‘Gravity’ Leads With 8 VES Awards Nominations; ‘Pacific Rim’ Nabs 6

Los Angeles (January 14, 2014) – Today, the Visual Effects Society (VES), the industry’s professional honorary society, announced the nominees for the 12th Annual VES Awards, the prestigious yearly celebration that recognizes outstanding visual effects artistry and innovation in film, animation, television, commercials and video games and the VFX supervisors, VFX producers and hands-on-the-keys artists who bring this work to life. Nominees were selected by VES members via concurrent events in Los Angeles and within the eight Global VES Sections – New York, Bay Area, New Zealand, Sydney, United Kingdom, Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver. The VES Awards will be held on February 12th at the Beverly Hilton.

“The artistry, ingenuity and passion of visual effects practitioners around the world have come together to tell the most amazing stories imaginable,” said Jeffrey A. Okun, VES Chair. “This year, more than ever, we have seen the fantastic become normal, the unimaginable become reality and the artistry of VFX drive box office. The VES Awards is the only place where this amazing work is showcased and honored. We are extremely proud of our nominees!”

The 12th Annual VES Awards Ceremony will be held Wednesday, February 12, 2014 at the The Beverly Hilton Hotel.

The nominees for the 12th Annual VES Awards are as follows:

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects-Driven Feature Motion Picture

Gravity
Tim Webber
Nikki Penny
Neil Corbould
Richard McBride

Iron Man 3
Christopher Townsend
Mark Soper
Guy Williams
Bryan Grill

Pacific Rim
John Knoll
Susan Greenhow
Chris Raimo
Hal Hickel

Star Trek: Into Darkness
Roger Guyett
Luke O’Byrne
Ron Ames
Ben Grossman

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Joe Letteri
Eric Saindon
Kevin Sherwood
David Clayton

Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Feature Motion Picture

Rush
Jody Johnson
Moriah Etherington-Sparks
Mark Hodgkins
Antoine Moulineau

The Great Gatsby
Chris Godfrey
Prue Fletcher
Joyce Cox

The Lone Ranger
Tim Alexander
Gary Brozenich
Shari Hanson
Kevin Martel

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
Guillaume Rocheron
Kurt Williams
Monette Dubin
Ivan Moran

The Wolf of Wall Street
Robert Legato
Mark Russell
Joseph Farrell
Lisa Spence

White House Down
Marc Weigert
Volker Engel
Julia Frey
Ollie Rankin

Outstanding Animation in an Animated Feature Motion Picture

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2
Peter Nash
Michael Ford
Chris Juen
Mandy Tankenson

Despicable Me 2
Chris Meledandri
Janet Healy
Chris Renaud
Pierre Coffin

Frozen
Chris Buck
Jennifer Lee
Peter Del Vecho
Lino Di Salvo

Monsters University
Kori Rae
Sanjay Bakshi
Jon Reisch
Scott Clark

The Croods
Jane Hartwell
Chris Sanders
Kirk Demicco
Markus Manninen

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Broadcast Program

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Pilot
Mark Kolpack
Sabrina Arnold
David Altenau
H Haden Hammond

Almost Human
Jay Worth
Robert Habros
Michael Cliett
David Beedon

Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome
Gary Hutzel
Michael Gibson
Derek Ledbetter
Heather Mcauliff

Game of Thrones: Valar Dohaeris
Steve Kullback
Joe Bauer
Jörn Großhans
Sven Martin

Inseparable: Chernobyl
Egor Olesov
Egor Borschevsky
Dmitry Ovcharenko
Mykhailo Datsyk

Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Broadcast Program

Banshee: Pilot
Armen Kevorkian
Mark Skowronski
Jeremy Jozwik
Ricardo Ramirez

Da Vinci’s Demons: The Lovers
Kevin Blank
Simon Frame
Ante Dekovic
Oliver Arnold

Hawaii 5-0: Ho’onani Makuakane
Armen Kevorkian
Alexander Soltes
Jane Sharvina
Andranik Taranyan

Mob City: A Guy Walks in to A Bar
Jason Sperling
Michael Morreale
Valeri Pfahning
Mike Enriquez

Moonfleet: Episode 2
Ed Bruce
Alan Collins
John O’Connell
Joe Courtis

The Borgias: Relics
Wojciech Zielinski
Neishaw Ali
Bill Halliday
Jp Giamos

Outstanding Real-Time Visuals in a Video Game

Call of Duty: Ghosts
Mark Rubin
Richard Kriegler
David Johnson
Alessandro Nardini

Crysis 3
Magnus Larbrant
Tiago Sousa
Steven Bender
Cevat Yerli

Killzone Shadow Fall
Marijn Giesbertz
Jan-Bart Van Beek
Angie Smets

NBA 2K14
Heather Marshall
Joseph Clark
Jeff Thomas
Anton Dawson

Ryse: Son of Rome
Cevat Yerli
Peter Gornstein
Chris Evans
Brian Chambers

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Commercial

Call of Duty: Epic Night Out
Leighton Greer
Robert Sethi
Felix Urquiza
Chris Knight

