The AEAF Awards were held on 30 August with a huge crowd in attendence at the Chauvel Cinema in Paddington following a day of awe-inspiring Speaker Sessions.

AEAF Awards 2018 Winners and Finalists

AEAF Reception

The AEAF Awards were held on 30 August with a huge crowd in attendance at the Chauvel Cinema in Paddington following a day of awe-inspiring Speaker Sessions. Friendly artists, a starry night and terrific, better-than-ever projects were the themes of the night. See images below of artists and speakers on the night, plus a listing of all winning and finalist entries.

 

Feature Films VFX

Matt Aitkin Weta Digital

Matt Aitken shared with attendees a highly detailed breakdown of Weta Digital's effects and animation work for 'Avengers: Infinity War' creating the Titan environment, the film's climactic battle, the moving facial performance of the powerful character Thanos, and all-new suits for Spider-Man and Iron Man.

Avengers: Infinity War - Weta Digital - Gold

Avengers: Infinity War - Cinesite - Silver

Blade Runner 2049 - Framestore - Bronze

Thor: Ragnarok - Rising Sun Pictures - Special Merit

Thor: Ragnarok - Framestore - Special Merit

Black Panther - Busan Street Chase - Luma Pictures - Special Merit

Blade Runner 2049 - MPC - Special Merit

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales - MPC - Special Merit

The Commuter - Cinesite
Winchester - Cutting Edge
Guardians of The Galaxy Vol 2 - Framestore
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle - Method Studios (formerly Iloura)
Bright - Method Studios (formerly Iloura)
Wonder Woman - MPC
The Greatest Showman - MPC
Alien Covenant - MPC
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle - MPC
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle - Rodeo FX
Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets - Rodeo FX
Maze Runner: The Death Cure - Weta Digital
Rampage - Weta Digital

Feature Film Animation

Lara Hopkins Framestore w

Lara Hopkins, Talent Management consultant at Framestore gives head-hunting and talent management advice to all of their global offices. Due to the years and scope of her experience she was able to share insights into working in the global industry, and finding where there is most opportunity to advance careers in animation and VFX.

Paddington 2 - Framestore - Gold

Flying Bark StudioB

Flying Bark and Studio B Animation won the Silver Award in Feature Film Animation for 'Maya the Bee: The Honey Games'.

Maya the Bee: The Honey Games - Studio B Animation in association with Flying Bark Productions - Silver

Method Studios

Method Studios earned the Feature Film Animation Bronze Award for character animation work for Netflix film 'Bright'.

Bright - Method Studios - Bronze

TV Series

Rodeo FX

Jordan Soles (left) and Elliott Francoeur joined AEAF from Rodeo FX in Montreal. Jordan talked about the studio's innovative use of the cloud for VFX applications, from hybrid cloud rendering to backing up data. Serving as a virtual studio, the cloud lets Rodeo FX share data with its teams and freelancers around the world.

Game of Thrones season 7 - Rodeo FX - Gold

Lost in Space - The Embassy - Silver

Game of Thrones Series 7 - Screen Scene VFX - Bronze

Screen Scene

Laura Murphy and Kenny Coyne from Screen Scene pose with their Bronze Award for Game of Thrones Season 7, plus all of their AEAF Awards from years past.

Happy! - axisVFX - Special Merit

Neanderthal: Meet your Ancestors - Jellyfish Pictures
Electric Dreams - Resin
Lost In Space Season 1 - Screen Scene VFX
Todd Sampson's Body Hack 2.0 - silo6

Commercials VFX

Marks & Spencer - Paddington and The Christmas Visitor - Framestore - Gold

US Navy - Sea to Stars - MPC - Silver

Blackbird

Blackbird earned the Bronze Award in Commercials VFX for their Honda spot 'Moving You'.

Honda - Moving You - Blackbird - Bronze

Mazda CX-5 - Magic of Imagination - Alt.vfx - Special Merit

Mercedes-Benz S-Class - King of The City Jungle - Framestore - Special Merit

Collider

Hugh Carrick-Allan Olivia Hantken Collider took home a Commercials VFX Special Merit Award for ASUS 'Zenbook', produced in conjunction with Blackbird.

