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The Special Effects
WETA Limited is a special effects company owned by
Peter Jackson. It is producing all of the visual
effects for the films. The Trilogy
will contain approximately 1200 special effects shots,
more than any other film in history.
-The WETA building complex, five-level and over 2000 square meters, can accommodate up to 80 artists, and
contains a 151-seat cinema with Dolby Surround and DTS sound systems and with variable speed and
forward-backward projector, used for the viewing of plates and final print.
- The whole concept and design of creatures, virtual sets and effects will be provided by two of the most respected
artists in the field of Tolkien artwork, John Howe and Alan Lee.
The costumes designer will be Ngila Dickson, known for her work in the TV Series Hercules and Xena, but who has
also worked with Peter Jackson in Heavenly Creatures.
The director of photography is an Australian, Andrew Lesnie, who has experience both in traditional films such as
Two if by Sea, but also on CGI-packed films like Babe and Babe 2: A Pig in the City, and a working experience of
over 17 years.
- The most amazing effect is
the varying heights of the movie's characters.
Hobbit's are 3-4 feet tall, Dwarves 4-5 feet tall, Elves 6-7 feet tall and humans around 6 feet tall.
It will be WETA's greatest success to make these height differences so seamless that
the audience will take it for granted that they really are of such varying heights.
- Another massively challenging effect is the seamless mixing of differently scaled sets to make humans and Elves
look oversized when in the Hobbit Shire. The incredible model sets of the kingdoms of Rivendell and Lothlorien are being described as among the most
detailed and beautiful ever produced, on top of that they must be matched perfectly by the countless computer generated effects.
- On any given shooting day over 500 actors were wearing WETA made prosthetics and over 200 of them were full body prosthetics! This alone is an overwhelming challenge.
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