The Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror films announced the nominations for the 32nd annual Saturn Awards on Feb. 15, and leading the pack is George Lucas’ Star Wars: Episode III—Revenge of the Sith, with 10 nominations. The awards will be presented May 2 in Universal City, Calif.

Batman Begins came in a close second, with nine nominations. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire each received eight nominations.

In the television categories, ABC’s Lost and The WB’s Smallville received a total of six nominations each. SCI FI Channel’s original series Battlestar Galactica garnered four nominations, while SCI FI’s Stargate SG-1 and its original miniseries The Triangle each received three nominations.

This year the academy established categories to honor and recognize video-game releases. Games that received nominations include Psychonauts, Timesplitters: Future Perfect, Guild Wars, F.E.A.R., Indigo Prophecy, Star Wars Battlefront II and Peter Jackson’s King Kong.

Best Fantasy Film

•Batman Begins (Warner Bros.)
•Charlie & the Chocolate Factory (Warner Bros.)
•The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Buena Vista)
•Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Warner Bros.)
•King Kong (Universal)
•Zathura (Sony)

Best Actress

•Jodie Foster
Flightplan (Buena Vista)
•Laura Linney
The Exorcism of Emily Rose (Screen Gems / Sony)
•Rachel McAdams
Red Eye (DreamWorks SKG)
•Natalie Portman
Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith (20th Century Fox/Lucasfilm)
•Tilda Swinton
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Buena Vista)
•Naomi Watts
King Kong (Universal)

Best Performance by a Younger Actor

•Alex Etel
Millions (Fox Searchlight)
•Dakota Fanning
War of the Worlds (Paramount)
•Freddie Highmore
Charlie & the Chocolate Factory (Warner Bros.)
•Josh Hutcherson
Zathura (Sony)
•William Moseley
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Buena Vista)
•Daniel Radcliffe
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Warner Bros.)

Best Director

•Andrew Adamson
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Buena Vista)
•Peter Jackson
King Kong (Universal)
•George Lucas
Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (20th Century Fox/Lucasfilm)
•Mike Newell
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Warner Bros.)
•Christopher Nolan
Batman Begins (Warner Bros.)
•Steven Spielberg
War of the Worlds (Paramount)

Best Writer

•Steve Kloves
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Warner Bros.)
•David Koepp
War of the Worlds (Paramount)
•Christopher Nolan
David S. Goyer
Batman Begins (Warner Bros.)
•Ann Peacock
Andrew Adamson
Christopher Markus
Steven McFeely
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Buena Vista)
•George Lucas
Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (20th Century Fox/Lucasfilm)
•Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Peter Jackson
King Kong (Universal)

Best Costume

•Trisha Biggar
Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (20th Century Fox/Lucasfilm)
•Lindy Hemming
Batman Begins (Warner Bros.)
•Isis Mussenden
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Buena Vista)
•Gabriella Pescucci
Charlie & the Chocolate Factory (Warner Bros.)
•Terry Ryan
King Kong (Universal)
•Jany Temime
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Warner Bros.)

Best Make Up

•Howard Berger
Nikki Gooley
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Buena Vista)
•Howard Berger
Greg Nicotero
Land of the Dead (Universal)
•Howard Berger
Greg Nicotero
Sin City (Buena Vista)
•Nick Dudman
Amanda Knight
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Warner Bros.)
•Dave Elsey
Lou Elsey
Nikki Gooley
Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (20th Century Fox/Lucasfilm)
•Richard Taylor
Gino Acevedo
Dominie Till
Peter Swords-King
King Kong (Universal)

Best Special Effects

•John Knoll
Roger Guyett
Rob Coleman
Brian Gernand
Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (20th Century Fox/Lucasfilm)
•Joe Letteri
Richard Taylor
Christian Rivers
Brian Van’t Hul
King Kong (Universal)
•Jim Mitchell
Tim Alexander
Tim Webber
John Richardson
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Warner Bros.)
•Dennis Muren
Pablo Helman
Randal M. Dutra
Daniel Sudick
War of the Worlds (Paramount)
•Janek Sirrs
Dan Glass
Chris Corbould
Paul Franklin
Batman Begins (Warner Bros.)
•Dean Wright
Bill Westenhofer
Jim Berney
Scott Farrar
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (Buena Vista)

It’s also the last day to vote for James McAvoy for the BAFTA Awards.

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The 78th Annual Academy Awards (the Oscars) Nominees were announced this morning, and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe was nominated in three categories.

