industry visual effects animation founded 1987 as rt effects headquarters wellington new zealand key people richard taylor tania rodger jamie selkirk peter jackson website www.wetaworkshop.co.nz costumes designed by weta workshops elven soldiers in the lord of the rings the fellowship of the ring weta workshop is a special effects and prop company based in miramar new zealand producing effects for television and film . founded in 1987 by richard taylor and tania rodger as rt effects weta workshop has produced creatures and makeup effects for the tv series hercules the legendary journeys and xena warrior princess and effects for films such as meet the feebles and heavenly creatures . a digital division weta digital was formed in 1993 . weta workshop s output came to worldwide prominence with director peter jackson s film trilogy the lord of the rings producing sets costumes armour weapons creatures and miniatures . it supported the creation of reclaiming the blade 2009 a documentary film on stage combat historical european and asian swordsmanship . 1 the company name comes from the weta new zealand s coolest little monster a bizarre and prickly prehistoric cricket . 2 contents 1 innovations 1.1 chainmail 1.2 bigatures 1.3 weta legs 2 weta tenzan chain maille 3 special effects filmography 4 references 5 external links innovations edit weta workshop buildings in miramar chainmail edit this section does not cite any sources . please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . august 2016 learn how and when to remove this template message for the lord of the rings film trilogy realistic looking pvc chainmail was made not just for the lead actors but also for the hundreds of extras that appeared throughout the films . pvc pipe was cut into rings assembled by hand into armor and then electroplated . a total of 12.5 million links were manufactured from 7 miles of pvc pipe . bigatures edit the term bigature is weta workshop s nickname for a very large miniature model . 3 they are used in the lord of the rings film trilogy with the largest of them measuring some 9 metres high . extensive computer graphics techniques and computer controlled cameras were used to seamlessly mesh the bigature photography with live actors and scenes . weta also used bigatures in peter jackson s king kong . bigatures used in the lord of the rings film trilogy include the hornburg the mountain fortress of the rohirrim . the grey havens the elven harbour . minas tirith the white city of gondor . orthanc saruman s tower . minas morgul sauron s dead city . barad d r sauron s massive tower . the black gate the gate guarding the gap between the ered lithui and the ephel d ath . grond the battering ram that smashed down the gates of minas tirith . m makil large war elephant used by the harad armies . weta legs edit the name weta legs is weta workshop s name for a low profile professional grade reverse leg stilt developed by kim graham and weta technicians and manufactured by performing legs ltd. designed and largely hand made 4 by their sculptor designer kim graham these digitigrade leg extensions are intended for creature and costume performances in movies television theatre circus street performances and other creative performances . 5 originally reserved for commercial film and television projects weta brought them to market in relatively limited quantities for online purchase by members of the public in 2010 . with the ability to take extra prosthetics such as layers of fur or skin to resemble a digitigrade leg from canine and feline to fantastical demons dragons satyrs and even robots these devices are promoted as being easy to get used to partly because they allow for realistic and natural movement as they are jointed at the knee and the ankle . 6 citing low pre order numbers weta unceremoniously canceled the commercial production of weta legs by informing those who did pre order by email . the weta legs page has since been removed from weta s website . weta tenzan chain maille edit the workshop now has a division weta tenzan chain maille making chainmail for film work . pvc injection was used for the armor in kingdom of heaven giving better results than the process for lord of the rings . 7 versions electroplated with a thin layer of metal have the same look as real chain mail move like metal at one third the weight and are much cheaper . citation needed aluminium or steel mail for high impact stuntwork is also produced . 