Weta's 10 Latest People Articles

Daniel Falconer

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 09:44:44 +1300

Designer

Daniel Falconer is one of a group of designers who joined Weta Workshop in 1996, working on projects such as Hercules and Xena. He was instrumental in the conceptual design and created many of the iconic costumes, weapons, props and characters seen in The Lord of the Rings.

With a degree in graphic design, majoring in illustration, Daniel has an enthusiasm for world design and the development of imaginary cultures and creatures as a means to tell stories. He also has a deep knowledge of Tolkien's Middle-earth, thanks to an avid interest in the books and associated materials, which frequently proved useful on the project.

This led to Daniel also being involved in writing copy for Weta's licensed collectible product from The Lord of the Rings, a role that has continued and expanded alongside his design responsibilities and now includes shared art direction of Weta's Middle-earth themed collectibles lines. In this capacity Daniel was eminently suited to writing the Weta Collector's Guide, containing all collectible pieces Weta has ever made.

Since The Lord of the Rings, Daniel has contributed design work for various projects including King Kong, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the short lived Halo movie adaptation, Avatar and more recently has returned to Middle-earth to work on The Hobbit trilogy.

Taking a leading role in Weta's publishing endeavours, Daniel has written and collated a number of books including The Art of District 9, The World of Kong, The Crafting of Narnia, showcasing the illustrative work of the entire design department on King Kong and the two Chronicles of Narnia movies, and now The Hobbit: Chronicles, a comprehensive multi-part series of books covering the art and making of Peter Jackson's three-film adaptation.

Paul van Ommen

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 20:31:57 +1300

Senior Model Maker

My first exposure to great design and manufacture, was with the late Martyn Firth at Mantis Industries, who was an innovator, in composites and motion control. Also, my late father, Hans van Ommen, passed down some great sculptural techniques and a love of design.

I have been working at Weta on and off since 1999 and first worked with Richard Taylor in 1984.

In 2000 I moved to the L.O.T.R Miniatures Unit as head of models/art director, under the helm of Alex Funke. For the next 8 years, we filmed the miniatures from Weta, beautifully constructed by John Baster, Ian Ruxton, Greg Allison, and their teams, for the Rings trilogy, King Kong, Prince Caspian and other special effects for Weta Digital. A considerable amount of models were also made at The Miniatures Unit.

Through Weta's astonishing models, and the unit's model team; Alex Funke went on win 2 Oscars , 3 Baftas, and 1 V.E.S award , and numerous others. We also won 3 more V.E.S awards, 2 of which I won for best miniatures and models. Working with Alex Funke, motion control, and special effects photography has been the highlight of my career.

Since 2008 I have been at Weta as a senior modelmaker and constructivist, working on some of Weta's recent and current movies, including Tangiwai and other exciting projects. Weta is a great place to grow, Richard Taylor has gathered and cultivated some very talented people, that I have the pleasure to work with every day.

Whatever you do, put your own mark on it, and never stop inventing new ways. Always thinking."

Kim Graham

Tue, 13 Apr 2010 14:40:22 +1200

Sculptor and Inventor

Kim Graham has been a professional artist for more than 20 years in the US. Based primarily out of the rainy city of Seattle, she has recently made the move to Wellington to work for New Zealands's Weta workshop. "It is really a perfect fit, I simply adore working with fantasy and mythological images". Kim has worked and taught in huge variety of fields including welding, sculpting, mold making, casting, bronze, ceramic, human anatomy and prop making.

One of the more unusual of her passions is "Performance Art Sculpting which she does at varous conventions and public events. This is her chance to educate and inspire up-and-coming artists by fully sculpting a large fantastical creature on site from beginning to end. This is the perfect opportunity for folks to come and give it a try. Kim always brings extra tools for people who want to experience working on something really big. It is all part of her lifelong interest in teaching and sharing the details of the art field.

A perfect example of this can be found on her online blog, Silkmermaid.com. Here she describes the entire process of building an 18 foot long animatronic mermaid. It shows the work from original concept, to enlarging the work, designing and welding the armature, sculpting the form and getting it into molds. The logistical problems of weight, proper design and man labor are discussed for those both curious and mystified by the process.

Kim Graham is also one of the primary inventive minds behind the Weta legs, a new reverse leg stilt available to the industry and public for the first time.

These can be seen at the Weta Website...

And on Youtube...

To see more of Kim's fantastical work, check out her website at KimGrahamStudios.com

Tracey Morgan

Tue, 27 Jan 2009 20:51:51 +1300

Office Manager

Tracey Morgan had studied creative arts for a number of years before the opportunity to work in the Production department of Weta Workshop arose.

With a range of experience, from working in the printing and commercial design industry, being a school librarian to PA and chauffeur for two young children, sticking to one hobby is not one of Tracey's strong points. Which makes her perfect for facilitating the office at Weta Workshop.

A particular highlight of working at Weta, says Tracey, is enjoying great working relationships with many of the crew, especially co-owner Tania Rodger. "She continually inspires me", says Tracey. "She is committed to Weta and the people here in every way. I have never worked with a kinder, more gracious person. It's wonderful to work alongside her."

