Gravity, Frozen big 3D Awards winners

Gravity, Frozen big 3D Awards winners

Rock groups ranging from Taiwan’s Mayday (Monster) to America’s Metallica (Lars Ulrich) showed up to accept 3D honors at Tuesday’s fifth annual International 3D and Advanced Imaging Society Creative Arts Awards, and DreamWorks Animation founder and CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg received the Society’s highest personal achievement honor, the Harold Lloyd Filmmaker Award, from Suzanne Lloyd and Society Co-chairman/3net CEO Tom Cosgrove. But “Gravity” and “Frozen” were the big winners at the three-hour program held on the Warner Bros. studio lot in Burbank, Ca. 3DsocietyMarqueeSeven of the attendees are current Oscar nominees with directors, producers, and production executives coming in from Hollywood and more than a dozen countries including China, Taiwan, Japan, the U.K., the E.U., and Canada. Warner’s “Gravity” swept several categories including Best Live Action 3D Feature”; Best “Stereography – Live Action”; Best “3D Scene of the Year” (the 13-minute continuous opening shot which was shown in its entirety starting at 10:45 p.m.); and Best “2D to 3D Conversion.”

Accepting the award for “3D Scene of the Year,” Warner Bros.’ executive vp digital production, animation and VFX and Gravity exec producer Chris DeFaria noted that 83 percent of audiences saw the film in 3D. The movie made $689 million worldwide.

Two of the Society’s Lumiere statuettes were presented to “Frozen” (Walt Disney Animation Studios) for best “Animated 3D Feature” and best “Stereography – Animation.” 3DsocietyAwardsPosterThe clever 3D short that preceded “Frozen” in theaters, Get a Horse” (Walt Disney Animation Studios), was honored as this year’s Best “Short-Subject Movie.” Of the 25 Lumiere trophies handed out, two new “Advanced Imaging” awards recognized the achievement of the new 4K digital video technology utilized in 2D form for “Breaking Bad,” and in 3D with the new “Space: Unraveling the Cosmos” educational program produced for 3net, the lone remaining major 3D  TV network owned jointly by Sony, Discovery, and IMAX. Pixar Animation was honored with the Sir Charles Wheatstone Award for education and distinguished achievement in 3D storytelling. And the Society’s Century Award was presented to Steve Schklair, Founder and CEO of 3ality Technica, whose camera systems have been used for films including: “The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug,” “The Great Gatsby,” and “U2 3D in Concert.” Schklair also executive produced “Metallica Through the Never” (Picturehouse Entertainment), which won for Best “Motion Picture Documentary,”  while “Stalingrad” (Columbia Pictures), the first 3D Russian movie that has yet to released in the U.S., received the Society’s 2014 Jury Prize for “Outstanding 3D Artistic Achievement.” 3DsocietyLogoIn the category of Live Event, Taiwanese rock band Mayday won for its 3D concert movie “Mayday Nowhere” (B’in Music). The Japanese film “Space Pirate Captain Harlock” (Qtech) was awarded best “International Animated Feature.” “Mr. Hublot” (Zeilt Productions) was awarded a Lumiere for best “International Animated Short.” The stop motion movie “Present for You” (PLUS heads) won the best “International Live Action Feature.” The award for best “Live Action Short” went to Kafard Films for “Lapse of Time.” The best “International Entertainment – Music” Lumiere went to “Des Roar” (International 3D Media Partners). In international TV categories, Sky UK won Lumiere statuettes for “3DTV Series” “Little Cracker”; “3DTV Sports” for “F1 Barcelona Racing”; and “Historical Documentary” for “Inside the Mind of Leonardo.” Winners also included: CCTV China for “Cultural Documentary” “Guo Mai”; Shanghai Media Group for “Nature Documentary” “The Mountain’s Spirit,” and the BBC for its London Summer Olympic 3D Advertising. — By Scott Hettrick