8 special effects filmography edit remo 2016 krampus 2015 thunderbirds are go 2015 present mad max fury road 2015 i 2015 the hobbit the battle of the five armies 2014 the hobbit the desolation of smaug 2013 elysium 2013 9 the abcs of death 2013 the hobbit an unexpected journey 2012 the adventures of tintin secret of the unicorn 2011 rise of the planet of the apes 2011 the devil s rock 2010 daybreakers 2010 avatar 2009 the lovely bones 2009 under the mountain 2009 district 9 2009 the wotwots 2009 2011 born of hope 2009 10 the chronicles of narnia prince caspian 2008 eel girl 2008 love story 2050 2008 30 days of night 2007 the water horse legend of the deep 2007 black sheep 2007 jane & the dragon 2005 2006 the chronicles of narnia the lion the witch and the wardrobe 2005 king kong 2005 kingdom of heaven 2005 the legend of zorro 2005 i robot film 2004 hellboy 2004 van helsing 2004 peter pan 2003 master and commander the far side of the world 2003 the lord of the rings the return of the king 2003 the last samurai 2003 the lord of the rings the two towers 2002 the lord of the rings the fellowship of the ring 2001 the frighteners 1996 jack brown genius 1995 forgotten silver 1995 xena warrior princess 1995 2000 hercules the legendary journeys 1995 2001 heavenly creatures 1994 the tommyknockers 1993 braindead 1992 meet the feebles 1989 bad taste 1987 references edit about the film . reclaiming the blade . retrieved 2013 11 13 . about page at weta s website the lord of the rings extended edition special features dvds weta legs reviewed by softpedia.com review of weta legs at coilhouse.net weta legs at weta workshop wetanz the home of weta collectibles and weta tenzan chainmaille 2006 costumes guild forums weta works on neill blomkamp s elysium . wetanz.com . retrieved 2013 11 13 . born of hope credits external links edit weta workshop weta digital v t e peter jackson films directed bad taste 1987 meet the feebles 1989 braindead 1992 heavenly creatures 1994 the frighteners 1996 the lord of the rings the fellowship of the ring 2001 the lord of the rings the two towers 2002 the lord of the rings the return of the king 2003 king kong 2005 the lovely bones 2009 the hobbit an unexpected journey 2012 the hobbit the desolation of smaug 2013 the hobbit the battle of the five armies 2014 other films the valley 1976 forgotten silver 1995 crossing the line 2008 produced only valley of the stereos 1992 jack brown genius 1997 also writer district 9 2009 the adventures of tintin 2011 west of memphis 2012 companies weta workshop weta digital park road post related the lord of the rings film series the hobbit film series v t e places associated with tolkien tourism new zealand north island waikato hobbiton movie set hobbiton and the shire mount ngauruhoe mount doom manawatu wanganui mangawhero river ithilien mount ruapehu gates of mordor rangipo desert gates of mordor rangitikei river river anduin tongariro national park emyn muil whakapapa skifield mordor wellington kaitoke regional park rivendell and the fords of isen mount victoria escaping the shire and dunharrow putangirua pinnacles dimholt road weta workshop south island nelson mount olympus kahurangi national park outcrop south of rivendell takaka hill chetwood tasman mount owen dimrill dale canterbury twizel pelennor fields otago dart river isengard lothlorien and amon hen kawarau gorge suspension bridge the argonath mount aspiring national park isengard mount sunday mount potts station edoras skippers canyon ford of bruinen the remarkables misty mountains twelve mile delta queenstown ithilien camp westland mount gunn franz josef glacier ered nimrais southland kepler mire dead marshes mavora lakes nen hithoel fangorn silverlode river and river anduin snowdon forest fangorn waiau river river anduin elsewhere united kingdom oxford the eagle and child exeter college merton college pembroke college northmoor road wolvercote cemetery birmingham birmingham oratory sarehole mill worcestershire malvern hills south africa bloemfontein national afrikaans literary museum switzerland jenins greisinger museum lauterbrunnen lauterbrunnental rivendell see also tolkien societies j. r. r. tolkien anz mock safety video retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title weta workshop & oldid 740497612 categories cinema of new zealandspecial effects companieswellington cityprivately held companies of new zealandtoy companies of new zealandscience and technology in new zealandhidden categories articles needing additional references from august 2016all articles needing additional referencesall articles with unsourced statementsarticles with unsourced statements from september 2008 navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages catal deutschespa olfran aisitalianonederlandsportugu ssuomi edit links this page was last modified on 21 september 2016 at 12 42 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; additional 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