Growing up in China, Ripley, a Master’s graduate from the Design Technology programme, would prepare her television viewing schedule by circling all the movies in the programme schedule she wanted to watch. In her teenage years, she spent her time watching movies late into the night, hiding under her blanket so her parents wouldn’t see the light.

Finding the right programme

Though Ripley studied Chinese language and literature at university in China, her love of film drove her to pursue a Master of Design Technology (MDT) at Victoria University of Wellington’s Miramar Creative Centre, with a focus on visual effects (VFX). Ripley chose to study VFX to gain skills directly applicable in the film industry. She knew that if she had a practical skill base to work from, she could get her foot in the door of the film industry and grow her career.

Victoria University of Wellington’s MDT programme is a one-year programme. Ripley describes her year of study as “concentrated, intense, and well-designed”. Ripley learned how to apply quick-thinking on set. Her most memorable problem-solving moment was during her final project: a short film involving Ripley and five other classmates. It was late at night, and they still had to film the final scene. It was stressful when the team realised the power extension cords weren’t long enough to light the scene. As the cinematographer, Ripley had to quickly find the alternative solution to achieve the shot. Clock ticking, she came up with the idea of using the backlights of a car, the flickering red lights making the scene more impactful and dramatic than what was initially envisioned. That moment made her realise how much she enjoys the exciting and ever-changing nature of on-set filmmaking.

Ripley also credits two of her senior lecturers, Programme Director Areito Echevarria (Academy-award winner) and Raqi Syed (also an alumna of Victoria University of Wellington), for her successful completion of the MDT programme. In the Creative Coding for Digital Content course, Areito designed assignments that taught his students more than just the techniques for VFX, encouraging students to focus on the storytelling and philosophy behind their final products. Areito and Raqi both acted as mentors during Ripley’s time as an MDT student and are still mentors today. The best advice Raqi gave, which Ripley still follows and offers to others, is:

“It’s important to have your own project and creative output—a project that isn’t aimed at making money or building your portfolio. Instead, create a project only for you, and one that makes your heart happy.”

Making her dreams come true

Ripley’s choice to study at Victoria University of Wellington was motivated by Wētā FX’s location being right here in Wellington. Ripley wanted to learn everything she could about Wētā FX and did her homework when looking for her first flat in Wellington, even finding a flatmate who worked at Wētā. She wanted to talk to people on the inside and find out everything she could about working in her dream industry.

Her strategy worked, and after successfully completing her Master’s programme, Wētā FX put a call out for junior positions, and Ripley was ready to go. She applied and successfully secured a junior role as Assistant Technical Director in Effects, later moving into her current position as an Effects Technical Director. Ripley’s work focuses on movement, making water, fire, and plants in scenes look like they are really moving.

In her first year at Wētā FX, Ripley’s area of focus was on plants. As it turns out, the wind in “Windy Welly” made it the perfect city to study plant movement. Ripley became captivated by plants, paying attention to minute details. However, one drawback to Ripley’s new-found obsession with plants is that walks can now be very long as it’s difficult for her not to stop at every plant and analyse its movements.

At Wētā FX, Ripley’s stand-out moment so far has been working on her first film, Avatar: The Way of Water (directed by James Cameron, 20th Century Studios, 2022. Ripley acknowledges the differences between her MDT programme and working in the industry, noting that in most of her MDT projects, she was solely responsible for the work, whereas working on a film is the opposite, involving many different groups of people to create a single scene.

“Working on a film involves a lot of communication, liaising with different departments, peers, supervisors, and production workers. Excellent communication is needed to convey how your part of the work is going and the timing of when things will be ready. There needs for full transparency for all the parts you are responsible for. Communication also means you need to consider and respond to others’ ideas and feedback.”

Embracing the wind

Outside of work, Ripley enjoys hikes around the Wellington hills, going to the gym, Muay Thai (also known as Thai boxing), reading, and, of course, watching movies. Having lived in Wellington for the past seven years, Ripley loves the city and the diverse community that comes with it.

“Wellington is a vibrant, chaotic, and welcoming city. I believe it’s the most welcoming city in New Zealand.”

Ripley has learned to embrace the wind in Wellington and encourages others to embrace it as well. From her perspective, the wind adds a spicy element and more flavour to the city and filmmaking.

“People look different in the wind, plants look different in the wind, and making a film here in Wellington is different from making a film outside of Wellington.”