War for the Planet of the Apes, Game of Thrones top 2018 Visual Effects Society Awards

The 2018 VES Awards was time for Caesar to shine.

The Visual Effects Society held its 16th annual awards ceremony on Tuesday, hosted by Patton Oswalt, and War for the Planet of the Apes and Pixar’s Coco topped the film nominees with four awards each. Game of Thrones, meanwhile, took home the most awards of the night, thanks to Dany’s favorite fire-breather.

War, featuring a motion-capture performance from Andy Serkis as the leader of a tribe of apes, took home the top honor of Best Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature. Additionally, Coco received the main animated film award, Blade Runner 2049 was honored for its work creating Los Angeles and the LAPD headquarters, and Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2 received a virtual cinematography award for the opening Groot dance sequence.

While Game of Thrones took home five awards, the HBO drama was recognized twice for season 7’s “The Spoils of War” when Drogon unleashed fiery hell on the Lannister army. The series also received awards for its rendering of the frozen lake in “Beyond the Wall,” and the destruction of the Wall in “The Dragon and the Wolf.”

One clear snub was Star Wars: The Last Jedi. The Force Awakens had earned the top film award in 2016, but its sequel — with four nominations — didn’t win squat.

As pointed out by Deadline, the VES winner of Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature has gone on to win the Best Visual Effects Oscar 10 out of 15 times. So, kudos to War. The Caesar sequel will now go up against Blade Runner 2049, The Last Jedi, Kong: Skull Island, and Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2 for VFX at the Academy Awards.

See all the VES winners below.

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature

War for the Planet of the Apes
Joe Letteri
Ryan Stafford
Daniel Barrett
Dan Lemmon
Joel Whist

Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature

Dunkirk
Andrew Jackson
Mike Chambers
Andrew Lockley
Alison Wortman
Scott Fisher

Outstanding Visual Effects in an Animated Feature

Coco
Lee Unkrich
Darla K. Anderson
David Ryu
Michael K. O’Brien

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Episode

Game of Thrones; “Beyond the Wall”
Joe Bauer
Steve Kullback
Chris Baird
David Ramos
Sam Conway

Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Episode

Black Sails; “XXIX”
Erik Henry
Terron Pratt
Yafei Wu
David Wahlberg
Paul Dimmer

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Real-Time Project

Assassin’s Creed Origins
Raphael Lacoste
Patrick Limoges
Jean-Sebastien Guay
Ulrich Haar

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Commercial

Samsung; “Do What You Can’t”; Ostrich
Diarmid Harrison-Murray
Tomek Zietkiewicz
Amir Bazazi
Martino Madeddu

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Special Venue Project

Avatar: Flight of Passage
Richard Baneham
Amy Jupiter
David Lester
Thrain Shadbolt

Outstanding Animated Character in a Photoreal Feature

War for the Planet of the Apes; Caesar
Dennis Yoo
Ludovic Chailloleau
Douglas McHale
Tim Forbes

Outstanding Animated Character in an Animated Feature

Coco; Hèctor
Emron Grover
Jonathan Hoffman
Michael Honsel
Guilherme Sauerbronn Jacinto

Outstanding Animated Character in an Episode or Real-Time Project

Game of Thrones; “The Spoils of War”; Drogon Loot Train Attack
Murray Stevenson
Jason Snyman
Jenn Taylor
Florian Friedmann

Outstanding Animated Character in a Commercial

Samsung; “Do What You Can’t”; Ostrich
David Bryan
Maximilian Mallmann
Tim Van Hussen
Brendan Fagan

Outstanding Created Environment in a Photoreal Feature

Blade Runner 2049; Los Angeles
Chris McLaughlin
Rhys Salcombe
Seungjin Woo
Francesco Dell’Anna

Outstanding Created Environment in an Animated Feature

Coco; City of the Dead
Michael Frederickson
Jamie Hecker
Jonathan Pytko
Dave Strick

Outstanding Created Environment in an Episode, Commercial, or Real-Time Project

Game of Thrones; “Beyond the Wall”; Frozen Lake
Daniel Villalba
Antonio Lado
José Luis Barreiro
Isaac de la Pompa

Outstanding Virtual Cinematography in a Photoreal Project

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2; Groot Dance/Opening Fight
James Baker
Steven Lo
Alvise Avati
Robert Stipp

Outstanding Model in a Photoreal or Animated Project

Blade Runner 2049; LAPD Headquarters
Alex Funke
Steven Saunders
Joaquin Loyzaga
Chris Menges

Outstanding Effects Simulations in a Photoreal Feature

War for the Planet of the Apes
David Caeiro Cebrián
Johnathan Nixon
Chet Leavai
Gary Boyle

Outstanding Effects Simulations in an Animated Feature

Coco
Kristopher Campbell
Stephen Gustafson
Dave Hale
Keith Klohn

Outstanding Effects Simulations in an Episode, Commercial, or Real-Time Project

Game of Thrones; “The Dragon and the Wolf”; Wall Destruction
Thomas Hullin
Dominik Kirouac
Sylvain Nouveau
Nathan Arbuckle

Outstanding Compositing in a Photoreal Feature

War for the Planet of the Apes
Christoph Salzmann
Robin Hollander
Ben Warner
Beck Veitch

Outstanding Compositing in a Photoreal Episode

Game of Thrones; “The Spoils of War”; Loot Train Attack
Dom Hellier
Thijs Noij
Edwin Holdsworth
Giacomo Matteucci

Outstanding Compositing in a Photoreal Commercial

Samsung; “Do What You Can’t”; Ostrich
Michael Gregory
Andrew Roberts
Gustavo Bellon
Rashabh Ramesh Butani

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Student Project

Hybrids
Florian Brauch
Romain Thirion
Matthieu Pujol
Kim Tailhades