The Wonderful World of Weta Workshop
After the debut of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, New Zealand’s news magazine SevenSharp produced a segment featuring, for the first time, a look inside Weta Workshop, presented by Sir Richard Taylor.
Reported by Jehan Casinader. Published on Dec 16, 2013.
A week earlier, Richard and his team installed a couple of Giant Eagles, with Gandalf riding one of them, suspended above the food court at the airport in Wellington. They each weigh a ton and have wingspans of 15m. Weta uploaded a “Making of” video on December 17:
Here’s a time lapse from Wellington Airport, uploaded December 1, 2013:
That same day, Mark Mitchell of The New Zealand Herald uploaded his report:
“Two giant eagles, one giving Gandalf the wizard a ride, have been unveiled at Wellington’s airport today. The massive creations, which were made by Weta Workshop, accompany an enormous Gollum in welcoming visitors to the capital. The latest features each weigh a tonne and have a wingspan of 15m. Weta head Sir Richard Taylor said the team took three months to build them.”
http://youtu.be/pQhpA1CfOKQ
Transcript of Richard’s dedication of the Eagles at Wellington Airport:
“It’s fantastic to be here on the 2nd year having installed something like this in this amazing building to celebrate the [Desolation] of Smaug. It’s a wonderful thing that we actually have a company and a group of people in Wellington City that are keen to do things such as this.
“It’s a very rare thing around the world that a film company such as Warners, a director such as Peter Jackson and then a independent company from all of the film procedure would get behind a film to this degree and allow a company such as ours to get to make this. For us it’s a huge celebration.
“It’s a wonderful thing to have creative sculptures on this scale in the world and to know that there’s now three major ones right here in the airport in Wellington is fantastic.
“As I’m sure you can appreciate standing here this is no small endeavor. They may not look that complex but of course inside side them is a significant level of engineering designed by our team in the workshop, and then skillfully put together by our engineers. Then the sculptors, the milling department, we use robotic milling machines to mill out the birds from digital models that Jamin [Vollebregt] put together. Once we milled them out we then use hard coat materials and we encapsulate the engineering within the sculpture.
“But all that was relatively easy even doing the detail of the mouths, the eyes, the claws, was fairly standard stuff compared to doing the feathers, trying to come up with a way to make the feathers look realistic and achieve the level of dynamic structure that we wanted, proved to be a bit of a head-scratcher for all of us at the Workshop. Rob Gillies, our workshop supervisor, set about with the team in the 3D Department–led by Jamin in this case–to figure out how to do that. We ultimately modeled every feather in 3D in the computer and then we milled them individually into huge plates of acrylic and then poured individual feathers with their own shafts into these molds and in turn generated all the feathers that you see on the creatures here. Those were then painstakingly applied by a team of people using contact adhesives and nail guns to ankle all the feathers on, stapling every feather as you went, and that role fell to Masa and Richard and their team in the feathering department.
“And then finally, of course, the paint job in this wonderful color scheme that matches the eagle Gwaihir [Lord of the Eagles] here and the eagles of Middle Earth was done by Sourisak and his team in the paint department.
“So, as always, it’s a huge collaboration of an amazing group of people.”
Indeed!
[Special thanks to Magnus Hjert]
Launching Space Patrol
Of course, any salute to Space Patrol should have acknowledgement of its creators.
The series was conceived by British children’s book author and TV producer Roberta Leigh, who previously created the puppet series Torchy the Battery Boy (1958) and Sara and Hoppity (1962).
Learn about Ms. Leigh at her website. A 1998 interview has been posted online, July 9, 2021:
https://youtu.be/Tkpoixj2F1k
Update: Regretfully, Roberta Leigh died December 19, 2014, age 87. Her obituary is here.
The show’s co-producer and cinematographer, Arthur Provis, was interviewed in 2002. But his video interviews have been removed from YouTube.
What is a Gabblerdictum?
Before Thunderbirds …
Before Star Trek …
And after Forbidden Planet, there was …
Space Patrol!