Galaxy Chauffeur
Helen Hughes
Simon French
William Bartlett
Stephen Cullingford

Liberty Group Limited: Answer
James Atkinson
Rachel Mariscal
Scott Meadows
David Liu

PETA: 98% Human
Angus Kneale
Vince Baertsoen
Colin Blaney
Kyle Cody

Sony PlayStation: Perfect Day
Charlotte Arnold
Joji Tsuruga
Gavin Wellsman
Olivier Mitonneau

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Special Venue Project

Hayden Planetarium’s Dark Universe
Vivian Trakinski
Jon Parker
Carter Emmart
Andreas Wetteborn

Mysteries of the Unseen World
Sean Phillips
Andy Yamada
Fred Pienkos
Matthew Sugars

Mystic Manor
Tim Landry
John Guerra
Mark Schirmer
Ken Horii

Space Shuttle Atlantis
Daren Ulmer
John Gross
Cedar Connor
Christian Bloch

SpongeBob SquarePants 4D: The Great Jelly Rescue!
Kate Crandall
Brent Young
Michael “Oz” Smith
Andrei Brovcenco

Outstanding Animated Character in a Live Action Feature Motion Picture

Gravity: Ryan
Max Solomon
Mathieu Vig
Michael Brunet
David Shirk

Oz the Great and Powerful: China Girl
Troy Saliba
In-Ah Roediger
Carolyn Vale
Kevin Souls

Pacific Rim: Kaiju – Leatherback
Jakub Pistecky
Frank Gravatt
Cyrus Jam
Chris Havreberg

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug: Smaug
Eric Reynolds
David Clayton
Myriam Catrin
Guillaume Francois

Outstanding Animated Character in an Animated Feature Motion Picture

Epic: Bomba
Thom Roberts
Haven Gordon Cousins
Tim Bower
Daniel Lima

Epic: Mary Katherine
Jeff Gabor
Dylan C. Maxwell
Sang Jun Lee
Chris Pagoria

Frozen: Bringing the Snow Queen to Life
Alexander Alvarado
Joy Johnson
Chad Stubblefield
Wayne Unten

The Croods: Eep
Line Andersen
Won Young Byun
Koji Morihiro
Chris De St. Jeor

Outstanding Animated Character in a Commercial or Broadcast Program

Game of Thrones: Raising the Dragons
Philip Meyer
Ingo Schachner
Travis Nobles
Florian Friedmann

PETA: 98% Human
Vince Baertsoen
Alex Allain
Henning Koczy

Smithwick’s: Squirrel
Tom Bussell
Jorge Montiel
Tom Raynor
Sauce Vilas

Three, The Pony
Carsten Keller
Jake Mengers
Tim Van Hussen

Toy Story of Terror
Paul Aichele
Kiki Mei Kee Poh
Andrew Coats

Outstanding Created Environment in a Live Action Feature Motion Picture

Elysium: Torus
Votch Levi
Joshua Ong
Barry Poon
Kent Matheson

Gravity: Interior
Harry Bardak
Nathan Walster
Jonathan Fawkner
Claire Michaud

Gravity: Exterior
Paul Beilby
Kyle Mcculloch
Stuart Penn
Ian Comley

Iron Man 3: Shipyard
John Stevenson-Galvin
Greg Notzelman
Paul Harris
Justin Stockton

Pacific Rim: Virtual Hong Kong
Johan Thorngren
Jeremy Bloch
David Meny
Polly Ing

Outstanding Created Environment in an Animated Feature Motion Picture

Epic: Pod Patch
Aaron Ross
Travis Price
Jake Panian
Antelmo Villarreal

Frozen: Elsa’s Ice Palace
Virgilio John Aquino
Alessandro Jacomini
Lance Summers
David Womersley

Monsters University: Campus
Robert Kondo
Eric Andraos
Dale Ruffolo
Peter Sumanaseni

The Croods: The Maze
Jonathan Harman
Violette Sacre-Shaik
Benjamin Venancie
Philippe Brochu

Outstanding Created Environment in a Commercial or Broadcast Program

Game of Thrones: The Climb
Patrick Zentis
Mayur Patel
Nitin Singh
Tim Alexander

Hell On Wheels: Big Bad Wolf
Steve Meyer
Matt Von Brock
Mitch Gates
Antonio Chang

Inseparable: Chernobyl
Dmitry Ovcharenko
Igor Chopenko
Dmitry Eremenko
Andrey Bogdanov

Liberty Group Limited: Answer
Greg Teegarden
Kevin Bouchez
Brian Creasey
Kurt Lawson

Outstanding Virtual Cinematography in a Live Action Feature Motion Picture

Gravity
Tim Webber
Emmanuel Lubezki
Richard McBride
Dale Newton

Iron Man 3
Mark Smith
Aaron Gilman
Thelvin Cabezas
Gerardo Ramirez

Man of Steel
Daniel Paulsson
Edmund Kolloen
Joel Prager
David Stripinis

Pacific Rim: Hong Kong Ocean Brawl
Colin Benoit
Nick Walker
Adam Schnitzer
Victor Schutz

