Courtesy of those talented folks at Weta Digital, we’re delighted to bring you this fantastic behind-the-scenes video of Bombur’s bouncing barrel.
Weta Digital presents a peek inside the world of the animation team as they work out how to solve one of the most complicated shots in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. As part of an epic seven-minute action sequence, Bombur’s bouncing barrel shot required an elaborate approach.
See how our animators suited up and used their own performances as part of the animation process.
Our friends at Weta Workshop have a couple of new books for fans to add to their collections. The first book is the next in the Chronicles series, which gives you a great inside look at the task of bringing the many costumes, armour, and weapons that were needed to bring The Hobbit Trilogy to life. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Chronicles – Cloaks and Daggers does just that, but it doesn’t just cover the second film, it also covers the many designs needed in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. If you pre-order the book right now you can get it signed by some of the folks who helped bring these films to the big screen!
The second release Weta has for fans is an amazing looking two book set covering the 20 years they have been helping to bring films to life. This inside look is brimming with never-before-seen content covering films such as; The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, The Hobbit Trilogy, Avatar, King Kong, District 9, and much more. You can get The Hobbit Art Book for $39 and Weta: The Art of Film Magic – 20 Years of of Weta for $99.
IGN has posted a video with some interview snippets with WETA Digital Animation Supervisor Dave Clayton. In the minute and a half video, he discusses both Smaug’s impending attack on Laketown, as well as the final film’s massive “Battle of the Five Armies”. Thanks to Huan and Brandon Petkau for telling us about this! Continue reading “IGN Video: “Smaug will be a killing machine…””
Here’s a really interesting behind-the-scenes clip from the folks at Weta Digital that delves into the virtual cinematography of The Desolation of Smaug.
Apparently, fully a quarter of the film is made of all-CG shots, and this clip describes the typical workflow of developing the camerawork, keyframe refinement and how lighting choices were dictated by the mood of each scene. Thanks to Ringer Sandesh for the heads-up!
Continue reading “Video: virtual cinematography in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug”
The little behind-the-scenes clip of Orlando playing with his knives was pretty cool, but this is just a whole ‘nother level of “wow”. Thanks to Ringer Smaug the Stupendous for the heads-up!
Click below (run, do not walk!) and see exactly how Weta created Lake-town using a variety of CGI and VFX techniques.
Continue reading “See how WETA brought Lake-town to life for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug”
WETA Digital has released a new video on their YouTube channel, showcasing the multitude of visual effects work done on the second chapter in Sir Peter Jackson’s Hobbit Trilogy – The Desolation of Smaug.
The elements covered range from the Kingdom of Erebor, Laketown and the Woodland Realm to Smaug, the barrel chase, and the CG character animation. Continue reading “‘The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug’ Visual Effects Reel from WETA Digital”
