“Come on in,” Richard Taylor said, leading a pack of journalists who had flown in from all over the world for a tour of his Weta Workshop.
Weta, named after an insect that is found primarily in New Zealand, was established by Richard and his partner Tania Rodger 16 years ago. They had been active in the business for a number of years, but it was their work on the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy that did more than just put the spotlight on them. It also earned them an Oscar.
The award is well deserved. After all, Taylor and his crew worked on the trilogy for seven years and made a whopping 48,000 props for the films.
“The blessing that came to us in the form of ‘Lord of the Rings’ was incredible for a young group of film technicians. ‘Lord of the Rings’ was a pivotal point. It stamped New Zealand onto the world’s map. And the Oscar award was an exclamation mark. But you get past the award and you’re back at the beginning of another job,” he said.
Now comes another daunting challenge after “The Lord of the Rings”: working on the highly anticipated movie adaptation of C.S. Lewis’ beloved classic, “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.”
The movie follows the adventures of the four Pevensie siblings—Susan, Peter, Edmund and Lucy (played by Anna Popplewell, William Moseley, Skandar Keynes and Georgie Henley), as they step through an old wardrobe and into a new world called Narnia.
Director Andrew Adamson, most popularly known for his work on “Shrek,” required the services of the Weta team to create movie magic by providing the design of the creatures, cultures, insignias, heraldry, weapons and environmental pieces.
“To have Andrew call out of the blue and tell us that we might have the opportunity to work on another great piece of English literature of the same period was an incredible and amazing thing that we never thought would strike twice in our careers,” said Taylor.
It took 110 Weta workers to finish everything they had to do for “The Lion.” Taylor and his team provided an inside look at the work they did for Narnia during a tour of their studios.
Montage
After a quick introduction, Taylor screened a montage of the work Weta had done in the past years. Soft gasps could be heard in the dim boardroom as people recognized familiar scenes from popular movies. You may not know it, but chances are you’ve already appreciated the wizardry of Weta on the big screen or on DVD. The studio’s work can be seen in, among many others, “Master and Commander,” “Hellboy,” “Van Helsing,” “The Last Samurai” and “Peter Pan.”
Save for the countless movie memorabilia all over the place, it was hard to believe at first that so much film fantasy and enchantment had been created in the modest-looking Weta Workshop. But magic does happen there.
First stop was the Merchandising Area where collectibles were on display. The Aslan and White Witch bookends were especially beautiful. Taylor then led the group to the Chainmaille section where he explained how Weta has managed to come up with its own easier and more effective process of creating quality chainmaille. Weta can now supply chainmaille to TV, movie and stage companies.
Next stops were the Design Department (which Taylor called Weta’s nerve center), Welding Bay and Studio, the previous projects display area, the Sculpting Room and the Molding and Casting Room.
A lot of time was spent at the Weapons Wall, with Taylor —strating the logic behind the dimensions and the materials used for each weapon in “Narnia.” The team had included motifs and details that were significant to the characters and what they stood for.
“C.S. Lewis drew from an amazing collaborative world of mythological culture. We used that as an inspiration. Every single motif you can see is representative of a certain piece of writing that C.S. Lewis did,” Taylor explained.
Most difficulty
But it’s not as simple as it sounds. It took 220 drawings before they decided on the look of their White Witch. But even that was beaten by the Centaur, the creature that gave them the most difficulty. Still, Taylor speaks of the half-man, half-horse with a tinge of affection.
“What an amazing opportunity to design what is arguably the most well-known mythological creature. They can fight like no one you’ve ever seen.”
Weta also faced another big issue. “The children grew at an alarming rate. We ended up making this boy’s armor three times,” he said, patting a statue wearing an impressive armor of red and silver.
Of that extraordinary attention to every tiny detail, “Some people say, isn’t that too fanatical? No one will see it,” said Taylor. “But if movies are taken seriously by the people who make them, they’re taken seriously by the people who watch them. [We] never short-change a client. Our greatest wish is for the audience to enjoy it.”
When asked to compare the work they did for “Lord of the Rings” and for Narnia, Taylor said, “‘Lord of the Rings’ was three times bigger in scale, but our effort for Narnia required more intensity because of the lack of time. We worked on Narnia for just under three years, as opposed to Lord of the Ring’s seven years.”
Taylor ultimately credits Weta’s success to the attitude of his crew. “In New Zealand, there is a culture of can-do mentality. The young people we ultimately have the benefit of working with throw themselves at any task. The trick for Tania and I is to make them realize that no matter how small the focus of the work, every single thread that they weave into the tapestry of the film is an important endeavor. And if they leave a thread out, of course in turn, the tapestry will be threadbare.”