* Achievement in Makeup
Howard Berger and Tami Lane
These are the first Academy Award nominations for Howard Berger and Tami Lane.
Up against: Cinderella Man and Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith

* Achievement in Sound Mixing
Terry Porter, Dean A. Zupancic and Tony Johnson
This is the fourth Academy Award nomination for Terry Porter. He was previously nominated for: Aladdin (1992), Beauty and the Beast (1991) and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986). These are the first Academy Award nominations for Dean A. Zupancic and Tony Johnson.
Up against: King Kong, Memoirs of a Geisha, Walk the Line and War of the Worlds.

* Achievement in Visual Effects
Dean Wright, Bill Westenhofer, Jim Berney and Scott Farrar
These are the first Academy Award nominations for Dean Wright, Bill Westenhofer and Jim Berney. This is the fourth Academy Award nomination for Scott Farrar. He was previously nominated for: A.I. – Artificial Intelligence (2001), Backdraft (1991) and Cocoon (1985).
Up against: King Kong and War of the Worlds

[For a full list of nominees]
[For our LWW Awards page]

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The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe has been nominated for two Visual Effects Society Awards. One for Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects Driven Motion Picture and the other for Outstanding Animated Character in a Live Action Motion Picture, for the character of Aslan.

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects Driven Motion Picture

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
Dean Wright, Randy Starr, Bill Westenhofer, Jim Berney

Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire
Jim Mitchell, Theresa Corrao, Tim Alexander, Tim Webber

King Kong
Eileen Moran, Joe Letteri, Christian Rivers, Eric Saindon

Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith
John Knoll, Roger Guyett, Rob Coleman, Denise Ream

Outstanding Animated Character in a Live Action Motion Picture

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe – Aslan
Richie Baneham, Erik De Boer, Matt Logue, Joe Ksander

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire – Dragon
Steve Rawlins, Eric Wong, Robert Weaver, Steve Nichols

King Kong – Kong
Andy Serkis, Christian Rivers, Atsushi Sato, Guy Williams

From the Rules: The VES Awards are not ‘just another awards show.’

Where else can we, as a community of visual effects professionals, come together to see the most amazing, stunning and excellent work of the year as well as the most subtle and beautiful work too, learn how we all did what we did, trade experiences, say hello to old friends and, most importantly, honor select peers with an award that is truly filled with integrity and meaning?

The point of these awards is to promote excellence in our art and craft by way of recognition where it is deserved. Not just visual effects supervisors – they have many other awards – but also visual effects producers, compositors, animators, models and miniatures creators, technical directors – virtually the entire field of visual effects artisans and craftspeople are eligible in one category or another.

The process by which we select both our nominees and bestow our awards is the most fair, thorough, egalitarian, honest and forthright of any awards program we know of. And that makes the VES Award even more meaningful.

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Narnia Spy Ken sent us a report that The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe has been nominated for three BAFTAs.

COSTUME DESIGN

CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY – Gabriella Pescucci
THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE – Isis Mussenden
MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA – Colleen Atwood
MRS. HENDERSON PRESENTS – Sandy Powell
PRIDE & PREJUDICE – Jacqueline Durran

ACHIEVEMENT IN SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS

BATMAN BEGINS – Janek Sirrs/Dan Glass/Chris Corbould
CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY – Nick Davis/Jon Thum/Chas Jarrett/Joss Williams
THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE – Dean Wright/Bill Westenhofer/Jim Berney/Scott Farrar
HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE – Jim Mitchell/John Richardson
KING KONG – Joe Letteri/Christian Rivers/Brian Van’t Hul/Richard Taylor

MAKE UP & HAIR

CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY – Peter Owen/Ivana Primorac
THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE – Howard Berger/Gregory Nicotero/Nikki Gooley
HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE – Nick Dudman/Amanda Knight/Eithne Fennell
MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA – Noriko Watanabe/Kate Biscoe/Lyndell Quiyou/Kelvin R Trahan
PRIDE & PREJUDICE – Fae Hammond

One of the principal functions of the British Academy of Film & Television Arts is to identify and reward excellence in the artforms of the moving image. It achieves this objective by bestowing awards on those practitioners who have excelled in their chosen field of expertise.

In 1947, the Academy granted three awards. Today, more than one hundred awards are bestowed annually in the fields of film, television and video games. Our five annual awards ceremonies in London are as follows:

The Orange British Academy Film Awards
The British Academy Video Games Awards
The British Academy Television Awards sponsored by Pioneer
The British Academy Television Craft Awards
The 10th British Academy Children’s Film & Television Awards in association with Time Warner

The Academy has earned its position as keeper of the gold standard because its engaged voting body is a diverse, expert membership of industry peers. Each Awards process varies, but the coveted BAFTA mask is awarded to individuals via combinations of membership votes, qualified industry chapters and specially selected juries comprising industry practitioners who have reached the pinnacle of their profession in a variety of disciplines.