ASUS Zenbook - Collider & Blackbird - Special Merit

Chevrolet -Trax - Alt.vfx
Westpac - Help When It Matters - Alt.vfx
Cura T3 - Bent Design Lab
Honda Dream - Bent Image Lab
Reserve Bank of Australia - Next Gen $50 Banknote - Cadre Pictures
Ford Ranger FX4 - Cadre Pictures
ASUS Zenbook - Collider and Blackbird
Santander - Piggy - Framestore
Nike - The Ball Makes Us More feat. FC Barcelona - Glassworks Amsterdam
ACRF - Outsmart Cancer For Good - Heckler
Legion - Amorphous - MPC
FIJI Water - Drop - MPC
Apple Unlock - MPC
Flaconi - Forest of Beauty - Neverest
Clever Fit DC - Feeling Strong - Neverest
Select Sector SPDRs - PlusOne
VIA Rail - 40th Anniversary - Rodeo FX
RAV4 Global Launch - Rotor Studios
Toyota - Thin Ice - The Embassy
Marvel Heroes - VANDAL
NBC Sports - Championship Season - 2C Creative
CMT - Nashville Season 6 - 2C Creative
Dunhill Filter & Mild - MFX
Tianan Cyber Park - T5 - Dans Digital
Murdoch University - Free Your Think - VANDAL

Commercials Animation

Passion Pictures

Producers Kate Goodwin and Sophie Woods from Passion Pictures in Melbourne told attendees about what happens behind the scenes to bring together their artists' creative, emotive animated stories for clients. Among other projects, Kate and Sophie focussed on production of their recent short film 'Joy', that also won a Gold award in the AEAF Awards.

JD.com - Joy & Heron - Passion Pictures - Gold

Tile - Lost Panda - Alt.vfx - Silver

Alt vfx

Alt.vfx picked up awards for their projects in Commercials VFX, Commercials Animation, Augmented Reality and 360 VR.

Volkswagen - Born Confident - MPC - Bronze

Intuit - A Giant Story - Passion Pictures - Special Merit

Edeka Christmas 2017 - MPC - Special Merit

Alpenliebe - Seesaw - Cirkus
Imagination is the Best Medicine - Cirkus
David Jones - Now It Feels Like Christmas - Alt.vfx
Toyota - Drive Happy - Alt.vfx
Mercedes-Benz S-Class - King of The City Jungle - Framestore
Marks & Spencer - Paddington and the Christmas Visitor - Framestore
Orange Brick road - Mighty Nice
Foxtel Sports - New Holland
Foxtel Now Box - New Holland
Migros - Finn - Passion Pictures
Very - The List - Passion Pictures
Brandt Zwieback - What the crunch ...? - Neverest
Suzuki Swift - Jumbla
Pokies Parasite - Jumbla
Santander - Piggy - Framestore
NSW Governmrnt - Betiquette - Sixty40
Lego - Build It Together - Sixty40
Nike - Hypercourt - Heckler
ESPN: LONZO / CURRY - 2C Creative
Red Room Poetry - Kapwa
Microsoft - Holiday Harmony - MPC
Continental Tyres  - VANDAL
Dairy Farmers of Canada- Merry Christmas - Bent Image Lab
Ever After - 23lunes - Creative Animation Studio

Augmented Reality

Spiders Exhibition Augmented Reality - Eye Candy Animation - Gold

Lunar New Year 2018 - VANDAL & Virtual Immersive - Silver

Falken Tyres AR - Alt.vfx Bronze

Education & Infographics

Eye Candy Animation

Eye Candy Animation took home two Gold awards  for 'Spiders Exhibition' in Augmented Reality and their Action & Tactics Experience at The Sir John Monash Centre in Education and Infographics.

