SUBMITTED BY Fred Hill

April 1, 2003 —

After the Oscar win VFX Pro was able to catch the visual effects supervisor on all three of the LOTR movies, Jim Rygiel to talk about the work done on TT.

The whimsical and frightening magic of "Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Rings" was a hard act to follow, and a nearly impossible show to beat. How could director Peter Jackson and Weta surpass the audience's wonder at seeing Tolkien's landscape realistically portrayed on the screen for the first time? One word: Gollum.

From the moment the wheedling, waifish weed comes on the scene, the audience knows that this is no ordinary CG character. Oh the humanity in that horrible, adorable face! And oh the pains that Weta Digital underwent to create it!

The team spent months finding the right balance between human and monster, and then rotoscoping, keyframing and 3D-animating him to perfection. Then there was the little matter of walking, talking trees (the Ents) and epic battle scenes, plus some tricks in between.

Jim Rygiel, a Boss Films alumnus and visual effects supervisor on all three 'Lord of the Rings' films, has been at the Weta Digital headquarters in New Zealand for more than two years figuring out how best to accomplish these feats of illusion. Having won both and Oscar and BAFTA Award for his first go at it, and received nominations from AMPAS and BAFTA for his second attempt, any observer would say he has been pretty successful so far.

Rygiel took time out of his busy schedule -- working on shots for the DVD of 'Two Towers' as well as shots for part three -- to talk with VFXPro about his journey through Middle Earth.

Click here for the interview.