The Visual Effects Society Award for Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Episode is one of the annual awards given by the Visual Effects Society starting in 2002. While the award's title has changed several time within this period, the recipient has always been a visual effects-heavy television episode. Episodes with more background effects work have their own category, the Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Episode. Until 2012, miniseries and television movies had their own category.
Best Visual Effects in a Television Series
| Year | Program | Episode(s) | Nominees | Network |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 [1] [2] | Firefly | "Serenity" | Emile Smith, Rocco Passionino, Loni Peristere, Kristen Branan | Fox |
| Dinotopia | "Marooned/Making Good" | ABC | ||
| "Shockwave, Part I" | Dan Curry, Ronald B. Moore, Liz Castro | UPN | ||
| 2003 [3] [4] | Buffy the Vampire Slayer | "Chosen" | Loni Peristere, Patti Gannon, Ronald Thornton, Chris Zapara | UPN |
| Carnivàle | "Milfay" | David T. Altenau, Ariel V. Shaw, Thomas L. Bellissimo, Barbara J. Marshall | HBO | |
| ER | "Freefall" | Sam Nicholson, Kyle J. Healey, Eric Grenaudier, Anthony Ocampo | NBC | |
| Sea Monsters | Max Tyrie, Timothy Greenwood, Darren Byford, Mike Milne | BBC/Discovery Channel | ||
Best Visual Effects in a Broadcast Series
| Year | Program | Episode(s) | Nominees | Network |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 [5] | "Storm Front, Part 2" | Dan Curry, Ronald B. Moore, David Takemura, Fred Pienkos | UPN | |
| Stargate Atlantis | "Rising" | John Gajdecki, Bruce Woloshyn, Jinnie Pak, Tara Conley | Sci Fi | |
| Stargate SG-1 | "Lost City, Part 2" | James Tichenor, Shannon Gurney, Craig Van Den Biggelaar, Bruce Woloshyn | ||
| 2005 [6] [7] | Rome | "The Stolen Eagle" | Barrie Hemsley, James Madigan, Duncan Kinnaird, Joe Pavlo | HBO |
| Invasion | "Origin of Species" | Armen V. Kevorkian, John Karner, Neal Sopata | ABC | |
| Smallville | "Commencement" | Mat Beck, John H. Han, Trent Smith, John C. Wash | The WB | |
| 2006 [8] [9] | Battlestar Galactica | "Exodus" | Gary Hutzel, Michael Gibson, Alec McClymont, Brenda Campbell | Sci Fi |
| Prehistoric Park | "Episode 4" | George Roper, Matt Fox, Laurent Hugueniot, Kevin Spruce | Animal Planet/National Geographic | |
| Smallville | "Zod" | Mat Beck, Brian Ali Harding, Trent Smith, John C. Wash | The WB | |
| 2007 [10] [11] | Fight for Life | "Episode 4" | Philip Dobree, Nicola Instone, Marco Iozzi, Matt Chandler | BBC One |
| Battlestar Galactica | "Maelstrom" | Michael Gibson, Gary Hutzel, Michael Davidson, Kyle Toucher | Sci Fi | |
| Doctor Who | "Last of the Time Lords" | Dave Houghton, Will Cohen, Jean-Claude Deguara, Nicolas Hernandez | BBC One | |
| Heroes | "Four Months Ago..." | Eric Grenaudier, Mark Spatny, Diego Galtieri, Michael Enriquez | NBC | |
| Stargate Atlantis | "Adrift" | Mark Savela, Shannon Gurney, Erica Henderson, James Kawano | Sci Fi | |
| 2008 [12] [13] | Battlestar Galactica | "Revelations" | Gary Hutzel, Michael Gibson, Doug Drexler, Kyle Toucher | Sci Fi |
