John Nelson (born July 21, 1953) is an American visual effects supervisor. He has won two Academy Awards for Best Visual Effects for his work on the films Gladiator (2000) and Blade Runner 2049 (2017). He has also been nominated for I, Robot (2004) and Iron Man (2008). He also won the 2018 British Academy of Film and Television Arts for the Special Visual Effects in Blade Runner 2049. After graduating with high distinction from the University of Michigan in 1976, he worked as a cameraman, technical director, and director at the pioneering computer animation and commercial production company Robert Abel and Associates, where he won two Clio awards and earned six additional Clio nominations. Early in his career while at ILM, Nelson modelled, animated, lit, and composited several shots for Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991), including the iconic scene in which the shotgunned head of the chrome terminator splits open and reseals. He is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Visual Effects Society, the International Cinematographers Guild, and the Directors Guild of America. Description above from the Wikipedia article John Nelson, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
The Residence
2025
Point Break
2015
Blackhat
2015
Iron Man
2008
I, Robot
2004
Gladiator
2000
City of Angels
1998
Anaconda
1997
The Cable Guy
1996
My Life
1993
Stay Tuned
1992

