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Christian Rivers
Phil Barrenger
Mark Gee
Thelvin Tico Cabezas

Outstanding Virtual Cinematography in a Live Action Commercial or Broadcast Program

Mad Max: Ethos
Aladino Debert
Neil Huxley
David Liu
Michael Harbour

Murdered: Soul Suspect
Vernon Wilbert
Tim Jones
Rafael Colon
April Warren

Qualcomm Snapdragon: A Dragon is Coming
Joshua Wassung
Shannon Justison
Shayne Ryan
Seth Gollub

The Crew
Dominique Boidin
Rémi Kozyra
Léon Bérelle
Maxime Luère

Outstanding Models in a Feature Motion Picture

Gravity: ISS Exterior
Ben Lambert
Paul Beilby
Chris Lawrence
Andy Nicholson

Pacific Rim
David Fogler
Alex Jaeger
Aaron Wilson
David Behrens

Star Trek: Into Darkness
Bruce Holcomb
Ron Woodall
John Goodson
Thomas Fejes

The Lone Ranger: Colby Locomotive
Rene Garcia
Steve Walton
Brian Paik
Gerald Gutschmidt

Outstanding FX and Simulation Animation in a Live Action Feature Motion Picture

Gravity: Parachute and ISS Destruction
Alexis Wajsbrot
Sylvain Degrotte
Horacio Mendoza
Juan-Luis Sanchez

Man of Steel
Brian Goodwin
Gray Horsfield
Mathieu Chardonnet
Adrien Toupet

Pacific Rim: Fluid Simulation & Destruction
Ryan Hopkins
Michael Balog
Patrick Conran
Rick Hankins

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Areito Echevarria
Andreas Soderstrom
Ronnie Menahem
Christoph Sprenger

Outstanding FX and Simulation Animation in an Animated Feature Motion Picture

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2
Andrew Hofman
Alex Moaveni

Epic: Boggan Crowds
Thierry Dervieux-Lecocq
David Gatenby
Mark Adams
Matthew D. Simmons

Frozen: Elsa’s Blizzard
Eric W. Araujo
Marc Bryant
Dong Joo Byun
Tim Molinder

The Croods
Jeff Budsberg
Andre Le Blanc
Jason Mayer
Michael Losure

Outstanding FX and Simulation Animation in a Commercial or Broadcast Program

PETA: 98% Human
Vince Baertsoen
Jimmy Gass
Dave Barosin

Sony PlayStation: Perfect Day
Joji Tsuruga
Gavin Wellsman
Nick Couret
Hassan Taimur

Toyota Avalon: Formula
Ed Laag
Eugene Gauran
Josh Hatton

Toy Story of Terror
Jane Yen
Rogan Griffin
Amit Baadkar
Keith Daniel Klohn

Outstanding Compositing in a Feature Motion Picture

Elysium
Jean Lapointe
Jordan Benwick
Robin Hackl
Janeen Elliott

Gravity
Mark Bakowski
Anthony Smith
Theodor Groeneboom
Adrian Metzelaar

Iron Man 3: Barrel of Monkeys
Michael Maloney
Francis Puthanangadi
Justin Van Der Lek
Howard Cabalfin

Iron Man 3: House Attack
Darren Poe
Stefano Trivelli
Josiah Howison
Zach Zaubi

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Charles Tait
Robin Hollander
Giuseppe Tagliavini
Sean Heuston

Outstanding Compositing in a Broadcast Program

Banshee: Pilot
Gevork Babityan
Andranik Taranyan
Matt Kelly
Matthieu Perin

Game of Thrones: The Climb
Kirk Brillon
Steve Gordon
Geoff Sayer
Winston Lee

Game of Thrones: The Conquering of Yunkai
Sean Faden
Greg Szafranski
Florian Franke
Travis Nobles

Vikings: Dispossessed
Ovidiu Cinazan
Gary Couto
Marco Lee
Maria Gordon

Outstanding Compositing in a Commercial

Call of Duty: Epic Night Out
Chris Knight
Daniel Thuresson
Nick Tayler
Dag Ivarsory

Jean-Paul Gaultier: The Sailor
Jerome Billet
Arnaud Leviez

Mercedes Sensations
Laurent Creusot
Pierre Emmanuel Genin
David Roubah
Damien Canameras

Sony PlayStation : Greatness Awaits
Iwan Zwarts
Kyle Cody
Dan Difelice

Sony PlayStation: Perfect Day
Gavin Wellsman
John Mangia
Leonardo Costa
Kristen Johnson

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Student Project

Initium
Alexandre Dechel
Adrien Lambert
Larochette Emeric
James Ross-Greetham

Morphium
Linus Stetter

Rugbybugs
Matthias Baeuerle
Carl Schroeter
Martin Lapp
Emanuel Fuchs

Runaway
Ludovic Fregé
Quentin Medda
Romain Chauliac
Yoann Gouraud

Where the Dream Begins
Dun Ma
Dan Wen Lei
Xuan Xia