The day-to-day operation of the website, and the events we host, require a lot more resources than when we first started nearly 15 years ago. We sometimes find it hard to ask our readers for the help we need to keep running, so we began discussing what it is that makes TheOneRing.net worth helping out. It started out as a search for the Top Ten Moments of TORn, but the list got so long because each staff member had their own idea of important moments in TORn history. Here, instead, is something more encompassing: Ten Ways TORn helps serve Tolkien and Lord of the Rings fandom (listed in no specific order).

And, if you enjoy what we do, consider a donation (no amount too small, because every bit does help!) to keep us running!

If you can’t, that’s fine as well — keep reading, commenting and contributing. Because TORn is as much you as it is us!

If you’ve ever sent in an article, submitted a photo or report, posted on our messageboards, visited our chat, or commented on our twitter, facebook or g+, you’re the reason TheOneRing.net is among the largest and most-respected pillars of the Tolkien community on the web.

• Spy Reports

• Spy reports were a big part of our content when the website first started. From casting announcements to secret location pictures to leaked images of important plot points, spy reports were our bread and butter stories. Some of the reports were from random, anonymous sources, while others were official leaks from cast and crew. In fact, there were many production members who said they used TheOneRing.net to keep track of what some of the other filming units were doing. Other spy reports were just someone stumbling upon a film location and sending in a story or images and then we’d all try and guess what location it actually was. Some of our biggest spy reports were of Arwen at Helm’s Deep (which subsequently didn’t happen), Saruman’s prone body on a spiky wheel (which did happen), and TheOneRing.net was given the honor of introducing Thorin to the world. And very soon, we will be seeing stories from MrCere’s visit to the set from his Production Embed last year.

• Hall of Fire Chats and the Message Boards

• Literary discussions on the message boards and Hall of Fire chats – From the very beginning of TheOneRing.net, discussions of the books, chapter by chapter, has been a hallmark. After all, while we waited for news on who would be cast, where filming would take place, and rumors of what might be cut out, we had the books to talk about. Discussions worked by talking about one chapter at a time, and luckily, there are enough books with enough chapters, to keep those discussions going on for a long while. Since the beginning, we’ve looped through the books several times, but luckily, there are always new readers joining the discussion, and new interpretations to be had. And for something a little more dynamic, there are the Hall of Fire chats in Barlimans. Sometimes the talk is about a specific chapter, or a certain character, and sometimes it is about current events, such as new character images or reviews of a recently released trailer. No matter which forum you use, there is always someone to talk to about some aspect of Tolkien, the books or our fandom.

• TORns Live Videos

• We began with TORn Live, which consisted of Red Carpet interviews at premieres, awards ceremonies and special events like Cannes 2001 and SDCC. These would be recorded, edited and released online a few days or weeks later. But technology now allows for live streaming interviews and vlogs and the like. Quickbeam hosts a weekly TORn Tuesday event with interviews and discussions, while he interacts with a live chatroom. The Happy Hobbit ladies record and post their vlogs and post them within a day or two of their recordings, for a much quicker turnaround on video content. And right now we have the Road to DragonCon in full swing with live streaming from across the country.

• Conventions

• Convention appearances – Calisuri and Quickbeam hosted a panel at San Diego Comic Con in 2001, before the release of FOTR, and since then barely a year has gone by that TORn hasn’t had a presence at at least one convention. At many of the conventions we appear at we also have a presence on the exhibit hall floor where we have sold some of our classic TORn shirts. We love it when we get up on stage for a panel and half the people in the audience are wearing some of our older shirts.

•  

  

  Baggins Birthday Party sign

  Line Parties and Fan Events

• Line Parties and other fan hosted events – TheOneRing.net has always been a grass roots type of fan-site and that is no more apparent then looking at the Line Parties of years past. Whether it is just a few friends, or some hundreds of people signing up on the website to attend, fans like you all over the world hosted Line Parties. A few even took place over several days, and included costume contests and trivia games for prizes. Other fan hosted events over the years have been the Hobbit Day/Baggins Birthday Bash events on Sept. 22, the Tolkien Toast on Jan. 3 and the Tolkien Reading Day on March 25. TORn staff in Los Angeles have been hosting a Baggins Birthday Bash party for 11 years now, but there are fan groups around the world that have hosted similar events. Smaller moots happen around the world all the time, there is a very active group in Wellington and one in Croatia. If you are hosting a fan event in the next year or two, please feel free to tell us about it.

• The Oscar Parties

• Originally conceived as a fan event to help raise funds to buy TORn a new server, who could have imagined the Cast and Crew actually showing up to the FOTR oscar party? Even more surprising, who could have imagined the ROTK sweep and all those Oscars on stage at a fan hosted party?

• O.R.C and E.L.F.

