Cremorne Orpheum Theatre, Sydney Australia – Wednesday 1st May, 2013
Introduced by: Chris Murray (Creative Director Popcorn Taxi)
Hosted by: Oscar Hillerstrom from Popcorn Taxi
by: Deleece Cook on behalf of theOneRing.net

The cheering began as soon as Popcorn Taxi’s Chris Murray walked out on stage to open the event. There wasn’t a spare seat to be had at The Orpheum Theatre at Cremorne for the exclusive screening of The Hobbit and the live on Stage Q&A appearance with Richard Armitage.

700 smiling excited Thorin Fans were in the audience – and they had come from all over Australia for the event – this is what they had been waiting for hours to see. And it didn’t disappoint. It was a wonderful night of entertainment and surprises – Richard was a talkative guest; relaxed, smiling and laughing through the interview and he tried as best as he could to answer every question put to him from the fans, and from the host Oscar Hillerstrom.

Here’s how the night went – plenty of laughter and cheering and just a great vibe all round!…

Chris Murray: “Good Evening! Do I need to ask how you’re doing? Um, I’ve never been to an underwear sale at David Jones but I suppose this is the closest thing. Ladies and Gentlemen my name is Chris Murray and I am the Creative Director of Popcorn Taxi. It gives me no greater pleasure and enormous privilege to have you here tonight to see on the big screen The Hobbit. But not only that I know why you’re here… Richard Armitage on that seat ladies and Gentlemen”

Mad applause.

Chris Murray:  “Yes, you get the chance to ask him questions – I get the chance to curl into a small ball and rock backwards and forwards in the corner.”

More laughter… Then Chris laid down some house rules regarding soft toys and portraits not coming anywhere near the stage, but he mentioned nicely that questions were welcomed from the audience.
Then the first surprise of the night was announced…

Chris Murray: We are celebrating a fantastic film, and that film is out on Blu-ray and DVD today (mad applause)… “Yes! You should buy it! Warner Bros will love me! But, what’s not on that Blu-ray and what’s not on that DVD is what I’m about to play for you now. We have 12 minutes of a little behind the scenes that you will not see anywhere else. (lots of gasps) After that, you’ll get to meet Mr Richard Armitage.

Mad cheering!

Chris Murray: So enjoy the 12 minutes and relax – get the wetness out of the seats – whatever works for you – and I’ll be back! Please enjoy this event.

The sound of the cheering audience was amazing! Then silence. The lights lowered and the huge screen lit up… and then there was Peter…

Peter Jackson: “You want the Hobbit to be a visual experience that goes several steps beyond Lord of The Rings”

And that familiar drone of singing Dwarves speaking of “Pines and Mountains cold” echoed through the theatre – every eye was glued to the screen… it was more than 12 minutes of magic!

The film covered races and character that we see in the An Unexpected Journey – with snippets of comments from the actors and crew members. It shortly gave a brief explanation of the storyline and highlighted some of the production values and costuming as well.

In no particular order – Here are just some of the presenters on the clip, and what they had to say…
____
Peter Jackson: “When we made Lord of the Rings I was absolutely sure that was going to be a once in a lifetime experience. I never realized that ten years later I’d be doing it all over again – and we actually shot the 266 days on The Hobbit which was exactly the same number of days we shot on Lord of The Rings, so I’ve sort of done the once in a lifetime experience twice now (laughs) not a third time – there won’t be a third time”

Peter Jackson: “10 years ago it was Ian playing the character of Gandalf and no one had seen any of the movies, and now that’s an iconic figure. That’s Gandalf.”

Peter Jackson: “The same creative talent. 20 or 30 of the most senior people were Lord of The Rings veterans”

Peter Jackson: “The thing that’s so incredible about Martin is that he’s always exploring, he’s experimenting, he’s always trying to figure out where Bilbo’s truth is”

Peter Jackson: “One of the scary things about adapting The Hobbit is the fact that there’s 13 dwarves – and differentiating those characters was important.”