| Ghost Whisperer | "Ghost in the Machine" | Armen V. Kevorkian, Arthur J. Codron, Matt Scharf, Stefan Bredereck | CBS | |
| Heroes | "The Second Coming" | Eric Grenaudier, Mark Spatny, Diego Galtieri, Michael Cook | NBC | |
| "Vick's Chip" | James Lima, Raoul Bolognini, Andrew Orloff, Steven Meyer | |||
| 2009 [14] [15] | Battlestar Galactica | "Daybreak" | Gary Hutzel, Michael Gibson, David R. Morton, Jess Tove | Syfy |
| Defying Gravity | "Pilot" | Dale Fay, Jared Jones, Sam Nicholson, Mike Yip | ABC | |
| Fringe | "Earthling" | Robert Habros, Eric Hance, Andrew Orloff, Jay Worth | ||
| Stargate Universe | "Air" | Shannon Gurney, Andrew Karr, Mark Savela, Craig Van Den Biggelaar | Syfy | |
| V | "Pilot" | Johnathan R. Banta, Karen Czukerberg, Andrew Orloff, Chris Zapara | ABC |
| Year | Program | Nominees | Network |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 [16] [17] | Dinotopia | Mike McGee, Tim Webber, Alec Knox, Ben Morris | ABC |
| Dean Lewis | Discovery Channel | ||
| Rose Red | Robin Griffin, Stuart Robertson, Dion Hatch, Nelson Sepulveda | ABC | |
| 2003 [18] [19] | Battlestar Galactica | Gary Hutzel, Kristen L. Branan, Emile E. Smith, Lee Stringer | Sci Fi |
| Dinosaur Planet | Sebastien Dostie, Claude Precourt, Isabelle Riva | Discovery Channel | |
| Frank Herbert's Children of Dune ("Night 1") | Ernest Farino, Tim McHugh, Chris Q. Zapara, Glenn A. Campbell | Sci Fi | |
| Helen of Troy | Sam Nicholson, Adam Ealovega, Joshua Hatton, Tim Donahue | USA |
| Year | Program | Nominees | Network |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 [20] | Virtual History: The Secret Plot to Kill Hitler | Jim Radford, Tom Beckwith Phillips, Simon Thomas, Loraine Cooper | BBC Two |
| Earthsea | Peter V. Ware, Eric Grenaudier, Jared Jones, Earl Paraszczynec | Sci Fi | |
| The Last Dragon | Sirio Quintavalle, Alex Knox, Neil Glaseby | Animal Planet | |
| 2005 [21] [22] | Walking with Monsters | Timothy Greenwood, Joanna Nodwell, Neil Glasbey, Darren Byford | BBC One |
| Comet Collision! | John Gross, Nick Black, Christian Bloch, Casey Benn | Discovery Channel | |
| Super Bowl XXXIX ("Opening") | Benoit Girard, Jason Crosby, Jerome Morin, Chris Del Conte | ||
| 2006 [23] [24] | Nightmares & Dreamscapes ("Battleground") | Eric Grenaudier, Sam Nicholson, Mark Spatny, Adalberto Lopez | TNT |
| Fight Science | Mat Beck, Kymber Lim, Manny Wong, Jack Matsumoto | National Geographic | |
| Hogfather ("Episode 1") | Oliver Money, Simon Thomas, Kim Stevenson, Stephen Jolley | Sky One | |
| 2007 [25] [26] | Michael Gibson, Gary Hutzel, Sean M. Jackson, Pierre Drolet | Sci Fi | |
| (VFX Compilation) | Dina Benadon, Evan Jacobs, Brent Young, Chris Christman | Cartoon Network | |
| Doctor Who | Dave Houghton, Will Cohen, Nicolas Hernandez, Sara Bennett | BBC One | |
| Race to Mars ("Getting to Mars") | Manon Barriault, Jacques Levesque, Olivier Goulet, Benoit Girard | Discovery Channel Canada | |
| Tin Man ("Night One") | Lee Wilson, Lisa K. Sepp, Sébastien Bergeron | Sci Fi |
| Year | Program | Episode(s) | Nominees | Network |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 [27] [28] | John Adams | "Join or Die" | Steve Kullback, Eric Henry, Robert Stromberg, Jeff Goldman | HBO |
