Weta Workshop
| Type | Privately Held Company |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1993 |
| Headquarters | Wellington, New Zealand |
| Key people | Richard Taylor, Tania Taylor, Jamie Selkirk, Peter Jackson, |
| Industry | Visual Effects, animation |
| Website | www.wetaworkshop.co.nz |
Weta Workshop is a physical effects company based in Miramar, New Zealand, producing effects for television and film.
Founded in 1987 by Richard Taylor and others, Weta Workshop has produced creatures and makeup effects for the TV series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess and effects for films such as Meet The Feebles and Heavenly Creatures. A digital division, Weta Digital, was formed in 1993.
Weta Workshop's output came to worldwide prominence with director Peter Jackson's film trilogy The Lord of the Rings, producing sets, costumes, armour, weapons, creatures and miniatures.
The company name comes from the weta, "...New Zealand's coolest little monster, a bizarre and prickly prehistoric cricket..."[2].
Contents |
Innovations
Chainmail
For The Lord of the Rings realistic looking PVC chainmail was made for not just the lead actors, but also for the hundreds of extras that appeared throughout the films. PVC pipe was sliced into rings, assembled by hand into armor, and then electroplated, so the rings had some rough edges to them. 12.5 million links from 7 miles of PVC pipe were used in this extremely laborious process.[1]
Bigatures
The term "Bigature" was Weta Workshop's nickname for a very large miniature model.[citation needed] They are used in the Lord of the Rings film trilogy, with the largest of them measuring some 9 metres high. Extensive computer graphics techniques and computer controlled cameras were used to seamlessly mesh the Bigature photography with live actors and scenes. Weta also used Bigatures in Peter Jackson's King Kong.
Bigatures used in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy:
- The Hornburg -- The mountain fortress of the Rohirrim.
- The Grey Havens -- The elven harbor.
- Minas Tirith -- The white city of Gondor.
- Orthanc -- Saruman's Fortress.
- Minas Morgul -- Sauron's 'Dead City'.
- Barad-dûr -- Sauron's massive tower.
- The Black Gate -- The gate guarding the gap between the Ered Lithui and the Ephel Dúath.
- Grond -- The battering ram that smashed down the gates of Minas Tirith.
Weta Tenzan Chain Maille
The workshop now has a division Weta Tenzan Chain Maille making chainmail for film work. PVC injection was used for the armor in Kingdom of Heaven, giving better results that the process for Lord of the Rings[2]. Versions electroplated with a thin layer of metal have the same look as real chain mail and moves like metal at one third the weight, and is much cheaper.[citation needed]. Aluminium or steel mail for high-impact stuntwork is also produced.[3]
Special effects filmography
- Halo (2009)
- The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (2008)
- Love Story 2050 (2008)
- 30 Days of Night (2007)
- Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007)
- The Waterhorse (2007)
- The Host (2006)
- Black Sheep (2007)
- The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005)
- King Kong (2005)
- The Legend of Zorro (2005)
- Van Helsing (2004)
- Peter Pan (2003)
- The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
- Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003)
- The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
- The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
References
- ^ As a result, the two workers who spent all their time linking the mail pieces together rubbed off the fingerprints on their thumbs and forefingers. [1]
- ^ WetaNZ: The home of Weta Collectibles and Weta Tenzan Chainmaille
- ^ 2006 Costumes - Guild Forums
See also
External links
- Sketch map of the half-dozen related sites near Wellington International Airport
- Weta Workshop
- Weta Digital
Why are we here?
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