A love of inventing has seen Scott Harens (Hall House 1985-88) work on special effects in the New Zealand film industry for more than 20 years.
His notable credits include The Lord of the Rings, Avatar and The Hobbit.
Harens was the supervisor responsible for all of the miniature special effects, during his six years working on The Lord of the Rings films.
His job was to turn Sir Peter Jackson’s ideas into reality, either through computer design or three dimensional modelling using materials like plastic.
“A director has an idea and it is up to us in the special effects departments to create that illusion,” says Harens, who is a skilled operator of the Solidworks computer programme.
“I love magic. I have always loved magic as a kid and film is just another version of an illusion. And that has been the part that has intrigued me.”
He says it was an incredible experience working during the golden years of the New Zealand film industry. “I got to work with some unbelievably talented people. I feel I have been blessed to have had these opportunities.”
On Sir Peter Jackson, Harens says: “He is a visionary and a very creative person. He is very shy and would probably prefer to work in his garage by himself than work with other people.”
His first break came from a chance conversation Harens had with the owner of a radio controlled model shop in Wellington about how he loved making things. “He said to me ‘you need to meet my friend Richard Taylor.’” Harens was one of the first staff to work for Sir Richard Taylor of Weta Workshop fame.
He worked for free for a month and then got paid work on the cult TV series at the time, Hercules and Xena.
He also worked on one of Sir Peter Jackson’s first feature films, The Frighteners, starring Michael J Fox.
Part of his brief for that film was to build from scratch props as diverse as a ghost catching machine, to Egyptian artefacts.
He also worked on Oscar and Friends, a 27-episode clay animation children’s series made in Wellington in the late 1990s which was a worldwide hit.
Harens says his love of inventing all started as a teenager when “all I was interested in was making stuff.”
“As a kid I always pulled things apart before I played with them. I like reading manuals as opposed to reading books,” says Harens who attended school in South Africa and Koromatua School near Hamilton before going to St Paul’s.
His favourite subject at St Paul’s was workshop technology, and he speaks highly of his mentor at the time.
“There was this fantastic teacher, Mr Salisbury (Dip Tchg 1986-91), who would do his marking in his classroom at lunchtimes so I could work on my own projects. He was the guy that I was always grateful for his time.”
A guitar was just one of the things he constructed from scratch, while still at school. When he left school, Harens did a Diploma in Design at Wintec in Hamilton.
Now based in Fielding, he has two sons Sam 20, and Adam, 18 who live in Australia and he and his partner Jeanne have baby son Schuyler.
Harens has also run an internet business since 2008, to provide another income between film jobs.
The website www.dreadmeister.com provides custom parts for musical instruments. He has also worked as a copy-writer for Radio New Zealand, a glass blower, caterer, and wind turbine developer.
Harens played in the St Paul’s rock band in the 1980s and retains his interest in music today.
