WETA Studios

I am a Tolkien fan – it’s kind of hard not to be actually. He was one of the absolute forefathers of high fantasy. He made the template which today is still recognisable throughout the fantasy genre. I think it was he that helped spark my respect, even fascination, with world building (before my love for Terry Pratchett took hold, before I read any David Eddings). No matter what the subject – if there’s good and detailed, coherent and consistent world building, I am with you until the end.

So when I watched the high fantasy movies derived form such a world and completed with such superb attention to detail…I was blown away. I got a little bit nerdy. I started to learn everything I could about the making of the movie; all the trivia, puppetry, the design and processes involved.

Now moving on to New Zealand where those epics were filmed! And you might see where this is going, I had already visited Hobbiton (the village created for the movie – a now permanent feature for tourist purposes), I had seen Mount Ngaurhoe (mount doom for the purpose of the movies) and now I was at Weta Studios. This being the visual effects workshop that did so much to capture and hold my imagination.

It was always going to be a really cool place and I did not leave disappointed. Only perhaps in myself for not buying the make your own chainmail key chain kit ( I may make my own anyway as I now know how to make it from plastic washers..) I wandered around the shop and admired the figures on display, resisted the urge (just) to swing around some replica Andúril (Aragorn’s sword) and took pictures of the trolls outside.

The most fun was to be had on the tour however, we had a lovely guy brandishing a katana prop and describing his plans for the zombie apocalypse. We walked past their 3D printer, got shown props from a ton of movies I actually didn’t know weta had been involved in and talked to a guy modelling themed guinea pigs dressed up as darth vader, Jack Sparrow..

I was incredibly sad to leave as the place was utterly charming.