CGI may have transformed film making but no computer can recreate the actual look, feel or sounds of a battle or fight. For that you need good old-fashioned props.
Or more likely, if you are a block-buster film-maker like Ridley Scott or Peter Jackson you will commission very special weaponry made by New Zealand’s Oscar-winning Weta special effects workshop. This company were responsible for much of the special effects and weaponry for The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, The Narnia films as well as Last of the Samurai and Hellboy.
To ensure that they look real and effective on screen, the weapons are constructed to authentic designs used in real battles.
This accuracy and detail has no doubt contributed to Weta's reputation and everyone can now appreciate this level of skill in design and manufacture with an exhibition at Leeds' Royal Armouries. On display until November 16 is a sample of the incredible weaponry they have made down the years. Many of the pieces have never been seen outside of a film set before.
While the exhibition contains a selection of the most famous and recognisable weaponry from the films, this is just a fraction of the amount of pieces Weta have to make for some blockbusters. For instance, for the 2003 film, Last of the Samurai, they made a total 1,700 weapons. This included spears, swords, ninja weapons and cavalry swords. Oh, and the small matter of over 3,500 arrows.
The exhibition is therefore a celebration of the film industry and the amazing technical skill of those who make films. It also reveals the amazing research and knowledge needed to create these items.
For instance, from the Lord of the Rings films, among the colossal 48,000 items they made, the exhibition includes Aragon’s sword, Legolas’s back rig, and Sauron’s helmet.
Sauron’s helmet was a part of a very special set of armour. This was hand beaten out of steel then shaped and etched by hand – just as it would have been in medieval times. A mould was made of this detailed work and they cast a light-weight actor-friendly set of armour for the film itself from this. By making the original one as authentic as possible, the costume still had all the details and texture of the original.
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe (2005) was another massive film to be involved in. They made 200 suits of armour and 1000 weapons. Some of these items from the film are also in the exhibition.
They do not just make swords and armour however. For the Film Hellboy (2003), they made the special gun, The Samaritan, for the eponymous hero.
With the second part of the Narnia Chronicles, Prince Caspian, released at the end of June and Hellboy II due to come out in August, a visit to this exhibition will make any fan of the films Weta are involved in realise the amount of skill and technical know-how that goes into making these so-called props.