The Sir John Monash Centre - Action & Tactics Experience - Eye Candy Animation - Gold

Westfield Newmarket - New Holland - Silver

The Biosecurity Warrior - Studio Hackett - Bronze

Medical Director Explainer - Chello Agency    
ACU - Student Advocacy Service - Chello Agency     
Microsoft Fluent Design System - Kapwa    
Through the Ruins of Ypres: Journey to Passchendaele - Latchkey    
Redballoon - Motionlab    
MyHR Job Role Profiles - Synergy Group Australia 

Event Openers

CICLOPE South Africa 2018 - Glassworks Amsterdam - Gold

VFX Festival 2018 Opening Titles - MPC - Silver

Substance

TEDxSydney 2018: Humankind - Substance - Bronze 

APDG Awards - Substance

Game Trailers

Shadow of War - Friend or Foe Interactive Trailer - MPC - Gold

Plastic Wax

Ghost in the Shell: First Assault Online - Plastic Wax - Silver

Assassin's Creed - From Sand - MPC - Bronze

M&M Elemental Guardians - 23lunes Creative Animation Studio
Kitty Keeper - Candy Burger
League of Legends - Kayn Character Reveal - Jumbla
League of Legends - Legends Never Die - Passion Pictures
Civilisations - Plastic Wax
Lego DC Super Villains - Plastic Wax
Game of Thrones Trailer - Plastic Wax
Game of Thrones: Conquest Rally The Realm - Plastic Wax
Neverwinter: Ravenloft - Plastic Wax
Hitman 2 - Plastic Wax

Ident Broadcast

Commonwealth Games Gold Coast 2018 Mascot Borobi - Cutting Edge - Gold

Mirari Co

Mirari&Co collected the Silver Award in Idents Broadcast for the beautiful CG project 'HBO Sands of Time'.

HBO Sands of Time - Mirari&Co - Silver

A Different Lens - Jumbla - Gold

Sky News Business Rebrand - Cutting Edge
Ballroom Dancing - The Amazing World of Gumball - Igor Bastidas Studio
Vivid Sydney 2018 - MISTER
Channel 4 Giant - MPC
Festival of Football - VANDAL

Interactive VR

Velocity Angels - Lucid Edge - Gold

Camry WebGL Configurator - Rotor Studios & R/GA Sydney - Silver

Recycling Discovery Hub VR - Rotor Studios & Protein One - Bronze

Rotor Studios w

Rotor Studios won two Awards in Interactive 3D - Silver for the Camry WebGL Configurator, and Bronze for the Recycling Discovery Hub VR with Protein One, and a Silver Award for RAV4 Global Launch in Web Viral.

Live Event Installations & Projections

Virtual Vibration - MCA Projection at Vivid Sydney - Spinifex Group - Gold

Ample Projects

Nicholas Tory and Lucy Keeler from Ample Projects talked through their transformation of 'The Adventures of Snugglepot and Cuddlepie' from a book into a fully animated light projection, made for Vivid Sydney Festival. It was a one-of-a-kind project calling on all their skills, experience and patience.

The Adventures of Snugglepot and Cuddlepie - Customs House at Vivid Sydney - Ample Projects - Silver

Flower Power - Pop Culture - Danny Rose Studio - Bronze

Behalf of Danny Rose

Light For The Wild: a Film for Taronga Centenary Theatre 2018 - Ample Projects
Plasma Reflection - Danny Rose Studio
Inside Plasma - Danny Rose Studio
CEEC - Dans Digital
Osheaga - Rodeo FX
Myer: Santaland Express - Sixty40
The Secret Life of Books - The Electric Canvas
Luna Park at Vivid Sydney - The Electric Canvas
The Billabong - The Sequence Group
Yuejin Lantern Festival - VANDAL
A Symphony of Lights 2018 Hong Kong - Artists In Motion

Music Video

Supplies - Justin Timberlake - Rodeo FX - Gold

Call Broken Arrow - At The Drive-In - Bent Image Lab - Silver

Diplo - Get It Right - Viskatoons - Bronze

Sola - Machine Translations - Jonathan Nix

Short Film

Lost & Found - Andrew Goldsmith - Gold

Negative Space - Max Porter & Ru Kuwahata - Silver

Singularity - MISTER - Bronze

The Ventriloquist - Armchair Productions    
Two Bottles - Bent Image Lab    
Being Good - Flying Bark   
Monster's Playground - Oh Yeah Wow   
Reckless - Jennifer Quach and Yining
The Endless - Edouard Calemard

Student

Enmore Tafe 1

Enmore TAFE students proudly won the Gold Award in the student category for for light projection project Photonic State that ran during Vivid Sydney 2018.

