The Hobbit Trilogy Discussion Thread

[Orbert]

Originally Posted by P@t_Mtl

Not exactly news since we knew way back in 2001 that he had first turn down the role.

That was ten years ago, not everyone read it then, and not everyone remembers it now. There's nothing wrong with repeating it here, especially when there's not a lot of other news.

[P@t_Mtl]

Originally Posted by Orbert

That was ten years ago, not everyone read it then, and not everyone remembers it now. There's nothing wrong with repeating it here, especially when there's not a lot of other news.

True! I stand corrected

[Orbert]

I didn't mean to sound like an a$$ with that comment, I was just thinking it's still something worth posting, especially for people who might've missed it the first time round. Personally, I never realized how close we'd come to not having Sir Ian as Gandalf.

[radagast]

Originally Posted by SonOfTorah

I'm getting more excited for this film by the month! Loved the fun comments from Alan Lee and John Howe. Anyone else dig out a pair of anaglyph 3D glasses to look at the concept art?

Is the 3D stuff on the youtube video?

[Duffy12]

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AICN Hobbit Set Report 3 from Quint



http://www.aintitcool.com/node/51948

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[Duffy12]

Originally Posted by radagast

Is the 3D stuff on the youtube video?

I believe it is, but I never even bothered trying it out.

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[Reference]

It will be so awesome! One more year of waiting in pain!!

[Josh]

From the AICN post:

Hennah said the plans were to actually turn The Green Dragon into a real, working pub, but that’s all on the landowners at this point, I believe. I can picture many a geek wedding happening in Matamata, vows under the Party Tree and reception at The Green Dragon. Ah, geek love!

I think my wife would have killed me if I suggested such a thing. She puts up with my LOTR obsession pretty well, but getting married Hobbit style would have likely pushed her over the edge.

[radagast]

Originally Posted by Duffy12

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AICN Hobbit Set Report 3 from Quint



http://www.aintitcool.com/node/51948

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Well that starts to answer the question as to how PJ and company are going to "improve" Tolkien's writing this time around.

[Duffy12]

Originally Posted by radagast

Well that starts to answer the question as to how PJ and company are going to "improve" Tolkien's writing this time around.

LOL

Yea, I noticed that. But since film and book are two differnet mediums, I can live with it. I just hope that they don't get too carried away.

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[Blu Ian]

Is there any pics of Mikael Persbrandt as Beorn?

[Lnds500]

The Hobbit Teaser Trailer Arrives This Christmas

[Josh]

Originally Posted by kjacobs03

Who thinks we might get the first trailer by Christmas?

Me

[Duffy12]

Originally Posted by Lnds500

The Hobbit Teaser Trailer Arrives This Christmas

That's next month!!!! (Whoot!)


I have to wonder how much behind the scenes will be included in it, remembering that the first Fellowship teaser trailer had quite a bit of that.

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[TheWildWhelk]

Originally Posted by Duffy12

That's next month! I have to wonder how much behind the scenes will be included in it, remembering that the first Fellowship teaser trailer had quite a bit of that.

Probably a bunch of shots of cast members from LOTR to refresh peoples memories of how it fits into the series, followed by brief 'finding the ring' shots that echo the same footage from Fellowship, plus a helicopter shot of the lonely mountain and sound of Smaug who isn't seen. Probably.

[spidy]

Great news on the trailer! I haven't watched LOTR in years. I'm hoping to pick up the EEs at BB on BF. A lot of acronyms in that last sentence.

[Duffy12]

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Here are two reports regarding filming at the Beorn set-




Tree's demise Hobbit-sized crisis



By James Beech on Thu, 24 Nov 2011

News: Queenstown Lakes | The Hobbit









The old giant beech tree which prompted Sir Peter Jackson and 450 cast and crew members to film a scene for The Hobbit near Paradise, beyond Glenorchy and Queenstown, survived for a century until a storm blew it down six weeks ago.

This, however, was a Hobbit-sized problem in the grand scheme of issues for the Academy Award-winning screenwriter-producer-director in his bid to deliver Hobbit adventures to the world.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is due out on December 14 next year and The Hobbit: There and Back Again on December 13, 2013.

"We came down about six months ago to choose the exact spot where this house was going to get built, and one of the reasons why it's being built where it was is because of this amazing tree that we had standing right there," Sir Peter said.

"The tree we thought would be great to have right in the front of yard of the house was there for 100 years until six weeks ago, when it got blown over in the wind.

"So we had to build a fake one."

If the company was likened to "a travelling circus", as Sir Peter described it, then he is the ringmaster.

A core of creative crew members toured, with support crew hired in the Wakatipu or wherever else they happened to be working, Sir Peter said.

"Generally, you spend three, four, five days in one place because often you're only shooting one or two scenes there and because The Hobbit is a story of a quest, it's a travelling story, so virtually every scene takes place further along on the journey.

"It's a continuously changing landscape we're looking for."

The company's temporary "unit base" - production offices, make-up trailers, Portaloos, trucks, 4WD vehicles and the all-important catering marquee - buzzed with activity.

Stern Wellington security guards at the entrance asked what I was doing there, despite my being expected and my vehicle being covered in Otago Daily Times signs.

I was asked for identification, given a confidentiality agreement to sign and told to turn off my cellphone.