Philippa Boyens: “I remember the day when I knew we were back in Middle-Earth. I walked over to the costume room and there was Gandalf. And I suddenly thought… We’re Back.”

Philippa Boyens: (about Dwarves): “In the end Pete fell in love with each and every one of those characters. And as much as there is a little bit of Dwarf in Peter I think there’s a little bit of Peter in all those Dwarves.”

John Howe: “I imagine that Peter will do for Dwarves what he did for Elves because he is going to give them much more density, much more history.”

Martin Freeman: (talking about his character Bilbo) “… We join Bilbo as the book of The Hobbit does, as a home faring solitary Hobbit. …certain things struck me about him suggested a certain timidity and a lot of life…”

Elijah Wood: “You’ll get taken on an amazing ride”

Elijah Wood: “To have a chance to return, pop a wig on and feet it kind of feels like I’ve stepped into a time machine. And I get to meet all of these other actors who are coming along for the real long journey and sort of seeing in them a little bit of what we felt like when we started”

Elijah Wood: “A seed is being planted for what eventually comes the time period that we meet in Lord of The Rings”.

Christopher Lee: “Middle Earth seems to be just beginning to rumble and tumble”

Christopher Lee: “The White Council – they represent enormous power. There’s suspicion amongst all of them that there’s this building power of evil – getting stronger and stronger!”

Cate Blanchett: (on Gandalf in the film): “What makes Gandalf the most wonderful hero is the courage against popular opinion. He gets to move on into the darkness that no one else is prepared to go into.”

Hugo Weaving: “Gandalf, Elrond, Galadriel, Saruman, they play a role in eliminating those [forces?] from the political landscape.”

Ian McKellen: (on his character Gandalf regarding the appendices) “ Gandalf in The Hobbit; he is off and away doing other business and quite what that is, is not revealed in the novel. In the films we get to see what Gandalf was up to.”

Ian McKellen: “It’s magic. It’s pure magic. And you’ll believe it.”

The sound of the Dwarves was heard and the film ended with the audience cheering and clapping once more.

Then it was time for Richard Armitage to grace the Stage…

“Yes in the book there are losses; they sustain huge losses. You know Tolkien wrote these books based on his experiences of World War I, and he lost a lot of his friends in those wars. I think taking time to really understand his characters in Bag End was really important. . . . But I think we’ve become quite impatient in the cinema. Gone are the days when you’d sit through 3 ½ hours of Gone With the Wind, and it’s a shame because it’s the director’s prerogative to tell the story that he wants to tell. But I found myself engaged from beginning to end; I find all of the characters fascinating.”

And this:

“Years ago I had visited the memorial museum in Hiroshima and I’d seen what happened, and I had a book, and I took it to New Zealand with me. And, I don’t know, just looking at pictures and getting ideas, because it’s all about sensation: just remembering what that fear was, because we were going to go shoot it. So you just have little flashes: I remember seeing a melted bicycle, and I remember thinking, “Oh yeah, the melted bicycle. A child sat on that bike.” So this is what happened at Erebor: there were women and children there that just got annihilated. I wanted to feel the fear for them.”

They cover a variety of topics including discussion of Tolkien, Peter Jackson and New Zealand. Fans of the actor, the films and the books will all likely appreciate the first installment of the interview while fans in New Zealand and Australia finally get the movie on home video. We will post part two when Tynan does, apparently consisting of Twitter questions. She was also clever enough to embed our own video of Dwarves singing in Bag End, a great way to capture emotion from the film again if you follow the link.

You can find the whole story if you click right here and we recommend you do.

“It will get more dangerous and dark as Bilbo gets further away from home and in more jeopardy,” says Andy Serkis, who, in addition to playing Gollum in the films, is Second Unit Director on the trilogy.

Will we enjoy the departure from the more lighthearted nature of Unexpected Journey? Well Richard Armitage will, at least. He says, “Obviously I favor the dark.”

