Bigatures

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Big-atures or Bigatures are terms referring to miniature models created by Weta Workshop for The Lord of the Rings film series. Because of their size, Christy Hennah named them "big-atures" instead of "miniatures".

During pre-production of the films, instead of creating structures fully digitally, Peter Jackson decided to create small-scale models of structures which depicted them down to their last detail. The models were then filmed and enhanced digitally.

Examples

Some of the Big-atures Weta created include:

Minas Tirith

Minas Tirith was built in a 1/72 scale and some of its parts in a 1/14 scale for closer scenes. According to the Extended DVD edition of The Lord of the Rings (film series), it required almost a thousand houses to be completed. Its total height was around 7 meters.

Morannon

Cirith Ungol

John Howe revisited the original drawings based on Tolkien's writings, and the model was built on a rocky pinnacle instead directly on a mountain.