| Doctor Who The Next Doctor (Cyber King) | Dave Houghton, Marie Jones, Matt McKinney, Murray Barber | BBC One | ||
| Generation Kill | "The Cradle of Civilization" | Adam McInnes, Anthony Bluff, Stephane Paris, David Sewell | HBO | |
| Knight Rider (Prometheus) | Sam Nicholson, Scott Ramsey, Chris Martin, Mike Enriquez | |||
| 2009 [29] [30] | Prep & Landing (Gadgets, Gloves and other Garish Gizmos) | Dorothy McKim, Scott Kersavage, David Hutchins, Kee Suong | ABC | |
| Alice | "Night 2" | Lee Wilson, Lisa Sepp-Wilson, Sebastien Bergeron, Les Quinn | Syfy | |
| (Montage) | Evan Jacobs, Sean McPherson, Andrew Orloff | |||
| Infestation | PJ Foley, Efram Potelle, James May, Dan DeEnremont | Syfy | ||
| Skellig | Sara Bennett, Jenna Powell, David Houghton, Jean-Claude Deguara | Sky One | ||
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Broadcast Series
| Year | Program | Nominees | Network |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 [31] [32] | Caprica | Michael Gibson, Gary Hutzel, Davey Morton, Jesse Mesa Toves | Syfy |
| The Event | Victor Scalise, Jason Spratt, Diego Galtieri, Mike Enriquez | NBC | |
| No Ordinary Family | Andrew Orloff, Curt Miller, Paul Linden, Scott Tinter | ABC | |
| Stargate Universe | Mark Savela, James Rorick, Craig Vanden Biggelaar, Adam de Bosch Kemper | Syfy | |
| V | Andrew Orloff, Nathan Overstrom, Karen Czukerberg, Roberto Biagi | ABC | |
| 2011 [33] [34] | Terra Nova | Kevin Blank, Colin Brady, Adica Manis, Jason Zimmerman | Fox |
| Falling Skies | Roberto Biagi, Curt Miller, Andrew Orloff, Sean Tompkins | TNT | |
| Fringe | Robert Habros, Andrew Orloff, Jay Worth, Chris Wright | Fox | |
| Once Upon a Time | Nathan Overstrom, Laura Jones Turner, Andrew Orloff, Doug Ludwig | ABC | |
| Planet Dinosaur | Phil Dobree, Luke Dodd, Hasraf Dulull, Mark Sherwood | BBC One |
| Year | Program | Nominees | Network |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 [35] [36] | The Pacific | John Sullivan, David Taritero, William Mesa, Marco Requay | HBO |
| History | |||
| Inside the Perfect Predator | Philip Dobree, Richard Costin, Sam Meisels | BBC | |
| Last Day of the Dinosaurs | Arnaud Brisebois, Louis Desrochers, Alain Lachance, Marc A. Rousseau | ||
| Dorothy McKim, Kyle Odermatt, Andy Harkness, Adolph Lusinsky | ABC | ||
| 2011 [37] [38] | Inside the Human Body | Philip Dobree, Sophie Orde, Dan Upton | BBC |
| The Bomber | Igor Gotsulyak, Dmitriy Kolesnik, Egor Olesov, Dmitry Ovcharenko | ||
| Finding Life Beyond Earth: Are We Alone? | Simon Clarke, Hasraf Dulull, Vikas Gandhi, Francisco Lima | PBS | |
| Gettysburg | J. David Everhart, Kent Johnson, Jon Rhinehardt, Jon Rosenthal | History | |
| ABC |
| Year | Program | Episode(s) | Nominees | Network |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 [39] [40] | Game of Thrones | "Valar Morghulis" | Rainer Gombos, Steve Kullback, Sven Martin, Juri Stanossek | HBO |
| Curiosity | "Battlefield Cell" | Nathan Larouche, Lon Molnar, Geoff Scott, Bojan Zoric | Discovery | |
| Falling Skies | "Worlds Apart (Falling Skies)" | James Hattin, Suzanne MacLennan, Curt Miller, Andrew Orloff | TNT | |
