Wētā Workshop

Wētā Workshop is a special effects and prop company as well as video game developer based in Miramar, Wellington, in New Zealand, that produces effects for television and film. The company is named after the New Zealand wētā, one of the world's largest insects.

History


Founded in 1987 by Richard Taylor and Tania Rodger as RT Effects, Wētā 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 (now Wētā FX), was formed in 1993; it is a separate company and operates independently.

Wētā Workshop's output was used in director Peter Jackson's film trilogies The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, producing sets, costumes, armour, weapons, creatures and miniatures. It also aided in the making of Jackson's 2005 version of King Kong. It supported the creation of Reclaiming the Blade (2009), a documentary film on stage combat, historical European and Asian swordsmanship.

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.

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.

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. It produces aluminium or steel mail for high-impact stuntwork.

Bigatures
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.

Bigatures used in The Lord of the Rings film trilogy included models of:
 * The Hornburg – the mountain fortress of the Rohirrim
 * Minas Tirith – the White City of Gondor
 * Rivendell – Elrond's city for the Elves
 * Caras Galadhon – Galadriel's city in Lothlórien
 * Argonath – the gateway into Gondor, two statues of Elendil and Isildur
 * Osgiliath – the ruined City of Gondor
 * Orthanc – Saruman's tower
 * Cirith Ungol – the tower that guards the pass of Shelob
 * 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

People

 * Jonathon Brough works as a designer / props finisher
 * Daniel Falconer is the author of several Weta Workshop publications including The Art of District 9: Weta Workshop He is also a member of the design team for the Lord of the Rings film franchise and other films.

Workplace culture
Beginning in June 2020, an investigative project by New Zealand public TV broadcaster 1 News into Wētā's workplace culture resulted in over 11 current and former Wētā Workshop employees anonymously sharing accounts of bullying and harassment. 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.