIMULATIONS OF OUTSTANDING EFFECTS ON A PHOTOREAL FEATURE
“Avatar: The Path of Water”: Fire and Destruction
“Avatar: The Way of Water”: Water Simulations
“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”: floods in the streets of the city
“Fantastic Beasts: Dumbledore’s Secrets”
OUTSTANDING EFFECTS SIMULATIONS IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE
“Light-year”
“Puss in Boots: The Last Wish”
“Strange world”
“The Beast from the Sea”
FEATURED EFFECTS SIMULATIONS IN AN EPISODE, COMMERCIAL OR REAL-TIME PROJECT
“Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities”: Graveyard Rats
“Stranger Things 4”: Hawkins’ destructive fissures
“The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power”: Udûn; destruction of the volcano
“The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power”: Udûn; water and magma
OUTSTANDING COMPOSITION AND LIGHTING IN A FEATURE
“Avatar: The Path of Water”: Rocket Landing Forest Destruction
“Avatar: The path of water”: Integration of water
“The Batman”: Rainy Freeway Chase
“Top Gun: Maverick”
OUTSTANDING COMPOSITION AND LIGHTING IN AN EPISODE
“The House of the Dragon”: The Black Queen; dragon dance
“Love, Death and Robots”: Night of the Mini Dead
“The Book of Boba Fett”: Out of the Wilderness Comes a Stranger; Lucas alike
“The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power”: Udûn; Tirharad’s cavalry charge
OUTSTANDING COMPOSITION AND LIGHTING IN A COMMERCIAL
Cartier: “Tank”
Ladbrokes: “Rocky”
Samsung: “Game time is over”
Samsung: “The spider and the window”
SPECIAL EFFECTS (PRACTICAL) FEATURED IN A PHOTOREAL PROJECT
“Avatar: The Way of Water”: current machine and wave pool
“Black Adam”: robotic flight
“Mad God”
“The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power”: Adrift; middle earth storm
OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A STUDENT PROJECT (AUTODESK SPONSORED AWARD)
“A vocation. From the desert to the sea
“Boom”
“Stain”
“Maroni”
EMERGING TECHNOLOGY AWARD
“Avatar: The Way of Water”: Depth Comp
“Avatar: The Way of Water”: Facial System
“Avatar: The Way of Water”: Water Toolset
“Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio”: 3D-printed metal frame
“Going Red”: Profile Mover and CurveNets