[Yahoo! Movies UK: Hobbit stars on 'dark' sequel]

In the first video from IGN, cast members discuss what they know (or don’t) about the mysterious Smaug, and what we can expect to see of the dragon in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. Richard Armitage (Thorin) says, “I haven’t seen the dragon, and I begged them to show me the dragon!” And James Nesbitt (Bofur) tantalizes us, saying, “I think it will blow people away… I think it will be an important and exciting cinematic moment.”

In the second video from Yahoo! Movies, cast members address the questions why The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is quite long, and why there was a need for three full films to tell the full Hobbit story. Andy Serkis (Gollum) sums it up by saying, “Pete likes to make long films.” But Richard Armitage assures us that, “come the Battle of the Five Armies, you’re going to be glad you took the time in Bag End.”

[IGN: Hobbit Cast Talk Smaug] [Yahoo: Hobbit Stars on why it had to be long]

This month we’re asking questions of our one and only greendragon.

Thanks so much Kirsten for agreeing to take part this month

Kelvarhin: Have you done anything through TORn or your LOTR fandom that you wouldn’t have got to do otherwise?

greendragon: Oh absolutely LOADS of things!!  Where to begin…?  Of course there are the really exciting things which my work for TORn has brought me: meeting celebs, doing interviews, going to fun events, writing articles, etc.  I’m very lucky to have had all those experience; but I have to say the greatest thing which TORn has brought me is friendship.  I have SO many wonderful friends whom I would never have met without TORn.  I’ve travelled to wonderful places, either with those friends, or to visit those friends. I couldn’t say for sure that I wouldn’t have been to various places without TORn; but I certainly wouldn’t have been there in the company of such excellent and admirable fellow fans.  And THAT is a great blessing.

Kelvarhin: Did you ever imagine when you came to TORn that you’d become so involved? Traveling to NZ (more than once!), interviewing cast members, singing onstage with Emerald Rose and Beecake? What’s it been like for you… this Tolkien/TORn journey?

greendragon: Actually I’ve only been to NZ once – but one day my path will lead me back there!  Did I ever imagine I would become so involved…?  Well, I tend to throw myself 100% into anything and everything I do, so I’m not really surprised to be so wrapped up in TORn – but I am of course thrilled to be part of such an amazing group, and being senior staff is an honour.  It’s been an incredible journey – mostly because of my fellow travellers, as mentioned above. TORnados/TORnsibs are amazing people – may our roads together go ever on and on!

Kelvarhin: How were you introduced to Tolkien, and did Tolkien have any influence on how/where you first met up with the inimitable L. Ron Halfelven?

greendragon: My Dad read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings to my brothers when I was little. I was far too young really, but insisted on listening in anyway! Then I was mad about the Rankin Bass Hobbit film – or rather, an LP my brother had from the film; but the Bakshi Lord of the Rings scared me!

Tolkien – or more accurately, TORn – was of course what led me to meet L.Ron Halfelven, fellow TORnado! It was in the June after Fellowship of the Ring had come out, and I discovered it was still playing in a cinema near me. I posted on the message boards to see if anyone else was local and would care to join me for a viewing; L.Ron responded, and we’ve been great friends ever since.

Kelvarhin: Have you got a favourite chapter (or paragraph etc.) from The Lord of the Rings, and why is it your favourite? If you haven’t got a favourite, why not?!

greendragon: Hmm – that’s a tricky one.  It’s very hard to pick a favourite part – there are so many wonderful lines, rich characters, moving moments…  In terms of a whole chapter, I think ‘Fog on the Barrow-Downs’ is probably my favourite.  I’ve always enjoyed a good ghost story, and as a child, this chapter gave me delicious chills!  Wonderfully creepy.  Plus, I’m a big Tom Bombadil fan (and I adore Goldberry); so I like Tom coming to the rescue in that chapter.

