A digital version, Weta Digital (now Wētā FX), was formed in 1993 and operates independently as a separate company.[1] The company is named after the New Zealand wētā, one of the world's largest insects.[2]
Wētā Workshop teamed up with Team Fortress 2, creating weapons and cosmetics based on the company's Dr. Grordbort's Infallible Aether Oscillators series.[6]
Wētā Workshop's video games division was founded in 2014[7] and has produced multiple games including the augmented reality project Dr. Grordbort's Invaders for Magic Leap, which was apparently was never released,[8] and the upcoming video game Tales of the Shire: A "The Lord of the Rings" Game.[8]
Wētā Workshop made its American musical theatre debut in 2022 with Workshop designer Rebekah Tisch serving as the art director for the musical stage production of Other World at Delaware Theatre Company, creating a digital world for live stage.[9]
Innovations
Wētā Workshop buildings in Miramar
Chainmail
For The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, realistic looking chainmail was made for the lead actors and for the hundreds of extras that appeared throughout the films. PVC pipe was cut into rings, assembled by hand into a semblance of armour, and then electroplated. A total of 82.9 million links were manufactured from 7 miles of PVC pipe.[10]
Wētā Workshop makes chainmail for film and creative industries using new techniques developed in-house. PVC injection was used for the armour in Kingdom of Heaven, giving better results than the process for The Lord of the Rings.[11] It produces aluminium or steel mail for high-impact stuntwork.[12]
The term bigature is Wētā Workshop's nickname for a very large miniature model. 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.[13]
Bigatures used in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy included models of:
Jonathon Brough works as a designer / props finisher[14][15][16][17]
Daniel Falconer is the author of several Weta Workshop publications including The Art of District 9: Weta Workshop[18] He is also a member of the design team for the Lord of the Rings film franchise and other films.[19]
Workplace culture
Sign outside the Weta Cave
Beginning in June 2020, an investigative project by New Zealand public TV broadcaster 1News into Wētā's workplace culture resulted in over 11 current and former Wētā Workshop employees anonymously sharing accounts of bullying and harassment.[20] Another former employee, Layna Lazar, came public with her own allegation by social media posting the same month that she was sexually harassed repeatedly and after seeking recourse, was fired, this prompted an independent review by Hive Consulting in December of that year. Their reviewer Ashley Benefield cleared the company of the allegations stating that "the majority of allegations in the post including the most serious allegations, have either not been substantiated or were reasonable in the context of circumstances not described in the post". The review's December 2020 report did not address the anonymous allegations of over 11 employees originally reported by 1 News back in July, and the concerned employees stated they were not informed of the review having finished, in spite of their cooperation in it.[21]
^"FAQ". Wētā Workshop's official website. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
^Wētā Workshop on 18 August 2012 on Facebook. Archived from the original on 26 February, 2022. Retrieved on 3 October, 2020. "We chose our company name after an insect, a very cool, prickly little monster, unique to New Zealand."
^"The Making Of Middle-Earth At Weta Workshop". Wētā Workshop's official website. 5 March 2020. Archived from the original on 6 August 2020. Retrieved 29 March 2021. no trip would be complete without stepping foot (sic) inside Wellington's Weta Workshop. The Academy Award-winning creative design and physical effects facility is best known for its work on The Lord of the Rings (LOTR) and The Hobbit motion picture trilogies
^Morton, Ray (2005). King Kong: The History of a Movie Icon - From Fay Wray to Peter Jackson. New York City: Applause: Theatre & Cinema Books. pp. 316–329. ISBN1-55783-669-8.
^"About the Film". Reclaiming the Blade's official website. Archived from the original on 2 February 2012. Retrieved 13 November 2013.
^"Jonathan Brough". NZ On Screen. 15 October 2021. Retrieved 17 July 2022. Jonathan Brough... is not to be confused with two other Kiwi screen figures: actor/comedian Jonathan Brugh (What We Do in the Shadows) and sometime Weta effects-man Jonathon Brough.
^"Staring down the barrel". NZ Herald. 17 April 2010. Retrieved 17 July 2022. Another Wellington artist, Jonathan Brough [sic], who works at Weta Workshop,...
^"Jonathan Brough [sic]". Gallery De Novo. 14 May 2018. Retrieved 17 July 2022. He works as a designer / props finisher for Weta workshop in Wellington as well as pursuing his own artistic career.
