Daniel Falconer on what it means to be a Weta designer, Prince Caspian and Hobbits.
How did you come to work at Weta?
“I was very lucky. I stumbled upon Weta right after graduating from polytechnic…I studied design and was always interested in getting into film and television. And fortunately in a case of really really good timing there happened to a job available here as I came out with a portfolio that was really aimed at this industry. I didn’t even know about Weta when I was doing my studies. It was during my final year that I discovered the company and made it my business to get here.”
What does it take to be a designer?
“There is something that Richard [Taylor] once said about Weta and that is that anyone who is hired here in the creative parts of the company has to be here because they have a passionate desire to make. It is in their blood. It is not like they really have a choice. They just have to be making stuff and I think most of us would say that is true. We are just interested in what we are doing and have a passion for it.”
You must live and breathe this stuff.
“Yes. You are living with it night and day. It is in your head even when you go to sleep…I will sometimes come into work in the morning and see Richard and say I feel like I should be invoicing you for the work I did in my head last night at 4 am.”
What is it that keeps you up a night?
“When a director comes along and presents us with a new movie opportunity the thing that we are interested in doing is — we don’t just approach it in terms of ‘Right, we have to design a prop’ for this movie. We try to think about the whole world which is the fictional world in which that movie takes place and so everything you design in that world has to have a reason and a logic to it and so a lot of it is hitting the books first. For example, with things like The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe and Prince Caspian that is looking at the fictional era in which that is meant to be based. What are the rules in that world, what are the materials that are available to the people there, what are the levels of sophistication with the technology, what can they do and what can they not do and that informs you as to where you should be designing.”
How is holistic concept applied to the first two Narnia films in terms of symbolism?
This is Lucy’s vial. Lucy is given this beautiful little vial of life giving cordial that she is able to bring near dead Narnians back to life with at the end of the movie….The little stopper has a wee lion’s head on it much as Peter’s sword and Lucy’s dagger is the same way, The colours are red and gold which are Aslan’s colors and it has a little wee stylized lion on the front there and as you open it up and have a look at it on the inside there is this design and illustration which will never be seen in detail in the film, but has to have a reason for being. You have Lucy’s monogram right there, LP for Lucy Pevensie…Likewise he used ash on Edward’s helmet. Ash is a symbol of redemption and renewal. So we would go looking for influences like that that might have had a reasoning for being there. The arts and crafts movement was a great influence for us as designers as we were working on a lot of this stuff.”
Any word on the new Hobbit movie?
Gosh I hope so. We would love to go to middle earth again. I would like to work on that, but if we don’t, I will get to go and see it as a fan as opposed to someone who has worked on it.
How do you feel about working with Guillermo del Toro this time around?
Guillermo has a fantastic aesthetic and is an incredibly talented director and I did get to meet him once when he visited here and he seemed really personable so I think it was a great choice. If it’s not going to be Peter [Jackson] it may as well be someone who is as capable and artistic and creative as Guillermo.
