Visual Effects Society Award for Outstanding Model in a Photoreal or Animated Project

The Visual Effects Society Award for Outstanding Model in a Photoreal or Animated Project is one of the annual awards given by the Visual Effects Society. The award goes to artists whose work in models, miniatures, have been deemed worthy of recognition. Originally, the award was given separately to artists in both film and television, with the categories "Best Models and Miniatures in a Motion Picture" and "Best Models and Miniatures in a Televised Program, Music Video or Commercial". In 2004, there was only one category, recognizing only work in motion pictures with "Outstanding Models and Miniatures in a Motion Picture". In 2005, television was honored, once again, with "Outstanding Models and Miniatures in a Broadcast Program, Commercial or Music Video". Television series and/or televised content (commercials, specials, etc.) would be honored, intermittently, until 2015, when the category was redesigned to honor any motion media project. It has continued to do so since then.

Winners and nominees

2000s

Best Models and Miniatures in a Motion Picture

Year	Film	Model	Nominee(s)
2002 [1][2]	The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers		Richard Taylor, Paul Van Ommen, Matt Aitken
	Die Another Day		John Richardson
	Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones		Brian Gernand, Russell Paul, Geoff Campbell, Jean Bolte
2003	The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King		Richard Taylor, Paul Van Ommen, Eric Saindon
	Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl	Captain Barbosa	Geoff Campbell, James Tooley, Steve Walton, Dugan Beach
		The Interceptor	Charlie Bailey, Peter Bailey, Robert Edwards, Don Bies
2004 [3]	The Aviator	XF11 crash	Matthew Gratzner, Scott Schneider, Adam Gelbart, Leigh-Alexandra Jacob
	Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban		Jose Granell, Nigel Stone
	National Treasure	Treasure Room	Matthew Gratzner, Forest P. Fischer, Scott Beverly, Leigh-Alexandra Jacob
2005 [4][5]	War of the Worlds		Ed Hirsh, Steve Gawley, Joshua Ong, Russell Paul
	Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire	Hogwarts	Jose Granell, Nigel Stone
	Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith		Brian Gernand, Pamela Choy, Ron Woodall, Kevin Reuter

Outstanding Models and Miniatures in a Feature Motion Picture

Year	Film	Model(s)	Nominee(s)
2006 [6][7]	Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest		Bruce Holcomb, Ron Woodall, Charlie Bailey, Carl Miller
	The Good Shepherd		Matthew Gratzner, Forest Fischer, Enrico Altmann, Leigh-Alexandra Jacob
	V for Vendetta		Jose Granell, Nigel Stone
2007 [8][9]	Transformers		Dave Fogler, Ron Woodall, Alex Jaeger, Brain Gernand
	Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix	Hogwarts	Jose Granell, Nigel Stone
	Live Free or Die Hard	Freeway Sequence (F35 Miniature and Effects)	Ian Hunter, Scott Schneider, Scott Beverly, John Cazin
	Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End	Practical and Digital Ships	Ken Bailey, Bruce Holcomb, Carl Miller, Geoff Heron
	Spider-Man 3	Building/Crane Destruction Miniature and Effects	Masahiko Tani, Scott Beverly, Forest Fischer, Raymond Moore
2008 [10][11]	The Dark Knight	Garbage Truck Crash Models & Miniatures	Ian Hunter, Forest Fischer, Scott Beverly, Adam Gelbart
	Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull		David Fogler, Craig Hammack, Brian Gernand, Geoff Heron
	Iron Man	Suit-Up Machine	Aaron McBride, Russell Paul, Gerald Gutschmidt, Kenji Yamaguchi
	My Darling of the Mountains	Hot Springs	Taro Kiba, Kenji Nagatani, Yuki Minagawa, Hideo Udo
2009 [12][13]	Avatar	Samson/Home Tree/Floating Mountains/Ampsuit	Simon Cheung, Paul Jenness, John Stevenson-Galvin, Rainer Zoetti
	Coraline		Deborah Cook, Paul Mack, Martin Meunier, Matthew DeLue
	Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian	National Air and Space Museum Escape	Ian Hunter, Forest Fischer, Robert Chapin, Tony Chen
	Terminator Salvation	Practical Models and Miniatures	Brian Gernand, Geoff Heron, Nick d'Abo, Patrick Sweeney

