VES Goes Big for ‘Hero,’ ‘Apes’

The 13th annual VES Awards went ape for Apes and big for Big Hero 6 last night.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes lead the live-action feature film categories with three wins, while Disney’s animated feature Big Hero 6 took home the most awards overall with five.

In the TV categories, Game of Thrones came out on top, and SSE was the most-honored commercial.

Here’s the full list of nominees, with the winners indicated in bold type. Congratulations to all the winners!

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects-Driven Photoreal/Live Action Feature Motion Picture

• Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. Joe Letteri, Ryan Stafford, Matt Kutcher, Dan Lemmon, Hannah Blanchini.
• Guardians of the Galaxy. Stephane Ceretti, Susan Pickett, Jonathan Fawkner, Nicolas Aithadi, Paul Corbould.
• Interstellar. Paul Franklin, Kevin Elam, Ann Podlozny, Andrew Lockley, Scott Fisher.
• Maleficent. Carey Villegas, Barrie Hemsley, Adam Valdez, Kelly Port, Michael Dawson.
• The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. Joe Letteri, David Conley, Eric Saindon, Kevin Sherwood, Steve Ingram.
• X-Men: Days of Future Past. Richard Stammers, Blondel Aidoo, Lou Pecora, Anders Langlands, Cameron Waldbauer.

Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal/Live Action Feature Motion Picture

• Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance). Ara Khanikian, Ivy Agregan, Sebastien Moreau, Isabelle Langlois.
• Divergent. Jim Berney, Greg Baxter, Matt Dessero.
• The Grand Budapest Hotel. Gabriel Sanchez, Jenny Foster, Simon Weisse, Jan Burda.
• The Imitation Game. Stuart Bullen, Lucy Ainsworth-Taylor, Simon Rowe.
• Unbroken. Bill George, Steve Gaub, Erin Dusseault, Dave Morley, Brian Cox.

Outstanding Animation in an Animated Feature Motion Picture

• Big Hero 6. Don Hall, Chris Williams, Roy Conli, Zach Parrish.
• How to Train Your Dragon 2. Bonnie Arnold, Dean DeBlois, Dave Walvoord, Simon Otto.
• Rio 2. Carlos Saldanha, Bruce Anderson, John C. Donkin, Kirk Garfield.
• The Boxtrolls. Travis Knight, Anthony Stacchi, Graham Annable, Brad Schiff.
• The LEGO Movie. Chris McKay, Amber Naismith, Jim Dodd, David Williams.

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects-Driven Photoreal/Live Action Broadcast Program

• Constantine, “A Feast of Friends.” Kevin Blank, Elizabeth Castro, Yafei Wu, Chris LeDoux.
• Game of Thrones, “The Children.” Joe Bauer, Steve Kullback, Stuart Brisdon, Thomas Schelesny, Sven Martin.
• Hemlock Grove. Matt Whelan, Chris Brown, Todd Masters, Johnathan Banta, Eric McAvoy.
• Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Mark Kolpack, Sabrina Arnold, Gary D’Amico, Kevin Lingenfelser, David Beedon.
• The Flash. Armen Kevorkian, James Baldanzi, Jeremy Jozwick, Andranik Taranyan.

Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Visual Effects-Driven Photoreal/Live Action Broadcast Program

• American Horror Story: Freak Show, “Edward Mordrake, Part 2.” Jason Piccioni, Jason Spratt, Mike Kirylo, Justin Ball, Eric Roberts.
• Black Sails, “Episode 1.” Erik Henry, Annemarie Griggs, Paul Graff, George Murphy.
• Crossbones. Kevin Blank, Ron Pogue, Andy Weder, Niklas Jacobson, Mans Bjorklund.
• Penny Dreadful, “Séance.” James Cooper, Bill Halliday, Sarah McMurdo, Lorne Kwechansky.
• Ripper Street, “Whitechapel Terminus.” Ed Bruce, Alan Collins, Joe Courtis, John O’Connell.

Outstanding Real-Time Visuals in a Video Game

• Alien: Isolation. Jude Bond, Al Hope, Howard Rayner, Oriol Sans Gomez.
• Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare. Yi-chao Sandy Lin-Chiang, Joseph Salud, Demetrius Leal, Dave Blizard.
• inFAMOUS: Second Son. Matt Vainio, Horia Dociu, Jason Connell, Bill Rockenbeck.
• Sunset Overdrive. Jacinda Chew, Bryan Intihar, Grant Hollis.

