Each winter the Visual Effects Society celebrates some often-unsung heroes of modern moviemaking with their special effects-centric award ceremony that honors "the full breadth of visual effects practitioners including artists, technologists, model makers, educators, studio leaders, supervisors, PR/marketing specialists and producers in all areas of entertainment from film, television and commercials to music videos and games," according to the VES website.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the first VES Awards, and Jeffrey A. Okun, Chair of the Visual Effects Society, proudly declares:

"The standard of the creative work that is being considered this year is unbelievably high across all categories…We’re honored to have the opportunity to focus the spotlight on the outstanding work that has contributed to some of the highest grossing films and broadcast projects of all time.”

Among those honored are Captain America: The First Avenger, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, and Transformers: Dark of the Moon, each of which was ranked one of the top ten highest-grossing films of 2011.

With its globe-trotting scope and masterful manipulation of motion-capture animation, it's little wonder that Steven Spielberg's Golden Globe nominated epic The Adventures of Tintin leads the race with six nominations including Outstanding Visual Effects in an Animated Feature Motion Picture. Coming in at a close second with five nods apiece are the fantasy-fueled adventure Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 and Michael Bay's Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots blockbuster Transformers: Dark of the Moon. Who will win the most vfx honors will be determined February 7, 2012 when the 10th Annual VES Awards will air exclusively on ReelzChannel.

This year's event will also bestow a Lifetime Achievement Award on comic creator extraordinaire Stan Lee and will present the Society's prestigious Georges Méliès Award to legendary effects producer Douglas Trumbull, whose contributed to such iconic works as 2001: A Space Odyssey and Blade Runner as well as Terrence Malick's latest marvel The Tree of Life.