Jeffrey A. Okun, Chair of the Visual Effects Society, explained in the official press release, "The standard of the creative work that is being considered this year is unbelievably high across all categories. The judges faced a huge challenge because all of the work was so far above the norm. We’re honored to have the opportunity to focus the spotlight on the outstanding work that has contributed to some of the highest grossing films and broadcast projects of all time.”
There are a whopping 23 categories here, and they're not limited to film. There are also nominations for work on television, commercials, and special projects. The categories include several for animated features, allowing Rango and Kung Fu Panda 2 the chance for some well-deserved love. And a category for character animation, which is a boon for the overlooked effects work in Paul.
Here's the full list of nominations:
Captain America: The First Avenger
Charlie Noble
Mark Soper
Christopher Townsend
Edson Williams
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2
Tim Burke
Emma Norton
John Richardson
David Vickery
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
Gary Brozenich
David Conley
Charlie Gibson
Ben Snow
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Dan Lemmon
Joe Letteri
Cyndi Ochs
Kurt Williams
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
Scott Benza
Wayne Billheimer
Matthew Butler
Scott Farrar
Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Feature Motion Picture
Anonymous
Andre Cantarel
Volker Engel
Rony Soussan
Marc Weigert
Hugo
Ben Grossmann
Alex Henning
Rob Legato
Karen Murphy
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
Laya Armian
Chas Jarrett
Seth Maury
Sirio Quintavalle
Source Code
Annie Godin
Louis Morin
War Horse
Duncan Burbidge
Ben Morris
Mike Mulholland
Chris Zeh
Outstanding Visual Effects in an Animated Feature Motion Picture
Arthur Christmas
Doug Ikeler
Chris Juen
Alan Short
Mandy Tankenson
Kung Fu Panda 2
Melissa Cobb
Alex Parkinson
Jennifer Yuh Nelson
Raymond Zibach
Puss In Boots
Joe Aguilar
Guillaume Aretos
Ken Bielenberg
Chris Miller
Rango
Tim Alexander
Hal Hickel
Jacqui Lopez
Katie Lynch
The Adventures of Tintin
Jamie Beard
Joe Letteri
Meredith Meyer-Nichols
Eileen Moran
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Broadcast Miniseries, Movie, or Special
Finding Life Beyond Earth
Simon Clarke
Hasraf Dulull
Vikas Gandhi
Francisco Lima
Gettysburg
J. David Everhart
Kent Johnson
Jon Rhinehardt
Jon Rosenthal
Inside the Human Body
Phil Dobree
Sophie Orde
Dan Upton
Prep & Landing: Naughty vs. Nice
Kevin Deters
Dorothy McKim
John Murrah
Stevie Wermers
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Broadcast Series
Falling Skies
Rob Biagi
Curt Miller
Andrew Orloff
Sean Tompkins
Fringe
Robert Habros
Andrew Orloff
Jay Worth
Chris Wright
Planet Dinosaur
Phil Dobree
Luke Dodd
Haz Dulull
Mark Sherwood
Terra Nova
Kevin Blank
Colin Brady
Adica Manis
Jason Zimmerman
The Bomber
Igor Gotsulyak
Dmitriy Kolesnik
Egor Olesov
Dmitriy Ovcharenko
Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Broadcast Program
Boardwalk Empire - Georgia Peaches
Richard Friedlander
Robert Stromberg
David Taritero
Bones - Tornado Case
Christian Cardona
Buddy Gheen
Beau Janzen
Andy Simonson
Breaking Bad - Face Off
Bruce Branit
Werner Hahnlein
Gregory Nicotero
William Powloski
Game of Thrones - Winter is Coming
Lucy Ainsworth-Taylor
Angela Barson
Ed Bruce
Adam McInnes
Pan Am - Pilot
Tavis Larkham
Chris Martin
Sam Nicholson
Matt Robken
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Live Action Commercial
Dior J'adore
Pascal Giroux
Julien Meesters
Stephane Pivron
Manuel Souillac
Jameson: Fire
Chris Bankoff
Dan Glass
Sascha M. Flick
Jeff Willette
Johnnie Walker: Rock Giant
Vincent Baertsoen
Camila de Biagi
Angus Kneale
Rob Petrie
Kia: Share Some Soul
Charles Abou Aad
Andy Boyd
Nordin Rahhali
Mike Wigart
Volkswagen: Hedgehog
Mhamed Elmezoued
Stephane Montel
Emilie Nicodex
Outstanding Visual Effects in an Animated Commercial or Video Game Trailer
Audi A6 Avant - Hummingbird
Tom Bussell
Hugo Guerra
Rahel Makonnen
Jorge Montiel
Coca-Cola Siege
Russell Dodgson
Simon French
Diarmid Harrison-Murray
Sarah Hiddlestone
