“Avatar: The Way of Water” has set a new record for nominations from the Visual Effects Society’s VES Awards, which were announced on Tuesday morning.
James Cameron’s sci-fi epic picked up 14 nominations in the VES’ 25 categories, beating the 13 received by “The Mandalorian” in 2021. The previous record for a feature film was 11, which was set by the original “Avatar” in 2010.
“The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” led all broadcast nominees with seven, while “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” was the top animated film with six.
The 14 nominations for “Avatar: The Way of Water” include one for Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature, the category that serves as the most direct point of comparison to the Oscars’ Best Visual Effects category. At the VES Awards, it will face competition in that category from “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore,” “Jurassic World: Dominion,” “The Batman,” and “Top Gun: Maverick.”
All five of the nominated films appear on the 10-film Oscars shortlist for its visual effects category. Of the other five shortlisted films, only “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” and “Thirteen Lives” scored nominations at the VES Awards, with the former nominated for Outstanding Effects Simulations in a Photoreal Feature and the latter nominated for Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature. “All Quiet on the Western Front,” “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” and “Nope” were all overlooked at the VES Awards.
“The Batman” and “Top Gun: Maverick” received three nominations each and “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore” and “Jurassic World: Dominion” received two.
While “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” nabbed six nominations, other animated films “Strange World” and “The Sea Beast” each received four, while “Turning Red” received three.
“The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” led all other episodic entries with seven nominations, with “Stranger Things 4” getting three nominations and “House of the Dragon” and “The Book of Boba Felt” each receiving two.
Here is the list of nominated projects. A full list with names of the individual VFX artists is available at www.vesglobal.org.
OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE
“Avatar: The Way of Water”
“Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore”
“Jurassic World: Dominion”
“The Batman”
“Top Gun: Maverick”
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE
“Death on the Nile”
“I Wanna Dance With Somebody”
“The Fabelmans”
“The Gray Man”
“The Pale Blue Eye”
“Thirteen Lives”
OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE
“Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio”
“Mad God”
“Strange World”
“The Bad Guys”
“The Sea Beast”
“Turning Red”
OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL EPISODE
“House of the Dragon”: The Black Queen
“Prehistoric Planet”: Ice Worlds
“Stranger Things 4”: The Piggyback
“The Boys”: Payback
“The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power”: Udûn
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL EPISODE
“Five Days at Memorial”: Day Two
“See”: I See You
“Severance”: Pilot
“The Old Man”: Episode III
“Vikings: Valhalla”: The Bridge
OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A REAL-TIME PROJECT
“God of War: Ragnarok”
“Gotham Knights
“The Quarry”: Supermassive Games
“The Callisto Protocol”
“The Last of Us Part I”
OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A COMMERCIAL
B&Q: “Flip”
Frito-Lay: “Push It”
Ladbrokes: “Rocky”
“Minions: The Rise of Gru”
Virgin Media: “Highland Rider”
OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A SPECIAL VENUE PROJECT
“ABBA: Voyage”
“Avengers: Quantum Encounter”
“Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind”
“Jumanji: The Adventure”
“Star Wars: Galactic Star Cruiser”
“Stranger Things: The Experience”
OUTSTANDING ANIMATED CHARACTER IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE
“Avatar: The Way of Water”: Kiri
“Beast”: Lion
“Disney’s Pinocchio”: Honest John
“Slumberland”: Pig
OUTSTANDING ANIMATED CHARACTER IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE
“Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio”: Geppetto
“Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio”: Pinocchio
“Strange World”: Splat
“Turning Red”: Panda Mei
OUTSTANDING ANIMATED CHARACTER IN AN EPISODE, COMMERCIAL OR REAL-TIME PROJECT
“She-Hulk: Attorney at Law”: She-Hulk
“Skull & Bones”: Sam
“The Callisto Protocol”: Jacob Lee
“The Umbrella Academy”: Pogo
OUTSTANDING CREATED ENVIRONMENT IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE
“Avatar: The Way of Water”: Metkayina Village
“Avatar: The Way of Water”: The Reef
“Jurassic World Dominion”: Biosyn Valley
“Slumberland”: The Wondrous Cuban Hotel Dream
OUTSTANDING CREATED ENVIRONMENT IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE
“Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio”: In the Stomach of a Sea Monster
“Lightyear”: T’Kani Prime Forest
“Strange World”: The Windy Jungle
“The Sea Beast”: The Hunting Ship
“Wendell & Wild”: The Scream Fair
OUTSTANDING CREATED ENVIRONMENT IN AN EPISODE, COMMERCIAL, OR REAL-TIME PROJECT
“Andor”: Reckoning; Ferrix
“The Book of Boba Fett”: In the Name of Honor; Mos Espa
“The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power”: Adar; Númenor City
“The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power”: Adrift; Khazud Dûm
OUTSTANDING VIRTUAL CINEMATOGRAPHY IN A CG PROJECT
“ABBA: Voyage”
“Avatar: The Way of Water”
“Prehistoric Planet”
“The Batman”: Rain Soaked Car Chase
OUTSTANDING MODEL IN A PHOTOREAL OR ANIMATED PROJECT
“Avatar: The Way of Water”: The Sea Dragon
“The Sea Beast”
“Top Gun: Maverick”: F-14 Tomcat
“Wendell & Wild”: Dream Faire
OUTSTANDING EFFECTS SIMULATIONS IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE
“Avatar: The Way of Water”: Fire and Destruction
“Avatar: The Way of Water”: Water Simulations
“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”: City Street Flooding
“Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore”
OUTSTANDING EFFECTS SIMULATIONS IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE
“Lightyear”
“Puss in Boots: The Last Wish”
“Strange World”
“The Sea Beast”
OUTSTANDING EFFECTS SIMULATIONS IN AN EPISODE, COMMERCIAL, OR REAL-TIME PROJECT
“Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities”: Graveyard Rats
“Stranger Things 4”: Hawkins Destructive Fissures
“The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power”: Udûn; Volcano Destruction
“The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power”: Udûn; Water and Magma
OUTSTANDING COMPOSITING & LIGHTING IN A FEATURE
“Avatar: The Way of Water”: Landing Rockets Forest Destruction
“Avatar: The Way of Water”: Water Integration
“The Batman”: Rainy Freeway Chase
“Top Gun: Maverick”
OUTSTANDING COMPOSITING & LIGHTING IN AN EPISODE
“House of the Dragon”: The Black Queen; Dance of Dragons
“Love, Death and Robots”: Night of the Mini Dead
“The Book of Boba Fett”: From the Desert Comes a Stranger; Luke Alike
“The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power”: Udûn; Tirharad Cavalry Charge
OUTSTANDING COMPOSITING & LIGHTING IN A COMMERCIAL
Cartier: “Tank”
Ladbrokes: “Rocky”
Samsung: “Playtime is Over”
Samsung: “The Spider and the Window”
OUTSTANDING SPECIAL (PRACTICAL) EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL PROJECT
“Avatar: The Way of Water”: Current Machine and Wave Pool
“Black Adam”: Robotic Flight
“Mad God”
“The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power”: Adrift; Middle Earth Storm
OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A STUDENT PROJECT (AWARD SPONSORED BY AUTODESK)
“A Calling. From the Desert to the Sea”
“Boom”
“Macula”
“Maronii”
EMERGING TECHNOLOGY AWARD
“Avatar: The Way of Water”: Depth Comp
“Avatar: The Way of Water”: Facial System
“Avatar: The Way of Water”: Water Toolset
“Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio”: 3D Printed Metal Armature
“Turning Red”: Profile Mover and CurveNets