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.
Recipients
1980s
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! scope="col" style="width:5px;"| Year
! scope="col" style="width:220px;"| Winner(s)
! scope="col" style="width:270px;"| Work
! scope="col" class="unsortable"| Nominees
! scope="col" class="unsortable"| Ref.
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|
| "Rockit"
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| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row"|
| , Kathy Dougherty and Peter Cohen
| "Don't Come Around Here No More"
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| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row"|
| and Candace Reckinger
| "Take On Me"
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| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row"|
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| "Sledgehammer"
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| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row"|
| and Dave Barton
| "Hourglass"
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| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row"|
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| "Leave Me Alone"
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| align="center"|
|}
1990s
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! scope="col" style="width:5px;"| Year
! scope="col" style="width:220px;"| Winner(s)
! scope="col" style="width:270px;"| Work
! scope="col" class="unsortable"| Nominees
! scope="col" class="unsortable"| Ref.
|-
! scope="row"|
|
| "Sowing the Seeds of Love"
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| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row"|
| and Ralph Ziman
| "Falling to Pieces"
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| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row"|
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| "Even Better Than the Real Thing"
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| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row"|
| and Colossal Pictures
| "Steam"
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| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row"|
| and Angel Studios
| "Kiss That Frog"
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| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row"|
|
| "Love Is Strong"
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| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row"|
|
| "Tonight, Tonight"
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| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row"|
| and Sean Broughton
| "Virtual Insanity"
|
| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row"|
| , Dan Williams, Steve Hiam and Anthony Walsham
| "Frozen"
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| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row"|
| , Stuart D. Gordon and Paul Simpson of Digital Domain
| "Special"
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| align="center"|
|}
2000s
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! scope="col" style="width:5px;"| Year
! scope="col" style="width:220px;"| Winner(s)
! scope="col" style="width:270px;"| Work
! scope="col" class="unsortable"| Nominees
! scope="col" class="unsortable"| Ref.
|-
! scope="row"|
|
| "All Is Full of Love"
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| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row"|
| , Audio Motion and Clear Post Production
| "Rock DJ"
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| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row"|
| and Twisted Labs
| "Fell in Love with a Girl"
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| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row"|
|
| "Go with the Flow"
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| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row"|
| , Chris Eckardt and Money Shots
| "Hey Ya!"
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| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row"|
|
| "Feel Good Inc."
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| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row"|
| and Tonia Wallander
| "We Run This"
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| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row"|
| colspan="5"
|-
! scope="row"|
| and Jonas & François
| "Good Life"
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| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row"|
|
| "Paparazzi"
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| align="center"|
|}
2010s
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! scope="col" style="width:5px;"| Year
! scope="col" style="width:220px;"| Winner(s)
! scope="col" style="width:270px;"| Work
! scope="col" class="unsortable"| Nominees
! scope="col" class="unsortable"| Ref.
|-
! scope="row"|
| and Sam Stephens
| "Uprising"
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| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row"|
| for Dot & Effects
| "E.T."
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| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row"|
| and Tony "Truand" Datis
| "First of the Year (Equinox)"
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| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row"|
| , Jonathan Wu and Derek Johnson
| "Safe and Sound"
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| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row"|
|
| "The Writing's on the Wall"
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| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row"|
| , GloriaFX, Tomash Kuzmytskyi and Max Chyzhevskyy
| "Where Are U Now"
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| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row"|
| and GloriaFX
| "Up&Up"
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| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row"|
| of Timber
| "HUMBLE."
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| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row"|
| Loris Paillier at BUF Paris
| "All the Stars"
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| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row"|
| Loris Paillier and Lucas Salton for BUF VFX
| "Me!"
|
| align="center"|
|}
2020s
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! scope="col" style="width:5px;"| Year
! scope="col" style="width:220px;"| Winner(s)
! scope="col" style="width:270px;"| Work
! scope="col" class="unsortable"| Nominees
! scope="col" class="unsortable"| Ref.
|-
! scope="row"|
| EIGHTY4 and Mathematic
| "Physical"
|
| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row"|
| Mathematic
| "Montero (Call Me by Your Name)"
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| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row"|
| Cameo FX
| "Industry Baby"
|
| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row"|
| Parliament
| "Anti-Hero"
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| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row"|
| Synapse Virtual Production, Louise Lee, Rich Lee, Metaphysic and Flawless Post
| "Houdini"
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| align="center"|
|-
! scope="row"|
| Vania Heymann and Tal Baltuch
| "Manchild"
|
| align="center"|
|}
Visual Effects Statistics
Multiple wins
;2 wins
- GloriaFX
- Jim Blashfield
- Loris Paillier
- Mathematic
- Sean Broughton
- Vania Heymann
Multiple nominations
;9 nominations
- Mathematic
;8 nominations
- Ingenuity Studios
;7 nominations
- GloriaFX
;5 nominations
- Max Colt
;4 nominations
- BUF
- David Yardley
- Fred Raimondi
- Pixel Envy
;3 nominations
- Ghost Town Media
- Jim Blashfield
- Loris Paillier
- Louis Mackall
- Rich Lee
- Tomash Kuzmytskyi
;2 nominations
- Alexander Frisch
- Angus Kneale
- Ashley Clemens
- BEMO
- Ben Gibbs
- Brothers Strause
- BUF Paris
- Cameo FX
- Chris Staves
- Chris Watts
- Cream Cheese Productions
- Daniel Kleinman
- DANIELS
- Digital Axis
- Drive Studios
- Edson Williams
- FRENDER
- Glassworks
- Ian Pearson
- Jeff Dotson
- Jonas & François
- Laundry
- Maury Rosenfeld
- Michael Patterson
- Michel Gondry
- Parliament
- Sean Broughton
- The Mill
- Timber
- Vania Heymann
Artist Statistics
Multiple wins
;3 wins
- Peter Gabriel
;2 wins
- Kanye West
- Kendrick Lamar
- Lil Nas X
- Skrillex
- Taylor Swift
Multiple nominations
;6 nominations
- Missy Elliott
;5 nominations
- Ariana Grande
- Coldplay
- Eminem
- Taylor Swift
;4 nominations
- Kanye West
- Kendrick Lamar
- Lady Gaga
- Peter Gabriel
- U2
- The Weeknd
;3 nominations
- Aerosmith
- Billie Eilish
- Billy Idol
- Björk
- FKA Twigs
- Harry Styles
- Katy Perry
- Linkin Park
- Michael Jackson
- Skrillex
- The White Stripes
- Will Smith
;2 nominations
- Beyoncé
- Dua Lipa
- Garbage
- George Harrison
- Green Day
- Janet Jackson
- Justin Bieber
- Lil Nas X
- Lindsey Buckingham
- Ludacris
- Madonna
- Megan Thee Stallion
- Nicki Minaj
- The Smashing Pumpkins
- SZA