14FEATUREChris Guise with Weta’s looming bronze statuesMiriam Richdale delves into the world of make-believeWETA’S MALL ARTIST OF MANY FACESIn the hidden foothills of MiramarI find myself walkingup a short gravel path whereI’m greeted by two loomingbronze statues. They are holdinga sign between them, andas they look protectively downupon it, their brows are seeminglyfurrowed with all kinds ofsecrets. It dawns on me that Iam about to enter a place thatfew have been fortunate to see.Inside Weta Workshop I amgreeted by a receptionist. Myinterview with Chris Guise, theLead Conceptual Designer onthe latest Best Animated FeatureFilm, The Adventures ofTintin: The Secret of the Unicorn,is very close.Moving into the interviewroom I am awed by a long lineof cabinets showcasing an arrayof models, some of which I findout later that Chris had workedon himself. These, along witha number of awards includingOscars on display, tells you thisis a unique place.And when Chris and I talk itis apparent he still has the sameexcitement about his job that hedid at the very beginning. Youcan’t help but feel he is as happyto be at Weta as I am.I ask him how it feels after allthis time at the workshop. Hisresponse is simply: “I feel likeI’ve hit the jackpot”. Comingfrom someone who has been in
15the Weta business for 13 yearsand counting, that is sayingsomething.“I still get that excited feelingwhen I go into the workshopand see what everyone is workingon.”It strikes me that Chris ismodest in nature, not wantingto be in the limelight. He sayssimply that he just loves makingmovies.Breaking into the world ofWeta wasn’t all plain sailingfor Chris. He had no realtertiary training in film productionor design, and a list of pastjobs not typically related to thefilm industry, including beinga cartoonist in shopping mallsdrawing caricatures of people.“When I started putting togethera portfolio of work toshow [Weta Workshop bosses]Richard Taylor and TaniaRodger, I took note of what thecompany had done in the pastand what they might workingon in the future. So I drew abunch of designs and picturesbased on various sci-fi stuff, includingTolkien’s books. I hadalso sculpted a couple of things,including a King Kong head. Ieven tried making a puppet forthe first time.”By thinking outside thesquare, it was clear he had theenthusiasm needed for a role atWeta and he was hired to workon The Lord of the Rings filmsin the Miniatures, Armour andWeapons Departments. Andthough he didn’t have muchexperience, he was more thanwilling to give it his best shotand learn as much as he could.He gives students the same advice– show you are keen andare prepared to give everythinga go.As the film production of theRings Trilogy came to an end,Chris hated the thought of havingto leave Weta Workshop, sohe continued to throw himselfat every opportunity that arose.This included sculpting for TheLord of the Rings merchandiserange which led into work inthe design department wherehe has been for the past eight orso years.His typical working day caninvolve anything from workingon a kids’ show to working on ahorror film in the acternoon.“It changes all the time. I oftendon’t have any idea what toexpect”.He clearly doesn’t get bored.He says that even the finerpoints are exciting – such asseeing actor Bernard Hills’ reactionas he put on his armourfor the character Theodon inThe Lord of The Rings. Intricatemotifs adorn the inside of thearmour so that even the actorcan feel like royalty when theywear a costume or armour.Chris recalls the simplestof things in the movie Tintin,where even the blood vesselsin Captain Haddock’s cheekswere worked on over and over.It’s these little details that thenaked eye doesn’t see yet everycostume designer at Weta isaware of. The amount of careand attention to detail is commendable.As far as advice goes for anyonewanting to break intothe industry, initiative and theability to follow through with anidea is a must. Chris says thatputting together as much as youcan yourself shows initiativewhich any film producer wouldbe looking for. “Something assimple as putting a trailer togetheror writing a script mayset you apart from the rest.”And, as Lead Conceptual Designerfor Tintin, it seems thehard work has paid off. He hashad the opportunity to workwith his childhood idol, StevenSpielberg, and alongside thelikes of Sir Peter Jackson.“Basically, I was like the carsalesman, helping to push allof the Weta Workshop designteam’s ideas to Steven and thengetting feedback on what couldbe improved for the final designconcepts. Even though thiswas via video conferencing, Irecall thinking ‘here I am talkingto a man I have looked up tosince I was a little kid - it’s likea dream’.The man who started out as amall cartoonist and who is nowthe main spokesperson communicatingwith his idol Spielberg,sees Tintin as his biggest andmost rewarding challenge yet.Ultimately, Tintin is whatmade Chris interested in art itself,and from an early age hedeveloped a love for the storyand the characters in the Tintinbooks, created by Georges Remi(and more commonly knownas Herge, as pronounced inFrench).Another challenge for Chriswas the idea of writing the bookThe Art of the Adventures ofTintin. Although he had neverwritten a book, he set aboutgathering images from the filmand from behind the scenes andputting them into a memoirfor Tintin fans worldwide. Hecollated artwork and imageryfrom Weta Workshop and WetaDigital and formed a 200-pagewalk-through of the film. Hesays choosing what to put inthe book was one of the biggestchallenges because he wantedto encapsulate how Weta triedto be respectful of the originalwork of Herge as they workedon the film’s original work butExcerpts of concept art from:The Art of the Adventures of Tintin
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