• TheOneRing.net hosted conventions – The One Ring Celebration on the West Coast (O.R.C.) and the Eastern Lord of the Rings Festival on the East Coast (E.L.F.) were co-productions with a professional convention company, but they definitely had a TORn stamp on them. The conventions allowed us to combine our love of the films by interacting with cast and crew with our love of the books through academic discussions, the art shows and costume displays. We really did break the mold on how a commercial scifi convention is run and hope everyone who attended had a blast.

• Academic essays and editorials

• TORn has long standing relationships with many in the academic community who have posted guest essays and editorials. Over the year several staffers have posted in depth analysis to fan questions on the site as well. In fact, we have a whole section on the ‘old TORn’ (pre-crash) called Green Books for academic posts. This section had so much good stuff in it, we published a book called “The People’s Guide to J.R.R. Tolkien” and a sequel book as well.

• Driving fan initiatives

• After Return of the King was done and Peter Jackson moved on to do King Kong, the fans waited to see what would happen with The Hobbit afterwards. Months turned to years and still no word while studios went bankrupt, copyrights issues got tangled up and various lawsuits were filed for missing payments. Finally, a few fans decided they had had enough and started a petition to ‘Make the Hobbit Happen’. They brought it to TORn and we got thousands of you to sign so that a big pile of names was delivered to TPTB. A similar thing happened when there was talk that the production would be moved out of New Zealand. The fans could see no where else as Middle-earth, so the ‘Keep the Hobbit in NZ’ campaign was born, but this time on Social Media. And most recently, there was an explosion of Tolkien fan love over the #Votebilbo twitter event prompted by an MTV Audience Award.

• TORn Community

• This list compiles many of the things that TheOneRing.net does to keep you informed, entertained and engaged, but there is really just one thing that makes TheOneRing.net so important to keep around. And that is the community of fans that convene on our message boards, in Barliman’s chat, on Facebook and Twitter.

This site was built by fans getting together to discuss what they hoped for from Peter Jackson long before FOTR ever saw the light of day. The fact that a long existing fan-base gathered here meant engaged and informed discussion began from day one, including analyzing all the spy reports about casting and location details. We didn’t have to wait for the release of the films, or for several episodes of a new show to take off before we could discuss the minutia of every detail because our fan base was already well established.

And what is ‘fandom’ if not a community of like minded people passionate about the same thing. Sure, everyone has their own opinions, so every time a new image was released, or a new trailer appeared, the message boards and chatroom erupted into heated discussions. But as the years wore on friendships were made, some turning into marriage, and we all began meeting up at various moots, conventions, concerts, premiere events, trips to New Zealand or just coffee and a movie. How many of you newer fans were galvanized by the #Votebilbo campaign and now have a wider array of Twitter friends because of it? The fact that TORn was able to continue to exist during all those lean years between film productions is due mostly to you, the readers, sticking around to discuss anything and everything to do with Tolkien, and sometimes other bits of pop culture. We know that after the release of The Hobbit: There and Back Again we will see another decline of readership, but we also know that the community is strong, the friendships have been forged and all of you take that fandom with you where ever you go next.

So again, if you are so inclined to help support us and keep the website going, please do make a pledge or bid on one of the many cool auction items we’ve been posting about the past few days. On behalf of the All Volunteer Staff at TheOneRing.net, you have our deepest gratitude for all the support over the years.

On the Main board this week, Ethel Duath invited us all to create an anthem for the fictional country of Tolkenia.

Whilst in the Reading Room, noWizardme wants to know which Tolkien book character would you have lunch with, and why? 

The Hobbit board is buzzing over why we haven’t seen any major images of Bolg, Dain or Beorn (apart from the blurry Sonic Hedgehog image of Beorn and a toy of Bolg).

In Off Topic we’ve been checking up on our friends in the Wellington area after the big earthquake last week.

And in the Pollantir, Maciliel wants to know how many books we have in our personal libraries.

We’ll share more topics next week. We hope you’ll come and join in the conversations!  Don’t forget, TheOneRing.net’s message boards have over 9,950 registered Tolkien fans, just like you.  Let your voice be heard!

For more information on the strength and location of the quake, GeoNet – Quakes and for live reactions to the quake click here.

Additional reports received from newsagencies in New Zealand are saying there have been several aftershocks

From stuff.co.nz: “A magnitude 5.7 aftershock centred 5km southeast of Seddon and 8km deep hit about six minutes later.

Another large aftershock, magnitude 5.6, struck at 2.45pm. It was centred 15km southeast of Seddon at a depth of 5km.

A quake closer to Wellington struck at 2.50pm. Geonet said the 4.8 magnitude quake was 15km south of the city at a depth of 5km.”  Read more…

Part of a deal signed with Warner Bros and New Line Cinema said at least one of the world premieres had to be held in New Zealand.

Jackson’s spokesman Matt Dravitzki this morning confirmed the second premiere would not be held in New Zealand this year.

