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Sheldon Gaskell
Feb 3, 20202 min read

2020 Oscar Predictions: Best Visual Effects

Updated: Feb 8, 2020

Nominees: Dan DeLeeuw, Russell Earl, Matt Aitken and Dan Sudick (Avengers: Endgame); Pablo Helman, Leandro Estebecorena, Nelson Sepulveda-Fauser and Stephane Grabli (The Irishman); Robert Legato, Adam Valdez, Andrew R. Jones and Elliot Newman (The Lion King); Guillaume Rocheron, Greg Butler and Dominic Tuohy (1917); Roger Guyett, Neal Scanlan, Patrick Tubach and Dominic Tuohy (Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker)



Will Win: Dan DeLeeuw, Russell Earl, Matt Aitken and Dan Sudick (Avengers: Endgame)

Runners-up: Robert Legato, Adam Valdez, Andrew R. Jones and Elliot Newman (The Lion King); Guillaume Rocheron, Greg Butler and Dominic Tuohy (1917); Pablo Helman, Leandro Estebecorena, Nelson Sepulveda-Fauser and Stephane Grabli (The Irishman)



Should Win: Guillaume Rocheron, Greg Butler and Dominic Tuohy (1917)

Runners-up: Pablo Helman, Leandro Estebecorena, Nelson Sepulveda-Fauser, and Stephane Grabli (The Irishman); Dan DeLeeuw, Russell Earl, Matt Aitken and Dan Sudick (Avengers: Endgame); Robert Legato, Adam Valdez, Andrew R. Jones and Elliot Newman (The Lion King)



My Choice: Guillaume Rocheron, Greg Butler and Dominic Tuohy (1917)

My Nominees: Pablo Helman, Leandro Estebecorena, Nelson Sepulveda-Fauser and Stephane Grabli (The Irishman); Dan DeLeeuw, Russell Earl, Matt Aitken and Dan Sudick (Avengers: Endgame); Robert Legato, Adam Valdez, Andrew R. Jones and Elliot Newman (The Lion King); Roger Guyett, Neal Scanlan, Patrick Tubach and Dominic Tuohy (Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker)


2019 was a year of great looking movies, many of which were effectively highlighted in this year's nominees. The stellar computer-generated graphics in Avengers: Endgame inspire viewers to feel the electric excitement of Thor's battle cry and fear the domineering presence of Thanos once again beating the Avengers at every turn (until the end of course!). Such visual effects as this are the best in recent memory and definitely deserve acknowledgement even in a year packed with lions rendered with National Geographic-level realism (The Lion King), gangsters made to look their age over the course of decades (The Irishman), and deceased actress Carrie Fisher seemingly resurrected to finish her greatest and final role (Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker). Above all competition, however, is 1917 in its ability to not only shock and excite viewers with dazzling spectacles, but to teleport viewers into the trenches of WWI without a second's reconsideration of validity. Though I am critical of the film's choices in cinematographic style, the look of the film is unparalleled in regard to realism. It is difficult as a viewer to distinguish if what we are seeing is a real war zone or a film set due to the seamless visual techniques employed. In one prominent moment, a plane is shot down and roars, aflame, toward the protagonists (and the camera), inspiring the urge in viewers to duck safely out of the way. This is the category where 1917 should shine as a visual feat rather than for its gimmicky "one-shot" cinematography.

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