The membership of the Visual Effects Society twice honored director James Cameron at its 8th annual awards show on Feb. 28 in Century City.
First were the six statuettes given to “Avatar,” Cameron’s sci-fi 3D mega-blockbuster grossing more than $2 billion in worldwide box office receipts
The second was in receiving the Encino-based society’s Lifetime Achievement Award for a body of work that has pushed the creative envelope in film effects, from the computer generated images in “The Abyss” and “Terminator Two: Judgment Day” to the 3D world of Pandora in “Avatar.”
While technological advances are replacing the effects used when he started his filmmaking career, Cameron placed a greater importance on the human element behind what he called ultimate magic.
“It’s the artist, the imagination and a sense of pioneering spirit that make visual effects work,” Cameron said backstage. “Computers don’t make visual effects; imagination does that.”
Society members around the world choose the award winners for their work in feature films, television, commercials and video games. For the second year, the VES paired with Autodesk to present a student award.
Ed Catmull, a co-founder of Pixar Animation Studios, received the Georges Melies Award for Pioneering for his groundbreaking work in computer graphics
Catmull helped set up three of the leading centers of in computer graphic research and at Pixar (now owned by Disney) oversaw 10 feature films, including that night’s nominee, “Up,” said presenter and visual effects artist Jim Morris.
“Under Ed’s watch each film has been a technical, artistic and financial success,” Morris said.
“Up” was the second big winner of the night coming away with three awards: Outstanding Animation in an Animated Feature Motion Picture; Outstanding Effects Animation in an Animated Feature Motion Picture; and Outstanding Animated Character in an Animated Feature Motion Picture.
From the first award presentation for use of models and miniatures in a feature film it was apparent that “Avatar” would dominate the proceedings.
The film had three nominations in one category – Outstanding Created Environment in a Feature Motion Picture – and ended the night with members of the effects team accepting the award for outstanding visual effects in a visual effects driven movie, considered to be the VES’s version of the Best Visual Effects category for the Oscars.
Only “District 9″ stood in the way of “Avatar” sweeping all of its nomination. The sci-fi thriller won the outstanding compositing award, a category in which “Avatar” had two nominations.
