John Nelson (visual effects artist)

John Nelson (born July 21, 1953 in Detroit, Michigan) is a visual effects supervisor and a 1976 graduate of the University of Michigan. He won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects at the 73rd Academy Awards, for his work on the film Gladiator. He was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects for supervising the visual effects in the films I, Robot and Iron Man.

An unexpected post-production job of Gladiator was caused by the death of Oliver Reed of a heart attack during the filming in Malta, before all his scenes had been shot. British post-production company The Mill created a digital body double for the remaining scenes involving his character Proximo by photographing a live action body-double in the shadows and by mapping a 3D CGI mask of Reed's face to the remaining scenes during production at an estimated cost of $3.2 million for two minutes of additional footage. Nelson reflected on the decision to include the additional footage: "What we did was small compared to our other tasks on the film. What Oliver did was much greater. He gave an inspiring, moving performance. All we did was help him finish it." The film is dedicated to Reed's memory.