A minivan shuttled me and the unit publicist from unit base down a winding unsealed road to "tech base", a few minutes away.

Dozens of warmly clad crew members moved quietly between a large green screen set, an oversized dwelling set and several open-sided tents.

Planks of wood were lain across patches of mud, rain drops blew in the chill wind, but sunshine occasionally broke through.

Sir Ian McKellen was in full Gandalf the Grey costume and make-up on the green screen set.

Sir Peter's voice was heard giving directions on loudspeaker, but he was out of sight in a tent, viewing monitors attached to the 3-D cameras, being used for the first time in Middle-earth.

On the command "And action", everyone was silent as Gandalf walked slowly, staff in hand, down green-screen covered steps and the runway-like platform to stand beside a green-screen pole and ball and talk to Beorn (Mikael Persbrandt).

Monitors watched by crew members revealed how Gandalf and Beorn appeared to be standing on one of the adjacent physical sets, which featured an oversized workshop and barn, tools and a vegetable garden between real and fake trees.

Other two-storey-high sets included a scrub-covered gate and bee hives on shelves in an open-sided building with tussock on the roof.

About 10 minutes later, Sir Peter said on the loudspeaker "That's good" and gave instructions for another take.

Crew members murmured as they focused on their next task.

I was struck by the slightly surreal sight of Martin Freeman, dressed as Bilbo Baggins, with all 13 Dwarves, in full regalia, trudging down the incline from the rustic oversized set.

Each actor was given a black puffer jacket to wear over their costume and cups of steaming beverages.

Many pairs of hairy prosthetic hands were then carefully laid on a trestle table while the Hobbit and Dwarves went on their immediate epic quest - lunch.



http://www.odt.co.nz/news/queenstown...risis?mid=5375



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Sir Peter's great southern inspiration

By James Beech

5:30 AM Thursday Nov 24, 2011







Sir Peter Jackson says the sunshine, mountains and fresh air of Arcadia Station, near Queenstown, have raised both his spirits and those of his 450 cast and crew.

Sir Peter spoke in between scenes where Sir Ian McKellan as Gandalf the Grey, Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins and dwarves arrive at the house of Beorn (Mikael Persbrandt).

Tuesday was their third and final day of shooting on a giant set, which took eight weeks to build and was based on more than eight months of design - all for one scene of about three minutes of screen time.

"This is such a beautiful area, 360 degrees, everywhere you look, incredible scenery," Sir Peter said.

"In fact, the scene where Boromir dies in The Fellowship of the Ring was about 100 yards [90m] into that forest there."

Sir Peter said The Hobbit had been "a strange journey for me" as he originally thought he would produce and not direct the eagerly awaited movies.

"Even though it was frustrating at the times and a little bit stressful from time to time, we're here and making the movies and it seems like it was meant to be."

Sir Peter said shooting the two Hobbit films felt like a reunion and "feels like we're doing it for the right reasons".

The audience knew what to expect, but he still wanted to surprise them.

Filming in 3D for the first time provided greater depth and he loved the way Middle Earth was coming to life in a more vibrant way, he said.

"You'll literally feel like you've stepped into the story," he said.

The company shot in Hamilton, Ohakune, bluffs near Te Kuiti, Strath Taieri, near Middlemarch and near Paradise over the past three weeks. All cast and crew and gear were loaded on to 200 trucks and moved to Te Anau yesterday for more filming.

Asked if he felt the weight of expectation on his shoulders, Sir Peter said: "All I can do is make the best movie I can and hope people enjoy it. It's going to have a different tone to The Lord of the Rings because the characters are quite a lot different.

"The book was very much written for a much younger reader than Lord of the Rings was, but I didn't want to make a children's movie, I still wanted to have some of the main themes we had in the Rings."

- Otago Daily Times


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http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/ar...ectid=10768284



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[Grand Bob]

Today I received the just-released "The Art of the Hobbit" (link: http://www.amazon.com/Art-Hobbit-J-R...2105724&sr=1-1), which is a collection of all of the known sketches and paintings that Tolkien made while writing the book. There were a few illustrations that I thought could be the basis for scenes in the movie. Two examples include the very first rough sketch Tolkien made at the beginning of the story entitled "One Morning Early in the Quiet of the World", (which shows Gandalf's approach to Bag End), and a watercolor of Bilbo floating on the Forest River at night.

[Duffy12]

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An Unexpected Journey: Quint on the set of The Hobbit Part 4 – A Palaver of Istari-



http://www.aintitcool.com/node/52078

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[Mahatma]

Originally Posted by Grand Bob

Today I received the just-released "The Art of the Hobbit" (link: http://www.amazon.com/Art-Hobbit-J-R...2105724&sr=1-1), which is a collection of all of the known sketches and paintings that Tolkien made while writing the book. There were a few illustrations that I thought could be the basis for scenes in the movie. Two examples include the very first rough sketch Tolkien made at the beginning of the story entitled "One Morning Early in the Quiet of the World", (which shows Gandalf's approach to Bag End), and a watercolor of Bilbo floating on the Forest River at night.

Thnking hard of getting that...But maybe cool down my Tolkien purchase...Just bought my fifth edition of the Hobbit (HB pocket edition,nice BTW ) Maybe give a hint to my family in regard to the upcommng festivity