Best Models and Miniatures in a Televised Program, Music Video, or Commercial

Year	Program	Model	Nominee(s)
2002 [14][15]	Star Trek: Enterprise: "Dead Stop"		John Teska, Koji Kuramura, Pierre Drolet, Sean M. Scott
	Gatorade: "Visitors"		Matthew Gratzner, James Waterhouse, Scott Lukowski, Eric Coon
	Rose Red		Michael Joyce
2003	Helen of Troy		Anthony Ocampo
	Battlestar Galactica		Lee Stringer, Jose Perez, Gabriel Köerner, Michael Enriquez

Outstanding Models and Miniatures in a Broadcast Program, Commercial, or Music Video

Year	Program	Model	Nominee(s)
2005 [16][17]	Las Vegas: "Bold, Beautiful and Blue"		Michael Cook, Anthony Ocampo, Eugene Kim, Renaud Talon
	Ford: World Traveler		Matthew Gratzner, Greg M. Boettcher, Enrico Altmann, Matt Burlingame
	Walgreens: Giving Tree/Last Minute	Winter Wonderland	Ian Hunter, Forest P. Fischer, Seth Curlin, Joachim Duppel
2006 [18][19]	Battlestar Galactica: "Resurrection Ship, Part II"		Steve Graves, Jose Peretz, Mark Shimer, Chris Zapara
	Commander in Chief: "Air Force One"		Michael Enriquez
	Dodge: Fairy		Matthew Gratzner, Forest P. Fischer, Jon Warren, Scott Schneider
2007 [20][21]	Halo 3: Believe Campaign		Matthew Gratzner, Alan Scott, Seth Curlin, Greg M. Boettcher

Outstanding Models and Miniatures in a Broadcast Program or Commercial

Year	Program	Model	Nominee(s)
2008 [22][23]	New Balance: Anthem	Garbage Truck Crash Models & Miniatures	Ian Hunter, Jon Warren, Matt Burlingame, Raymond Moore
	Ghost Whisperer: "Save Our Souls"	Claridon Ship	Eric Hance

2010s

Outstanding Models and Miniatures in a Feature Motion Picture

Year	Film	Model(s)	Nominee(s)
2010 [24][25]	Inception	Hospital Fortress Destruction	Ian Hunter, Scott Beverly, Forest P. Fischer, Robert Spurlock
	The Expendables	The Palace Explodes	Gene Warren Jr., Christopher Warren, Gene Warren III
	Iron Man 2	Hammer Military Drones	Bruce Holcomb, Ron Woodall, John Goodson, John Walker
	Shutter Island	Ward-C Int/Ext, Lighthouse Int/Ext	Matthew Gratzner, Scott Schneider, Adam Gelbart, Richard Ewan
2011 [26][27]	Transformers: Dark of the Moon	Driller	Timothy Brakensiek, Kelvin Chu, Dave Fogler, Rene Garcia
	Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2	Hogwarts Buildings	Steven Godfrey, Pietro Ponti, Tania Richard, Andy Warren
	Hugo	Train Crash	Scott Beverly, Alan K.M. Faucher, Forest P. Fischer, Matthew Gratzner
	Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol	Parking Garage	John Goodson, Russell Paul, Victor Schutz, Kristian Pedlow
2012 [28][29]	The Avengers	Helicarrier	Rene Garcia, Bruce Holcomb, Polly Ing, Aaron Wilson
	The Dark Knight Rises	Airplane Heist	Ian Hunter, Scott Beverly, Alan K.M. Faucher, Steve Newburn
	The Impossible	Orchid Hotel	Markus Donhauser, Patrick Lehn, Angel Pedro Martinez, Jurgen Pirman
	Men in Black 3	Cape Canaveral/Apollo Launch	Craig Feifarek, Hee-Chel Nam, Eric Neill, Taehyun Park
2013 [30][31]	Gravity	ISS Exterior	Ben Lambert, Paul Beilby, Chris Lawrence, Andy Nicholson
	The Lone Ranger	Colby Locomotive	Rene Garcia, Steve Walton, Brian Paik, Gerald Gutschmidt
	Pacific Rim		Dave Fogler, Alex Jaeger, Aaron Wilson, David Richard Nelson
	Star Trek Into Darkness		Bruce Holcomb, Ron Woodall, John Goodson, Tom Fejes

