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 "There's no one better than Weta!" Ian McKellen "Richard Taylor, the man in charge, I think he's a genius." Christopher Lee Richard Taylor and Weta Workshop Of all of the crew of Lord of the Rings, Richard Taylor is the person who has left the biggest impression on me. His enthusiasm and persistence I find amazing, and without the brilliance of Richard, Peter Jackson's films wouldn't be half the films they actually are. His company, Weta, was set up by Richard and his partner Tania Rodger, along with Peter Jackson, Jim Booth, George Port and Jamie Selkirk. For the Lord of the Rings alone, the Workshop produced over 45,000 different items, while its sister company, Weta Digital, handled virtually all of the visual effects in all three films. Weta Workshop istelf looked after the design, the fabrication and the on-set operation of the special make-up effects and prosthetics; the armour; the weapons; the creatures; and the miniatures. Weta's constant attention to detail, and its readiness to do its job as best as it possibly can has always astounded and inspired me. To quote Richard Taylor himself, speaking of the Weta employees: "If you couldn't rise to the highest level of enthusiasm, passion and professionalism, and grasp this task as if it was the most important thing that you have ever taken on in your life, you weren't worthy of the task." To see the dedication given by Weta employees, take the story of the two men who spent a year slotting chain mail rings together, completely wearing away the fingerprints on their thumb and index finger, and then calling it the best experience of their lives! This project was special. Speaking of Richard and Weta's amazing dedication, there are two things that I have to mention that I think sum up their philosophy. First, a quote from Brian Sibley's book 'The Lord of the Rings: The Making of the Movie Trilogy': "A sword was created for Denethor, Steward of Gondor and father to Boromir and Faramir, even though it would never be drawn on camera. 'Of course,' says Richard, 'we could have simply given Denethor a scabbard with a hilt attached, but you know damn well that the moment the actor grabs the sword-hilt and it doesn't come out, he is going to feel like he's only an extra! ...[So] we made [a sword] for him... Apart from John Noble and the folk at Weta,' he smiles, 'you're probably the only person who will ever see that blade!'" Putting in all of this extra work, of designing and then making a sword that will never even be seen, to enhance the film is truly amazing. They're always striving to make the film best as possible. The second quote is from this article at TORn: "With a glint in his eye, Ian said, 'This is the leftover set where we filmed the Pyre of Denethor last week.' ... Lo and behold! Each tomb had a name and date below its mysterious Grim Reaper figure. I walked around the room, reading each one. They were accurate! These weren’t just made up names like Underdog or Henry Kissinger. I recognized them from Appendix A: ‘Annals of the Kings and Rulers.’ Mardil 2080 – Belecthor I 2655 – Ecthelion I 2698 Brilliant! How totally brilliant to apply this much effort to something that will hardly register on the screen. When you sit in the theatre watching The Return of the King you probably won’t even notice them. So why put them there? Think about it: somebody at WETA spent a lot of time going through the Appendices and assigning very clever artisans to create gorgeous, creepy sculptures – with accurate nameplates. The object was for the actors to be surrounded by "history" and, for obvious reasons, to help center their performances. Fidelity of this grade is significant, I feel, and I would see plenty more of it during the rest of my visit." Again, to put so much detail into something that will never be seen on screen is amazing; and it shows the true dedication and devotion of the wonderful people who worked on these films! Quotes: "Weta Workshop was kind of like visiting some wild fantasy land. It's like Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory but without the candy." Elijah Wood "I went to the Weta Workshop, which is quite unlike anything I've seen in my entire career!" Christopher Lee (And Christopher Lee's had an exceptionally long career!) "Richard Taylor has been one of the single most important people involved on this production, because Richard has, with enormous dedication and enthusiasm, taken on one of the most difficult jobs." Peter Jackson "He's a very charismatic guy, a very great leader, so his people were really devoted to him and to the task, and their work showed it." Barrie Osborne "The Weta Workshop is very much a physical and spiritual extention of Ricahrd Taylor and Tania Rodger, because it embodies every molecule of philosophy of Richard's work ethic." John Howe Links: Weta's website Richard Taylor's IMDb listing | |