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Brother in arms

Angela Kelly
30/ 7/2008

WHEN Bob Woosnam-Savage was a student at Manchester University he found a treasure trove in the city of the things he loved: arms, armoury and films.

Now, 26 years later, he has used that passion to inspire the creation of a unique exhibition at the Royal Armouries Museum in Leeds which showcases some of the film world’s most distinctive weapons. It has brought exhibits from 12,000 miles away in New Zealand and the expertise of the craftsmen behind items in The Lord of the Rings trilogy to delight north west fans.

"I was interested in arms and armour from an early age," explained Bob. "I had lots of little toy knights and things like that and, being brought up in Shropshire, my parents used to take me around Welsh castles.

"But it wasn’t until I came to Manchester University to study history of art that my interest was re-ignited as I went to the museums and art galleries. I studied medieval Renaissance art and there are many pictures and sculptures of people with arms and armour, and that was me hooked again."

Bob took a postgraduate course in museums, and went to work in Glasgow before joining the Royal Armouries as curator.

He had an idea about bringing together armoury from the movies for a long time. In the meantime, he had forged a personal and professional relationship with Richard Taylor, the co-founder, with director Peter Jackson, of the Oscar-winning prop maker Weta Workshops in Wellington, New Zealand.

"Richard and I kept in touch over the years whilst the idea was fermenting and then, two years ago, I went on holiday to New Zealand, met up with Richard and Peter Jackson and went around the Weta Workshops," he said.

"Richard and everyone, including Peter, thought the exhibition was a great idea and that was it."

The logistics of shipping 230 props from the other side of the world and mounting the huge exhibition in Leeds were not quite as simple, but in the end, the dream turned to reality in a matter of months.

The exhibition itself is a triumph of awe-inspiring objects. There are the swords of Aragorn and Frodo from The Lord of the Rings and some from The Last Samurai. The wands waved by Tilda Swinton as the white witch in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe are also on show.

And there are the plane-mounted Lewis machine guns that killed King Kong, along with the giant revolver wielded by Hellboy. There will also be visits and workshops by key Weta designers from New Zealand, including master swordsmith Peter Lyon.

As Bob explained: "We are not talking about plastic props here – many of Weta’s weapons and armour are based on medieval European and Eastern designs and are bespoke items, individually built for both ‘beauty’ shots and for stunt-combat.

"They are made by remarkable craftsmen at the top of their field. These are beautiful carved items in themselves and wonderful to see, irrespective of their fascination for film fans."

Bob is acknowledged as one of Europe’s leading experts on historical arms and armour and has written several books on the subject. He has also advised on them for a number of films including Rob Roy and Ridley Scott’s Kingdom of Heaven.

"It’s one of the ironies that some of the finest looking medieval swords in the movies are in The Lord of the Rings motion picture trilogy, which is, of course, fantasy," Bob said.

"If you look at, say, Strider’s sword, one of the earlier Aragorn swords, it’s a really nice, almost classic medieval sword with a little bi-knife in the scabbard like a real one would have.

"It’s based on what’s called a bastard sword, the term coming from it being neither two or one-handed. It’s in between, a classic hand-and-a-half and it’s got a lot of nice detail you just don’t see in the movies. For the first time, they’re loyal to detail."

It’s plain that Bob is as enthusiastic as any film fan about the exhibition. "I enjoyed studying in Manchester," he added, "but lectures on Oxford Road were never this exciting!"

Arms and Armour from the Movies: The Wonderful World of Weta runs until November 16 at the Royal Armouries in Leeds. Visit www.royalarmouries.org for details