Daniel writes: Patrick Acton, the Matchstick Man of Gladbrook, Iowa has posted 5 new photos of his matchstick model of Minas Tirith on his website! He has made a lot of progress and the model is looking AWESOME! The photos show the progress made during the month of April. See the photos at the following link!
Peter H from Germany writes: My friends and I have a model project with 50 000 Orcs from 20mm to 28mm and we will be showing it at the RPC (Role Play Convention) in Cologne from 2-5.04.09. The Project took 3 years to create, it is the scene “Gandalf looks over the Walls of Minas Tirith into the mass of Orkc”. We spray and painted over 50000 figures for the project and build the walls 7 meters long. And on the Wall we have LOTR figures for Minas Tirith and from Morthond, Pelagir, Ringlo and most of them built from scratch for the scene. Now we plan to build the section of the gate.
Fans of the Lord of the Rings who have not yet had their fill of cinematic Middle-earth should make a date for Sunday 3 May at 4pm (UK time), when the internet and the Sci-Fi-London festival will simultaneously host the premiere of The Hunt for Gollum - a “film for fans by fans” knocked together for just 3,000 quid. According to the BBC, the film is set between The Hobbit and the Fellowship of the Ring, and “tells the story of Aragorn as he sets out to discover the truth about the Ring”. Writer and director Chris Bouchard explained that, with the blessing of Tolkien Enterprises (as long as the project was non-profit, natch), he set about recruiting a vast cast of volunteers - including 160 credited crew and 60 who worked on visual effects alone. LoTR fan film set for net premiere
Simon Vozick-Levinson writes: I have no clue how The Hunt for Gollum has gotten past New Line Cinema and the J.R.R. Tolkien estate’s intellectual property lawyers. Nor do I care, because this “by fans, for fans” non-profit 40-minute Lord of the Rings tribute film looks awesome. As far as I can tell from the trailers, the plot, adapted from part of Tolkien’s voluminous appendices, is supposed to take place some time between The Hobbit and The Fellowship of the Ring. EW Talks ‘The Hunt for Gollum’
The folks at Dailymotion send this in: On May 3rd (a week from Sunday), “The Hunt for Gollum” will make its debut on video sharing site Dailymotion. This high-production value, 45-minute film was a labor of love, produced by entirely by fans of the Tolkien trilogy on a volunteer basis over the past 2 years. Inspired by notes in the appendices of the book, the film follows Aragorn as he sets out to find the creature Gollum and discover the truth about the Ring.
Chris writes: I just wanted to let everyone at TORN know that our final trailer two for The Hunt For Gollum has been released, which you can check out on our new website. Hope you enjoy it. I’m just now putting the finishing touches to the film which will go live as planned on May 3rd for free streaming in HD. Trailer Two for ‘The Hunt For Gollum’ Released
Daniel writes: Patrick Acton, the Matchstick Man of Iowa has posted three new photos at his website of the progress on his matchstick re-creation of Minas Tirith. The photos were posted on March 1st, 2009. Enjoy! Here is the link.
Galenswerd Swordsong writes: I Just wanted to let you guys know that members of the LOTRO community on the Landroval server have created an awesome video set to the music of Celtic band Fathom. Turbine featured the video on their community spotlight:
“The first time we saw “The Battle of Ballylochlan,” we knew we’d have to spotlight this Celtic masterpiece on a very particular day. Like minstrels of ancient times, Welby and the Lonely Mountain Band wield the arts masterfully, and envelop us in their merriment. Featuring an enthusiastic drum beat, insane Irish piping, and stunning visuals, the movie lets us join them in a St Patrick’s Day themed celebration, on the special day itself. Congratulations again to Welby, and happy St Patrick’s day from the Turbine team!”
The band caught wind of it and now is featuring it on their homepage and plugging LOTRO in their newsletter! Celtic music and LOTR what better combo!? Read the rest of this entry »
Born of Hope is a prequel to the fantasy novels and tells the story of the Dúnedain, the Rangers of the North, before the return of the King. The 60-minute film, which will be released on the internet next year, focuses on Arathorn and Gilraen, the parents of Aragorn, from their first meeting through a turbulent time in their people’s history. Filming has already begun in Epping Forest in Essex, with the latest footage showing actors trudging through the woods dressed as sword-wielding Orcs. Kate Robinson, who is directing the film, said: “Born of Hope is a prequel to the New Line Trilogy and my aim is to make a film that can sit alongside those films without looking too out of place. Orcs are back in Lord of the Rings-inspired Born of Hope
Daniel alerted us to this impressive undertaking: Have you heard of Patrick Action, the matchstick man of Iowa? He is currently working on a large model of Minas Tirith and it should be completed by the end of 2009. The link to his website is below. The second link is to a St. Paul, Minnesota TV station that did a 5 minute story on the Matchstick man. It is well worth watching.