Kelvarhin: What backstage gossip can you share from TORn events?

greendragon: You know, backstage is actually not all that exciting or glamorous!  Generally it’s just about work; being backstage means running around and trying to get things done!  Although, here’s a fun story from DragonCon one year: fellow staffer deej and I were meeting Sean Astin and Brad Dourif backstage before they went out for a panel. I was going to be fielding questions from the floor – so I told the gents that I would weed out anyone who wanted to ask the dreaded, ‘Can I have a hug??’ question.  Immediately, both Brad and Sean gave me a big hug.  ‘There you go,’ says Brad. ‘You’re our proxy hugger; we’ve hugged you, so now if anyone wants a hug you can pass it on to them!’

Kelvarhin: How did you come to be in the field of study you’re in, and what have been your educational experiences?

greendragon: Ah well – that’s both a direct route and a roundabout path – like all the best journeys!!  Basically I always wanted to work in theatre/performance.  When I was very young I was obsessed with ballet and started classes; this developed into my interests in dance, theatre and music . Meanwhile my love for literature grew; I just couldn’t get enough of reading and analysing text!  So I had to take a degree in English Lit, of course!  My undergrad and my first postgrad degrees were in English Lit and then English and Theatre; then I took further postgrad degrees in Voice (various different aspects of music/singing/performing!)  So it was a kind of varied background but which, in the end, all combined in what I currently do – which is directing/staging opera and theatre, performing as a singer myself, and coaching singers in areas such as successful auditioning and creating a character.

Kelvarhin: What inspires you, when it comes to singing?

greendragon: Generally the piece itself, whatever it may be, is inspiration enough. I’m a huge fan of text, as I wrote above; very little is as exciting to me as getting to grips with words, and trying to understand what the writer wanted to say. Add to that the composer’s interpretation of those words into music, and you have a pretty heady mix! It thrills me to try to communicate, in performance, something about life, about art, about being human; some emotion or an experience, whatever that may be. As a performer, you look for the message given by the writer and composer, and then reinterpret that to pass it along to an audience.

Kelvarhin: How did you find yourself working “across the Pond” in Boston, and would you be willing to recount for us your hair-pulling green card experience which culminated in your being proclaimed an “Alien of Extraordinary Ability”?

greendragon: I came to the US as a student (for my final postgrad degree) – Britain is home! I was planning on staying one year, but I was offered a job which tempted me, so I stayed – and I’m still here!

The greencard saga is too long winded (and tedious, believe me!) to go into here; suffice to say it ain’t easy, especially when one is ‘self-sponsoring’ (which requires proving that you are in the top percentage in your field). It’s also an expensive process! But it was all worth it; especially for the fun of receiving a letter from the United States government, officially declaring me an Alien of Extraordinary Ability! I was so excited when I got that letter – and amused, of course.. .Still not sure what my special alien skill is.

I always warn everyone that the questions we get can be a little on the crazy side, and the next two are probably the craziest I’ve ever seen! (I’m also a little confused, never heard of “Thrills chewing gum”)

Kelvarhin: The gown you wore to the One Party is the same colour as Thrills chewing gum… coincidence?

greendragon: Absolutely not! My appearance at the party was sponsored by Thrills gum, hence the careful choice of dress.

Kelvarhin: Have you ever tried Thrills chewing gum? If so, are you in the tastes like soap camp?

greendragon: I’ve actually never heard of Thrills gum; so my reply above might possibly be false.  Further, I have no idea what soap camp tastes like…

If anyone can help greendragon and I out on this one, reply below

Kelvarhin: Aunt Dora Baggins would like to know “When will you be making another visit to Colorado?”

greendragon: As soon as I can find the money and/or an excuse!  What a wonderful state Colorado is; L.Ron and I had a fantastic time there, enjoying the incredibly scenery AND catching up with great friends from TORn. If money and time were no object, I’d be back in a heartbeat!  This is the only drawback to all the dear friends TORn has brought me – they’re too scattered around the world!  We’ve often chatted about the fantasy of all living in a TORn commune; I think we could make it work…

Kelvarhin: Which would you rather have in your house for a week; a bunch of rowdy Dwarves, a pack of Hobbits who eat several times a day, or a group of Elves who won’t stop singing the entire time?

greendragon: Oh blimey I couldn’t stand the singing. I get enough of that at work!! And I cannot bear people being vulgar – I just hate anything like belching or farting. So the elves and the dwarves are out.  But I do LOVE to cook, especially when I have people for whom to do it – so it would have to be the hobbits, no contest.

