The Weta Workshop

By Meghan

The Weta Workshop was absolutely mind blowing! The people that work there are so passionate and creative about what they are making. 

Here, let me explain what exactly the Weta Workshop is. It all started with two people named Tania Rodger and Richard Taylor, they had a dream of making props and working with film makers. They set up a workshop in the back of their apartment and started to make movie props and puppets, the shop wasn’t very big and very few people knew about it.   Another prop maker called them and wanted to meet up, he had heard about their work and thought they might be able to work together as a group. His name was Peter Jackson. He is now famous for his work on movies such as Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, King Kong, and more.

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​Peter, Tania and Richard formed a new company called Weta Workshop. Weta is actually a type of bug, it is only found in New Zealand and is one of the biggest bugs on the planet. It can weigh up to 70 grams which is more then a sparrow! The reason they chose the name is because the Maori thought it was so gross so they called it “Punga” which means the spirit of ugliness. At the time they were making low budget horror films with lots of gross things in them. So it seemed like the perfect name.

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​The films they help create are crazy. The staff can go from making helmets, for the battles in the Lord of the Rings to making miniatures for the Chronicles of Narnia. Miniatures are very small props but they make it look big from different angles of the camera. There is also bigatures which are like miniatures but only bigger.  The film crew will also angle the camera in different ways like they do with miniatures

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​I made a lot of connections to the things we do at school like the 3D printers that Weta use and how they use the computers to make fictional characters like Gollum. At school we create 3D objects on a program called Tinkercad we make objects and then some of us got to print them off on the 3D printer! My teacher even printed a skull and some of the logos for our school. They looked just like the objects that we saw at Weta.

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​I thought the Weta Workshop just made props for The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings but I was very, very wrong as they have made props for hundreds of films! You might recognize some of the other films they have made props for:  Master and Commander, BFG, Avengers, TinTin, Planet of the Apes, King Kong, the Water Horse, and more...

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​The Weta workshop was absolutely amazing!   It was so cool to learn about the inspiring story that started this studio. Just two people who had a dream. When I watch another movie I will appreciate how much hard work goes into it! It was really cool to see how it’s done but I wish we could’ve seen more of the studio, and experience what the staff do all day long!

After we went to Weta, I thought I might like to try to build something we saw that day!

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