Photonic State - Vivid Sydney 2018 - TAFE NSW Design Centre Enmore - Gold

Corporate Ladder - John Joseph Feeley - AIE - Silver

Aie

The Good Deed - Title Sequence - John Power - RMIT - Bronze

Boris-Noris - Laura-Beth Cowley - University of the West of England
Natural Engineering - Sarah Murray - JMC Academy

Studio Promo / Competition

Inhale Inspiration Exhale CGI - Catalysee - Gold

Statue - Saddington Baynes - Silver

2018 World Cup - Gentleman Scholar - Bronze

Titles/Openers - TV 

Romper Stomper - Resin - Gold

2018 Tencent Sports - Vanta Collective - Sliver

Vanrta Collective

Grace Beside Me - Opening Titles - Cutting Edge - Bronze

Harrow - Cutting Edge    
Comtes de Barcelona - Counts of Barcelona - J A Duran
Cycling CENTRAL on SBS - SBS    
Movie Mayhem with Marc Fennell - See Gee Studio    
Show Me the Movie! - Studio Hackett     
SBS The World Game - VANDAL & Frost    
2018 NBA on Tencent - Vanta Collective   
2018 Australian Open - Vanta Collective 

TV Series - Children

Guess How Much I Love You - SLR Productions - Gold

The Deep 2 - Thunder and Lightning - A Stark Production (In association with DHX) - Silver

Reggie & Friends - Studio Hackett - Bronze

Minibeast Heroes: Eps 1-6 - Australian Broadcasting Corporation - ABC Education/R+D
Jar Dwellers SOS - Viskatoons

Virtual Reality Experience

Samsung - A Moon for All Mankind - Framestore - Gold

Cutting Edge

Cutting Edge collected honours in Idents Broadcast for their Commonwealth Games Gold Coast 2018 Mascot 'Borobi' with a Gold Award, in Titles/Openers TV for 'Grace Beside Me' with Bronze,  and in VR Experience for 'Q-Ride' with Silver.  Areal-time VR experience, the Q-Ride was also the subject of their VFX Supervisor Simon Maddison's talk at the AEAF conference.

Q-Ride - VR Experience  - Cutting Edge - Silver

Sky 4D VR - Framestore - Bronze

Antoine BOURDELLE's Sculptor's Studio - ArtofCorner    
Inside Manus - Cutting Edge   
USC Shoah Foundation - The Last Goodbye - MPC    
Recycling Discover Hub - Rotor Studios & Protein One

360 VR

Volkswagen Golf - Experience the Future in 360 - Alt.vfx - Gold

Elton John Farewell Yellow Brick Road Launch - Spinifex Group - Silver

Uganda Schools for Life - Experience The Pulse - Bronze

Web/Viral

UTS ALA

The crew from UTS ALA earned Gold in the Web Viral category for a video revealing animation from the hybrid analogue/digital animation PhD research project 'Jasper'.

Jasper - UTS / Animal Logic Academy - Gold

RAV4 Global Launch - Rotor Studios - Silver

I Am George - VANDAL - Bronze

ABC Fierce Girls podcast: Animated promos - ABC
Barley+ - Chello
Simply Vital Health - Jason Poley
Deadly Voices from the House - In The Thicket
Fernwood - Jumbla
Zotac - Jumbla - Bronze
KFC Youth Foundation - Jumbla
Nokia Digital Health - Kapwa
Outcomex - Motionlab
Star Wars - Everything You Need to Know - See Gee Studio
Solo - See Gee Studio
Zero-Point Season Zero - Undergrowth Productions, Poke The Bear Animation
Expand Your Horizons with Etihad - Sydney Opera House - In The Thicket

You can watch many of the finalists on the AEAF Online Festival where you can see more entries in this and all of the Awards categories.