EDIT: This writer’s interpretation is that this means that the world premiere won’t be held in Wellington, not that it won’t host a premiere event at all. If there’s a clarification of this slight ambiguity, we’ll let you know.

[Read More]

But at times they did. In my previous installment of this series, “Places Full of Magic,” I wrote about the facilities I visited. Now it’s time to reveal a few things I learned there—and kept quiet about.

The End of All Things

As I mentioned in that installment, I met producer Barrie Osborne on my third full day in Wellington. One of the first things he said to me was “We may not make the foreign premieres.” What he meant was that the final film had to be supplied to the foreign distributors early, so that they would have time to prepare the dubbing and subtitling. For English-language countries, the deadline wasn’t looming quite as large–except for New Zealand, where the world premiere was set for December 1.

Still, as anyone knows who has watched the Return of the King supplement “The End of All Things” knows, there was a frantic rush to finish the film. (I love that supplement, since it portrays the situation much as I witnessed it during that first visit, though I ended up leaving Wellington on October 28, before the really frantic final weeks before the delivery of the negative.)

I don’t think the direness of the situation was general knowledge, though in Wellington there were rumors flying–and many of them were not inaccurate. Pickups were still being shot in October, though they were mainly things like minor orcs to be jigsawed into special-effects shots. Anyone wandering past the Stone Street Studios was likely to spot costumed extras taking breaks.

In my book I describe a scene during an October 1 meeting of the heads of post-production departments in Barrie’s office. These daily meetings’ purpose was to try and speed up progress on the film. A secretary came in and said there was going to be a story about the film being behind schedule on the evening news. Clearly the story was being aired because it was exactly two months to the premiere. We all watched it as a reporter indignantly told of how filming was still underway, which she seemed to assume meant that the deadline wouldn’t be met. The mayor was interviewed, giving reassurance that the premiere would take place as planned. Telephoto shots of orcs smoking cigarettes outside Studio A accompanied the story, as well generous clips from the brand new Return trailer.

Near the end of the story, the audio track of Gandalf’s line, “All you have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to you,” was included. Everyone in the room burst out laughing and went back to discussing what to do with the short time they had left. All the deadlines were met. It was only later that the full story of the difficult final push came out.

The Ending

Long-time fans may recall that in the months before The Return of the King appeared, speculation concerning how the film would end ran rampant on the Internet. For such an epic tale, would the scriptwriters stick to Tolkien’s quiet ending, with Sam returning home from the Grey Havens? Would they end with the coronation? (Some reviewers and theater-goers obviously wished they had!) I saw discussion threads where fans expressed hope of seeing an epilogue with Sam or even Legolas and Gimli departing Middle-earth to cross the Sea to the Uttermost West (as happens in the appendices).

By sheer accident, during my first week in Wellington, I found out the answer. In that earlier installment, I mentioned that I met Peter Doyle early in that first visit. He’s the digital colorist who invented the first viable digital coloring system specifically for The Lord of the Rings.

In retrospect, I wish I could have interviewed Peter for my book, but who had heard of digital coloring at that point? I certainly didn’t know much about it; I don’t think many people did, since the process hadn’t been publicized or made available to the rest of the film industry. But Peter invited me to visit The PostHouse, a temporary facility set up to do the trilogy’s selective digital color grading, the next day.

The facility was at the back of a large warehouse across the street from The Film Unit (now Park Road Post). Peter offered to give me a demonstration of color grading, and we went into a large room next door. It was dark and filled with rows of computer stations where experts at this new craft were busily adding color to parts of shots, or making color more subdued, manipulating light levels, and making all the other amazing changes that digital technology had made possible.

Peter sat me down at a monitor and, using a close-up of Denethor as an example, he showed off the ways in which he could apply such changes in color or contrast or amount of light just to selected parts of a shot—the eyes, or a cheek, or part of the background. The program would then apply the same changes to all the other frames of the shot. Peter demonstrated with another example: the extreme long shot of Gandalf’s cart going along a path between lush green fields, heading for the Grey Havens. He could dial up a shaft of sunlight, making one of the fields brighter, depending where he wanted to guide the eye of the viewer. In the frame below, you can see that the field on the left is slightly lighter than the grassy hills on the right. Peter explained that that decision was made because that’s the direction in which the group is traveling, the Grey Havens side of the shot.

In the middle of this, Peter paused and said, “Oh, there’s the last shot.” I looked over, and the man sitting to our left was indeed grading the very last shot. The camera was tracking forward and the round yellow door was closing.

So then I knew that the film would end pretty much the way the book does. When I saw The Return of the King about nearly two and a half months later, it turned out that there were small differences: Sam and Rosie had two children here, not one, and he said “Well, I’m back” outside, not inside sitting by the fire with Elanor in his lap.

Close enough, though, I think. Whatever bombast fans might accuse the filmmakers of when it comes to battles or monsters, they opted for quiet domesticity and the return of peace, just as it should be. My husband, who has not read the novel, was surprised and impressed that the filmmakers chose such a modest, emotional ending.

Coincidentally, about three weeks later, I saw another vital shot being worked on. I mentioned in my previous entry that Weta’s digital models supervisor, Matt Aitken, gave me a tour of the main Weta Digital facility. During that tour I saw the main animation room. Matt introduced me to Georgie (if I caught the name right), who was working on the moment when Gollum falls into the lava. She wasn’t satisfied with the way it looked and was going to do it over. The animation team, she told me, referred to it as the “Gollum falls into the lasagna” shot. It did look a bit like that at the stage she had reached, but by the time she got through with it and we all saw it in the final film, it looked terrific.

What are the odds of happening to see both the final shot and the climactic shot still in progress, out of the thousands in the finished film?

 The Figure on the Embassy Theatre Façade

Last time I also mentioned that Daniel Falconer kindly gave me a Weta Workshop, where, among other things, he introduced me to Treebeard. What I didn’t mention was that on the floor of the same big studio room, there were large unassembled portions of the figure of the Witch King on his flying Fell Beast that would adorn the Embassy Theatre’s marquee during the world premiere of The Return of the King. These pieces were only partially painted. This was October 7, and the premiere was not until December 1. Daniel warned me not to tell anyone what I had seen. The figure on the marquee was a surprise each year.

I’m sure that in 2003 the figure was indeed a surprise. During my stay in Wellington, I went out for dim sum with film-faculty members and graduate students from Victoria University Wellington. They were convinced that the marquee figure would be Shelob. A logical guess, and widely shared, I’m sure. Still, since the Wellington premiere was scheduled well ahead of the film’s release in the rest of the world, the filmmakers clearly did not want the design of the main new monster for the third part to be revealed prematurely. Naturally, I kept quiet about what the real figure would be. (At top, a photo of the Nazgûl being raised onto the Embassy façade, taken by Ringer Spy Mr. MB.)

While the Gollum figure that had graced the theater façade the previous year had an extended life, perched on the roof of the Wellington airport, the Nazgûl and his Fell Beast met a more ignominious fate. There was a report in the Dominion Post on April 12, 2004, that the figure had been dumped in a field beside the Wellington dump–a “felled beast,” as the caption-writer put it. I wonder if the pieces eventually disintegrated or were salvaged by fans with really big garages. Any news on their current whereabouts, if any, would be welcome.

(The first two parts of this series are here and here.)

(A scan of part of my print-out of the original story. That story is still online but is difficult to access and no longer has the photo accompanying it.)

Jed Brophy (Nori), Adam Brown (Ori) Mark Hadlow (Dori), Dean O’Gorman (Fili) Aidan Turner (Kili) John Callen (Oin), Peter Hambleton (Gloin), Stephen Hunter (Bombur), William Kircher (Bifur), James Nesbitt (Bofur),  Graham McTavish (Dwalin).

Also Sylvester McCoy (Radagast the Brown) will be there doing a panel and is signing autographs all 3 days.

Resident hot dwarves Aidan Turner (Kili)  and Dean O’Gorman (Fili) will be signing and hosting photo sessions individually on Sunday only.

Check out the official website for more info! [Official Site] [Tickets]

This month we’re asking questions of self-described Online guy at Weta Workshop and all round top bloke, Magnus Hjert.

Kelvarhin: Thanks for joining us this month Magnus, as always we’ll start with grammas favourite question…

What was your favourite cartoon when you were growing up?

Magnus: I grew up in Sweden on a rich and varied comics diet consisting of Tintin, Asterix, The Phantom, Spirou et Fantasio, its spin-off Marsupilami, Iznogoud… but my all-time favourite (that I still read) is Tintin.

Kelvarhin: What was your favourite toy as a kid?

Magnus: My Märklin train set… it initially provided much entertainment for my father and uncle, as I believe I was about three when I got it for Christmas. But it was awesome when I was older and could build model buildings etc.

Kelvarhin: Some of the  TORNfolk (Tehanu, Garfeimao, deej and entmaiden) were in attendance to help Weta and the Neonatal Trust break the Guinness Record for most sandcastles built in an hour. They know that they built enough, but Guinness requires a lot of documentation and time to certify the results, and they’re wondering if you’ve gotten the official results from the world record Sandcastle Build last November?

Magnus: I don’t actually know the answer, but I promise I will find out from Martin Baynton, who is the main link between Adventure Wellington and Weta Workshop. I was on that beach myself, covering it on behalf of Weta. The event was organised by Adventure Wellington and Weta Workshop helped out with buckets and quite a few crew, including Richard, Tania and many others.

Kelvarhin: What is your favourite location in NZ?

Magnus: I’ve lived here now for 10 years and I have many favourites. But that’s a bit of a cop-out, so I will try to pick one.  To narrow it down little by little, the region called the Wairarapa is about 90 minutes’ drive away from Wellington and is predominantly a rural area, but with a twist – it’s one of New Zealand’s premier wine regions. Small towns that 50 years ago were as rural as rural can be have blossomed with the increased interest the wine has brought to the region. On the way to my favourite place, you pass through several of these, Featherston, Greytown, Carterton. When you get to Masterton, you take a right and head for the coast. And after driving through orchards and sheep stations, you get to Castlepoint. A Pacific beach community with a spectacular lighthouse and rock formations, a fantastic beach and a camping ground. And very little else. The weather is often unforgiving, but lying in a tent, listening to the ocean… it doesn’t get much better. Oh – I just realised you probably meant shooting location? Well, other than Hobbiton which is truly AWESOME, a favourite is the Dimholt Road/Paths of the Dead at Putangirua Pinnacles in… you guessed it: The Wairarapa.

Kelvarhin: What are your most favourite places, of all the places you’ve been to in the world?

Magnus: Monterey, California. Montpellier, France. London, England (lived there for 7 years). Copenhagen, Denmark (being from Malmo in Sweden, Copenhagen is a natural place to hang out – back then it was a 45 minute boat trip away. Now there’s a bridge…). And Wellington – on a good day…

Kelvarhin: What movies or television shows are you into right now, apart from The Hobbit?

Magnus: Star Trek: Into Darkness was awesome – I went with a band of colleagues and everyone was pretty much in agreement it was a great film. With two kids of 6 and 10 years, I watch a LOT of ‘children’s’ flicks – like Wall-e, How to train your Dragon (and Riders of Berk) and love it, but Game of Thrones, Boardwalk Empire, House MD, Doctor Who, Sherlock and even the occasional UK detective show/murder mystery re-run like Midsomer Murders, Morse, Miss Marple, Hercules Poirot… I’m easy to entertain…

Kelvarhin: I’m a child of migrants, and I know you’re originally from Sweden, so I was wondering what inspired your move to New Zealand?

Magnus: I was dragged here kicking and screaming by my Kiwi wife… nah, it was actually the other way around. I get itchy feet staying in one place for too long and when we were living in London (where we met and wed) and expected our first child, we decided there were healthier places to bring up children than south London, so we chose New Zealand. Thinking we’d only be here for 4-5 years and then perhaps go to Sweden (where all my family is). But then I got my job at Weta – as close to my dream job as I’m ever likely to get – and we’ve now decided not to up-root the kids, but stay here for at least as long as they want to stay. Then we’ll see.

Kelvarhin: What was the most difficult thing about organising Wetas surprise for TORn’s 10th Anniversary?

Magnus: Getting everyone to the same courtyard at the same time. Gino from Weta Digital down the road, Richard Taylor from somewhere in the building, Guillermo del Toro from 3 Foot 7 and then getting the crew to pick up some props and waving them around. We had many false starts on different occasions, but in the end we got it together. Woohoo! Man, that seems like a long time ago now… I was very nervous directing Guillermo del Toro, but he was very good about it.

TORn 10th Anniversary Weta Video

Kelvarhin: How long have you been working for Weta Workshop and how did you come to be involved with them?

Magnus: I’ve been here since 2008 and I owe it to my sister-in-law who found the ad in the paper…

Kelvarhin:  Working for Weta sounds great, but being a marketing manager sounds like hard work… is the line between being on the job and dreaming sharp or fuzzy? Is there even a line?

Magnus: That’s a great question… I’m gonna have to think about that one… Right – I’m back after having answered a few other questions in the meantime. The answer is – there is no line… my job is a constant intertwinement of fantasy, fans, fiction, collectors, artists, logistics, writing and just saying ‘awesome’ a lot. Weta is not a normal workplace – we who work there tend to forget.

Kelvarhin: Within your position at Weta, you must have been involved with some very surreal situations (perhaps meeting certain people, taken part in certain events and so on). What is your most memorable moment?

Magnus: There are many… in my first week, one of the Workshop technicians, Jordan, drove up and down the road outside on his rocket powered bicycle. A few months later I was recording a sound bite with Bill Farmer (Goofy since 1986) on a podcast and suddenly Michael Winslow (officer Larvell Jones in Police Academy) chips in with a Mickey Mouse impersonation… And meeting Sir Ian McKellen – again for a podcast interview… it’s all a bit surreal in hindsight, but while you’re doing it… it’s fantastic.

Kelvarhin: What item do you like the most of all the items made by Weta? And why?

Magnus: Ooooooh – that’s a tough one. The Minas Tirith shooting miniature – I have never seen it in real life, but the impact it had on me in LOTR when I first saw it on screen… man! Barad-dûr and Orthanc likewise – I’ve seen both of them outside David Tremont’s workshop while he was working away on the collectible models. Of the things you can take home… Peter Lyon’s swords… probably Andúril… words cannot describe how epic they are and how powerful you feel with one in your hand.

Kelvarhin:  I have heard workers from Weta get a chance to buy the things they make (the collectibles). Have you ever not bought an item and later regretted that you didn’t get it? If yes, what was it, and why do you regret not getting it?

Magnus: Yes – I admit to being a complete sucker for Greg Broadmore’s rayguns… and my favourite is the Goliathon 83, which is now sold out. While it was still in stock, I couldn’t afford it. But if I ever get a chance to buy one…

Kelvarhin: What is it like seeing all these cool Collectibles before the fans get to see them? Also, how hard is it to hold that from the world?

Magnus: A) Orgasmic. B) Extremely.

Kelvarhin: If you were making a car commercial, what Weta Workshop items would you include?

Magnus: Rayguns – ‘Vorsprung Durch Technik’. It’s a mantra in Ingolstadt as well as at Grordbort Industries. Although it would be in English undoubtedly. ‘Advantage through Technology’.

Kelvarhin: And lastly, if you were a dwarf in Thorin’s Company, which one would you be?

Magnus: Easy – Bombur. A little known fact is that I have “arse-modelled” for our Bombur collectible, showing the sculptors what it looks like when a fat guy runs… up and down the Weta Workshop car park. And Leaflock from The Shadow and Flame’s Weta collectors’ forum actually turned me into Bombur in the S&F Christmas card for Weta. So I feel a strong affinity with the guy. I have included the image Leaflock made.

As always thanks to all our message board regulars, DanielLB, SirDennisC, Ataahua, Elessar, Brethil, elaen32, entmaiden, dernwyn, Kaede, grammaboodawg and Rosie-with-the-ribbons, for this month’s questions.

If you would like to ask any questions yourself, just head over to our Message Boards, the sign up process is pretty painless. A lead post for questions is made at the beginning of each month on the Main board. Or you can just check Main for each months interviewee and email me your questions at kelvarhin@theonering.net.

Till next time from TORn’s resident Tiger.

Kelvarhin

This month we’re asking questions of uber fan from Brisbane Australia, Peter Kenny.

Hi Peter and thank you for joining in

Kelvarhin:  What piece of Tolkien ephemera began your collection?

Peter: My very first Tolkien Book was a single volume paperback edition of The Lord of the Rings given to me as a gift in 1976. I still have that original copy in my collection.

Kelvarhin: Where in Australia to do you see The Shire, and where do you see Mordor?

Peter: The Shire: Near Brisbane is an area from Samford to Dayboro of rolling green hills flanked by a forest covered mountain range to its West. Whenever I have overseas visitors I always take them for a day’s drive through this area.

Mordor:  In Tasmania there’s an old mining town that I have visited, called Queenstown. The countryside which surrounds Queenstown is devoid of vegetation although it is geographically situated in a World Heritage Rainforest area. This devastation was caused by copper mining in the early days of settlement. The forests were cut down for the smelters and the sulphur fumes from the smelters poisoned all the new vegetation.

Kelvarhin: Are there any items associated with Jackson’s new trilogy that you have your eye on? (I like the Funko plush dolls myself.)

Peter: I have the Plush Dolls from The Lord of the Rings series. They have been a huge hit amongst friends and fans alike. Recently someone posted on a chat that these sorts of items are abhorrent to the works of Tolkien and should not be on the market. I wish to take the opportunity to disclose that the use of my plush dolls at different events have helped attract people to our information booth and thereby bring new members to our Tolkien Group. They are not the sole reason but they do help. People need to be more open minded about the associated merchandise as even the smallest things open people’s eyes and minds to Tolkien’s World.

I have purchased Weta’s Bilbo and Thorin polystone statues and would like to buy Thorin’s sword, Orcrist. I also wait with bated breath for the arrival of a Smaug sculptured statue.

Kelvarhin: The world is about to end! Luckily, Tolkien fans escape on board a specially designed spaceship. You can take only one piece of memorabilia from your massive collection – what would it be, and why?

Peter: I gave a lot of thought to this one and my first thoughts was to take a favourite piece, but then I thought, no, it has to be something inspiring with that will give hope for the future, so I chose The Silmarillion. A book full of despair and tragedy but it also includes, love, friendship and concludes with a new hope for future generations. Isn’t that what we wish to achieve out of the turmoil that lead to the end of the world? A new beginning for future generations.

Kelvarhin: The Hobbit has inspired many youngsters to begin reading over the generations. What other authors do you recommend to new readers through your Proudfoot Foundation?

Peter: Several authors come to mind, but the two whom I most often mention are C.S. Lewis : The Narnia Series, and J.K. Rowling: Harry Potter Series.

Kelvarhin: What are you hoping for will be released as a statue in the future?

Peter:I am really looking forward to Smaug. I also wonder if they will release a statue of an eagle and Beorn as a bear.

Kelvarhin: Why did you decide on being a Hobbit and not, for instance, the librarian in Minas Tirith?

Peter: My Alter Ego, Fortinbras Proudfoot was created a decade ago when I was doing The Hobbit as a unit of work with my Year (Grade) Seven class. All the children were given Hobbit names which were created by an online word generator. The teacher had to have a Hobbit name, so I modified mine into one I liked, which was Fortinbras Proudfoot. I have kept the name ever since and use it as my pen name for poems and stories I write, and of course it was selected for The Children’s Literacy Foundation.

Kelvarhin: What is your most precious piece in your collection?

Peter: What is my most precious item? There is the porcelain statue of Arwen and Aragorn, the leather bound ‘Children of Hurin’, Proudfoot’s personal invitation to Bilbo’s Party and several others I value and like.

The most precious item is probably my 1937 Hobbit, although I personally like the original newspaper lift out, ‘THE TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT’, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 2, 1937. The Hobbit Book Review…“A WORLD FOR CHILDREN”…the final sentence of the review reads, “Prediction is dangerous; but ‘The Hobbit’ may well prove a classic.”

But of course my biggest item, that everyone loves, is ‘The Hobbit Hole-A miniature Bag End’. A 102cm x 117cm Model that will soon be on display in the Queensland Museum.

Kelvarhin: You have seen a lot of the world. What is your favourite place? And what is the craziest thing that has happened to you during your travels?

Peter: I have a number of favourite places; but there is one place in Tyrol where I would like to live. A farmhouse situated on a green slope surrounded by large mountains. I stayed there for a short time in 2012. Each morning I would wake up and through the bedroom window I would see the green slopes and a distant high mountain. When I got out of bed I would step onto the small bedroom balcony and allow my senses to take in the beauty of the scenery, the freshness of the air and the absence of sound. I could only think of Middle-earth and the Shire.

Crazy: In Austria, during a role play activity, I was captured by Orcs. The biggest and ugliest stood guard over me while the others proceeded to build a fireplace and spit to roast me over. Their conversation sounded so serious about roasting a Hobbit, I began to think, “Do these blokes realise this is only role playing?”

Kelvarhin: Who were your heroes, when you were a young child?

Peter: When I was young I was not aware of the existence of The Hobbit, nor do I recall ever seeing a copy of it in a Library. My father used to bring home a few comics every Friday for me to read. One of them was always The Phantom. Some of my mates and I had a “Phantom” Club and to be a member you had to have a Phantom ring. He was our hero in my early years.

Kelvarhin: Did you ever write a letter to Tolkien?

Peter: Unfortunately I was not aware of Tolkien before 1976, so I never had the opportunity to write a letter to him. I think if I had, after reading The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, I would have asked, “Are there any more stories about Middle-earth?”

Kelvarhin: And have you visited all the Middle-earth locations in New Zealand yet?

Peter: I have not visited all the movie locations in New Zealand but my last count came up to Thirty-seven, and next time I tour, there will be new Hobbit locations to visit.

Kelvarhin:  You’ve attended many conventions over the years, which one do you enjoy going to the most and what is your most memorable moment from them?

Peter: The first overseas Tolkien related Festival I attended was “Festival in the Shire” in Wales, August 2010. It was a most enjoyable three days which included Tolkien related talks by well-known speakers and writers. There was also entertainment, traders, a collectibles display and other enjoyable activities.

At this Festival I met people with whom I have forged lasting friendships and have met them again at other Conventions and Festivals over the last couple of years. Some of these people have invited me into their homes as a guest or invited me to dinners where they have shared their knowledge and passion of all things Tolkien.

In 2011, I attended my first Oxonmoot and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. At Oxonmoot I met old friends and made new friendships all of whom have inspired me to immerse myself deeper into Tolkien’s world. After Oxonmoot I attended The Tolkien Shop’s 25th Anniversary. The Tolkien Shop is in Leiden, Netherlands and is a wonderful place to visit for anyone who likes collecting Tolkien books and movie memorabilia. There are thousands of items to tempt any fan. After the Netherlands I travelled to Bonn, Germany to attend RingCon. RingCon is advertised as Europe’s biggest fantasy convention and if you are a big fan of Tolkien or any other fantasy worlds, this is a must visit event. Guests are world class and the costumes worn by fans are absolutely amazing.

In 2012, I returned to Europe for two months and built a holiday around attending events throughout Europe.

• Return of the Ring, Loughborough, England, August 16-20;

• Edinburgh International Children’s Book Festival, Scotland, August, 25;

• Austrian Tolkien Society, 10th Anniversary, September, 14-16;

• The Hobbit 75th Anniversary Festival, The Netherlands, September, 20-22;

• Ring*Con, Bonn, Germany, October, 5-7.

