I had the great opportunity to sculpt and fully detail the digital busts (all done by hand) of RAKA and NOA for the movie "The Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes". The incredible team at Wētā Workshop then printed, prepped, and did an outstanding job painting and punching hairs. As always, it was a beautiful team effort.

These busts were used for final look approval and served as set lighting references for the VFX team at WētāFX.

For Noa, you can see the early concept sculpt maquette I initially received as inspiration, while for Raka, concept images were used.

Project Supervisor: Lans Hansen
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Excerpt from Wētā Workshop instagram posts:
[RAKA]
Meet Raka, one of the gentler characters from The Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. This is one of two physical busts made for the film, used as a reference for the visual effects team.

You might be wondering why would we make a physical bust when the visual effects are digitally created? While all the apes in the film were animated, matching the lighting between the animation and the real-world scenes can be extremely challenging.

By capturing images of the lifelike ape busts in each lighting setup, it gives the visual effects team a realistic reference to match in the animations, helping to add to the realism of the end result.
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[NOA]
In The Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (@apesmovies), our main character is Noa, a young ape coming of age in the Eagle Clan. Wētā Workshop worked with Director Wes Ball and in collaboration with Aaron Sims Company on refining the look of Noa, played by Owen Teague.

The process utilized both digital and physical clay sculpting to find a balance between human and chimpanzee features that would be both relatable and endearing.

Pictured here is our beautiful physical Noa bust, meticulously hair punched and used as an on-set lighting reference by the VFX teams and as an early concept sculpt maquette of the same character.
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