Visual Effects Society: "Dune" and "Shang-Chi" lead among the Oscar hopefuls

by Nathaniel R

Dune Part One looks like the unsurprising leader going into the 20th annual Visual Effects Society Awards with six nominations. Shang Chi  trailed with four citations. (They have animated categories, too, and Encanto did very well in those races, scoring six nods). These guild prizes give us clues as to what Oscar's VFX branch might also like. Oscar has only one visual effects category, of course, while VES has several, since it's their whole purpose. Here's the list of nominations and aa guide to how the two correlated this year...

THE 10 OSCAR FINALISTS AND HOW THEY SCORED WITH VES

• Black Widow (2 nominations)
• Dune (6 nominations including the top category) 
• Eternals (1 nomination)
• Free Guy (0)
• Ghostbusters Afterlife (0)
• Godzilla vs Kong (3 nominations including the top category)
• Matrix Resurrections (2 nominations including the top category)
• No Time To Die (1 nomination, but it's in the top category)
• Shang-Chi (4 nominations including the top category)
• Spider-Man No Way Home (3 nominations including the top category)

We had been predicting Free Guy for a nomination at the Oscars but perhaps we should rethink. Curiously The Suicide Squad had multiple VES nominations despite not making the Oscars finals.  Several other live action titles that did not make the Oscar finals received a VES nomination: Candyman, Finch, Jungle Cruise, Last Night in Soho, The Last Duel, Nightmare Alley, The Tragedy of Macbeth, Tomorrow War, and Venom Let There Be Carnage. The full list of VES nominees follows after the jump...

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE

• “Dune”
• “Godzilla vs. Kong”
• “The Matrix Resurrections”
• “No Time To Die”
• “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings”
• “Spider-Man: No Way Home”  

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE

• “Candyman”
• “Last Night in Soho”
• “Nightmare Alley”
• “The Last Duel”
• “The Tragedy of Macbeth” 

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE

• “Encanto”
• “Luca”
• “Raya and the Last Dragon”
• “Sing 2”
• “The Mitchells vs. The Machines”

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL EPISODE

• “Foundation; The Emperor’s Peace”
• “Loki; Journey Into Mystery”
• “Lost in Space; Trust”
• “The Nevers; Ignition”
• “The Stand” 

Uff. I already miss The Nevers. That episode that's nominated had an absolutely thrilling fight in and on top of a lake. 

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL EPISODE

• “9-1-1 Lone Star” – “Hold the Line”
• “See”-  “Rock-A-Bye”
• “Squid Game” – “VIPS”
• “Sweet Tooth” – “Sorry About All the Dead People”
• “The Handmaid’s Tale” – “Chicago”
• “The Mysterious Benedict Society” – “A Bunch of Smart Orphans”

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A REAL-TIME PROJECT

• “Battlefield 2042”
• “Call of Duty: Vanguard”
• “Forza Horizon 5”
• “Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart”
• “Returnal” Playstation 5

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A COMMERCIAL

• “Far Cry 6” Chicharrón Run
• “Lego” Rebuild the World
• “Lexus” Parking Spot
• “Sheba” Hope Reef
• “Zillow” The Journey

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A SPECIAL VENUE PROJECT

• “Hôtel de la Marine”
• “Jurassic World Adventure”

OUTSTANDING ANIMATED CHARACTER IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE 

• “Finch” Jeff
• “Flora & Ulysses” Ulysses
• “Jungle Cruise” Aguirre
• “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” Carnage

OUTSTANDING ANIMATED CHARACTER IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE 

• “Encanto” Mirabel Madrigal
• “Luca” Luca
• “Raya and the Last Dragon” Tuk Tuk
• “The Mitchells vs. The Machines” Katie Mitchell

OUTSTANDING ANIMATED CHARACTER IN AN EPISODE OR REAL-TIME PROJECT

• “Lisey’s Story” The Long Boy
• “Love, Death & Robots” Snow in the Desert; Hirald
• “The Witcher” Leshy Eskel ; Tree Branch Creature
• “The Witcher” Nivellen the Cursed Man
• “Y: The Last Man” Ampersand

