The Screen Life

Gravity vs. Not-Gravity. The story of FX this year is dominated by one movie. Gravity essentially won the Oscar in this category (and probably several others) within the first 5 minutes of its first screening.

That’s not to say there wasn’t a lot of impressive work on display from other films. Any other year I’d say Pacific Rim had this in the bag. But like The Lord of the Rings, Avatar, and The Life of Pi, there’s just no competition with the groundbreaking, industry-changing behemoth in the room.

That said, the fun of the Visual Effects Society (VES) Awards, is all the OTHER categories. Seriously, they have a category for EVERYTHING – “Outstanding Animated Character in an Animated Feature Motion Picture”??? Check out the guild’s nominations below…

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects-Driven Feature Motion Picture
“Gravity”
“Iron Man 3”
“Pacific Rim”
“Star Trek: Into Darkness”
“The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug”

Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Feature Motion Picture
“Rush”
“The Great Gatsby”
“The Lone Ranger”
“The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”
“The Wolf of Wall Street”
“White House Down”

Outstanding Animation in an Animated Feature Motion Picture
“Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2”
“Despicable Me 2”
“Frozen”
“Monsters University”
“The Croods”

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Broadcast Program
“Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” – Pilot
“Almost Human”
“Battlestar Galactica” – “Blood & Chrome”
“Game of Thrones” – “Valar Dohaeris”
“Inseparable” – “Chernobyl”

Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Broadcast Program
“Banshee” – Pilot
“Da Vinci’s Demons” – “The Lovers”
“Hawaii 5-0” – “Ho’onani Makuakane“
“Mob City” – “A Guy Walks in to A Bar”
“Moonfleet” – “Episode 2”
“The Borgias” – “Relics”

Outstanding Real-Time Visuals in a Video Game
“Call of Duty” – “Ghosts”
“Crysis 3”
“Killzone Shadow Fall”
“NBA 2K14”
“Ryse: Son of Rome”

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Commercial
“Call of Duty: Epic Night Out”
“Galaxy Chauffeur”
“Liberty Group Limited: Answer”
“PETA: 98% Human”
“Sony PlayStation: Perfect Day”

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Special Venue Project
“Hayden Planetarium’s Dark Universe”
“Mysteries of the Unseen World”
“Mystic Manor”
“Space Shuttle Atlantis”
“SpongeBob SquarePants 4D: The Great Jelly Rescue!”

Outstanding Animated Character in a Live Action Feature Motion Picture
“Gravity” – Ryan
“Oz the Great and Powerful” – China Girl
“Pacific Rim” – Kaiju – Leatherback
“The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” – Smaug

Outstanding Animated Character in an Animated Feature Motion Picture
“Epic” – Bomba
“Epic” – Mary Katherine
“Frozen” – Bringing the Snow Queen to Life
“The Croods” – Eep

Outstanding Animated Character in a Commercial or Broadcast Program
“Game of Thrones” – Raising the Dragons
“PETA — 98% Human”
“Smithwick’s” – Squirrel
“Three, The Pony”
“Toy Story of Terror”

Outstanding Created Environment in a Live Action Feature Motion Picture
“Elysium” – Torus
“Gravity” – Interior
“Gravity” – Exterior
“Iron Man 3” – Shipyard
“Pacific Rim” – Virtual Hong Kong

Outstanding Created Environment in an Animated Feature Motion Picture
“Epic” – Pod Patch
“Frozen” – Elsa’s Ice Palace
“Monsters University” – Campus
“The Croods” – The Maze

Outstanding Created Environment in a Commercial or Broadcast Program
“Game of Thrones” – The Climb
“Hell On Wheels” – “Big Bad Wolf”
“Inseparable” – “Chernobyl”
Liberty Group Limited — “Answer”

Outstanding Virtual Cinematography in a Live Action Feature Motion Picture
“Gravity”
“Iron Man 3”
“Man of Steel”
“Pacific Rim” – Hong Kong Ocean Brawl
“The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug”

Outstanding Virtual Cinematography in a Live Action Commercial or Broadcast Program
“Mad Max” – “Ethos”
“Murdered” – “Soul Suspect”
Qualcomm Snapdragon – “A Dragon is Coming”
“The Crew”

Outstanding Models in a Feature Motion Picture
“Gravity” – ISS Exterior
“Pacific Rim”
“Star Trek: Into Darkness”
“The Lone Ranger” – Colby Locomotive

Outstanding FX and Simulation Animation in a Live Action Feature Motion Picture
“Gravity” – Parachute and ISS Destruction
“Man of Steel”
“Pacific Rim” – Fluid Simulation & Destruction
“The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug”

Outstanding FX and Simulation Animation in an Animated Feature Motion Picture
“Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2”
“Epic” – Boggan Crowds
“Frozen” – Elsa’s Blizzard
“The Croods”

Outstanding FX and Simulation Animation in a Commercial or Broadcast Program
“PETA: 98% Human”
Sony PlayStation – “Perfect Day”
Toyota Avalon – “Formula”
“Toy Story of Terror”

Outstanding Compositing in a Feature Motion Picture
“Elysium”
“Gravity”
“Iron Man 3” – Barrel of Monkeys
“Iron Man 3” – House Attack
“The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug”

Outstanding Compositing in a Broadcast Program
“Banshee” – Pilot
“Game of Thrones” – The Climb
“The Conquering of Yunkai”
“Vikings” – “Dispossessed”

Outstanding Compositing in a Commercial
“Call of Duty”— “Epic Night Out”
Jean-Paul Gaultier – “The Sailor”
“Mercedes Sensations”
“Sony PlayStation — Greatness Awaits”
“Sony PlayStation — Perfect Day

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Student Project
“Initium”
“Morphium”
“Rugbybugs”
“Runaway”
“Where the Dream Begins”