A window into Wētā FX’s mammoth VFX work

Saturday, 29 June 2024

To coincide with the announcement that Disney’s Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes will be released for digital purchase on July 9 and physical purchase on 4K Ultra HD and BluRay on August 27, The Post’s senior arts reporter André Chumko sat down with nine of the 1000+ Wētā FX crew that worked on the film to learn about what goes into creating a single scene that ends up on the big screen.

Wellington’s Wētā FX was solely responsible for the film’s visual effects, which featured in 1521 shots. In fact, just 38 shots in the 2 hour 25 minute film do not feature visual effects. The staff featured here don’t represent every department or stage in VFX development, but will help give viewers (and you, our readers) an overview of the mammoth collaborative effort that went into just one of the film’s scenes – the campfire sequence.

Without further ado, let’s dive in …

George Redmond

motion capture technical lead

I’ve worked at Wētā FX for 12 years, starting as a runner during The Hobbit, and have been in the motion capture department since 2013. I’m originally from Ashburton, but moved to Wellington to study. I was the lead facial technician on Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, so was responsible for recording the facial performances of the cast. A shoot day involved prepping cast with head-mounted camera rigs and marker placements on their face, through to monitoring the shoot on location.

Facial capture is integral to what makes Wētā’s work stand out. Capturing the emotion of a performance on set allows the environmental elements that help an actor bring a character to life to be preserved. This enables Wētā to translate the energy of a scene to the CG (computer graphics) character. It’s essential the on set team provide optimal data to Wētā’s artists so they have a strong base to start from. The data is processed by our post-production motion capture team, who digitally extract an actor’s performance from the footage. This begins the filmic journey from live action to digital.

For the campfire scene, I captured the facial performances of Owen Teague for Noa, and Peter Macon for Raka. This scene was important for character development, so it was vital we captured the essence of each character in the scene. It’s surreal to watch the final product of your work on a big screen. It’s hard to not think back to where you were standing or what was happening behind the camera when you see final shots.

Plate footage of the performances being captured on set in New South Wales, featuring actors Owen Teague, left, as the film’s lead Noa, and Peter Macon as the orangutan Raka.

Vincent Caudeville

motion editor

I’m a motion editor and have been at Wētā FX for over 10 years. I’m French and started my career in Paris before moving to Wellington to join Wētā in 2013. I always wanted to work in VFX as I grew up fascinated by Steven Spielberg’s films. I was also fascinated by apes, so Wētā’s work on the Apes trilogy really inspired me as they combined two of my passions. I was delighted when I heard I was moving to Wellington to be an animator on Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.

For Kingdom, my job was to understand the performance an actor gave on set and translate their motion data to a 3D model of their character, all while staying true to the actor’s intention. It can be a complex process to translate believable emotion to the screen, as you have to really connect to your own emotions. Before we work on body motion, the motion edit team creates a ‘bridge’ between the actor and the CG puppet – this is called retargeting and is an important step that allows us to build in greater detail and nuance. We had to be creative when retargeting the performance for Raka so it made sense for a long-armed ape, as there are huge anatomical differences between orangutans and humans.

It’s always magical to see the film on the big screen, as there are hundreds of technicians and artists behind a project like this. Even those that worked on the film forget about the CG when the story and emotion are there.

Andrei Coval

senior facial modeller

I’m a senior facial modeller and have been with Wētā FX since 2009. Originally from Moldova, my career began in the late 90s in the game industry before switching into post-production, which paved the way for my journey into the world of VFX.

Facial modelling plays a crucial role in conveying emotions and adding depth to characters, enhancing the audience’s connection to the film. On Kingdom, I was involved in the design, modelling, and creation of facial expressions for the main character, Noa. A typical day involved collaborating closely with the animation team and the VFX supervisors to ensure the design and facial shapes were both accurate and expressive, in a way that would later allow the animators to fully translate the acting into the character’s features. It was also important to make sure that the LookDev department got a detailed wrinkle pattern for the creature so their shading worked together with the facial shape to further enhance the realism of the character.