Diablo III: The Black Soulstone
Nicholas S. Carpenter
Graham Cunningham
Chris Thunig
Taka Yasuda
Prey 2
Heikki Anttila
Brandon Riza
Al Shier
Dave Wilson
Sony: 2 Worlds
Melanie Larue
David Liu
Richard Morton
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Special Venue Project
Amazin'
Marc Rienzo
Eric Sanford
Lisa Zusmer Delprete
Humbugged! Rockettes to the Rescue
Troy Griffin
Jasmine Johnson
Greg Lyons
Glo Minaya
Star Tours: The Adventure Continues
Bill George
Jeanie King
Glen McIntosh
Marianne McLean
Transformers the Ride: The Ultimate 3D Battle
Lori Arnold
Yanick Dusseault
Delio Tramontozzi
Jeff White
Typhoon 360
Peter Crosman
Seungyong Lee
Michael "oz" Smith
Brent Young
Outstanding Animated Character in a Live Action Feature Motion Picture
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2 - Ukranian Ironbelly
Yasunobu Arahori
Tom Bracht
Gavin Harrison
Chris Lentz
Paul - Paul
Anders Beer
Julian Foddy
Jody Johnson
David Lowry
Rise of the Planet of the Apes - Caesar
Daniel Barrett
Florian Fernandez
Matthew Muntean
Eric Reynolds
The Thing - Edvard/Adam
Lyndon Barrois
Fred Chapman
Greg Massie
Marco Menco
Outstanding Animated Character in an Animated Feature Motion Picture
Puss In Boots - Puss
Antonio Banderas
Ludovic Bouancheau
Laurent Caneiro
Olivier Staphylas
Rango - Rango
Frank Gravatt
Kevin Martel
Brian Paik
Steve Walton
Rio - Nigel
Diana Diriwaechter
Sang Jun Lee
Sergio Pablos
Aamir Tarin
The Adventures of Tintin - Tintin
Gino Acevedo
Gustav Ahren
Jamie Beard
Simon Clutterbuck
Outstanding Animated Character in a Broadcast Program or Commercial
Audi A6 Avant - Hummingbird
Tom Bussell
Jorge Montiel
Canal + - The Bear
Laurent Creusot
Guillaume Ho
Olivier Mitonneau
Michal Nauzin
Carls Jr. - Robot
Matt Heimlich
Fredd Hopp
Philip Ineno
Rob Ramsdell
Game of Thrones - Fire and Blood
Henry Badgett
Mark Brown
Rafael Morant
James Sutton
Outstanding Created Environment in a Live Action Feature Motion Picture
Anonymous - London
Andre Cantarel
Robert Freitag
Rony Soussan
Greg Strasz
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2: Hogwarts
Keziah Bailey
Stephen Ellis
Clement Gerard
Pietro Ponti
Thor - Heimdall's Observatory
Pierre Buffin
Audrey Ferrara
Yoel Godo
Dominique Vidal
Transformers: Dark of the Moon - 155 Wacker Drive
Giles Hancock
John Hanson
Tom Martinek
Scott Younkin
Outstanding Created Environment in an Animated Feature Motion Picture
Puss In Boots - The Cloud World
Guillaume Aretos
Greg Lev
Brett Miller
Peter Zaslav
Rango - Main Street Dirt
John Bell
Polly Ing
Martin Murphy
Russell Paul
The Adventures of Tintin - Bagghar
Hamish Beachman
Adam King
Wayne Stables
Mark Tait
The Adventures of Tintin - Docks
Matt Aitken
Jeff Capogreco
Jason Lazaroff
Alessandro Mozzato
The Adventures of Tintin - Pirate Battle
Phil Barrenger
Keith F. Miller
Alessandro Saponi
Christoph Sprenger
Outstanding Created Environment in a Broadcast Program or Commercial
Audi A6 Avant - Hummingbird
Amaan Akram
Tom Bussell
Alex Hammond
Boardwalk Empire - Two Boats and a Lifeguard
Matthew Conner
Robert Stromberg
Game of Thrones - The Icewall
Markus Kuha
Dante Harbridge Robinson
Damien Mac
Fani Vassiadi
Pan Am - Pilot Worldport Terminal
Bill Arance
Martin Hilke
Diego Galtieri
Anthony Ocampo
Terra Nova – Terra Nova
Michael Bozulich
Eric Hance
Kevin Kipper
David Morton
Outstanding Virtual Cinematography in a Live Action Feature Motion Picture
Hugo
Martin Chamney
Rob Legato
Adam Watkins
Fabio Zangla
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Thelvin Cabezas
Mike Perry
R. Christopher White
Erik Winquist
Thor
Xavier Allard
Pierre Buffin
Nicolas Chevallier
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
Michael Balog
Richard Bluff
Shawn Kelly
Jeff White
Outstanding Virtual Cinematography in an Animated Feature Motion Picture
Arthur Christmas
Michael Ford
David Morehead
Emi Tahira
Cars 2
Mahyar Abousaeedi
Sharon Calahan
Jeremy Lasky
Jonathan Pytko
Rango
Colin Benoit
Philippe Rebours
Nelson Sepulveda
Nick Walker
The Adventures of Tintin
Matt Aitken
Matthias Menz
Keith F. Miller
Wayne Stables
Outstanding Virtual Cinematography in a Broadcast Program or Commercial
Gears of War 3 - Dust to Dust
Niles Heckman
Richard Morton
Vernon Wilbert Jr.
