The law of the jungle prevailed at the 15th Annual VES Awards last night, Tuesday 7 February, with Disney’s The Jungle Book gathering up five awards. HBO’s Game of Thrones dominated the television category, while Buster the Boxer – a Christmas advertisement from UK department store chain John Lewis – warmed hearts in the commercials category.
In a lavish awards ceremony hosted by comedian Patton Oswalt at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, the Visual Effects Society handed out awards in a wide range of categories, recognizing outstanding visual effects in photoreal features and television, animated features and other fields. Also during the evening, Victoria Alonso – Marvel Studios Executive VP of Physical Production – received the VES Visionary Award, and Academy Award-winning visual effects supervisor Ken Ralston picked up the VES Lifetime Achievement Award.
Here’s the complete list of winners, arranged by category:
Photoreal Feature Film
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 Animated Performance in a Photoreal Feature
The Jungle Book — King Louie
- Paul Story
- Dennis Yoo
- Jack Tema
- Andrei Coval
Outstanding Created Environment in a Photoreal Feature
Doctor Strange — New York City
- Adam Watkins
- Martijn van Herk
- Tim Belsher
- Jon Mitchell
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 Compositing in a Photoreal Feature
The Jungle Book
- Christoph Salzmann
- Masaki Mitchell
- Matthew Adams
- Max Stummer
Television
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 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 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 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 Episode
Game of Thrones — Battle of the Bastards — Retaking Winterfell
- Dominic Hellier
- Morgan Jones
- Thijs Noij
- Caleb Thompson
Animated Feature Film
Outstanding Visual Effects in an Animated Feature
Kubo and the Two Strings
- Travis Knight
- Arianne Sutner
- Steve Emerson
- Brad Schiff
Outstanding Animated Performance in an Animated Feature
Finding Dory — Hank
- Jonathan Hoffman
- Steven Clay Hunter
- Mark Piretti
- Audrey Wong
Outstanding Created Environment in an Animated Feature
Moana — Motunui Island
- Rob Dressel
- Andy Harkness
- Brien Hindman
- Larry Wu
Outstanding Effects Simulations in an Animated Feature
Moana
- Marc Henry Bryant
- David Hutchins
- Ben Frost
- Dale Mayeda
Other
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 Special Venue Project
Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle for the Sunken Treasure
- Bill George
- Amy Jupiter
- Hayden Landis
- David Lester
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Commercial
John Lewis — Buster the Boxer
- Diarmid Harrison-Murray
- Hannah Ruddleston
- Fabian Frank
- William Laban
Outstanding Animated Performance in a Commercial
John Lewis — Buster the Boxer
- Tim van Hussen
- David Bryan
- Chloe Dawe
- Maximilian Mallmann
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