A motion edit pass, showing how Weta FX’s artists translate the actors’ body movements and performances to the anatomy of their CG characters.

Even after the work on the facial puppet is completed, facial artists continue working directly on the shots, helping define and adjust the expressions to work with lighting and all the other elements of a sequence. Seeing Noa come to life on the big screen was incredibly rewarding. It was a proud moment to witness the final result of our hard work. Working at Wētā FX has been an amazing journey, and the collaborative environment has allowed me to contribute to groundbreaking projects like Kingdom.

Kevin Kelm

creatures supervisor

I’ve been with Wētā FX since March 2011, when I joined as a creatures technical director on Tintin. I’m originally from Calgary, Canada, and have been in the industry for over 20 years. My career has enabled me to live all around the world – Toronto, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and now my wife and I have made Wellington home.

As creatures supervisor on Kingdom, I managed a team of artists to produce the best cloth and hair simulations we possibly could with the time available. For this scene, I set up fur simulations for Raka and Noa, as well as cloth simulations for the blanket, which was central to the scene as it gets thrown to the human, Mae. It needed to unfurl and land in a specific position, which was tricky and required close collaboration with our animation team to hit the story beats, while simultaneously looking realistic.

Our goal is to make the characters look as believable as possible, which we do through rigging, muscle performance, fur dynamics and costume elements. We hope our work brings the viewer into the world of the movie and they forget they are watching digital creations.

It’s gratifying to see our work on the big screen after so much time and effort was put into it – and a bonus when the movie is great as well. It gives me a lot of pride to have contributed a small amount to a beautiful piece of art that others will enjoy for years to come.

John Sore

animation supervisor

This year marks my 20th anniversary at Wētā FX. I moved here from the US to work as a senior animator on King Kong, and I am now an animation sequence supervisor, having just finished on Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.

I supervised motion elements, such as chimp locomotion, facial animation, eagles, and horses — essentially anything that moves on screen. I spent a lot of time in the early weeks researching eagles and how their particular anatomy affects how they move. Typically, I review work-in-progress with animators twice daily, offering creative and technical feedback. There are numerous other daily meetings to attend as well, with various departments to discuss workflows and problem solving.

The creature pass showcases the details of the characters’ fur groom and other elements, like jewellery and clothing that nods to the evolution of ape cultural identity and passage of time since the passing of Caesar at the end of the earlier trilogy.

My role on the campfire sequence was to translate the spirit of the actor’s performance onto our digital chimps and ensure seamless continuity between shots. We had to convey Noa’s vulnerability but also a sense that he was successfully challenging himself in his new found environment. I particularly enjoyed scenes with Raka, Noa’s orangutan companion, as both the actor’s performance and our digital character are so visually appealing. This scene exemplifies the sequences I enjoy working on, as they significantly contribute to the audience’s lasting impression of the characters post-theatre.

I’ve had the privilege of contributing to all three previous Planet of the Apes movies at Wētā FX, and I’ve enjoyed the final products immensely. The series maintains a consistently high level of quality, and seeing Kingdom on the big screen was gratifying, knowing we’ve upheld that standard.

Louis-Daniel Poulin

computer graphics supervisor

Born and raised in Quebec, Canada, I’ve been with Wētā FX since 2016 when I started in the lighting department on the third Hobbit film. My career started on a very practical path, studying to be an electrical engineer. Longing for more artistic creativity, I left engineering to study fine arts in France, before reconnecting with my technical roots and enrolling in a computer animation school – a perfect blend of creative and technical.

As a computer graphics supervisor, I oversaw one of four lighting teams on this film. I acted as a facilitator between departments, making sure my team had the technical support required to create their best work. This role required a near constant state of creative problem-solving, especially on a production this size. We were tasked with lighting and rendering this special moment between our young hero Noa and Raka, who becomes a mentor figure. This sequence has a special place in the movie because of its calmness. It is a well-deserved pause, where both apes show introspection, compassion and wonder for what’s around them. It’s an important narrative moment where they bond. Getting the right level of fire light and dancing shadows was definitely a challenge, as we had to make sure we captured and preserved all those subtle expressions.

