VES Offers Big VFX Reveal

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With The Big Reveal 2005, The Visual Effects Society (VES) presented its own version of the Oscar Bakeoff, Jan. 22, at the Skirball Cultural Center in L.A., encompassing movie, TV, commercial and videogame categories, and allowing nominated artists to show off before-and-after materials.

“This process helps voters better understand the intricacies of each entry,” explained VES Awards chair and Big Reveal emcee Jeff Okun. “Technology is evolving so quickly that even visual effects professionals themselves are fooled regularly by what is an effect and what is not.”

The categories highlighted included:

• Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects Driven Motion Picture (The Day After Tomorrow [2], Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban [3] and Spider-Man 2 [4])

• Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Motion Picture (The Aviator [5], Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Troy [6])

• Outstanding Visual Effects in a Broadcast Miniseries, Movie or Special (Dragons, Earthsea and Virtual History — The Secret Plot to Kill Hitler)

• Outstanding Visual Effects in a Commercial (British Telecom: Networking [7], Citroen Alive With Technology and Johnnie Walker Tree)

• Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Broadcast Program (Clubhouse, “Episode #005,” Lost, “Pilot — Part 2” and Spartacus)

• Best Single Visual Effect of the Year (The Aviator — Hell’s Angels, The Day After Tomorrow — Tidal Wave, Azkaban — Train sequence with Dementor and Spider-Man 2 — Clock Tower)

• Outstanding Visuals in a Video Game (007 Everything or Nothing, Half-Life 2, The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle Earth and The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age)

The following is a gallery of images providing a snapshot of the all-day festivities:

John Dykstra rose to the challenge of topping the vfx from the first Spider-Man. At The Big Reveal, he talked about his work on Spider-Man 2, which was nominated in two categories. Unless otherwise indicated, all images courtesy of Visual Effects Society.	Rob Legato, Peter Travers, Ron Ames (left to right) and Matthew Gratzner (far right) discuss the XF-11 crash and the Hell’s Angels sequence from The Aviator, which earned them a nomination for outstanding supporting vfx in a motion picture.
Mark Dornfeld discuss the visual and mental effects of working on Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.	Curt Miller reveals the secret handshakes that earned Clubhouse a nomination for Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Broadcast Program.

Eric Grenaudier speaks to the VES about how he helped bring the fantasy world of the popular miniseries Earthsea to life for Sci Fi Channel.	Jay Riddle solves the mysterious work that went into bringing James Bond to the videogame world in 007: Everything or Nothing.
With no Lord of the Rings film in theaters this year, Stephen Gray brings to the Big Reveal the magic of Middle-Earth through the game, The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age.	Randy Lundeen talks to the crowd about the work he did on the hot videogame, Half-Life 2.
Stargate’s Sam Nicholson highlights his company’s work on Spartacus, which earned them a nomination for Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Broadcast Program.	Chas Jarrett was nominated for Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Motion Picture for his work on Troy. His company, The Moving Picture Co., worked on about 425 shots and focused on the battle scenes and creating the city of Troy.