Thanks to johobbit from the Silver Leaves journal team, who let us know that their journal issue number 4 is available now.  She tells us, ‘Silver Leaves Issue 4 is hot off the press.  The theme is Dragons and we are very excited about getting into the hands of Tolkien and fantasy fans.  This is another superb issue, with contributors including Jef Murray, Colin Duriez, Alison Baird, Doug Adams, Tim Kirk, Peter S. Beagle, Constance Wagner, Anna Repp, and Ted Nasmith, among many other talented folk.  Ordering information is available here.  And always remember, ‘It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near  him!’ ‘

If you enjoy the journal and would like to contribute, they are currently accepting submissions for Issue 5, which is themed on The Hobbit.  Deadline for submissions is 1st February 2013; further information here.

 

Hobbit bookKiwi Ringers! You could win a copy of The Hobbit signed by the Dwarves, Bilbo and Gandalf!

NZ Charity Skylight is raising money by auctioning a signed copy of The Hobbit. Skylight offers counselling and support to children suffering all kinds of trauma and grief  in their families – things such as earthquakes, mining disasters,  illness and violence. They’re a fantastic service and we would like to support this actors’ initiative to help them. You would need to have a New Zealand TradeMe account to bid on the auction, which goes live on November 20…..happy bidding. Read More

As fans get ready to buy advance tickets (or, in some countries, have already bought them!) to The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, you may be wondering what format you’ll be seeing it in at midnight on December 14th.  Will your local cinema be able to show it at 48 frames per second?  Will you have an IMAX experience?  What’s the advantage of all this new technology, anyway?

Thanks to Ringer SM for sending along this interesting article from the Directors Guild of America, where Peter Jackson talks about his decision to push forward the 48fps technology.  He addresses the doubts folks had after seeing footage at CinemaCon in Las Vegas last summer; though he dismisses the criticisms, he does go on to say, ‘The whites were being clipped, and we weren’t getting the dips and the shadows, which were giving it a slightly electronic sort of video look … We’ve completely re-designed the way we convert the data from the camera into the image. The highlights and shadows roll off more, giving it a much more filmic look.”

Read the whole, fascinating article here.  Thanks also to Ringer Gwaihir for alerting us to this page – a site where they’re trying to make a list of theatres which will be capable of showing The Hobbit at 48fps.  If you discover that your local cinema WILL be showing at 48fps, perhaps you can let the folks making the list know?  Otherwise, you might want to check the page from time to time to see if there’s any news about 48fps in your area.

TheOneRing.net has a long tradition of using digital means to bring like-minded friends together in real life. Internet friendships are even better when shared over a table of drink and food or a game, discussion or popcorn and soda. The Line Party tradition goes back to the early days of the site and the efforts have cemented life-long friendships. By the time The Return of the King rolled around, over 10,000 people signed up and enjoyed Line Party activities around the globe with many more enjoying the celebrations in person without ever signing up. The largest Line Party had over 1,200 participants but it was not the only one to reach beyond 1,000.

I personally have made many friends from Line Party efforts both at my local line and from people around the globe. A big, widespread effort from fellow fans also demonstrates that we aren’t just an online community but a real-world community that joins with others in celebrating the works of J.R.R. Tolkien. Since Fellowship of the Ring hit theaters, users and staff at TORn have celebrated each Middle-earth film by lining up in our local neighborhoods. We even printed a t-shirt declaring: “One does not simply walk into theaters, there are geeks there that do not sleep,” long before it was an internet meme. So join a line and if there isn’t one to join, start one! Here at TheOneRing, we have done this before and, we might be good at it. We will help and support as we are able.  What follows is a guide of the purpose and way to have a line party. We wish you the best success and look forward to celebrating a new journey into Middle-earth. (Line Party page.) Continue reading “Line Party 101: How to host or sign up for a Hobbit premiere viewing near you”

In case you’re a little behind on news – and we certainly are, snowed under as we are with exciting reports coming in all the time! – there are now TWO The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey TV spots out there.  Check them out here – TV Spot 1 and TV Spot 2.   Is this movie nearly here yet??