| Mockingbird Lane | Leslie Ekker, Jonah Hall, Livia Hanich, Jason Zimmerman | NBC | ||
| Once Upon a Time | "The Stranger" | Dale Fay, Laura Jones Turner, Nathan Matsuda, Andrew Orloff | ABC | |
| 2013 [41] [42] | Game of Thrones | "Valar Dohaeris" | Steve Kullback, Joe Bauer, Jörn Großhans, Sven Martin | HBO |
| Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. | "Pilot" | Mark Kolpack, Sabrina Arnold, David Altenau, H Haden Hammond | ABC | |
| Almost Human | Jay Worth, Robert Habros, Michael Cliett, David Beedon | Fox | ||
| Gary Hutzel, Michael Gibson, Derek Ledbetter, Heather McAuliff | Syfy | |||
| Inseparable | "Chernobyl" | Egor Olesov, Egor Borschevsky, Dmitry Ovcharenko, Mykhailo Datsyk |
| Year | Program | Episode(s) | Nominees | Network |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 [43] [44] | Game of Thrones | "The Children" | Joe Bauer, Steve Kullback, Stuart Brisdon, Thomas Schelesny, Sven Martin | HBO |
| Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. | Mark Kolpack, Sabrina Arnold, Gary D'Amico, Kevin Lingenfelser, David Beedon | ABC | ||
| Constantine | "A Feast of Friends" | Kevin Blank, Elizabeth Castro, Yafei Wu, Chris LeDoux | NBC | |
| The Flash | Armen V. Kevorkian, James Baldanzi, Jeremy Jozwik, Andranik Taranyan | The CW | ||
| Hemlock Grove | Matt Whelan, Chris Brown, Todd Masters, Jonathan Banta, Eric McAvoy | Netflix | ||
| Year | Program | Episode(s) | Nominees | Network |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 [45] [46] | Game of Thrones | "The Dance of Dragons" | Joe Bauer, Steve Kullback Eric Carney, Derek Spears, Stuart Brisdon | HBO |
| Battle for Sevastopol | "Sea Dogfight" | Dmitry Ovcharenko, Igor Klimovsky, Egor Borschevsky, Vladimir Mikheyenko | ||
| Childhood's End | "The Children" | Kevin Blank, Addie Manis, Niklas Jacobson, Glenn Melenhorst | Syfy | |
| Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell | "Arabella" | Jean-Claude Deguara, Natalie Reid, Nicolas Hernandez, Sara Bennett | BBC One | |
| The Strain | "Identity" | Dennis Berardi, Luke Groves, Matt Glover, Trey Harrell, Warren Appleby | FX | |
| 2016 [47] [48] | Game of Thrones | "Battle of the Bastards" | Joe Bauer, Steve Kullback, Glenn Melenhorst, Matthew Rouleau, Sam Conway | HBO |
| Black Mirror | "Playtest" | Justin Hutchinson-Chatburn, Russell McLean, Grant S.L. Walker, Christopher Gray | Netflix | |
| The Expanse | "Salvage" | Bob Munroe, Clint Green, Kyle Menzies, Tom Turnbull | Syfy | |
| Stranger Things (Demogorgon) | Marc Kolbe, Aaron Sims, Olcun Tan | Netflix | ||
| Westworld | "The Bicameral Mind" | Jay Worth, Elizabeth Castro, Bobo Skipper, Gustav Ahren | HBO | |
| 2017 [49] [50] | Game of Thrones | "Beyond the Wall" | Joe Bauer, Steve Kullback, Christopher S. Baird, David Ramos, Sam Conway | HBO |
| Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. | "" | Mark Kolpack, Sabrina Arnold, David Rey, Kevin Yuille, Gary D'Amico | ABC | |
| Legion | "Chapter 1" | John Ross, Eddie Bonin, Sébastien Bergeron, Lionel Lim, Paul Benjamin | FX | |
| "The Vulcan Hello" | Jason Michael Zimmerman, Aleksandra Kochoska, Ante Dekovic, Mahmoud Rahnama | CBS All Access | ||