Ghost Recon - Future Soldier "Camo Up"
David Liu
Mattel: Hot Wheels
Steve Beck
Robert Sethi
Feliz Urquiza
Once Upon A Time - Cinderella's Courtyard
Stephen Jackson
Salyanne Massimini
Nathan Matsuda
Kevin Struckman
Outstanding Models in a Feature Motion Picture
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2 - Hogwarts School Buildings
Steven Godfrey
Pietro Ponti
Tania Marie Richard
Andy Warren
Hugo - Train Crash
Scott Beverly
Allan Faucher
Forest P. Fischer
Matthew Gratzner
Mission Impossible - Ghost Protocol - Parking Garage
John Goodson
Russell Paul
Kristian Pedlow
Vick Schutz
Transformers: Dark of the Moon - Driller
Tim Brakensiek
Kelvin Chu
David Fogler
Rene Garcia
Outstanding Models in a Broadcast Program or Commercial
Arrowhead Nature's Fix
Carl Horner
Ian Hunter
Miyo Nakamura
Hayley O'Neil
Boardwalk Empire
Matthew Conner
Eran Dinur
David Reynolds
Szymon Weglarski
Falling Skies
Jon Chesson
Steve Graves
Michael Kirylo
Renaud Talon
Once Upon A Time
Michael Kirylo
Jeremy Michael Melton
Jason O. Monroe
Chris Strauss
Outstanding Compositing in a Feature Motion Picture
Captain America: The First Avenger
Casey Allen
Trent Claus
Brian Hajek
Cliff Welsh
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2
Michele Benigna
Martin Ciastko
Thomas Dyg
Andy Robinson
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Jean Luc Azzis
Quentin Hema
Simon Jung
Christoph Salzmann
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
Chris Balog
Ben O'Brien
Amy Shepard
Jeff Sutherland
Outstanding Compositing in a Broadcast Program or Commercial
Any World: Jeep Call of Duty MWF3
Jason Bergman
Steve Meyer
Peter Sidoriak
Boardwalk Empire - Gimcrack & Bunkum
Anton Dawson
Eran Dinur
Austin Meyers
David Reynolds
Channel 4 - Street Summer
Stirling Archibald
Anthony Bloor
Michael Gregory
Giacomo Mineo
DirecTV - Hot House
Franck Lambertz
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Student Project
a.maize
Roman Kaelin
Falko Paeper
Florian Wittmann
Aquatic Bloom
Susie Hong
Bokyeong Kim
Defective Detective
Avner Geller
Stevie Lewis
Hai Hase
Florian Greth
Julia Reck
Renee the Movie
Syrena Edmonds
Zack Heimbegner
Brian Mullen
Nathaniel Skinner
We Miss You
Jann Doeppert Hannah
Tonio Freitag
Hannah Maria Heidrich
Sebastian Nozon
For more information on the VES Awards, sponsorship and tickets, please visit VisualEffectsSociety.com.
Additionally, Stan Lee will be honored with the 2012 Lifetime Achievement Award, while the Georges Méliès Award will go to Douglas Trumball. The VES Awards will be held on February 7th, and it'll be broadcast exclusively on ReelzChannel.
