Hollywood’s visual effects artists celebrate themselves at the Visual Effects Society’s annual awards, the VES Awards. Above all, they select the best in their field – which has a special meaning. After all, here visual effects artists vote for their peers’ work, so the people who are particularly good at judging what went right and what might have gone wrong vote. It was already clear in advance that “Avatar 2: The Way Of Water” would dominate everything this year. After all, James Cameron’s blockbuster received a whopping 14 nominations – that was already a new record after its predecessor “Avatar” had previously been nominated with 11.
In the end, “Avatar 2” won nine awards – also a new record. Particularly unusual: “The Way Of Water” became the first title to actually win in all categories in which a victory was possible. In 2010, its predecessor “Avatar” was beaten by “District 9” in the best color scheme and lighting category. The only reason that not all 14 nominations of “Avatar 2” resulted in awards is that it was not possible, as the blockbuster competed against itself in several categories.
When it came to the question of which was the best effect simulation, the water and the fire and destruction effects in “Avatar 2” competed with each other (unsurprisingly, water won). When it came to the question of what the best fully computer-generated environment was, the riff triumphed with Metkayina Village, among others.
Kiri is the best computer character of 2022
Of course, “Avatar 2” also won the top prize for best visual effects in a photorealistic film. Here “Fantastic Beasts: Secrets of Dumbledore”, “Jurassic World: Dominion”, “The Batman” and “Top Gun: Maverick” were defeated. And “Avatar 2” also won the award for the best animated character in a photorealistic film. The award went to Kiri, who was voiced on set and portrayed by Sigourney Weaver.
Only in the field of film “Avatar 2” could not win two prizes because the adventure film was not allowed here. In the animation division, Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio won for Netflix, and when asked which movie had the best supporting actor in visual effects, Ron Howard’s Thirteen Lives, available on Amazon Prime Video, won.
Incidentally, in the series category “The Lord of the Rings Rings of Power” was the biggest winner with three prizes. For the sixth episode “Udûn” there was the award for the best visual effects in a series – episodes of “House Of The Dragon”, “The Boys” and “Stranger Things” were beaten, among others.