We invite you to Weta Fantasy Academy, where you can hear the vivid voices of the field as we invite the principal designers from the Weta Digital who have undertaken global projects such as <Avatar> and <The Lord of the Rings>.
- Date and Time: 2020 August 24th (Monday) ~ August 28th (Friday) 11:00 AM ~ 13:00 PM
- Orientation: 2020 August 15th (Saturday) *Location Further Notice
- Location: Songdo Holiday Inn Hotel 2nd Floor Ballroom
- Translation: Translator Hyun Jeong Lee (On-site Translation)
- Participants: Around 50 People
- Submission: Homepage Submission
- Submission Period: 2020 July 6th ~ August 7th
2020 Mentor of year
Sir Richard Taylor
CEO of Weta Workshop/Creative Director
- Nominated in the Academy Awards for Best Costume Design <The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)>
- Won the Academy Award for Best Makeup and Hairstyling <The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)>
- Won the Academy Award for Visual Effects <The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)>
- Won the Academy Award for Best Makeup and Hairstyling <The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)>
- Won the Academy Award for Best Costume Design <The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)>
- Won the Academy Award for Visual Effects <King Kong (2005)>
“When I work on a fantasy film I do not make it considering that ‘the camera can show this much’. It can be efficient to think that way for your budget, but the viewer thinks outside of the frame. If you stay in the frame, the world lacks something and is less convincing. Viewers want to see a culture through movies. So you should be able to imagine what happens when you go back 1000 years in history. The whole culture should be visible in each little detail. Therefore, reality and probability are crucial.”
– Excerpt from Taylor’s 2014 GIFFESTA lecture
Gino Acevedo
Creative Art Director for Weta Digital
In 1998, Makeup and Creature Effects Art Director Gino Acevedo was asked by Richard Taylor to join Weta Workshop to supervise the special makeup effects and color designs of the creatures for Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Weta Digital’s Visual Effects Supervisor, Joe Letteri, who was intrigued by the way Gino had made the skin coloration of a physical silicone puppet of the dead Boromir so believable, asked if he would be interested in texture painting on Gollum.
As Creature Art Director on Avatar, Gino oversaw 52 Weta Digital texture artists. They used innovative techniques of life casting, to achieve details such as minute skin pores which were cast in silicone and scanned. They were then applied to the digital models breathing life and color into the world of Pandora.
He is one of the few specialists who can supervise continuous design vision from initial illustrative designs through to the final digital effects shots shown onscreen.
Major Filmography
- <Lord of the Rings> Trilogy
- <King Kong>
- <Planet of the Apes> Trilogy
- <Avatar> Series
- <Hobbit> Trilogy
- <Iron Man 3>
- <Man of Steel>
- <Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets>
- <Umbrella Academy> (Netflix)
Homepage: https://www.ginoacevedoart.com/
Twitter: @GinoAcevedo4
Instagram: @gino.acevedo
Lecture Schedule
| Date | Time | Events |
|---|---|---|
| 2020.08.15.(Saturday) | Further Notice | Weta Fantasy Academy Orientation |
| 2020.08.24.(Monday) | 11:00 ~ 13:00 | Weta Fantasy Academy Lecture 1 |
| 2020.08.25.(Tuesday) | 11:00 ~ 13:00 | Weta Fantasy Academy Lecture 2 |
| 2020.08.26.(Wednesday) | 11:00 ~ 13:00 | Bursary for Futuristic Films Workshop & Case Study |
| 2020.08.27.(Thursday) | 11:00 ~ 13:00 | Weta Fantasy Academy Lecture 3 |
| 14:00 ~ 16:00 | Sir Richard Taylor’s Special Lecture | |
| 2020.08.28.(Friday) | 11:00 ~ 13:00 | Weta Fantasy Academy Lecture 4 (Team Workshop Announcement) |
- Lecture 1 : Gino Acevedo: How a Monster maker got his start
I would like to discuss what influenced me as a child to become a Creature Art Director and my hope to inspire others.
*August 24th (11. AM – 1. PM) - Lecture 2 : From Frankenstein to Gollum, the Evolution of Practical and Digital Monster Making.
Here I would like to talk about the great artists who brought us such memorable creations such as from <Frankenstein> and all the way to Caesar from <Planet of the Apes>. Thus, to the story of how they overcome their challenges with materials and technology.
*August 25th (11. AM – 1. PM) - Bursary for Futuristic Films Workshop Case Study
Review 5 Project Designs participating in Bursary for Futuristic Films
*August 26th (11. AM – 1. PM) - Lecture 3 : The Challenges of bringing a character to life, from Script to Screen
The Challenges of bringing a character to life, from script to screen- I would like to discuss the challenges we have faced with each project from bringing the director’s vision to life, and the evolution of script to screen. Starting with the basic design through to the technical challenges.
*August 27th (11. AM – 1. PM) - Sir Richard Taylor’s Special Lecture: Special advice for the Top 10 of 2020 International Concept Design Contest
August 27th (2. PM – 4. PM) - Lecture 4 : Conceptual Design Workshop Using Actual Content (Long/Short Film, SF Content)
- Announcement for the Outcome for Bursary in Futuristic Film Group Workshop
*August 28th (11. AM – 1. PM)
※ Depending on the COVID-19 situation, the Academy format may change into Zoom meeting.