| MTV Video Music Award for Best Visual Effects | |
|---|---|
| Awarded for | Visual effects |
| Country | United States |
| Presented by | MTV |
| First award | 1984 |
| Final award | 2024 |
| Currently held by | Synapse Virtual Production, Louise Lee,Rich Lee, Metaphysic and Flawless Post – "Houdini" byEminem(2024) |
| Website | VMA website |
TheMTV Video Music Award for Best Visual Effects is a craft award given to the artist, the artist's manager, and the visual effects artists and/or visual effects company of the music video. From 1984 to 2006, the award's full name wasBest Special Effects in a Video, and after a brief removal in 2007, its name was shortened toBest Special Effects between 2008 and 2011. In2012, the category acquired its current name.
The biggest winners are directorJim Blashfield, special effects artist Sean Broughton, executive producer Loris Paillier and production company GloriaFX, with two wins each. In terms of nominations, visual effects company Mathematic is the biggest nominee in the category's history (seven nominations). Closely following are GloriaFX and Ingenuity Studios (formerly Ingenuity Engine), each receiving a total of six nominations. Special effects supervisors David Yardley and Fred Raimondi, as well as the companies Pixel Envy (headed by theBrothers Strause) andBUF come in third place, with four nominations apiece.
The performer whose videos have won the most awards isPeter Gabriel, garnering three Moonmen. Meanwhile,Missy Elliott's videos have received the most nominations with six.
No performer has won a Moonman in this category for working on their video's effects. However,David Byrne fromTalking Heads ("Burning Down the House") andAdam Jones fromTool ("Prison Sex") have been nominated for doing such work.
| Year | Winner(s) | Work | Nominees | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Godley & Creme | "Rockit"(performed byHerbie Hancock) |
| [1] |
| 1985 | Tony Mitchell, Kathy Dougherty and Peter Cohen | "Don't Come Around Here No More"(performed byTom Petty and the Heartbreakers) |
| [2] |
| 1986 | Michael Patterson and Candace Reckinger | "Take On Me"(performed bya-ha) |
| [3] |
| 1987 | Peter Lord | "Sledgehammer"(performed byPeter Gabriel) |
| [4] |
| 1988 | Jim Francis and Dave Barton | "Hourglass"(performed bySqueeze) |
| [5] |
| 1989 | Jim Blashfield | "Leave Me Alone"(performed byMichael Jackson) |
| [6] |
| Year | Winner(s) | Work | Nominees | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Jim Blashfield | "Sowing the Seeds of Love"(performed byTears for Fears) |
| [7] |
| 1991 | David Faithfull and Ralph Ziman | "Falling to Pieces"(performed byFaith No More) |
| [8] |
| 1992 | Simon Taylor | "Even Better Than the Real Thing"(performed byU2) |
| [9] |
| 1993 | Real World Productions andColossal Pictures | "Steam"(performed byPeter Gabriel) |
| [10] |
| 1994 | Brett Leonard andAngel Studios | "Kiss That Frog"(performed byPeter Gabriel) |
| [11] |
| 1995 | Fred Raimondi | "Love Is Strong"(performed byThe Rolling Stones) |
| [12] |
| 1996 | Chris Staves | "Tonight, Tonight"(performed byThe Smashing Pumpkins) |
| [13] |
| 1997 | Jonathan Glazer and Sean Broughton | "Virtual Insanity"(performed byJamiroquai) |
| [14] |
| 1998 | Steve Murgatroyd, Dan Williams, Steve Hiam and Anthony Walsham | "Frozen"(performed byMadonna) |
| [15] |
| 1999 | Sean Broughton, Stuart D. Gordon and Paul Simpson ofDigital Domain | "Special"(performed byGarbage) |
| [16] |
| Year | Winner(s) | Work | Nominees | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Glassworks | "All Is Full of Love"(performed byBjörk) |
| [17] | |
| 2001 | Carter White FX, Audio Motion and Clear Post Production | "Rock DJ"(performed byRobbie Williams) |
| [18] | |
| 2002 | Sebastian Fau and Twisted Labs | "Fell in Love with a Girl"(performed byThe White Stripes) |
| [19] | |
| 2003 | Nigel Sarrag | "Go with the Flow"(performed byQueens of the Stone Age) |
| [20] | |
| 2004 | Elad Offer, Chris Eckardt and Money Shots | "Hey Ya!"(performed byOutKast) |
| [21] | |
| 2005 | Passion Pictures | "Feel Good Inc."(performed byGorillaz) |
| [22] | |
| 2006 | Louis Mackall and Tonia Wallander | "We Run This"(performed byMissy Elliott) |
| [23] | |
| 2007 | — | ||||
| 2008 | SoMe andJonas & François | "Good Life"(performed byKanye West featuringT-Pain) |
| [24] | |
| 2009 | Chimney Pot | "Paparazzi"(performed byLady Gaga) |
| [25] | |
| Year | Winner(s) | Work | Nominees | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Humble and Sam Stephens | "Uprising"(performed byMuse) |
| [26] |
| 2011 | Jeff Dotson forDot & Effects | "E.T."(performed byKaty Perry featuringKanye West) |
| [27] |
| 2012 | Deka Brothers and Tony "Truand" Datis | "First of the Year (Equinox)"(performed bySkrillex) |
| [28] |
| 2013 | Grady Hall, Jonathan Wu and Derek Johnson | "Safe and Sound"(performed byCapital Cities) |
| [29] |
| 2014 | 1stAveMachine | "The Writing's on the Wall"(performed byOK Go) |
| [30] |
| 2015 | Brewer, GloriaFX, Tomash Kuzmytskyi andMax Chyzhevskyy | "Where Are U Now"(performed bySkrillex andDiplo featuringJustin Bieber) |
| [31] |
| 2016 | Vania Heymann and GloriaFX | "Up&Up"(performed byColdplay) |
| [32] |
| 2017 | Jonah Hall of Timber | "HUMBLE."(performed byKendrick Lamar) |
| [33] |
| 2018 | Loris Paillier atBUF Paris | "All the Stars"(performed byKendrick Lamar andSZA) |
| [34] |
| 2019 | Loris Paillier and Lucas Salton forBUF VFX | "Me!"(performed byTaylor Swift featuringBrendon Urie ofPanic! at the Disco) |
| [35] |
| Year | Winner(s) | Work | Nominees | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | EIGHTY4 and Mathematic | "Physical"(performed byDua Lipa) |
| [36] |
| 2021 | Mathematic | "Montero (Call Me by Your Name)"(performed byLil Nas X) |
| [37] |
| 2022 | Cameo FX | "Industry Baby"(performed byLil Nas X andJack Harlow) |
| [38] |
| 2023 | Parliament | "Anti-Hero"(performed byTaylor Swift) |
| [39] |
| 2024 | Synapse Virtual Production, Louise Lee,Rich Lee, Metaphysic and Flawless Post | "Houdini"(performed byEminem) |
| [40] |