A great night of well-deserved awards and commendation, topped off by a
Spielberg Lifetime Achievement Award.

his was another excellent year of digital FX and the VES recognized those accomplishments for the sixth consecutive year. I have covered the VES Awards for CGSociety for the last three of those years and have seen the event grow into a star-studded evening that resembles a mini-Oscar.Red carpets, crane cameras sweeping the auditorium, camera crews crowding the press room, fine dining and gift bags for more than 1000 attendees, all creating an atmosphere of magnificent formal elegance.

To watch this event evolve year-to-year clarifies just how much this field is solidifying, and the VES Awards offer a highly coveted recognition.In stark contrast to the Annie Awards just two days earlier where wardrobes lean towards animation black (formal with a twist), the VES Awards are awash in chiffons and sequins and coats with tails and have an aura of nobility.

After a reception where guests had time to arrive, mingle, and find their tables and salads waiting, the plates were cleared, and multiple announcements for people to take their seats initiated the beginning of the ceremony, but many continued to roam the room for last minute searches of old friends. When Mr. Spielberg arrived around 7:15 PM to share a table with Doug Trumbull and Dennis Muren among others front and center, and VES Executive Director Eric Roth began the festivities.

“Look around you. We’ve grown up,” was one of Roth’s first comments, followed by a powerful and thought provoking speech on the future of entertainment. “We are at a defining moment in time, as witnessed by what just happened with the writers strike.

Because technology is changing so rapidly that we are entering a revolution, a digital revolution. Everyone knows its happening, everyone sees it coming. But everyone is asking, how does it affect me, how does it affect my business model?” Roth compared it to 1927, the year of the Jazz Singer that established that sound was the future, but weren’t sure how to proceed.

“Should they get rid of the silent stars? Dub their voices, proceed with silent movies?” Or in the 1950’s when television first entered the home and theater owners wondered how they would stay in business. “We are at one of those junctures right now. What kind of pipeline should we have? Should we open an offshore office? How does this effect the creative decisions? Should we shoot on location or go primarily blue screen? Should we use Mocap or Stereoscopic 3D?”

Roth went on to list other questions related to production and profit vs. expenditures and excellence without overworking the artists questioning how these issues may be resolved. “Mark my words, in five to ten years, the entire entertainment industry is going to look very different than it does now. Very simply, you probably won’t be seeing the hundreds of compositors, match movers, or rotoscope guys on each of these shows. Advances in technology will very likely eliminate many of these positions. Also, it’s just a matter of time before we see a studio scan an actor and use a complete digital performance. When that happens, who will make those decisions:
the actor or the studio? Change is coming, but how do you get
ready for it?”

But my favorite part of Roth’s observations of the VES (Visual Effects Society), with its 1,600 members in 17 countries and its roll in the industry, was met with cheers and applause: “Our members understand technology and how it intersects with art and business. Our members have the talent, the experience, the knowledge to understand how these issues will play out. Unfortunately, we have not done such a great job of educating everyone else in the industry because they think we are just a bunch of glorified button pushing techno geeks. Well, that is not the reality. The truth of the matter is, although we can be pretty geeky, we are true artists who
understand how to influence a creative decision making to get a
story told properly.

We also understand the economic ramifications of using one method vs. another to accomplish a director’s goal, thus influencing the all-important bottom line. Let’s face it; with visual effects budgets taking up a quarter or more of most shows these days, and given that something like 20 of the top 25 highest grossing films of all time are visual effect films, what we, in this room do… matters to the
bottom line.”

Thank you, Eric Roth. He continued with a list of what needed to be done to accomplish the goals. Educating the art directors, directors, and producers on the pipeline so that the creative decisions needed can be made early on, and when they will matter most. “Not just how to use a piece of software, but also how to highlight different ways to blow stuff up that saves money in the process.” Roth went on to list tasks to tackle, such as the place in the credits, standardize bidding forms, and co-sponsoring events with other guilds. VES is becoming the gateway to better recognition of the significance of this field.

But Roth, as all of us, was there to celebrate greatness, and the focus shifted to embrace the reasons for the gathering. He uttered a few words: Director. Writer. Producer. Creative genius, visionary, and humanitarian. Entrepreneurial force of nature. And the VES Lifetime Achievement Award recipient, Steven Spielberg. The room erupted with applause in a standing ovation.

I won’t list all the winners here, since that information can easily be found through the link below. What I want to share is the experience that comes with an evening such as this. There are many speeches, but given by those who are aware that every word counts and they know how and when to edit. It’s not a difficult celebration to endure.

Instead, there is joy at winning and determination after losing, if you can call it losing when you see an award go to a comrade who might have barely edged you out and is beaming with pride. When you are in a room filled with people who love their craft or love those who create it, it’s hard to feel that anyone loses. Though it’s not a field for the faint of heart, it is hard to miss the smiles of those who are in it, and when there are a thousand of them around you, you know you have made the right choice for a career.

But let’s face it. Though the acceptance speeches were bright and funny and many appreciations were offered, including dozens to patient wives and girlfriends, the star of the evening was Mr. Spielberg. His mere presence brought out an increase of press and security, and I heard a few tourists were lucky recipients of his autograph after his departure. But inside, he was a highly respected guest of honor. He was introduced by his close friend, the 2007 VES Lifetime Achievement Award, Dennis Muren.