Weta's 10 Latest Craft Articles

Make-up & Prosthetics

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 09:29:30 +1300

The word Make-Up may lead you to believe that this is about improving the look of something. Well, it is, in our own little way.

Weta's Make-up department won't slap on some lippy and a few streaks of mascara and send you on your way. Oh no.

Here it's rarely about beautification - it's more likely about the complete opposite. The make-up effects room at Weta is more often than not a bonanza of cuts, abrasions, boils, welts and other gory prosthetic devices.

The walls are lined with gruesome facial appliances, severed heads, yetis, vampires and hundreds of casts of famous faces. Hitchcock, Laughton, McKellen and Nicholson share these walls with Hepburn, Travolta and Washington. No, not Denzel - George!

This is the department that under the supervision of Gino Acevedo turned perfectly pleasant-looking actors and extras into the most convincingly detestible orcs and hairiest hobbits every day for years during the filming of The Lord Of The Rings.

Look at the portfolio of images from past projects and try to imagine the person behind the mask. We're pretty confident you wouldn't recognise them walking down the street.

Learning from the best

Both Gino Acevedo and Richard Taylor have diplomas from Dick Smith's Advanced Professional Make-up Course. Richard often attributes a lot of Weta's success to this program by Dick Smith, the Academy Award winning makeup legend behind films like The Exorcist, The Godfather, Amadeus and Taxi Driver.

Watch Richard's personal endorsement of Dick Smith's Make-up Training Program:
High Quality (45 MB) | Standard (7 MB)

Learn more about Dick's Advanced Professional Make-up Course

3D Modelling & Printing

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 09:08:10 +1300

Making the impossible possible

This department uses words like 3D, digital, scanning, laser, plasma and other sci-fi terminology. Although what they produce to the untrained eye perhaps isn't a million miles away from what you might see in a traditional modelling shop, the way they produce it is. As well as the challenges they take on.

Based on a design in a computer, or a three-dimensional scan, these guys have the skills and the equipment to make it materialise. In a 3D printer. Honestly - how many times have you not wished you had one of those? From a three-dimensional image on the computer screen to an object you can hold in your hand.

The very gifted people in this department are at the cutting edge of eradicating the whole concept of "impossible" and you can find some of their fantastic creations in the gallery on the right.

You can own a piece of our work!

Our range of Halo 3 statues were partly created in this department. Check out the range of Halo 3 collectibles.

Armour, Weapons & Props

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 09:09:41 +1300

This department could easily be mistaken for an arms manufacturing plant for time travellers. One day there's a cache of WWII German machine guns racked up and awaiting dispatch to some imaginary war zone.

The next day, a plasma sword is being handcrafted for a futuristic computer game, while three people polish the brass and copper detailing on a fantastical steam punk hunting rifle from the alternate universe of Dr Grordbort.

In the room next door - the smithy - the swordsmith patiently details a medieval longsword, using methodology akin to that used when the customers were called Cromwell, Rob Roy and Henry Tudor.

Like most departments at Weta, it's a department that thrives on deception - their job is to make you believe. And you will.

You can own a piece of our work

There are even a few items you can buy that were manufactured in this department. The Unnatural Selector was built by hand here. Peter Lyon, the swordsmith, has made some of his swords, the Machaera and the Medieval Longsword available to buy from this website. And our series of gun lamps was conceived and created by John Harvey and Callum Lingard. The Tommy Gun floor lamp, The Rifle floor lamp and the Revolver table lamp.

Costuming

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 09:15:42 +1300

Weta's award winning specialty costumes don't happen by accident. There is a depth and breadth of knowledge and skills that is absolutely flabberghasting in the costuming department.

Leather, luxurious fabrics, chainmaille. Detailing that will probably never be seen, but on the off-chance that a gust of wind or an improvised move reveals the inner workings of a garment - the lining will be just as authentic.

Authenticity is the guiding light, but ergonomic concerns, wearability, comfort and safety are paramount. Weta's unique Tenzan Chainmaille sprung from a desire to make something that was comfortable to wear on long shoots, but that looked right and behaved believably on camera.

Like everyone at Weta, the costumers are not satisfied until everything they produce has its background story written in scars, blemishes and repairs, so the "distressing" or "breaking down" process is what completes the illusion.

Design

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 09:18:30 +1300

Weta Workshops Design Department is made up of a team of talented artists, designers and creative minds. They are a team of inspirational thinkers who can create worlds, characters, environments, costumes, vehicles, weapons, cultures and fantastical mythologies.

The way in which the design team presents their ideas is through 2D conceptual illustrations, 3D conceptual designs, 3D sculpting and creative writing.

