| MTV Video Music Award for Best Visual Effects | |
|---|---|
| Awarded for | Visual effects |
| Country | United States |
| Presented by | MTV |
| First awarded | 1984 |
| Last awarded | 2023 |
| Currently held by | Parliament – "Anti-Hero" by Taylor Swift (2023) |
| Website | VMA website |
The MTV 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 was Best Special Effects in a Video, and after a brief removal in 2007, its name was shortened to Best Special Effects between 2008 and 2011. In 2012, the category acquired its current name.
The biggest winners are director Jim 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 the Brothers Strause) and BUF come in third place, with four nominations apiece.
The performer whose videos have won the most awards is Peter 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 from Talking Heads ("Burning Down the House") and Adam Jones from Tool ("Prison Sex") have been nominated for doing such work.
| Year | Winner(s) | Work | Nominees | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Godley & Creme | "Rockit" (performed by Herbie Hancock) |
|
[1] |
| 1985 | Tony Mitchell, Kathy Dougherty and Peter Cohen | "Don't Come Around Here No More" (performed by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers) |
|
[2] |
| 1986 | Michael Patterson and Candace Reckinger | "Take On Me" (performed by a-ha) |
|
[3] |
| 1987 | Peter Lord | "Sledgehammer" (performed by Peter Gabriel) |
|
[4] |
| 1988 | Jim Francis and Dave Barton | "Hourglass" (performed by Squeeze) |
|
[5] |
| 1989 | Jim Blashfield | "Leave Me Alone" (performed by Michael Jackson) |
|
[6] |
| Year | Winner(s) | Work | Nominees | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Jim Blashfield | "Sowing the Seeds of Love" (performed by Tears for Fears) |
|
[7] |
| 1991 | David Faithfull and Ralph Ziman | "Falling to Pieces" (performed by Faith No More) |
|
[8] |
| 1992 | Simon Taylor | "Even Better Than the Real Thing" (performed by U2) |
|
[9] |
| 1993 | Real World Productions and Colossal Pictures | "Steam" (performed by Peter Gabriel) |
|
[10] |
| 1994 | Brett Leonard and Angel Studios | "Kiss That Frog" (performed by Peter Gabriel) |
|
[11] |
| 1995 | Fred Raimondi | "Love Is Strong" (performed by The Rolling Stones) |
|
[12] |
| 1996 | Chris Staves | "Tonight, Tonight" (performed by The Smashing Pumpkins) |
|
[13] |
| 1997 | Jonathan Glazer and Sean Broughton | "Virtual Insanity" (performed by Jamiroquai) |
|
[14] |
| 1998 | Steve Murgatroyd, Dan Williams, Steve Hiam and Anthony Walsham | "Frozen" (performed by Madonna) |
|
[15] |
| 1999 | Sean Broughton, Stuart D. Gordon and Paul Simpson of Digital Domain | "Special" (performed by Garbage) |
|
[16] |
| Year | Winner(s) | Work | Nominees | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Glassworks | "All Is Full of Love" (performed by Björk) |
|
[17] | |
| 2001 | Carter White FX, Audio Motion and Clear Post Production | "Rock DJ" (performed by Robbie Williams) |
|
[18] | |
| 2002 | Sebastian Fau and Twisted Labs | "Fell in Love with a Girl" (performed by The White Stripes) |
|
[19] | |
| 2003 | Nigel Sarrag | "Go with the Flow" (performed by Queens of the Stone Age) |
|
[20] | |
| 2004 | Elad Offer, Chris Eckardt and Money Shots | "Hey Ya!" (performed by OutKast) |
|
[21] | |
| 2005 | Passion Pictures | "Feel Good Inc." (performed by Gorillaz) |
|
[22] | |
| 2006 | Louis Mackall and Tonia Wallander | "We Run This" (performed by Missy Elliott) |
|
[23] | |
| 2007 | — | ||||
| 2008 | SoMe and Jonas & François | "Good Life" (performed by Kanye West featuring T-Pain) |
|
[24] | |
| 2009 | Chimney Pot | "Paparazzi" (performed by Lady Gaga) |
|
[25] | |
| Year | Winner(s) | Work | Nominees | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Humble and Sam Stephens | "Uprising" (performed by Muse) |
|
[26] |
| 2011 | Jeff Dotson for Dot & Effects | "E.T." (performed by Katy Perry featuring Kanye West) |
|
[27] |
| 2012 | Deka Brothers and Tony "Truand" Datis | "First of the Year (Equinox)" (performed by Skrillex) |
|
[28] |
| 2013 | Grady Hall, Jonathan Wu and Derek Johnson | "Safe and Sound" (performed by Capital Cities) |
|
[29] |
| 2014 | 1stAveMachine | "The Writing's on the Wall" (performed by OK Go) |
|
[30] |
| 2015 | Brewer, GloriaFX, Tomash Kuzmytskyi and Max Chyzhevskyy | "Where Are U Now" (performed by Skrillex and Diplo featuring Justin Bieber) |
|
[31] |
| 2016 | Vania Heymann and GloriaFX | "Up&Up" (performed by Coldplay) |
|
[32] |
| 2017 | Jonah Hall of Timber | "HUMBLE." (performed by Kendrick Lamar) |
|
[33] |
| 2018 | Loris Paillier at BUF Paris | "All the Stars" (performed by Kendrick Lamar and SZA) |
|
[34] |
| 2019 | Loris Paillier and Lucas Salton for BUF VFX | "Me!" (performed by Taylor Swift featuring Brendon Urie of Panic! at the Disco) |
|
[35] |
| Year | Winner(s) | Work | Nominees | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | EIGHTY4 and Mathematic | "Physical" (performed by Dua Lipa) |
|
[36] |
| 2021 | Mathematic | "Montero (Call Me by Your Name)" (performed by Lil Nas X) |
|
[37] |
| 2022 | Cameo FX | "Industry Baby" (performed by Lil Nas X and Jack Harlow) |
|
[38] |
| 2023 | Parliament | "Anti-Hero" (performed by Taylor Swift) |
|
[39] |