| Stranger Things | "Chapter Nine: The Gate" | Paul Graff, Christina Graff, Seth Hill, Joel Sevilla, Caius Man | Netflix | |
| 2018 [51] [52] | Lost in Space | "Danger, Will Robinson" | Jabbar Raisani, Terron Pratt, Niklas Jacobson, Joao Sita | Netflix |
| Altered Carbon | "Out of the Past" | Netflix | ||
| Krypton | "The Phantom Zone" | Ian Markiewicz, Jennifer Wessner, Niklas Jacobson, Martin Pelletier | Syfy | |
| The Terror | "Go for Broke" | Frank Petzold, Lenka Likarova, Viktor Muller, Pedro Sabrosa | AMC | |
| Westworld | "The Passenger" | Jay Worth, Elizabeth Castro, Bruce Branit, Joe Wehmeyer, Michael Lantieri | HBO | |
| 2019 [53] [54] | The Mandalorian | "" | Richard Bluff, Abbigail Keller, Jason Porter, Hayden Jones, Roy K. Cancino | Disney+ |
| Game of Thrones | "The Bells" | Joe Bauer, Steve Kullback, Ted Rae, Mohsen Mousavi, Sam Conway | HBO | |
| His Dark Materials | "The Fight to the Death" | Russell Dodgson, James Whitlam, Shawn Hillier, Robert Harrington | ||
| Lady and the Tramp | Robert Weaver, Christopher Raimo, Arslan Elver, Michael Cozens, Bruno Van Zeebroeck | Disney+ | ||
| Lost in Space | "Ninety-Seven" | Jabbar Raisani, Terron Pratt, Niklas Jacobson, Juri Stanossek, Paul Benjamin | Netflix | |
| Stranger Things | "Chapter Six: E Pluribus Unum" | Paul Graff, Thomas F. Ford IV, Mike Maher, Martin Pelletier, Andi Sowers | ||
| Year | Program | Episode(s) | Nominees | Network |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 [55] | The Mandalorian | "" | Joe Bauer, Abbigail Keller, Hal Hickel, Richard Bluff, Roy Cancino | Disney+ |
| Lovecraft Country | "Jig-a-Bobo" | Kevin Blank, Robin Griffin, Pietro Ponti, Francois Dumoulin | HBO | |
| "Su'Kal" | Jason Michael Zimmerman, Aleksandra Kochoska, Ante Dekovic, Ivan Kondrup Jensen | CBS All Access | ||
| Rich McBride, Leslie Lerman, Nicolas Chevallier, Anders Beer, Tony Lazarowich | Disney+ | |||
| Westworld | "Crisis Theory" | Jay Worth, Elizabeth Castro, Bruce Branit, Joe Wehmeyer, Mark Byers | HBO | |
| 2021 [56] | Foundation | "The Emperor's Peace" | Chris MacLean, Addie Manis, Mike Enriquez, Chris Keller, Paul Byrne | Apple TV+ |
| Loki | "Journey Into Mystery" | Dan DeLeeuw, Allison Paul, Sandra Balej, David Seager | Disney+ | |
| Lost in Space | "Trust" | Jabbar Raisani, Terron Pratt, Juri Stanossek, Niklas Jacobson, Paul Benjamin | Netflix | |
| The Nevers | "Ignition" | Johnny Han, Jack Geist, Justin Mitchell, Emanuel Fuchs, Michael Dawson | HBO | |
| The Stand | Jake Braver, Phillip Hoffman, Laurent Hugueniot, Vincent Papaix | CBS All Access | ||
| 2022 [57] | "Udûn" | Jason Smith, Ron Ames, Nigel Sumner, Tom Proctor, Dean Clarke | Amazon | |
| The Boys | "Payback" | Stephan Fleet, Shalena Oxley-Butler, Tristan Zerafa, Anthony Paterson, Hudson Kenny | Amazon | |
| House of the Dragon | "The Black Queen" | Angus Bickerton, Nikeah Forde, Sven Martin, Michael Bell, Michael Dawson | HBO | |
| Prehistoric Planet | "Ice Worlds" | Lindsay McFarlane, Fay Hancocks, Elliot Newman, Kristin Hall | Apple TV+ | |
| Stranger Things | "The Piggyback" | Jabbar Raisani, Terron Pratt, Niklas Jacobson, Justin Mitchell, Richard E. Perry | Netflix | |