Thanks to ringer staff member Gamgee for this weeks great poll question!
Check out last weeks final results in our old poll area.
Day: November 28, 1999
Way back at the beginning of this project Peter Jackson talked about filming in different locations simultaneously, with him directing in one location live and the others via satellite. This is what they have ended up doing, according to a recent article in the Sunday Star-Times. Peter Jackson is using a kind of advanced video-conferencing system to direct in up to three locations simultaneously while working with live actors as well. New Line has its own dedicated satellite and images are beamed up to it.
The intereview with Barry Osborne confirmed that all three movies are being filmed simultaneously. I think some people still think that the movies are being filmed starting at the beginning and going through ’til the end. (I get emails, “Why isn’t so-and-so in NZ yet?”) The schedule as it stands, and with the added chaos of the flooding etc. must be a nightmare to keep track of.
A few people have been wanting more detail on the situation with LOTR being filmed in the National Parks.
The Department of Conservation has given permission for the company to film on D.O.C. land around Te Anau, the Wakatipu basin around Queenstown, and Mt.Owen around Murchison. D.O.C. has given the company a 77-page document outlining the conditions it sets, and there is a $50,000 bond to lose if they wreck anything.(For New Line, this would be the proverbial slap on the wrist with a wet bus-ticket, as far as threats go.) The film company must employ a D.O.C. officer to monitor how they’re affecting the environment; they must only drive on existing roads, and public access can’t be restricted. I like the last condition!
For all you UK Ringers out there,
From: Matt
Hey there, don’t know whether you know this already, but Andy Serkis (Voice of Gollum) is about to appear on UK TV this Sunday in Oliver Twist.
Apparently it’s a virtual re-write of Dicken’s original, a bit more hard edged and with more character depth. Serkis plays Bill Sykes, so we could get a taste of him in slimey mode!!
Don’t know the exact time, but it’s this Sunday, on ITV.
Check it out for a look (and a earfull) of Gollum‘s voice!
Mongvar has informed me that he’s gotten a small interview with Ralph Bakshi, director of the easily forgetable LOTR Cartoon in the late ’70’s, here’s a sample:
Mongvar Tolkien: First of all, thank you very much for the interview, Ralph. To start, I wish to make the question which, I think, is the one most of people has done. Why did The Lord of the Rings cartoon ended in the middle of the story? Was this the initial idea or you were hoping for doing the whole trilogy? Did you ever thought in continue the cartoon untill the end? Is there still the possibility of doing it?
Ralph Bakshi: It was impossible to do the trilogy in one film. The film company knew I was doing part 1 of a 2 part movie. When it was finished, they reversed their position, and said no one would go to see part 1 so they called it Lord of the Rings and everyone thought it was supposed to be the complete trilogy. I wouldn’t work with these people again.
For the rest of the small interview, click here.