Tributes flow at funeral of long-serving film industry legend

HUMBLE: Alex Kramer made a significant impact in the film industry.

In the frigid waters of Lake Wakatipu, Alex Kramer stood chest deep holding the heavy model head of Crusoe, aka the Loch Ness Monster.

It was part of the filming process for Waterhorse: Legend of the Deep, and Alex was the go-to person to hold the model head out of the water and above his head.

"The water was so cold that it was steaming under the film lights," Weta Digital optical senior production manager Sandy Taylor said at the funeral of the 56-year-old last week.Although Alex had got the lifting duty a bit by default, because of his strength, it was a shining example of his commitment to the film industry and a career he loved.

Alex, from Paraparaumu Beach, was a well-loved family man as well as an admired and influential figure in the Weta Workshop and Weta Digital companies where he worked for 18 years.

His involvement in the film industry happened after back trouble meant he sidelined his builder/cabinet maker/draughtsman work to sign up to a night school course to learn about the computer-aided design (CAD) software program popular with architects, designers and engineers.

Not long after he started work at Weta Workshop where he used the software to digitally draw up film set plans.

Sandy recalled the time when the miniatures department needed to measure a miniature of a large-scale model of Minis Tirith [a film set in The Lord of the Rings].

Alex suggested surveying the miniature with a laser survey tool to determine the scale of the live action set that could be built to film actors on.

She said Weta Digital became interested in using the system of surveying real sets to bring scale to Middle Earth in the digital world.

The method became the basis of the company's onset surveying system today.

"Alex was a pioneer and the driving force behind this taking place."

Alex went on to be a key surveyor for more than 40 blockbuster films including The Lord of the Rings, King Kong, X-Men: The Last Stand, I, Robot, Waterhorse: Legend of the Deep.

Alex's work was highly regarded and last year he and a colleague were contenders for an Oscar for King Kong.

"While the award didn't end up coming his way, it demonstrated Alex's hard work and determination, and above all, his innovation also prevailed."

She said Alex was a man who had presence, self-assurance, high work standards, was reliable and true to his word.

"A legend exits screen left."

She also read a message from Sir Peter Jackson who was unable to attend the funeral.

Aside for his film industry career, Alex loved being with his wife Shona and their three children Monique, Lars and Anneke.

Alex first met Shona in 1978 when he popped in for a trim in her hairdressing shop in Hataitai.

They married in 1983, and by 1990 were living in Kapiti and soon raising their three children.

He had a soft spot for Kapiti, the place he grew up in after his family immigrated from the Netherlands when he was two.

Son Lars has followed in his father's footsteps and is a senior camera technical director at Weta Digital, the same position his father held.

A family notice published after his death paid tribute to the Oncology Team at Wellington Hospital and the Mary Potter Hospice.