Visual Effects Society Awards: ‘Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes’ topples ‘Dune: Part Two’ for top prize

The Visual Effects Society just made the Oscar race for Best Visual Effects a lot more interesting, crowning Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes as its choice for top Photoreal Feature Tuesday night at the 23rd Annual VES Awards. The Apes win came over a field that included heavy Academy Awards favorite Dune: Part Two along with Better Man, Mufasa: The Lion King, and Twisters.

However, the VES feature award turned out not to be such an accurate predictor of the Oscar winner a year ago, with The Creator winning at VES, while Godzilla Minus One snared visual effects at the Academy Awards. Avatar: The Way of Water took home both in 2023.

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The Apes victory was especially surprising in that it was the film’s only win of the night, while Dune otherwise dominated in tallying four wins, the most of any photoreal feature. Those included triumphs for Best Environment, CG Cinematography, Effects Simulations, and Compositing & Lighting. Oscar favorite The Wild Robot, meanwhile, also won four VES honors, including top animated film. Shōgun was named Best Photoreal Episode for a TV series, winning three awards in all — the same number garnered by The Penguin. Coca-Cola’s “The Heroes” topped the commercial field.

Shōgun star Hiroyuki Sanada received the VES Award for Creative Excellence, while VFX supervisor Takashi Yamakazi was bestowed the Visionary Award and VR/Immersive Technology pioneer Jacquelyn Ford Morie received the Georges Méliès Award.

The full list of winners at the VES Awards in 25 categories are as follows:

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
Erik Winquist
Julia Neighly
Paul Story
Danielle Immerman
Rodney Burke

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE

Civil War
David Simpson
Michelle Rose
Freddy Salazar
Chris Zeh
J.D. Schwalm

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE

The Wild Robot
Chris Sanders
Jeff Hermann
Jeff Budsberg
Jakob Hjort Jensen

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL EPISODE

Shōgun: “Anjin”
Michael Cliett
Melody Mead
Philip Engstr?m
Ed Bruce
Cameron Waldbauer

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL EPISODE

The Penguin: “Bliss”
Johnny Han
Michelle Rose
Goran Pavles
Ed Bruce
Devin Maggio

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A REAL-TIME PROJECT

Star Wars Outlaws
Stephen Hawes
Lionel Le Dain
Benedikt Podlesnigg
Andi-Bogdan Draghici

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A COMMERCIAL

Coca-Cola: “The Heroes”
Greg McKneally
Antonia Vlasto
Ryan Knowles
Fabrice Fiteni

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A SPECIAL VENUE PROJECT

D23: Real-Time Rocket
Evan Goldberg
Alyssa Finley
Jason Breneman
Alice Taylor

OUTSTANDING CHARACTER IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE

Better Man: Robbie Williams
Milton Ramirez
Andrea Merlo
Seoungseok Charlie Kim
Eteuati Tema

OUTSTANDING CHARACTER IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE

The Wild Robot: Roz
Fabio Lignini
Yukinori Inagaki
Owen Demers
Hyun Huh

OUTSTANDING CHARACTER IN AN EPISODE, COMMERCIAL, GAME CINEMATIC, OR REAL-TIME PROJECT

Ronja the Robber’s Daughter: Vildvittran the Queen Harpy
Nicklas Andersson
David Allan
Gustav ?hren
Niklas Wallén

OUTSTANDING ENVIRONMENT IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE

Dune: Part Two: The Arrakeen Basin
Daniel Rhein
Daniel Anton Fernandez
Marc James Austin
Christopher Anciaume

OUTSTANDING ENVIRONMENT IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE

The Wild Robot: The Forest
John Wake
He Jung Park
Woojin Choi
Shane Glading

OUTSTANDING ENVIRONMENT IN AN EPISODE, COMMERCIAL, GAME CINEMATIC, OR REAL-TIME PROJECT

Shōgun: “Osaka”
Manuel Martinez
Phil Hannigan
Keith Malone
Francesco Corvino

OUTSTANDING CG CINEMATOGRAPHY

Dune: Part Two: Arrakis
Greig Fraser
Xin Steve Guo
Sandra Murta
Ben Wiggs

OUTSTANDING MODEL IN A PHOTOREAL OR ANIMATED PROJECT

Alien: Romulus: Renaissance Space Station
Waldemar Bartkowiak
Trevor Wide
Matt Middleton
Ben Shearman

OUTSTANDING EFFECTS SIMULATIONS IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE

Dune: Part Two: Atomic Explosions and Wormriding
Nicholas Papworth
Sandy la Tourelle
Lisa Nolan
Christopher Phillips

OUTSTANDING EFFECTS SIMULATIONS IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE

The Wild Robot
Derek Cheung
Michael Losure
David Chow
Nyoung Kim

OUTSTANDING EFFECTS SIMULATIONS IN AN EPISODE, COMMERCIAL, GAME CINEMATIC, OR REAL-TIME PROJECT

Shōgun: “Broken to the Fist” — Landslide
Dominic Tiedeken
Heinrich L?we
Charles Guerton
Timmy Lundin

OUTSTANDING COMPOSITING & LIGHTING IN A FEATURE

Dune: Part Two: Wormriding, Geidi Prime, and the Final Battle
Christopher Rickard
Francesco Dell’Anna
Paul Chapman
Ryan Wing

OUTSTANDING COMPOSITING & LIGHTING IN AN EPISODE

The Penguin: “After Hours”
Jonas Stuckenbrock
Karen Cheng
Eugene Bondar
Miky Girón

OUTSTANDING COMPOSITING & LIGHTING IN A COMMERCIAL

Coca-Cola: “The Heroes”
Ryan Knowles
Alex Gabucci
Jack Powell
Dan Yargici

OUTSTANDING SPECIAL (PRACTICAL) EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL PROJECT

The Penguin: “Safe Guns”
Devin Maggio
Johnny Han
Cory Candrilli
Alexandre Prod’homme

EMERGING TECHNOLOGY AWARD

Here: Neural Performance Toolset
Jo Plaete
Oriel Frigo
Tomas Koutsky
Matteo Olivieri-Dancey

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A STUDENT PROJECT

“Pittura” (entry from ARTFX — Schools of Digital Arts, France)
Adam Lauriol
Titouan Lassère
Rémi Vivenza
Hello?s Marre

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