The VES Awards were given out tonight during the Visual Effects Society’s (VES) fifth annual gala event at the Kodak Grand Ballroom. This year’s event, garnering the best attendance for these events so far, attracted more than eight hundred celebrities, visual effects and animation artists, dozens of nominees and members of the film, television and games industries.

“There was some amazing ‘snap, crackle and pop’ effects work on display last night,” said Eric Roth, Executive Director of the VES. “This past year – with technological and artistic advances aplenty – the ‘did you see that?’ bar was set higher than ever and this year’s crop of visual effects winners cleared it with room to spare.”

And the winners are:

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects Driven Motion Picture
Pirates of the Caribbean : Dead Man's Chest
John Knoll, Jill Brooks, Hal Hickel, Charlie Gibson

Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Motion Picture
Flags of Our Fathers
Michael Owens, Matthew Butler, Bryan Grill, Julian Levi

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Broadcast Miniseries, Movie or Special
Nightmares and Dreamscapes – Battleground
Eric Grenaudier, Sam Nicholson, Mark Spatny, Adalberto Lopez

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Broadcast Series
Battlestar Galactica – Episode 303b “Exodus”
Gary Hutzel, Michael Gibson, Alec McClymont, Brenda Campbell

Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Broadcast Program
ER – Scoop and Run
Sam Nicholson, Scott Ramsey, Adam Ealovega, Anthony Ocampo

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Commercial
Travelers – Snowball
Dan Lemmon, Eileen Moran, R. Christopher White, Paul Story

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Music Video
U2 and Green Day – "The Saints are Coming"
Matt Winkel, Ben Looram, Wayne England, Graham Fyffe

Best Single Visual Effect of the Year
Pirates of the Caribbean : Dead Man's Chest ‘ Flying Dutchman Sequence
John Knoll, Ned Gorman, Jakub Pistecky, Tom Fejes

Outstanding Real-Time Visuals in a Video Game
Fight Night Round 3 for PS3
Christopher Sjoholm, Kat Kelly Hayduk, Rob Hilson, Celia Jepson

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Special Venue Project
Roving Mars
Alan Markowitz, Dan Maas, Jeremy Nicolaides, Johnathan Banta

Outstanding Animated Character in a Live Action Motion Picture
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest ‘ Davy Jones
Steve Walton, Jung-Seung Hong, Marc Chu, James Tooley

Outstanding Animated Character in an Animated Motion Picture
Cars – Mater
Larry The Cable Guy, Mike Krummhoefener, Tom Sanocki, Nancy Kat0

Outstanding Animated Character in a Live Action Broadcast Program, Commercial or Music Video
Geico – Chat
David Hulin, Seth Gollub, Andy Walker, Jenny Bichsel

Outstanding Created Environment in a Live Action Motion Picture
Pirates of the Caribbean : Dead Man's Chest
Chris Stoski, Susumu Yukuhiro, Jack Mongovan, Greg Salter

Outstanding Created Environment in a Live Action Broadcast Program, Commercial or Music Video
Elisabeth – Episode 1
Dave Bowman, Jimmy Kidell, Russell Horth, Gurel Mehmet

Outstanding Models and Miniatures in a Motion Picture
Pirates of the Caribbean : Dead Man's Chest
Bruce Holcomb, Ron Woodall, Charlie Bailey, Carl Miller

Outstanding Models and Miniatures in a Broadcast Program
Battlestar Galactica – Season 2, Episode 218 "Resurrection Ship, Part 2"
Steve Graves, Jose Perez, Mark Shimer, Chris Zapara

Outstanding Compositing in a Motion Picture
Pirates of the Caribbean : Dead Man's Chest
Eddie Pasquarello, Francois Lambert, Jeff Sutherland, Tory Mercer

Outstanding Compositing in a Broadcast Program, Commercial or Music Video
Travelers – Snowball
Laure Lacroix, Lyse Beck, Steve McGillen, Matt Holland

Outstanding Special Effects in a Motion Picture
Casino Royale
Chris Corbould, Peter Notley, Ian Lowe, Roy Quinn