In the Extended Edition of The Fellowship of the Ring film (2002), Weta Digital is a documentary in disc four, "From Vision to Reality", covering the genesis and use of Weta Digital Ltd. for the production of the film. Two later documentaries in the appendices of the two other films have the same title.
It was directed by Michael Pellerin, and spans 24 minutes.
Peter Jackson, members of Weta, and film production personnel are interviewed, telling of the birth of a small company in 1993 (for the making of Heavenly Creatures), which would provide visual effects for The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, and its various tasks in rendering fictional, fantasy environments and entities. The process behind the making of the Watcher in the Water, the Cave-troll, the giant corridor of Dwarrowdelf, the Balrog and its fire effects, the water-horses of the Bruinen flood, and the Ringwraiths' true appearance are explained by effects specialists of Weta Digital and the American company Digital Domain.
Personnel featured[]
- Jon Labrie - Weta's chief technical officer
- Barrie Osborne - producer of the film
- Peter Jackson - director of the film
- Gray Horsfield - Weta conceptual digital visualization
- Matt Aitken - models supervisor
- Jeremy Bennett - VFX art director
- Christian Rivers - VFX art director
- Jim Rygiel - VFX supervisor
- Brian Van't Hul - VFX cinematographer
- Mark Forker - VFX supervisor for Digital Domain
- Stephen Regelous - creator of the army-rendering software Massive
Part One: From Book to Vision • Part Two: From Vision to Reality
Part Three: The Journey Continues • Part Four: The Battle for Middle-earth Begins
Part Five: The War of the Ring • Part Six: The Passing of an Age