New Kingdom: Wētā FX Returns to the Planet of the Apes
Date: Wednesday, June 19, 2024
Location: Online
In this presentation from Wētā FX VFX supervisor Erik Winquist, you’ll hear how Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is the amazing result of seven years of technical advancements since the release of the franchise’s last installment. Whether on the mocap stage or outside on location, evolved methods to capture 3D facial performances coupled with Wētā FX’s deep learning facial solver (DLS), allowed for greater detail and nuance from the actor’s performances to shine through in their digital Ape characters. Kingdom artists also employed advancements with hero cameras that provided data for an accurate map or “depth mesh” showing the position of the actors in an environment so a moment could be accurately recreated in the final scene. Additional refinements with Wētā FX’s proprietary tools for muscle simulation, facial animation, grooming, water simulations and rendering allowed the artists to create increasingly more realistic Apes in this new beginning for the franchise.
About the speaker:
Erik Winquist is an Academy® and BAFTA Award nominated Visual Effects Supervisor. He is currently leading the visual effects on the upcoming Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. Erik came to Wellington in 2002 as a compositor on The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. That six-month period made a lasting impression and this year he celebrates 20 years at Wētā FX. His first supervisory roles at the studio were on I, Robot (2004) and Peter Jackson’s King Kong (2005), where he supervised the jungle sequences, nominated for a VES Award for Compositing in 2005.
Erik has an enduring interest in developing on-set technologies for visual effects. He has been closely involved with the integration of Wētā FX’s cutting-edge performance capture technology into the production workflow, bringing digital performances into physical sets. More recently, he led an internal research project in the form of a short film called Lancaster, which experimented with the potential of LED virtual production workflows in a dynamic, fast-paced scene.
Erik’s film credits include Dr Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022), Avatar (2009), Rampage (2018), and the Planet of the Apes trilogy. His contribution to Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014) was recognised with an Academy Award® nomination for Best Achievement in Visual Effects and a BAFTA nomination for Best Special Visual Effects.
