2021’s Virtual VES Awards Crown ‘Soul,’ ‘Midnight Sky’, ‘Mandalorian’

The Visual Effects Society presented the 19th Annual VES Awards on Tuesday night in a virtual ceremony, celebrating outstanding visual effects artistry and innovation worldwide in film, animation, television, commercials and video games, and the VFX supervisors, VFX producers and artists who bring this work to life.

Disney-Pixar’s Soul swept the Animated Feature categories, taking the top category prize and four others, while George Clooney’s The Midnight Sky (and Disney+ Star Wars hit The Mandalorian took the top honors in the Photoreal Feature and Photoreal Episode categories.

As previously announced, the VES Award for Creative Excellence was bestowed on VFX supervisor, second unit director and director of photography Rob Legato, ASC (The Lion King, Avatar), and director-producer-screenwriter Peter Jackson (Lord of the Rings and Hobbit trilogies, King Kong, Mortal Engines) was honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award.

Winners below; see the list of this year’s worthy nominatees here.

The Midnight Sky

Outstanding Visual Effects in an Animated Feature
Soul | Pete Docter, Dana Murray, Michael Fong, Bill Watral

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature
The Midnight Sky | Matt Kasmir, Greg Baxter, Chris Lawrence, Max Solomon, David Watkins

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Episode
The Mandalorian “The Marshal” | Joe Bauer, Abbigail Keller, Hal Hickel, Richard Bluff, Roy Cancino

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Commercial
Walmart – Famous Visitors | Chris “Badger” Knight Lori Talley Yarin Mares Matt Fuller

Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature
Mank | Wei Zheng, Peter Mavromates, Simon Carr, James Pastorius

Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Episode
The Crown “Gold Stick” | Ben Turner, Reece Ewing, Andrew Scrase, Jonathan Wood

Outstanding Animated Character in a Photoreal Feature
The One and Only Ivan, Ivan | Valentina Rosselli, Thomas Huizer, Andrea De Martis, William Bell

Outstanding Animated Character in a Commercial
Arm & Hammer – Once Upon a Time, Tuxedo Tom | Shiny Rajan, Silvia Bartoli, Matias Heker, Tiago Dias Mota

Outstanding Animated Character in an Animated Feature
Soul, Terry | Jonathan Hoffman, Jonathan Page, Peter Tieryas, Ron Zorman

Outstanding Animated Character in an Episode or Real-Time Project
The Mandalorian “The Jedi”, The Child | John Rosengrant, Peter Clarke, Scott Patton, Hal Hickel

Outstanding Created Environment in a Photoreal Feature
Mulan, Imperial City | Jeremy Fort, Matt Fitzgerald, Ben Walker, Adrian Vercoe

Outstanding Created Environment in an Animated Feature
Soul, You Seminar | Hosuk Chang, Sungyeon Joh, Peter Roe, Frank Tai

Outstanding Created Environment in an Episode, Commercial, or Real-Time Project
The Mandalorian “The Believer”, Morak Jungle | Enrico Damm, Johanes Kurnia, Phi Tran, Tong Tran

Mandalorian

Outstanding Effects Simulations in a Photoreal Feature
Project Power | Yin Lai Jimmy Leung, Jonathan Edward Lyddon-Towl, Pierpaolo Navarini, Michelle Lee

Outstanding Effects Simulations in an Animated Feature
Soul | Alexis Angelidis, Keith Daniel Klohn, Aimei Kutt, Melissa Tseng

Outstanding Effects Simulations in an Episode, Commercial, or Real-Time Project
Lovecraft Country “Strange Case”, Chrysalis | Federica Foresti, Johan Gabrielsson, Hugo Medda, Andreas Krieg

Outstanding Virtual Cinematography in a CG Project
Soul | Matt Aspbury, Ian Megibben

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Real-Time Project
Ghost of Tsushima | Jason Connell, Matt Vainio, Jasmin Patry, Joanna Wang

Outstanding Model in a Photoreal or Animated Project
The Midnight Sky, Aether | Michael Balthazart, Jonathan Opgenhaffen, John-Peter Li, Simon Aluze

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Student Project
Migrants | Antoine Dupriez, Hugo Caby, Lucas Lermytte, Zoé Devise

Outstanding Compositing in a Feature
Project Power | Russell Horth, Matthew Patience, Julien Rousseau

Outstanding Compositing in an Episode
Lovecraft Country “Strange Case”, Chrysalis | Viktor Andersson, Linus Lindblom, Mattias Sandelius, Crawford Reilly

Outstanding Compositing in a Commercial
Burberry – Singin’ in the Rain | Alex Lovejoy, Mithun Alex, David Filipe, Amresh Kumar

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Special Venue Project
The Bourne Stuntacular | Salvador Zalvidea, Tracey Gibbons, George Allan, Matthías Bjarnason, Scott Smith

Outstanding Special (Practical) Effects in a Photoreal or Animated Project
Fear the Walking Dead “Bury Her Next to Jasper’s Leg” | Frank Iudica, Scott Roark, Daniel J. Yates