‘Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes’: Weta FX VFX Supervisor Erik Winquist Uses New Tech For Added Realism

variety.com:

Carolyn Giardina Weta FX’s work on 20th Century Studio’s “Planet of the Apes” franchise reboot continued to evolve in 2024’s Wes Ball-helmed “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes,” which introduces a new cast including Noa (Owen Teague), Anaya (Travis Jeffery) and Soona (Lydia Peckham).

The trio are pictured in this image, hanging out in the late afternoon sun. “Our three actors worked with Wes Ball until they arrived at something that adds a wonderful depth to the relationship between these three friends,” says Weta FX VFX supervisor Erik Winquist.

Before they got to that point, as part of their preparation, the actors attended “ape camp,” and Andy Serkis, who played Caesar in the three previous movies, visited with them to share some pointers.

The performance capture data was then used by the Weta FX artists to translate the actors’ work into ape form. Building on tech advances from the previous “Apes” trilogy and “Avatar: The Way of Water,” Weta FX aimed to create even more realistic apes, including with the use of dual-camera facial rigs to capture performance with greater fidelity than the previous films in the franchise, as well as evolving software for tasks such as muscle simulation, facial animation and grooming.