Kelvarhin: What was your favourite cartoon when you were growing up?

greendragon: Battle of the Planets.  My Dad made me a little cap with a plastic beak so I could pretend to be Keyop (who, by the way, I had assumed was actually ‘Cheops’ – I though his name had something to do with the Great Pyramid!!) I never wanted to be Princess – male characters are generally more interesting! But I was obsessed with that show.  When I was about seven I had a best mate with whom I used to act out scenes from Battle of the Planets – either that or scenes from Star Wars (when I always wanted to be Luke, but was usually made to be Leia!!)

The fortunate greendragon with Richard Armitage

Kelvarhin: Finally, a question that has nothing to do with gowns or chewing gum: what was it like meeting Richard Armitage?

greendragon: I’ve now had the great pleasure of meeting Mr Armitage twice. He is, as you would expect, a charming gent; warm, friendly, erudite and generous with his time, and I’m very lucky to have spent time chatting with him.

One thing I’d like to say on the topic of meeting celebs – sometimes I think fans tend to forget that they’re just people. Talented, generous people (most of them – certainly all the ones I’ve met through TORn!) it is true; but still just people. The only time I’ve ever been overwhelmed when meeting a celebrity was when I was sixteen and I met Kenneth Branagh for the first time – I was a bit of a babbling idiot then! Soon after that, I started working at the Royal Shakespeare Company in London, and I quickly realised that these actors were really no different from anyone else. So, when people ask me, ‘How do you talk to Richard Armitage without being overcome?’ the simple answer is, as delightful as he is, Mr Armitage is, in the end, another human being. He works in the arts and so do I (though clearly he is rather more talented and successful!!) So I enjoy chatting with him as I would with anyone else who explores this fascinating business of creating characters.

Though it has to be said – he looks better in leather trousers than most people… *grin*
I’m sure many of us would agree with this

As always thanks to all our message board regulars, Ataahua, DanielLB, SirDennisC, ryouko, AuntDoraBaggins, grammaboodawg and dernwyn, for this months’ 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 this months interviewee and email me your questions at kelvarhin@theonering.net.

Till next time from TORn’s resident Tiger.

Kelvarhin.

Meanwhile, staffer Rasputin the Evil Balrog shares with us some commentary on the footage:

After logging in and holding breath through a countdown, we are treated to the trailer from An Unexpected Journey to whet our appetites. Now we are welcomed to Weta by Jed Brophy (Nori), who introduces Peter Jackson. Peter greets us and remarks on our opportunity to time travel, as it is already Monday morning in New Zealand. He says, “Spoiler alert!” and tells us that tomorrow’s weather will be fine, and that New Zealand is currently beating England in an important cricket match, showing us the front page of the Wellington paper.

Peter then told us that we were visiting the post-production studios, and the pair walked us into the Motion Capture stage where two actors were creating a fight scene between Azog and another (smaller) orc under the supervision of a crew member named Christian (I’m speculating that this is Christian Kickenweitz, a Weta motion editor, but I could be wrong. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t Christian Rivers). Peter commented that the orcs are more friendly in the studio, and Jed directed them to give us “a little more anger.”

Moving down the hall, the pair stop by a large format poster from the 1955 film The Dam Busters, and Peter explains that it is one of his all-time favorite films. Taking the piss a bit, Jed comments that someone should remake it, a reference to Peter’s widely reported ongoing efforts to do this remake. Peter gave him “a look” – and a wink at us!  On down the hall we are treated to a discussion of more vintage film posters, Peter explaining that they used to be larger than today’s movie one-sheets and were hand painted. He has a whole collection of James Bond film posters down the length of the hall and says that Live and Let Die was the first Bond film he ever saw.