Outstanding Models and Miniatures in a Broadcast Program or Commercial

Year	Program	Model(s)	Nominee(s)
2010 [32][33]	Boardwalk Empire: "The Ivory Tower"		J. John Corbett, Matthew Conner, Brendan Fitzgerald
	Family Guy: "Brian Griffin's House of Payne		Andrew Karr, Alec McClymont, Daniel Osaki, Paul Hegg
2011 [34][35]	Boardwalk Empire: "Georgia Peaches"		Matthew Conner, Eran Dinur, David W. Reynolds, Szymon Weglarski
	Arrowhead: Nature's Fix		Carl Horner, Ian Hunter, Miyo Nakamura, Hayley O'Neill
	Falling Skies	Airbase	Jon Chesson, Steve Graves, Michael Kirylo, Renaud Talon
	Once Upon a Time	Snow's Castle	Jason O. Monroe, Chris Strauss, Michael Kirylo, Jeremy Melton

Outstanding Models in Any Motion Media Project

Year	Film	Model(s)	Nominee(s)
2014 [36][37]	Big Hero 6	San Fransokyo	Brett Achorn, Minh Duong, Scott Watanabe, Larry Wu
	The Boxtrolls	Mecha-Drill	Tom McClure, Oliver Jones, Raul Martinez
	The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies	Laketown	Leslie Chan, Alastair Maher, Niklas Preston, Justin Stockton
	Transformers: Age of Extinction	Knightship	Landis R. Fields IV, John Goodson, Anthony Rispoli, Dae-Ho Han

Outstanding Models in a Photoreal or Animated Project

Year	Film	Model(s)	Nominee(s)
2015 [38][39]	Star Wars: The Force Awakens	BB-8	Joshua Lee, Matthew Denton, Landis R. Fields IV, Cyrus Jam
	Avengers: Age of Ultron	Hulkbuster	Harold Weed, Robert Marinic, Daniel Gonzalez, Myriam Catrin
	Everest	Mount Everest	Matthias Bjarnason, Olafur Haraldsson, Kjartan Hardarson, Pétur Arnórsson
	Jurassic World	Indominus Rex	Jubinville Steve, Martin Murphy, Aaron Grey, Kevin Reuter