OUTSTANDING ANIMATED CHARACTER IN A COMMERCIAL

• Avanti West Coast; Feel Good Travel; Terri
• Far Cry 6; Chicharrón
• France Télévision; Sumo
• ING; Do Your Thing; Roary the Lion
• Smart Energy; Einstein Knows Best; Einstein

OUTSTANDING CREATED ENVIRONMENT IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE

• “Dune” Arrakeen City
• “Jungle Cruise” Waterfall Canyon
• “Spider-Man: No Way Home” The Mirror Dimension
• “The Suicide Squad” Valle Del Marre

OUTSTANDING CREATED ENVIRONMENT IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE

• “Encanto” Antonio’s Room
• “Luca” Portorosso Piazza
• “Raya and the Last Dragon” Talon
• “Sing 2” Crystal Theater
• “Vivo” Mambo Cabana

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

• “Foundation” Trantor Cityscape
• “Hawkeye” Echoes; Manhattan Bridge
• “Hawkeye” Season 1, Episode 6; Rockefeller Center
• “Sheba” Hope Reef 

OUTSTANDING VIRTUAL CINEMATOGRAPHY IN A CG PROJECT

• “Encanto” “We Don’t Talk about Bruno”
• “Godzilla vs. Kong” Ocean Battle
• “Loki” Lamentis; Race to the Ark
• “Raya and the Last Dragon”
• “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings”

OUTSTANDING MODEL IN A PHOTOREAL OR ANIMATED PROJECT 

• “Black Widow” The Red Room
• “Dune” Royal Ornithopter
• “Encanto” Casita Madrigal
• “The Suicide Squad” Jotunheim 

OUTSTANDING EFFECTS SIMULATIONS IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE

• “Dune” Dunes of Arrakis
• “Godzilla vs. Kong” Ocean Water & Battle Destruction
• “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” Water, Bubbles & Magic
• “The Suicide Squad” Corto Maltese City Destruction

OUTSTANDING EFFECTS SIMULATIONS IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE 

• “Encanto”
• “Luca”
• “Raya and the Last Dragon”
• “Sing 2”

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

• “Foundation” Collapse of the Galactic Empire
• “Loki” Journey Into Mystery; Alioth Cloud
• “The Nevers”
• “WandaVision” Vision’s Destruction

OUTSTANDING COMPOSITING and LIGHTING IN A FEATURE

• “Black Widow” – Red Room Crashing Back to Earth
• “Dune”  – Attack on Arrakeen
• “Dune” – Hologram and Hunter Seeker
• “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” – Macau City
• “Spider-Man: No Way Home”  – Liberty Island Battle and Christmas Swing Finale

OUTSTANDING COMPOSITING & LIGHTING IN AN EPISODE 

• “Loki” – Lamentis; Shuroo City Destruction
• “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier” – New World Order
• “WandaVision” –  Goodbye, Vision
• “WandaVision” – The Hex

OUTSTANDING COMPOSITING and LIGHTING IN A COMMERCIAL

• Toyota – Never Stop
• Toyota – Upstream
• Verizon; The Reset
• Zillow; The Journey 

OUTSTANDING SPECIAL (PRACTICAL) EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL PROJECT

• “Eternals”
• “Jungle Cruise”
• “The Matrix Resurrections”
• “The Tomorrow War”

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A STUDENT PROJECT

• Green
• Le Souffleur de Rêves
• Neoshin Episode 01: Cold Blood
• Relativity

Comments

[Alex Hartsell]

Let me know when you updated your Oscar nomination predications for the visual categories please. Also here is my updated predications for the nominations for Best Visual Effects after seeing the visual effects nominations.

1. Dune
2. Free Guy (Yes, I am still going with that cause I have a feeling that will get an nomination like with Love and Monsters that is also produced by Shawn Levy)
3. Godzilla vs. Kong
4. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
5. Spider-Man: No Way Home