We enter the Pre-Viz department where Peter tells us they are doing some spider work as well as working on Smaug. Smaug! Hooray! Are we about to see him? But when we are shown the first computer screen, it’s one of the dragons from Dreamworks’ How to Train Your Dragon. [The 'Monstrous Nightmare' - as shown in the image with this post!]  A shot of a second monitor show the animator working on… a T-Rex with wings. Peter gently explains to the animator that those wings are far too small to lift the mass of that T-Rex.

One “real” thing we get to see in the Pre-Viz room, though, is some designs for a library in Rivendell that unfortunately, according to Peter, didn’t make it into the film.

Peter and Jed now move down the hall again to the editing room where they join Peter’s editor, Jabez Olssen. Peter mentions that it’s almost a bit of culture shock to transition from working with 200-300 people on set every day to “just two guys in a room.”Jed remarks on the 103-inch television, and Peter talks about how it’s essential for the editing process in order to get a better sense of the scale of the film as they work.

Another vintage film poster discussed – One Million Years BC. Peter says he had this one as a teenager, and when Jed asks about it, he says, “dinosaurs were cool, Raquel Welch was cool.”

Now we get a little more “meat” as Peter and Jed discuss the links between filming and editing. They show us a wide shot of the Dwarves on a boat on a green screen set with Luke Evans (Bard), explaining that this is immediately after Bard picked up the barrels in which Bilbo smuggles the Dwarves out of Mirkwood. Peter explains that this is the “master” shot – a wide shot of the full scene done first to give them the big picture to work from. They show a number of takes of Martin Freeman (Bilbo) delivering a line and talk about how Martin never delivers a line the same way twice, so they have lots of options to choose from. The line he’s delivering is, “I never should have left Bag End. That was my first mistake. You know, we have a saying in the Shire. You learn it from birth. You never venture east.”

Jed and Peter discuss the mid-shots and closeups that are done after the wideshots, using examples of the boat scene to illustrate. Jed refers to Aiden (Turner) as “the hot dwarf” and Peter also refers to “the hot dwarf” more than once. Bilbo’s line is delivered after he notes that Kili (Aiden Turner) is wounded, and Kili tells him “it’s just a scratch.” Bard responds to Bilbo’s proclamation by asking, “And why did you? Venture east?” and we see our first shot of Luke Evans as Bard of Laketown at the tiller of the boat.

This leads into a recorded message from Luke Evans greeting the viewers, including “the One-Ringers” (a shout-out to TORn!) and “hobbiteers.” Jed says to Peter, “Are you gonna tell him he’s not in the movie any more?!”

The first viewer question comes from “Chris in the United States,” who asks about the challenges of making the middle film of a trilogy, comparing The Desolation of Smaug to The Two Towers. Peter says it’s actually cool to be working on the second film because we get a chance to split into multiple timelines and follow more characters, giving, for example, the opportunity to reintroduce Legolas. This discussion happens while we are treated to a montage of footage of Orlando Bloom as Legolas doing a lot of fighting and shooting on Mirkwood green screen sets. Besides Legolas, Peter mentions Thranduil, and we see a shot of Lee Pace confronting Richard Armitage (Thorin). And finally he mentions the Master of Laketown and shows a number of quick scenes of Stephen Fry.

This segues into a recorded greeting from Stephen Fry (the Master of Laketown), who is then cut off by Peter to play another viewer question from fans in Beijing. They ask about Peter’s casting choices, using Orlando Bloom as an example. Is he similar to the character he plays? Peter says that in real life Orlando is much more relaxed and laid back, and funny, than Legolas.

And we segue into a recorded greeting from Orlando Bloom who also has a question for Peter: What moment is he most looking forward to seeing on the screen in The Desolation of Smaug? Peter says that he can’t wait to see the first confrontation between Bilbo and Smaug, calling it an iconic scene. We get to see a couple of shots of Martin Freeman in the midst of Smaug’s horde of gold.

