Visual Effects Society All About Iron and Bolts

Posted by Brian C. Gibson (brian@filmschoolrejects.com) on January 19, 2009

Iron Man and Bolt Getting Love from the VES

The Visual Effects Society put their heads together to nominate the best in visual effects from this year. I’m sure you already have some things in mind as for what you would nominate, but be prepared for some surprises too.

I have to say, there are a few films that I definitely did not expect to be nominated for visual effects. None of the nominations are quite as bad as Norbit’s nod for an Academy Award, but I think it was a stretch for anyone to say that they’d expect Cloverfield, Synecdoche, New York or Changeling on the list. Sure Cloverfield was great, but so much of the photography was tight which made it pretty hard to really take in any VFX. I was incredibly disappointed to see that Speed Racer received no love on the Visual Effects shortlist, and barely any mention from The VES. The films that did receive a heavy amount of nominations though, were to be expected.

Iron Man was the big winner as far as nominations are concerned, pulling in five. Mr. Stan Winston would be proud. The Dark Knight may have won the box office battle, but Batman and company could only pull in four nominations. One of the bigger shockers that came though, was the fact that Wall-E is getting some major competition in the Animated department. Jack Black’s Kung Fu Panda chopped out a few nominations while Wall-E rolled away with another three himself. The surprise though was that Bolt sped away with four nominations.

So while this is not a big indicator for the Oscars’ Best Visual Effects category, this is a pretty big deal within the industry. These are nominations from people within the business, so they come from their peers. The only thing that I can gather from this, is that these guys know a lot more than I do about what goes into a specific effect. So I will trust their opinion. So I guess the question is…

What do you think was the best Visual Effects film of the year, or the single best Visual Effect?

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Cole_Abaius

I know that I'm the only critic on the planet that loved Speed Racer, but it's really shocking that it didn't get any FX love at all. No matter what problems people had with that film, the look of it was insane and innovative.

I can see why Iron Man beat out TDK on FX at least. And I can see Cloverfield on the list - a lot of the shots were tight, but there was some expansive shots of the monster and of the other beasts that were incredibly effective. Not sure about the best of the year though, tough question.

Ales

Iron man was the best visual effects film of the year!! It deserves a win!

CaptainReg0981

I agree with Ales on this one Cole. Sorry but Speed Racer did not go well with me. Visually stunning with all of the eye candy and colors that makes you seizures but I don't see it part of that award.

Arou101

Benjamin Button didn't get a nomination? Weird. Just people a movie doesn't have a lot of animation and explosions doesn't mean it doesn't deserve a nomination for it's amazing effects.

Sean

I thought the animation for the Hulk was equal to or better than Iron Man's. They made a living, giant Hulk look pretty real, and Abomination.

David G

The Hulk looked more realistic than the last with Eric Bana, but that was it. They got a little lazy with the rest of the effects. Backgrounds, explosions, etc. I wasnt even considering seeing Iron Man until I saw a trailer with all the fx and cgi they did with the character AND the surroundings.

Visual Effects Society All About Iron and Bolts

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