The Joe Letteri effect: Visual effects wiz on creating 'Apes,' 'Tintin,' 'Hobbit'

BY AARON SAGERS

Courtesy IMDB.com

Pull back the curtain on much of today’s movie magic and you’re likely to find the wizard is visual effects master Joe Letteri.

The resume of Letteri’s effects work reads like a list of some the most popular, and biggest banking, films of the last 20 years: The Abyss; Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country; Jurassic Park (recently released on Blu-ray); the 1997 special edition of Star Wars; The Lord of the Rings (The Two Towers and The Return of the King); the highest grossing film ever, Avatar. Even films that look great but aren’t remembered as great films, like Van Helsing, X-Men: The Last Stand and 2005’s King Kong survive because of his talents.

The strength of Letteri’s work isn’t just that he brings the visions of directors Steven Spielberg, Peter Jackson and James Cameron to life, but his creations impress the movie biz’ toughest boss, the audience, and has earned him five Oscars.

Courtesy 20th Century Fox

But Letteri keeps upping his game to keep all parties happy. In 2011, he created the super intelligent apes of Rise of the Planet of the Apes (now out on DVD and Blu-ray), a movie that was initially met with skepticism by fans until that initial trailer showed off the expressive eyes of Caesar – which was courtesy of Letteri. He is also behind the performance capture effects in Spielberg and Jackson’s The Adventures of Tintin and is currently at work on The Hobbit series, the first installment of which is one of the most anticipated films of 2012. Moreover, it's a good bet that Apes will net Letteri another Oscar nod for best visual effects.

Letteri spoke with us about Apes, Tintin and The Hobbit – as well as some of his past work - and opened up about the relationship between technology and actors (after the jump).

What happened to 'Titanic' Day?

Mark your calendars, avid Avatar fans. When director James Cameron presented 25 (!) minutes of his new epic 3D, sci-fi, futuristic flick at Comic-Con Thursday, he sent the audience of 6,000 into geek overdrive when he announced that August 21st, 2009 will henceforth be known as Avatar day. What does that mean for you? Twentieth Century Fox will wrangle as many 3D and IMAX theaters as possible across the globe to showcase a 15-minute sneak peek of the film. But they’re not done—other cool Avatar fare will be revealed, like video-game trailers. Just do us a fave—hold out on the costumes and shenanigans until the full film release. — amy kates