Weta Digital Sr. Visual Effects Supervisor Joe Letteri will present War for the Planet of the Apes and the evolution of visual effects technology and artistry behind the final film in the trilogy. This wide-ranging talk will cover the enhancements to the capture and animation technology but also the crucial changes introduced with the use of their Manuka renderer. Joe will also cover the complex simulation work for the big avalanche and battle sequences as well as their new full environment simulation tool, Totara.
Joe's pioneering work in visual effects has earned him four Academy Awards® for Best Visual Effects—for Avatar, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King and King Kong.
Joe has a long-standing interest in creating compelling, realistic creatures—from Jurassic Park's dinosaurs to Gollum, the Na'vi in Avatar and Caesar from the Planet of the Apes franchise. He has developed many techniques that have become industry standards for creating photorealistic digital effects. This includes co-developing the subsurface scattering technique that brought Gollum to life —winning an Academy® Technical Achievement Award in 2004— and pushing the development of large-scale virtual production.
Under Joe’s leadership, Weta Digital has continued to expand and improve these techniques through films like War for the Planet of the Apes and Luc Besson’s new sci-fi epic Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets.