Autoplay
Having AutoPlay on gives you the best media experience on Bebo. When you visit another user's profile, their Video Box will automatically start playing their current favorite video.
You can change your account settings at anytime here: account settings
|
New behind the scenes Pix
|
Roar! We've got new behind-the-scenes pix on a project we created last year for New Line, and they're now viewable for the very first time...
Last year, we produced two life size statues of Lyra on Iorek from the first volume of Phillip Pullman's 'His Dark Materials'. These were made for New Line and the lovely people at Scholastic to display at the 2006 Licensing Show in New York.
Now, for the first time, we can reveal behind the scenes images as to how we made these statues! Check out our Image Gallery and add your comment on this project.
For those of you interested in the makeup and finishing techniques behind this project, be sure to bookmark the Image Gallery, as we'll be releasing more behind the scenes images on Northern Lights - and other projects; coming soon!
Check out www.wetanz-forums.com/coppermine
|
|
0 Comments
|
479 days ago
|
 |
|
|
|
Meet The Crew - Sculptor Ryk Fortuna
|
25 Apr 07 From making rubber weapons, vampire teeth and masks for friends and movie fans at home in his garage as a child, Weta Sculptor Ryk Forutna taught himself the disciplines of molding and sculpting and it all went from there...
Ryk left school always wanting to do film effects and began working out of his bedroom. He then went to college to learn sculpting. Making plates and tiles left him feeling like he was in the wrong section of the course. He left disheartened and went to work for his stepfather's printing business as an apprentice. But it wasn't his true calling; his passion thrived on the movies and it was monsters that filled his mind.
Ryk 'hard at work'
“I’ve always loved films and effects”, he grins. “I’ve always wanted to know how and why; I have always had an investigative mind and a fascination with how things work … my fascination with making things, tangible and real, defying the laws of physics, and just making the impossible possible, really, and a special effect is just that – it’s something that didn’t exist, it’s conjured up by someone’s imagination, fascination, fixation”.
From making rubber weapons, vampire teeth and masks for friends and movie fans, Ryk taught himself the disciplines of molding and sculpting. He then began fabricating his own silicone prosthetic medium to accurately replicate human skin after seeing the work of special effect guru Dave Elsey on a television advertisement. This was his entry card into Weta when his innovation captured the attention of Richard Taylor. His obsession with making the impossible possible paved his way into the weird and wonderful world of prosthetics, special effects and working creatively on many projects for Weta.
He arrived in New Zealand in early 2003, just in time to be a part of The Return of the King where his skills were put to good use, sculpting prosthetics and running prosthetic makeup appliances. Ryk's adaptability also made him a valuable asset to the work Weta produced for Peter Jackson's King Kong.
When asked on what inspires his ideas, Weta Sculptor Ryk Fortuna is quick to respond. “Textures and negative space inspire me. Concrete for example, can look like a real cool scale of a creature, but music is also a massive inspiration”, he says animatedly. “A lot of the time, when you’re thinking of something, it’s not going to arrive to you straight away, you’ve got to create a momentum. I use music to build an atmosphere, a sound-scape. A subtle build up can build and slowly a picture can start to emerge… it works well when you’re working on a sci-fi movie!”
Ryk says that if could lend his sculpting talents to making a better, faster, stronger Ryk Fortuna, he’d make some new appendages. “I’ve been thinking about designing a tattoo. I was going to try it out by doing a prosthetic to see what it looks like, but I’d have another pair of arms” he laughs. “Another pair of hands!”
Since joining the team in 2003, Ryk has also worked on The Chronicles of Narnia, a number of confidential projects alongside pieces from the Weta Collectibles merchandising lines and most recently, Kiwi horror flick Black Sheep. Ryk says this was a real highlight, as it was the Black Sheep team that inspired him to enter prosthetics work in the first place. “Working with Dave Elsey was a huge thrill because he’s been an inspiration to me since the start of my career. He made the first piece of translucent prosthetics I had ever seen.”
For more info on Ryk's background and to view his gallery, check out his profile at www.wetaworkshop.co.nz.
|
|
0 Comments
|
484 days ago
|
|
|
|
|
Beauty and the Bug
|
24 Apr 07 Weta Bug does love a good fairy tale. So when she overheard the designers talking about behind Weta's concept art for the NZ stage show of Beauty and The Beast, the first question on her mind was: 'Ooh! What did the beast wear?'. Oh darling Weta Bug...
I know, it comes hand in hand, but this time I’m talking about a project some of our crew worked on recently – creating the concept designs for the stage production of Beauty and the Beast!
A team of concept designers worked on the project, and I sat down with two of them involved in the project, Paul Tobin and Stephen Crowe, to find out more...
What exactly were you asked to create?
“We were asked to design the costumes and prosthetics for the lead characters for the stage show.”
What were some of the challenges of the job?
“Perhaps the most difficult challenge of designing these characters was to ensure that the audience recognised their favourite characters from the Disney Film, but at the same time that we offered up something new and fresh that had not been seen before from either the film or myriad of other versions of the stage show.”
“The other consideration was the shift to designing for the stage rather than film. The prosthetics needed to be designed for ease and speed of application and not cover the performer’s mouth or impair their performance in any way. In film you have the opportunity of doing close-ups on the character's face, however on stage the prosthetic must read for an audience that is well back from the stage.”
“From a design perspective this means that you must be bolder and over emphasise some aspects, ensuring that the performers’ emotional states can be easily determined whether you are seated in the back of the theatre or in the front row.”
What references were you given in preparation for the design?
“As a starting point we were given pictures of the original characters from the Disney film. We were also supplied with photos of some of the other stage productions from around the world and Paul brought in his copy of the Programme Book from the West End production of the show which he had seen in London a few years earlier.”
“From this point each designer tends to have their own way of researching for a project, looking into the origins of the original story of Beauty and the Beast, looking at old illustrations, historical research into the costumes and look of the period and so on.”
Who is your favourite character?
Stephen: “The Beast, he's such a dark and brooding character. Basically he is a pain in the ass but STILL gets the girl!”
Paul: “Lumiere [aka candle man pictured at top], any character that gets to burst into flames on stage is all good.”
Who did you base your character designs on? C'mon - you can tell meeeee!
Stephen: “In regards to the grumpy surly Beast, I could not possibly comment for fear of legal retribution from my main artistic inspiration.”
Paul: “For some reason I always pictured Lumiere as a Las Vegas Elvis Impersonator, a pose and look I tried to capture in my first concept painting of him.”
Designers Greg Broadmore, Chris Guise and Christian Pearce also worked on this project. You can view their profiles and find out more about the project by logging onto www.wetaworkshop.co.nz
|
|
0 Comments
|
484 days ago
|
| |
|
, how cud I go about 2 get a prop from LOTR, Wat sort of things R available in replica's or anyting used in the Movie wud b even better, cud u write bk wen ur on nxt Thanks 
I'm fully determined to get my 1st 'real' job working for you guys!! 
Nederlands
Français
Deutsch
Italiano
Polski
Español