Outstanding Model in a Photoreal or Animated Project

Year	Film	Model	Nominee(s)
2016 [40][41]	Deepwater Horizon	Deepwater Horizon Rig	Kelvin Lau, Jean Bolte, Kevin Sprout, Kim Vongbunyong
	Rogue One: A Star Wars Story	Princess Leia	Paul Giacoppo, Gareth J. Jensen, Todd Vaziri, James Tooley
		Star Destroyer	Jay Machado, Chulev Marko, Akira Orikasa, Steven Knipping
	Star Trek Beyond	Enterprise	Dan Nicholson, Rhys Salcombe, Chris Elmer, Andreas Maaninka
2017 [42][43]	Blade Runner 2049	LAPD Headquarters	Alex Funke, Steven Saunders, Joaquin Loyzaga, Chris Menges
	Despicable Me 3	Dru's Car	Eric Guillon, François-Xavier Lepeintre, Guillaume Boudeville, Pierre Lopes
	Life	The ISS	Tom Edwards, Kshirsagar Chaitanya, Satish Kutan, Paresh Dodia
	United States Marine Corps	Monument	U.S. Marines: Anthem
2018 [44][45]	Mortal Engines	London	Matthew Sandoval, James Ogle, Nick Keller, Samuel Tack
	Avengers: Infinity War	Nidavellir Forge Megastructure	Chad Roen, Ryan J. Rogers, Jeff Tetzlaff, Ming Pan
	Incredibles 2	Underminer Vehicle	Neil Blevins, Philip Metschan, Kexx Singleton
	Ready Player One	DeLorean DMC-12	Giuseppe Bufalo, Kim Lindqvist, Mauro Giacomazzo, William Gallyot
	Solo: A Star Wars Story	Millennium Falcon	Masa Narita, Steve Walton, David Meny, James Clyne
2019 [46][47]	The Mandalorian: "Chapter 3: The Sin"	The Razorcrest	Doug Chiang, Jay Machado, John Goodson, Landis R. Fields IV
	Lost in Space	The Resolute	Xuan Prada, Jason Martin, Jonathan Vårdstedt, Eric Andersson
	The Man in the High Castle	Rocket Train	Neil Taylor, Casi Blume, Ben McDougal, Chris Kuhn
	Missing Link	The Manchuria	Todd Harvey, Daniel R. Casey, Katy Hughes

2020s

Year	Film	Model(s)	Nominee(s)
2020 [48]	The Midnight Sky	Aether	Michael Balthazart, Jonathan Opgenhaffen, John-Peter Li, Simon Aluze
	The Mandalorian	Boba Fett's Ship	Jay Machado, Enrico Damm, Gerald Blaise, Ryan Church
	The Mandalorian: "Chapter 16: The Rescue"	Light Cruiser	John Knoll, John Goodson, Dan Patrascu, Rene Garcia
	The Witches	Rollercoaster	Jared Michael, Peter Dominik, Sylvain Lesaint, Emily Tilson
2021 [49]	Dune	Royal Ornithopter	Marc Austin, Anna Yamazoe, Michael Chang, Rachael Dunk
	Black Widow	The Red Room	Tristan John Connors, Bo Kwon, James Stuart, Ryan Duhaime
	Encanto	Casita Madrigal	Jonathan Lin, Chris Patrick O'Connell, Christoffer Pedersen, Alberto Abril
	The Suicide Squad	Jotunheim	Simon Dean Morley, Cedric Enriquez Canlas, Layne Howe, Alberto R. S. Hernandez
2022 [50]	Avatar: The Way of Water	The Sea Dragon	Sam Sharplin, Stephen Skorepa, Ian Baker, Guillaume Francois
	The Sea Beast		Maxx Okazaki, Susan Kornfeld, Edward Lee, Doug Smith
	Top Gun: Maverick	F-14 Tomcat	Christian Peck, Klaudio Ladavac, Aram Jung, Peter Dominik
	Wendell & Wild	Dream Faire	Peter Dahmen, Paul Harrod, Nicholas Blake
2023 [51]	The Creator	Nomad	Oliver Kane, Mat Monro, Florence Green, Serban Ungureanu
	Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3	The Arête	Kenneth Johansson, Jason Galeon, Tim Civil, Artur Vill
	Peter Pan & Wendy	Jolly Roger	Patrick Comtois, Thomas Gallardo, Harrison Stark, David Thibodeau
	Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse	Spider HQ	Dongick David Sheen, Mark JeongWoong, Lee Mikaela Bantog, René Völker

Superlatives

Films with Multiple Nominations

2 Nominations

• Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
• Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Programs with Multiple Nominations

3 Nominations

• The Mandalorian

2 Nominations

• Battlestar Galactica
• Boardwalk Empire

External links

• Visual Effects Society