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Commercial

• Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, “Discover Your Power.” Paul O’Shea, Michael Wigart, Andy Boyd, Jacob Montgomery, Benoit Mannequin.
• Destiny, “Become Legend.” Eric Barba, Carla Attanasio, Greg Teegarden, Dan Akers.
• ESA, “Ambition.” Jakub Knapik, Tomasz Wachnik, Lukasz Sobisz, Michal Skrzypiec
• General Electric, “Childlike Imagination.” Benjamin Walsh, Jennie Burnett, Brian Burke, Dominik Bauch
• SSE, “Maya.” Neil Davies, Alex Hammond, Jorge Montiel, Beth Vander

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Special Venue Project

• Hubei in the Air. Andrew Roberts, Claudia Lachnitt, Yas Takata, Boris Schmidt, Sebastian Butenberg.
• Ratatouille: L’Aventure Totalement Torquee de Remy. Tony Apodaca, Marianne McLean, Gilles Martin, Edwin Chang, Mark Mine.
• Star Journey. Adam Watkins, Viktorija Ogureckaja, Thilo Ewers, Omid Arzhang, Yas Takata.
• The Hogwarts Express. Chris Shaw, Rich Yeomans, Steven Godfrey, Peter Jopling, John Richardson.
• The Lost Temple. John Hughes, Walt Jones, Brent Young, Michael Smith.

Outstanding Performance of an Animated Character in a Photoreal/Live Action Feature Motion Picture

• Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, “Caesar.” Paul Story, Eteuati Tema, Andrea Merlo, Emiliano Padovani.
• Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, “Koba.” Daniel Barrett, Alessandro Bonora, Mark Edward Allen, Masaya Suzuki.
• Guardians of the Galaxy, “Rocket.” Kevin Spruce, Rachel Williams, Laurie Brugger, Mark Wilson.
• Maleficent, “Thistlewit.” Darren Hendler, Matthias Wittmann, Jeremy Buttell, Elliot Rosenstein.

Outstanding Animated Character in an Animated Feature Motion Picture

• Big Hero 6, “Baymax.” Colin Eckart, John Kahwaty, Zach Parrish, Zack Petroc.
• How to Train Your Dragon 2, “Hiccup.” Jakob Hjort Jensen, Fabio Lignini, Stephen Candell, Hongseo Park.
• Rio 2, “Gabi.” Jason Sadler, Ignacio Barrios, Drew Winey, Diana Diriwaechter.
• The Boxtrolls, “Archibald Snatcher.” Travis Knight, Jason Stalman, Michael Laubach, Kyle Williams.

Outstanding Performance of an Animated Character in a Commercial, Broadcast Program, or Video Game

• Freesat Freetime, “Sheldon.” Russell Dodgson, Grant Walker, Juan Sebastian Nino, Amar Chundavadra.
• Game of Thrones, “Drogon.” Philip Meyer, Thomas Kutschera, Igor Majdandzic, Mark Spindler.
• John Lewis, “Monty the Penguin.” Diarmid Harrison Murray, Tim Van Hussen, Amir Bazazi, Georgios Kyparissous
• SSE, “Maya.” Jorge Montiel, Alex Hammond, Daniel Kmet, Philippe Moine.

Outstanding Created Environment in a Photoreal/Live Action Feature Motion Picture

• Captain America: The Winter Soldier, “Triskelion Headquarters.” Johan Thorngren, Greg Kegel, Quentin Marmier, Luis Calero.
• Interstellar, “Tesseract.” Tom Bracht, Graham Page, Thomas Døhlen, Kirsty Clark.
• Lucy, “Times Square.” Richard Bluff, Steve Bevins, Steve DeLuca, Tiffany Yung.
• Noah, “Antediluvian Earth.” Grady Cofer, Dan Wheaton, Susumu Yukuhiro, Ben O’Brien.S

Outstanding Created Environment in an Animated Feature Motion Picture

• Big Hero 6, “Into the Portal.” Ralf Habel, David Hutchins, Michael Kaschalk, Olun Riley.
• How to Train Your Dragon 2, “Oasis.” Sun Yoon, Liang-Yuan Wang, Ted Davis, Shannon Thomas.
• The Book of Life, “Magical Land of the Remembered.” Glo Minaya, Amy Chen, Sean McEwan, Jeff Masters.
• The Boxtrolls, “Boxtroll Cavern.” Curt Enderle, Rob DeSue, Emily Greene, Jesse Gregg.

Outstanding Created Environment in a Commercial, Broadcast Program, or Video Game

• Coca-Cola, “Snowy Forest.” Tom Bardwell, Kevin Ives, Kyle Cody, Jimmy Gass.
• Game of Thrones. “Braavos Establisher.” Rene Borst, Christian Zilliken, Jan Burda, Steffen Metzner.
• Penny Dreadful, “Séance.” Mathew Borrett, Lorne Kwechansky, Graham Day, Jason Gougeon.
• War Thunder, “Battlefield.” Andrey Bogdanov, Mikhail Datcik, Dmitriy Ovcharenko, Ekaterina Bogdanova.