Tracey's role means facilitating many of the behind the scenes tasks, such as sourcing crew, assisting with legal contracts, travel, organising crew requests and all the administration tasks that can come with taking on a project.

Her role has recently expanded to encompass overseeing smaller ‘art based' projects that come through the Workshop. A recent piece of art that she co-ordinated included her daughter Sammie, who posed for the sculpture Weta Workshop created for the Dyslexia Foundation.

Gary Hunt

Tue, 27 Jan 2009 21:31:59 +1300

Sculptor

The journey to Weta workshop for sculptor Gary Hunt was strongly influenced by his upbringing.

As a child, Gary spent the weekends with his dad, making model kits and collecting war games figures. His father owned a model car and antique toy shop in Somerset, England, which stocked fantasy and war-game figures. Gary would help out at collector's fairs and the store.

Dad taught me everything about collecting"

The store in England became fertile ground for Gary's imagination as he grew up.

Later, as a teenager, Gary studied at Taunton College, Somerset, and obtained a National Diploma in General Art, specialising in graphics. After studying, Gary worked for a die-cast aeroplane company, spraying, painting and casting, while teaching himself to sculpt figures in his spare time.

As his skills in sculpting increased, he studied a National Diploma in Model Making at Bournemouth College in an attempt to better understand the product design trade. Gary then landed a job for a war game company and later moved to London, sculpting toys and merchandise full time, which involved working on Star Wars, The Simpsons, Tellietubbies, monsters in my pocket and Action Man lines.

When he heard rumours amongst his friends that the Lord of the Rings was filming in New Zealand he decided it was time to go travelling.

A friend had given me Weta's address so I was off! A few months later, I ended up in New Zealand, and within 7 weeks I was working in Wellington for the Art Dept on the set of LOTR feeling exceptionally lucky!"

Leri Greer

Thu, 27 Nov 2008 02:19:36 +1300

Designer

Leri Greer was a graphic designer before joining Weta as a Concept Designer/3d Modeler, and was able to use his early graphic design experience heavily for DISTRICT 9. His most recent work includes similar duties on AVATAR, as well as being the creative vision behind the 2009 PC game NEOTOKYO. If you enjoy looking at drawings, his site http://pushbak.org has over 500+ sketches available to click through.

His advice for anyone wanting to work in concept design, or design in general, is just to be drawing, painting, and designing all the time, and to build your portfolio to a point where a company would be stupid not to hire you. If you ever see amazingly deep portfolios, with tons of work, and wondered how it's possible for a person to have produced so many drawings and paintings, it's probably because we work 10 hour days of nonstop art creation. In one month that's 200 hours of drawing, painting, and designing.

Even a monkey handed a wacom tablet and stylus would probably have a pretty good portfolio after a year clocking in close to 2,400hrs.

Jordan Thomson

Thu, 27 Nov 2008 02:16:21 +1300

Model Maker CNC

I like building machines that can build machines.

I also like building jet engines and jet powered vehicles.

Lindsey Crummett

Thu, 27 Nov 2008 02:27:34 +1300

Lindsey has always had many passions in life. From the time she was little, her imagination was captured by nature, animals, biology, evolution, storytelling, film, and creating anything exciting with her own two hands. She made a determination from the time she was eleven and first saw Jurassic Park in the theatre; one day she would help bring creatures to life on screen.

She continued drawing, painting, and sculpting in highschool and throughout University where she got her Bachelor of Fine Arts. After seeing The Lord of the Rings she made a new determination to work at Weta Workshop as a concept designer by the time The Hobbit would be made.

In 2007 she began work at Weta Workshop in the Props Department. In her time at Weta she has worked in Props Making, then in the Sculpting and eventually in Design. Her credits include such films as Avatar and District 9. She considers herself very fortunate to have been able to experience many aspects of pre-producion at Weta Workshop, and she continues to learn from her talented colleagues every day.

Mary Pike

Thu, 27 Nov 2008 02:33:29 +1300

Studied model making and then Production Design at the National Film School in Ireland. Came to New Zealand after qualifying and worked as a designer in Wellington theatre. Started work at Weta after Production Designing a short film, Eel Girl which was filmed at the Workshop.

I would recommend anyone wanting to work in the film industry to try and get as much experience as possible even when it means working for free.

Matthew Mills

Thu, 27 Nov 2008 02:35:34 +1300

For as long as I can remember I've had a passion for art and design. At high school I took as many practicle papers as I could, from woodwork to painting.

I moved to Wellington in 2000 to study Design at Massey University, Majoring in Illustration. I was given the oppotunity to work at Weta through a friend.

It is a whole different world working in the film industry. it's hard to imagine. you must be able to learn off other, fast! there are so many talented people in this industry.

The advise I could give to other's who are seeking work in the film industy is:

Go for the long haul, don't try and jump to the top. Find where you want to work and start sweeping the floors. If you have enough ambition and passion you'll get there."