Norman Cates

Work History

• 

  Senior Compositor

  Wētā FX

  December 2022 - December 2023

  Wellington, New Zealand
• 

  Senior Compositor

  Wētā FX

  October 2022 - December 2022

  Wellington, New Zealand
• 

  Senior Compositor

  Method Studios

  June 2021 - September 2022

  Melbourne, Victoria, Australia (working remotely)

  
• 

  Lead Compositor

  Wētā FX

  November 2005 - March 2021
• 

  Compositor

  Wētā FX

  June 2002 - March 2021

  During post production on "The Two Towers" I was delighted to be given the opportunity to start compositing.

• Co Chair

  World Science Fiction Convention

  September 2010 - September 2020

  Wellington Region, New Zealand

  I was the co-chair of the bid and then the actual convention, to bring the World Science Fiction convention to New Zealand. The event was held in July 2020. This was a volunteer position, and more details are in the volunteer section of my profile.
• 

  Rotoscope Artist

  Wētā FX

  January 2001 - June 2002

  I moved into Rotoscoping for "The Fellowship of the Ring" and "The Two Towers" post production. During this time I also wrote a number of internal web page tools to view database information in a consistent place. I wrote a web based tool to allow requests for the roto and paint departments to be queued and assigned to the various artists.

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  
• 

  Workshop Technician

  Weta Workshop

  July 1999 - December 2000

  On the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, I was responsible for making all the gelatine prosthetics. This included all the Elf ears, as well as noses and appliances for various other characters.
  
  I was also involved with making some of the hobbit feet and giving advice on various chemical aspects of physical work.
  
  I devised variations on gelatine formulas to increase durability in hot and wet conditions.
• 

  Web Programming

  Terabyte Interactive

  January 1998 - June 1999

  Various programming of websites, mainly for Microsoft New Zealand
• 

  Web Programming and Design

  Freelance

  July 1997 - January 1998

  I was asked by Microsoft New Zealand to redesign and reprogram their local website.

• Computer Animation Artist

  Stretchy Productions

  January 1997 - June 1997

  Bill Boyce (Render Unto Caesar) hired me to work with him to model, texture, animate and render CG for the TV show "My World". This was mainly a pair of cockatoos along with environments and props.
  
  This was all created in Lightwave 3D.
• 

  Support Technician

  Microsoft Services

  August 1995 - January 1997

  Product support technician for Microsoft