Yes, in the year 2100, Galasphere 347 patrols the solar system, making sure everyone’s safe from interplanetary extortionists, hostile aliens, rampaging robots and runaway asteroids.
The crew:
Captain Larry Dart, the handsome Earthman whose beard actually saves his life.
Husky, the engineer, the perpetually-hungry Martian who sounds like a drugged-out Popeye.
Slim, the science officer, the always-logical Venusian with slanted eyebrows and speaks “with alacrity,” predating a certain Vulcan by four years.
The unnamed Robot, who marches in the engine room whenever the ship makes a landing.
Colonel Raeburn gives the orders, usually from his high-tech office, but occasionally from his Turkish baths. His lovely Venusian secretary, Marla, rarely makes a mistake and reminds him that blondes from Venus are not dumb.
Whenever United Galactic Organization is threatened, Raeburn relies upon Irish genius Professor Aloysius O’Brien O’Rourke Haggerty to whip up an invention to save the day.
Interplanetary travel still takes months to the outer planets, so the astronauts have to spend time in the “freezer,” in suspended animation. Miraculously, on Earth, the year remains 2100 for the entire series.
Produced in the U.K. by Roberta Leigh and Arthur Provis — with Leigh writing all 39 episodes — the series aired April 7, 1963 through June 11, 1964. In the U.S. it was known as Planet Patrol, to avoid confusion with the live-action Space Patrol radio and TV series from the 1950s. At one point the negatives were presumed destroyed, except Leigh had a cache of 16mm prints in her home, and two 35mm prints were found elsewhere. Now, thanks to YouTube, the entire series is available online for everyone to enjoy, and in color, starting with “The Swamps of Jupiter.”
The 18th episode, “The New Planet,” has our heroes visit a planet of giants. Four years later, Irwin Allen’s series, Land of the Giants, landed on the airwaves. Inspired by “The New Planet,” perhaps?
With the exception of Mercury, the planets in our solar system are occupied by sentient life forms. Saturn happens to have a swampy surface, under which live the amphibious Saturnians. These creatures are featured in three stories:
In Episode 08: “The Rings Of Saturn,” Captain Dart’s crew engages in “First Contact” with the species, but angers them when he takes some leaves for analysis.
In Episode 22: “The Miracle Tree Of Saturn,” a greedy video technician stows away on Galasphere 349 without going through decontamination. When they arrive on Saturn, he leaves the craft and infects the indigenous population with his cold. Pretty heavy stuff for kids.
Even though they’re puppets, I love the way the Saturnians move. Here:
In Episode 35: “The Grass Of Saturn,” the Saturnian leader Riga is ousted by his brother Simba, who blankets the earth with grass that emits carbon dioxide.
Our heroes need to eliminate the toxic grass and save the deposed ruler. Watch Husky knock out a Saturnian:
Click here for a comprehensive website that tells you a lot about Space Patrol.
One enterprising fan has constructed a CG model of the Galasphere, posted online April 16, 2013. Check it out:
So, what’s a Gabblerdictum? That’s a Martian parrot, owned by Husky, who spends a lot of time at Professor Haggerty’s lab. From Episode 34, “The Hairy Men Of Mars,” watch him visit Space Patrol’s “rest room” at 13:59:
What a clever bird, that Gabbler. He’s even smarter than Jar Jar Binks!
Those Wacky Round Animals
What if animals were round? Rollin’ Safari has the answers:
Published on Mar 5, 2013
These are the official trailers for ITFS 2013 (itfs.de) and FMX 2013 (fmx.de)
©2012 Flying Stone GbR.
Published on Nov 3, 2013
Created by: Kyra Buschor & Constantin Päplow
Sounddesign: Namralata Strack
Website: David Kirchner
Music: Stephan Schelens
Motion Design: Robin Albrecht
© 2013 Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg
www.animationsinstitut.de
Visit their website at www.rollin-wild.com.
