This documentary introduces Wētā Workshop (and its design crew of sculptors and set-designers), renowned artists Alan Lee and John Howe who were brought on to join them in conceptual design, and costume designer Ngila Dickson. Topics covered include the design of Middle-earth cultures portrayed in the film, the making of props and settings for Hobbiton, Rivendell, the Orthanc interior, and Caras Galadhon, and the complexity of prosthetics.

Peter Jackson, members of Weta, and film production personnel are interviewed, telling of the birth of a small company in 1993 (for the making of Heavenly Creatures), which would provide visual effects for The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, and its various tasks in rendering fictional, fantasy environments and entities. The process behind the making of the Watcher in the Water, the Cave-troll, the giant corridor of Dwarrowdelf, the Balrog and its fire effects, the water-horses of the Bruinen flood, and the Ringwraiths' true appearance are explained by effects specialists of Weta Digital and the American company Digital Domain.