Also on these journeys, I had dinner with the Tyrol Tolkien Group, visited the Middle-earth Harp Maker and also visited a number of other interesting people who are well known for the following and of course I name them as friends.

• The Tolkien Library
• The Tolkien Shop
• The Hobbit Hunter
• The Middle Earth Museum

At each of these Festivals/Conventions I did presentations on varying Tolkien Subjects. Each event was different in format and the experience was was memorable. I have returned home with this experience and a wealth of ideas which I hope I can use to make our Tolkien group here grow.=

During my 2012 travels I also stayed with many friends I had met on previous visits and I can only say that Tolkien People have to be the friendliest people you could hopefully meet. Tolkien would be most impressed with the people who are following his legacy. The most memorable thing is the friendships I have made.

Kelvarhin:  What’s the most frequent question you get asked when you do your presentations?

Peter: As I do many different presentations I get asked many different questions, but one that comes up most often is related to Copyright. As you are aware copyright of works related to Tolkien’s works are a minefield for those without the knowledge of the do’s and don’ts. I have many different answers on this subject depending on what the question is related to.

Kelvarhin: What is it about Tolkien that keeps you going every year?

Peter: Each year I enjoy going back because the events I attend are always enjoyable and interesting; offering new subjects and new formats. But the thing I enjoy most is meeting all those friends whom I have met on previous visits. As I said above they are interesting and wonderful people.

Kelvarhin:  Are you planning on going to any of the Oscar Parties? And will you be attending the Premiere for Desolation of Smaug this year, like you did for AUJ?

Peter: The Oscar parties I would love to attend, but at this stage they are a little out of my budget because flying from Australia to Los Angeles is quite expensive and I am a retiree now with limited financial resources. However, I am looking at the possibility of the 2015 Party if I get an invite.

I plan to attend the Red Carpet Premiere in Wellington this year and am planning to organise a group to travel with me from Australia. I have a number of enthusiastic people here who are keen to join me.

Kelvarhin:  What’s your favourite memory from the AUJ Premiere?

Peter: The AUJ Premiere had a number of enjoyable moments. Firstly, the enthusiasm of the group who travelled on the tour was infectious (especially one group of Hobbits from Melbourne). The most enjoyable highlights were the day we visited Hobbiton, The Premiere Costume Party and attending the Red Carpet Premiere in Wellington. Once again new friendships were made and some people will never be forgotten.

Thank you again, Peter, for agreeing to speak to us this month, and sharing some of your love of Tolkien with us all.

Once again thanks to our message board regulars, Ataahua, DanielLB, Rosie-with-the-ribbons, SirDennisC and dernwyn, for this months’ questions.

If you want to ask any questions yourself, head over to our Message Boards, the sign up process is pretty painless. A lead post for questions is made on the Main Board at the beginning of each month.

 
Till next time from TORn’s resident Tiger.

Kelvarhin.

Main Discussion Board: Tolkien Estate HATES these movies? (18266 views)

The Reading Room: Plot hole? (6608 views)

 Movie Discussion Board – LOTR: The Ring Wraiths (16001 views)

Movie Discussion Board – The Hobbit: 3 Hobbit Films Confirmed (76800 views)

The Arena: LOTR Character Elimination *Qualifiers* (14999 views)

Gaming & Collecting: Collecting The Precious – The Bridge Direct Winners and Comic-Con 2012 Coverage (47927 views)

Fan Art: Paintings I’ve Done About “The Hobbit” (15869 views)

Off Topic Discussion Board: Commonly misused phrases (5780 views)

The Pollantir: Would you name your kids after Tolkien characters (2214 views)

TORn Moots & Other Events: Moot report: The Hobbit world premiere (1249 views)

Wishing all of you a safe and happy New Year! May the best of your 2012 be the worst of your 2013. Cheers All from grammaboodawg and Kelvarhin

He hardly had time to draw breath before being told about his plum part as a smooth-talking villain in an upcoming American thriller, alongside an Oscar-winning actress.

“It is really exciting to get a break like this and I hear being in The Hobbit certainly helped,” Kircher told The New Zealand Herald on Sunday.

[Read More]

And for those wondering, it is likely that TheOneRing.net will mount another tour of New Zealand, but whether that is in conjunction with a Premiere or not is still to be determined. Wellington would first need to secure one of the two remaining film’s World Premiere to justify the level of activities they hosted this time around. But then, the locations are always there, and if not a tour, a Cruise to Middle-earth is a very relaxing way to see such a delightful and beautiful country. Keep an eye out, we will post something if the omens look favorable.

This one delves into the premiere of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey in Wellington and reveals that production vids will resume next year as the team ramps up all over again to complete The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.