It's estimated that a staggering 40,000 pieces of art were created by Weta's designers for King Kong alone.

Pretty much every single project at Weta starts in the design room.

You can own some of our work

Weta has published two books that showcase and catalogue the work that went into creating King Kong and the Chronicles of Narnia respectively. These books give an excellent insight into the craft of this unique group of people.

You can also buy prints by Greg Broadmore from our Dr Grordbort's range or a T-shirt designed by one of our designers.

And of course - in one way or another, all our collectibles started their journey in the Weta Design department...

Read more about Weta's designers and see some of their work by clicking their names on the right.

Engineering

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 09:19:33 +1300

All is not make-believe at Weta. Occasionally we're thrown a curveball that requires skills in mechanics, building vehicles for this universe or far-off galaxies.

And these props must be working pieces of machinery, built to withstand the rough realities of a film set. Or, as was the case for the train set we built for the Legend Of Zorro - allow itself to be blown up in a convincing fashion.

The Warthog "jeep" that we built for director Neil Blomkamp's Halo 3 short movies is a great example. The limitations of this vehicle were set in a computer game rather than reality and therefore presented Weta with a series of interesting challenges with regard to transmission, suspension and interior design.

Other items to emerge from the engineering department are cannons, tanks and other complex mechanical props.

Miniatures & Model Making

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 09:34:09 +1300

There was a time, not that long ago, when there were no alternatives to using models and miniatures in movies to create new worlds, fantastical architecture and natural disasters.

And the rumours of their demise are greatly exaggerated.

Weta built 72 miniatures for The Lord Of The Rings, ships, docks, ruins, cliffs and rock formations for King Kong, tall ships for Master & Commander and a 1:4 scale train for The Legend Of Zorro. Which was summarily blown to smithereens.

For The Chronicles Of Narnia: Prince Caspian, Miraz's castle and the whole Telmarine city was created by the Miniatures department. Twice. One 100th scale miniature and one 24th scale.

The truth is that as long as there are filmmakers who delight in filming miniature worlds, Weta will continue to push the envelope.

Have a look at some of the amazing creations from the movies we helped create by clicking your way through the gallery. Minas Tirith, Rivendell, Skull Island, Grond. Or better still - enjoy them in the movies and delight in how reality and make-believe start to blur.

Own a piece of our work

Weta's range of Doctor Grordbort's Rayguns took three-dimensional form in this department. The paintings done by Greg Broadmore were realised by Weta model maker Dave Tremont. Dave has also been instrumental in the creation of our Doctor Who range

Moulding

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 09:36:10 +1300

The Moulding department makes (in their own words) anything from scars and warts to tanks and cannons. That's a pretty wide brief.

Whenever something needs replicating, it comes here to have a mould made and then one or more "copies" cast (or pulled) from the mould.

The shelves contain vast amounts of fantastical creatures with their arms stretched out. And seemingly naked. And all the same shade of grey. These are so called scannable maquettes that are designed, sculpted and moulded at Weta Workshop and subsequently scanned in three dimensions for Weta Digital. They then proceed to put digital skin, colour and hair on the computer models. And make them move.

The materials used in this department are silicons, epoxies, glass fibre, plaster - all depending on the project. A tank is naturally made of somewhat more rigid materials than a facial blemish.

In close contest with Painting and Finishing for the department with the most pungent aroma, the guys in the Moulding department are surprisingly unaffected.

Primarily due to the fact that they spend the lionshare of their time wearing space suits and industrial gloves.

These guys are an important cog in the machinery that brings the imagination to life and are involved in just about every project at some stage.

Office

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 09:37:50 +1300

The office at Weta is not that different from other offices. It is perhaps smaller than most people think.

Oh, and very few other offices in the world have authentic Thunderbirds models strewn around the place.

Or an Uruk-Hai standing guard inside the front entrance.

The people in the office are of course in more ways than one within a stone's throw of all the creative talent in the workshop. And it rubs off, so don't expect it to be completely normal here.

Painting & Finishing

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 09:39:14 +1300

For most of the amazing props, miniatures, costumes and vehicles that emerge from Weta, the final transformation is done by the talented crew in the Painting and Finishing department. No surprises there - it's all in the name.

Ironically, when you ask them they often claim that the work they do is never finished. And in some ways this is true, as movie props live a hard life and touch-ups and restorations on the fly are part and parcel of their trade.

There isn't a surface or a texture in this universe (or others...) that these guys can't recreate with such authenticity that their colleagues are sometimes hard pushed to spot the replica.

The hard work of the Painting and Finishing department makes the difference between a prop that stands out... and one that truly blends in.