Peter Jackson’s Three-Minute Rule
In an interview with Jason Gorber of Moviefone, Desolation of Smaug star Evangeline Lilly revealed one of Peter Jackson’s nifty storytelling techniques:
“When you introduce a group of characters on screen, if you don’t introduce specific members of that group, nobody will care about that group. If you’re at war and that group is losing, they are the dispensable people, it’s only the people that you’ve been individually introduced to that you care about. Peter Jackson said that there is a three-minute window in a war scene, and if you don’t see one of your primary characters within those three minutes, you will have completely lost your audience. They will have tuned out and won’t care anymore.”
From “Evangeline Lilly on ‘The Hobbit’: I Didn’t Want to Be the Jar Jar Binks of the Trilogy,” posted December 12, 2013.
The Origin of Rancho Obi-Wan
How did Stephen J. Sansweet amass the world’s largest collection of Star Wars memorabilia? He told the story at Star Wars Celebration Europe II in Essen, Germany, July 17, 2013. Thanks to Association Mintinbox.net, “Rancho Obi-Wan: From Dream to Reality” is now available online:
Posted on Dec 3, 2013
The story is also blogged here.
Grandpa Dragon on a Plane
The appearance of a dragon on an Air New Zealand plane has caused quite a stir in the media.
Grandpa Dragon comments:
“Why ARE folks making such a big fuss over seeing MY FACE on an aeroplane?
Honestly! I’m more embarrassed about having my DONUT obsession exposed!!!
“…Which reminds me, when you’re visiting me at Wellington Zoo, a box of Chocolate ones wouldn’t go astray. ..and a nice cup of Tea too?”
If you can’t make it to New Zealand, you can always visit Grandpa online at his Facebook page.
Photo © 2013 Warren Beaton.
Smaug Revealed!
It’s a secret no longer. Today, December 1, 2013, Air New Zealand unveiled the likeness of the vile dragon adorning its Boeing 777-300. Yes, now you can fly the friendly skies with Smaug!
For details, click here.
To view a video of the plane-decoration–and listen to Sylvester McCoy’s narration–click here.
Note that the newly-decorated plane requires specially-trained dragon handlers for the ground crew:
Ed Sheeran Sees Fire
For the end credits music for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, writer-director Peter Jackson asked songwriter-singer Ed Sheeran to compose-sing “I See Fire.” Posted online November 6, 2013. Enjoy:
And here is UK singer Alice Olivia‘s take on the music, published November 9, 2013:
LYRICS:
Oh, misty eye of the mountain below
Keep careful watch of my brothers’ souls
And should the sky be filled with fire and smoke
Keep watching over Durin’s son
If this is to end in fire
Then we shall all burn together
Watch the flames climb high into the night
Calling out father, stand by and we will
Watch the flames burn auburn on the mountain side
And if we should die tonight
Then we should all die together
Raise a glass of wine for the last time
Calling out father, prepare as we will
Watch the flames burn auburn on the mountain side
Desolation comes upon the sky
Now I see fire, inside the mountain
I see fire, burning the trees
And I see fire, hollowing souls
I see fire, blood in the breeze
And I hope that you’ll remember me
Oh, should my people fall
Then surely I’ll do the same
Confined in mountain halls
We got too close to the flame
Calling out father hold fast and we will
Watch the flames burn auburn on the mountain side
Desolation comes upon the sky
Now I see fire, inside the mountain
I see fire, burning the trees
I see fire, hollowing souls
I see fire, blood in the breeze
And I hope that you’ll remember me
And if the night is burning
I will cover my eyes
For if the dark returns then
My brothers will die
And as the sky’s falling down
It crashed into this lonely town
And with that shadow upon the ground
I hear my people screaming out
Now I see fire, inside the mountain
I see fire, burning the trees
I see fire, hollowing souls
I see fire, blood in the breeze
I see fire,
I see fire,
And I see fire (fire)
And I see fire burn auburn on the mountain side