19th Visual Effects Society Awards Celebrate Outstanding Work by Young Talent with the Student Award, Sponsored by Autodesk

In a typical year, creating the stunning visual effects and animation seen in this year’s VES Student Award nominees is already a challenging task. But when the pandemic forced students to quickly adapt to new ways of learning and working remotely, the creativity and resilience displayed by these young artists is truly remarkable. This year's nominees have shown incredible ingenuity, proving that even under difficult circumstances, passion and talent can shine through.

This year’s entries ranged from fully animated shorts to live-action films featuring computer-generated creatures, environments, and effects. Among the nominated projects were “Time’s Down” (ARTFX, France), “ARAL” (ARTFX, France), “Strands of Mind” (Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg, Germany), and “Migrants” (Pôle 3D, France). Each film highlights the growing talents of emerging artists who managed to deliver high-quality results despite the challenges of remote collaboration and limited access to resources.

“Migrants” Wins the 2021 VES Student Award

shot from VES student award winning film migrants

Image courtesy of the Migrants team.

Autodesk once again sponsored the VES Student Award for the 13th consecutive year, presenting this year’s honor to the team behind “Migrants”: Aubin Kubiak, Antoine Dupriez, Hugo Caby, Lucas Lermytte, and Zoé Devise. The animated short tells the story of a polar bear and its cub, addressing pressing global issues such as climate change, racism, and the refugee crisis. To engage younger audiences, the film uses charming stuffed animal characters and a stop-motion aesthetic, making complex themes more accessible and emotionally resonant.

The team shared their creative process: “Our first step was to create a strong reference base for the different assets in the movie. We did most of the shape retake in 3D and used our references to create textures. We built our assets, environments, and lighting with the idea of a stop-motion scene. Our main focus was on scale—from modeling to compositing and managing the focal blur.”

They also spoke about the biggest challenge they faced: “Finding the global look of the movie was the hardest part. Since we wanted to match the stop-motion style, we had to come up with solutions at every stage of production. We had to make the characters move like puppets, make the environment and characters look handmade, and work hard to perfect the visual effects.”

Throughout the project, the team worked remotely from home, but their school, Pôle 3D, provided strong IT support that helped them stay productive and motivated. “With the challenges brought by the pandemic and remote work, we had to learn to be independent while still collaborating closely,” they said. “It took some time to adjust, but we were almost as effective as if we were in school.”

Congratulations to all the talented students recognized this year. Their work is a testament to the power of creativity, determination, and teamwork—especially in the face of adversity. Well done!

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