There’s a huge sense of accomplishment knowing that all the hours and combined energy came together to create something truly special. I’m glad audiences around the globe are enjoying the spectacle we were able to provide.

Ella Boliver

lead compositor

I’m from the US and have been with Wētā for 11 years. Working in VFX was a happy accident. I attended the School of Visual Arts in NYC and one of my professors left two weeks into the semester to come to New Zealand and work on The Lord of the Rings, kickstarting the dream. Thirteen years later, Wētā recruited me for the second Hobbit movie.

The final version of the shot is the culmination of Wētā FX’s entire VFX pipeline – we see the meticulous integration of the entirely digital characters with their environment and light from the campfire, as if they stumbled onto the film set themselves.

Compositors are the finishers in VFX. We’re responsible for the final look and feel, aligning to the director’s vision. We take the plates (footage captured on set), characters, and everything else and assemble it into the final shot. When we’re done, the shot goes out the door to the director for final colour grading. Lead compositors help their team create shots, both technically and creatively. We’re part artist, part manager, and part emotional support animal.

I was the lead compositor on the campfire sequence. At first glance, it’s classic compositing – just put the monkey into the plate. In reality, it’s an exercise in subtleties. Matching flickering black points, adding rain, mist, and heat haze from the campfire, as well as matching the characteristics of the lens used to shoot the original footage. Everything that makes the digital characters look like they are really there.

I felt awestruck when I saw Kingdom on the big screen. The work is outstanding. We spend so much time looking at small details in VFX, so sitting back and watching everyone’s hard work in its finished state was absolutely inspiring.

Danielle Immerman

VFX producer

I have been a visual effects producer at Wētā FX for almost five years. I am originally from Wellington, but I grew up in Australia where I studied film and television in Sydney. I was fortunate to get an early opportunity as a VFX co-ordinator, which has led to over 20 years of great VFX projects.

I was Wētā’s VFX producer on Kingdom. I monitored all aspects of our production, from bidding to managing critical timelines, resourcing peak projections and tracking our progress to support the overall delivery of the work. I was involved from the very beginning, when the director sent us his selects from the footage shot on location. From there, I created quotes for our deliverables and planned for the broader project. The director then gave us the creative brief, which allowed us to schedule the work out more specifically. Once we had that part of the plan locked in, I worked with our production management teams, who then broke down tasks on a department and individual artist level so we could best monitor our progress.

The strong collaboration between overall VFX supervisor Erik Winquist and director Wes Ball really led our teams to produce a stunningly epic world, fully fleshed out with photorealistic characters, landscapes, and photorealistic effects. It is because of this, along with the dedication and expertise of all our team supervisors, leads and production, that every shot was given the amount of care (and render time) they needed to sing.

Mark Gee

sequence VFX supervisor

I grew up in NSW, Australia, and started out in architecture and graphic design. I became interested in VFX after working on a 3D animated commercial, so started creating my own animations, put a showreel together, and the rest is history. I’ve been at Wētā FX for 21 years.

As a VFX supervisor, I work with our creative and technical teams to bring the director’s vision to life. I was one of four VFX supervisors overseeing sequences on Kingdom. My day involved multiple creative reviews where I gave artists direction, along with client reviews with director Wes Ball and overall VFX supervisor Erik Winquist to present our work for feedback.

The campfire scene was the first sequence my team worked on. I supervised all visual and creative aspects of the scene, but what makes it memorable is the subtleties of the performance – everyone did an amazing job. Although I have an overview of the whole VFX process, most of my work is done at the shot level and involves matte painting, FX, lighting and compositing teams.

Before that, other departments feed us elements that make up the final shot, including on set, camera, roto and paint, art, models, LookDev, motion capture, animation, creatures, and layout. There are lots of moving parts. Seeing the finished film was a powerful reminder of why I got into VFX and film making in the first place. It’s a rewarding conclusion to the team’s creative journey, and I was blown away by the result, and so proud of what we achieved as a team.