Outstanding Virtual Cinematography in a Photoreal/Live Action Motion Media Project

• Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. Keith Miller, Jonathan Paquin, Alessandro Saponi, David Houghton Williams.
• Edge of Tomorrow, “Beach and Paris Attacks.” Albert Cheng, Jose Enrique Astacio Jr., Michael Havart, Dion Beebe.
• Interstellar, “Tesseract.” Faraz Hameed, Stephen Painter, Hoyte van Hoytema, Dorian Knapp.
• X-Men: Days of Future Past, “Kitchen Scene.” Austin Bonang, Casey Schatz, Dennis Jones, Newton Thomas Sigel.

Outstanding Models in any Motion Media Project

• Big Hero 6, “City of San Fransokyo.” Brett Achorn, Minh Duong, Scott Watanabe, Larry Wu.
• The Boxtrolls, “Mecha-Drill.” Tom McClure, Oliver Jones, Raul Martinez.
• The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, “Laketown.” Leslie Chan, Alastair Mayer, Niklas Preston, Justin Stockton.
• Transformers: Age of Extinction, “Knightship.” Landis Fields, John Goodson, Anthony Rispoli, Dae Han.

Outstanding Effects Simulations in a Photoreal/Live Action Feature Motion Picture

• Captain America: The Winter Soldier, “Helicarrier Broadside and Crash.” Dan Pearson, Sheldon Serrao, Jose Burgos, Eric Jennings.
• Edge of Tomorrow, “Destruction and Sand.” Steve Avoujageli, Pawel Grochola, Atsushi Ikarashi, Paul Waggoner.
• The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. Jon Allitt, David Caeiro, Ronnie Menahem.
• X-Men: Days of Future Past, “Quicksilver Pentagon Kitchen.” Adam Paschke, Premamurti Paetsch, Sam Hancock, Timmy Lundin.

Outstanding Effects Simulations in an Animated Feature Motion Picture

• Big Hero 6. Henrik Falt, David Hutchins, Michael Kaschalk, John Kosnik.
• How to Train Your Dragon 2, “The Battle.” Spencer Knapp, Baptiste Van Opstal, Lucas Janin, Jason Mayer.
• The Boxtrolls. Kent Estep, Peter Stuart, Ralph Procida, Timur Khodzhaev.
• The LEGO Movie. Carsten Kolve, Jayandera Danappal, Matt Ebb, Miles Green.

Outstanding Effects Simulations in a Commercial, Broadcast Program, or Video Game

• Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey. Dominique Vidal, Isabelle Perin-Leduc, Sandrine Lurde, Alexandre Lerouge.
• DirecTV, “Landing.” Jeffrey Dates, Jimmy Gass, Iwan Zwarts, Ryan Coster.
• SSE, “Maya.” Alex Hammond, Peter Agg, Sam Driscoll, Jimmy Gass
• Vikings, “Invasion Storm Sequence.” Jeremy Dineen, Eric Lacroix, Kyle Yoneda, Norman Ran.

Outstanding Compositing in a Photoreal/Live Action Feature Motion Picture

• Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. Christoph Salzmann, Florian Schroeder, Quentin Hema, Simone Riginelli.
• Edge of Tomorrow, “Beach.” Craig Wentworth, Matthew Welford, Marie Victoria Denoga, Frank Fieser.
• Interstellar, “Water.” Raphael Hamm, Isaac Layish, Sebastian Von Overheidt, Tristan Myles.
• The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. Simon Jung, Ben Roberts, Matthew Adams, Jordan Schilling.

Outstanding Compositing in a Photoreal/Live Action Broadcast Program

• American Horror Story: Freak Show, “Edward Mordrake, Part 2.” Tommy Tran, JV Pike, Rob Lutz, Matt Lefferts.
• Game of Thrones, “Wight Attack.” Keegan Douglas, Okan Ataman, Brian Fortune, David Lopez.
• Game of Thrones, “The Watchers on the Wall.” Dan Breckwoldt, Martin Furman, Sophie Marfleet, Eric Andrusyszyn.
• The Knick, “Abigail’s Nose.” Vance Miller, Aaron Raff, John Bair, Rebecca Dunn.
• Vikings, “Invasion.” Ovidiu Cinazan, Gary Couto, Doug Cook, Angel Li.

Outstanding Compositing in a in a Photoreal/Live Action Commercial

• Destiny Become Legend. Dan Akers, Nitant Karnik, Matt Smith, Kym Olsen.
• Kia The Truth. Paul Lambert, Dan Akers, Carlos Morales, Holly Horter.
• Nike Hypervenom, “Mirrors ft. Neymar Jr.” Dan Williams, Daniel Morris, Ilia Mokhtareizadeh, Greg Spencer.
• SSE. Neil Davies, Leonardo Costa, Gianluca DiMarco.

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Student Project

• Deep Dance. Marco Erbrich, Christoph Westphal, Vincent Langer.
• Dragon Clan. Yahui Fan, Sheng Xu.
• Murphy. Bruno LeVeque, Xavier Lafarge.
• Wrapped. Roman Kaelin, Falko Paeper, Florian Wittmann, Paolo Tamburrino.

Visionary Award

• J.J. Abrams