The BAFTA mask is regarded as the most coveted award among industry practitioners working in all artforms of the moving image.

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The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe Diaries: Part 4 – Sony Pictures Imageworks & Mr. Tumnus & More
In the final installment of VFXWorld’s exclusive production diaries, Jim Berney of Sony Pictures Imageworks chronicles the creation of more mythical CG characters, the Bombing of London and other environmental effects for The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Includes a QuickTime clip!
By Jim Berney

Mr. Tumnus
We were awarded the show on a Friday, and on Monday, when I arrived in New Zealand, at the start of the second week of principal photography, I first met with Dean Wright to discuss how we were going to create the goat legs for Mr. Tumnus. We were actually working with Giant Studios, a New Zealand effects company, to collaborate with them on a combination of motion capture and animation. We did a test with James McEvoy, the actor playing Tumnus, who wore green pants with target dots on them during filming, and we found that if he could walk on tiptoes during filming, and still say his lines, that it made his body appear more believable as a faun. The first scene we shot with him was the first day of snow work at the main Narnia forest set at Kelly Park, where Lucy comes through the wardrobe for the first time. Giant had their motion capture cameras set up on that set, and basically the way it worked was we’d get the plate from editorial, we’d do the matchmove of the camera movement, and then we’d give the digital camera plate to Giant and they’d do the motion capture integration of the legs to the body. For the leg animation, it was about 90% of the way there, and then we’d do foot interaction, and all the hair, muscle and fur details, to really complete the shot. We were able to use a lot of James’ footprints from the shot to help line up the animated hooves in the final composited shot.

David A. Smith, digital supervisor, said, “I actually thought Tumnus worked better than I expected. It’s hard to put goat legs on a man; they’ve got to fit the photography that was shot. When Andrew first saw a few shots put together, he said it was amazing how quickly you dismiss the fact that it’s a human, you just see his legs and it’s all part of his character right here. Having seen the development, I didn’t have that same jump to the final product, but if I step back for a minute, you go, wow, that is good.”

[Click here for the rest of Part 4]
Registration is free
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The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe Diaries: Part 3 – Sony Pictures Imageworks & Mr. Beaver
In the third installment of VFXWorld’s exclusive production diaries, visual effects supervisor Jim Berney of Sony Pictures Imageworks chronicles the creation of photoreal Mr. Beaver from early test through final animation for The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Includes QuickTime clips!
By Jim Berney

My Own History With the Book
I first became aware of C.S. Lewis’ The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe in 1971 in kindergarten. My teacher started to read the story to us, and I created the world in my head. She only read for a few days and then we moved away, but I still wondered what the rest of the story was. Then while living in Stockholm in 1989, I was traveling on a train, talking about books with a guy I’d just met. He was telling me about The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and I said, “I know that book – you’ve heard of that book?” I thought, I’ve got to complete that story, but, being in college, I never did. And then, here at Imageworks about four years ago, we’d just finished working on The Lord of The Rings: The Two Towers, and I was trying to figure out what the next big property out there would be, and I was thinking: I bet it’s the Narnia series.

About two years ago, I was in between projects and getting a little nervous. Deborah Giarratana, our rep, always has her ear to the ground about what’s coming up, and she told me about The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. While she wasn’t certain that I’d want to be a part of it on a limited budget, what she didn’t know was my history with the book. I really did want to do it, and I thought: They’ve got to get it right. I knew the budget would get bigger, because there are not a whole lot of properties left that have this kind of scope and history. When I read the script, it reinforced what I’ve always had in my head about the story: that initial walk through the wardrobe was my introduction to fantasy, that initial world, and that they’d really pulled it off in the script. What I liked about it was that the characters were diverse, both good and evil.

The filmmakers originally planned to have one visual effects company bid to do all 1,400 shots, which was giant. They had about 10 main CG characters, but there were 40 different creatures to build, and multiple variations on the theme (not just one centaur, but 10 distinctly different centaurs). Besides Imageworks, the other effects houses they were talking to were ILM and Rhythm & Hues. The first step for each one was to do an animation test on some of the CG characters in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

The Beaver Test
We started with an animation test, which gave us a chance to work with director Andrew Adamson, and he could also see the process he’d be working with, and not just the dollar amount of our bid. The test of the Beaver character began with literally just some stills the filmmakers shot while location scouting. They gave us some plates and two dialogues pulled out of the movie, and we started putting a beaver together. I believe they gave us a model from their original rotoscan, and we started rigging it to animate without muscles but furring it and figuring out the plate. We turned it into a day for night and put the lamppost into it, where it’s a dark glowing forest in the snow and this beaver came down and gave this absolutely random line.

[Click here for the rest of Part 3]
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