Peter cuts back to Stephen Fry’s recorded greeting which is still going…

Then we take a viewer question from “Marina in Canada” who asks about the new characters that we will meet in the second film. Peter mentions Thranduil again and also Bard, and we are treated to several shots of Bard in Laketown and some action scenes that are quite reminiscent of Pirates of the Caribbean. Peter says we’re going to particularly have fun with Bard as his character is enigmatic, and we’re not quite sure if he’s good or bad. It reminded me of Peter’s treatment of Faramir in Two Towers, giving him more dimension and depth than we see in the books.

Peter then talks about Tauriel, a truly new character who doesn’t exist in the books at all, played by Evangeline Lilly. He says she’s part of the “Woodland Guard” in Mirkwood, and we will be able to see that she’s from a somewhat lower status than Legolas. We get lots of shots of Legolas and Tauriel fighting orcs on Mirkwood sets, and Tauriel captures and threatens to execute an Orc.

The next question is from several young fans in Brazil who want to know what Peter’s favorite weapon is from the LOTR films. Peter says he loves Theoden’s sword, and he pulls it out to show everyone the horse design, explaining that it’s real steel and much heavier than you might imagine. He says the design is evocative of Viking or Anglo-Saxon designs.

And we go back to Stephen Fry who is still talking on his recorded greeting, saying that he has “a lot to live up to,” but that the films show “the sheer delight of the human spirit.”

Peter and Jed take another question, this one from Twitter, asking how difficult is it to stay on track during the film process? Peter says it’s very difficult to stay on schedule and especially to stay within budget. He says that the weather can be one of the biggest challenges and describes how, when they were filming in Nelson, the scene when the Dwarves and Bilbo escape Mirkwood in the barrels, they got flooded out. Police had to come and evacuate them because of a storm and they lost two days of filming. Peter described how he rehearses with the cast at the beginning of each day then plans out which shots they are going to work on, ranging from 6 or 7 per day to as many as 12 to 14, depending on how complex the shots are.

Another video question and this one is from Stephen Colbert! Colbert asks a very detailed question about the elves of Mirkwood (formerly Greenwood the Great). Will Peter be making any differentiation between Thranduil and Legolas, who are Sindarin, and the other Mirkwood elves who are Avari or Noldor – those who did not heed the call of the Valar and travel west to Valinor. Peter responds briefly, yes, but then says he has a question for Stephen. He gives a long explanation of how, when he was a guest on Colbert’s show a year ago, he was given a souvenir coffee mug, but that when he left, he also took the much larger mug which he was given on air with water while he was a guest. Apparently, the printing of the Colbert report logo on the larger mug washed right off in the dishwasher. Since it was pristine when Peter had it on the show, he’s forced to wonder, does Stephen ever wash that mug between guests?!?

Another Twitter question, does Peter always edit barefoot? A resounding yes, and he props his bare feet on the table in the editing suite to demonstrate. He says that, unfortunately, he has to wear shoes most of the time when he’s working on set due to safety regulations.

We get a recorded greeting from Lee Pace (Thranduil) who says he’s looking forward to the second film where he gets to have the Dwarves in his realm, on his terms.

A Twitter question for Jed, how would he choose to torture Peter? Jed says he’d opt for rotisserie over a fire. He and Peter discuss the scene in An Unexpected Journey where the trolls tie half of the dwarves to a spit over their fire. Jed comments that Mark Hadlow (Dori, and the voice of Bert the Troll) was particularly uncomfortable, and they say that even under his dwarf makeup you could see how pale he was. Peter says that much later, while they were editing, he realized you can just hear Mark saying, “Can we stop? I think I’m going to be sick…” but that they never heard him on set and Peter just told them to start turning them again!

We get a recorded greeting from actor Billy Boyd who asks Peter about what new wild lands we’re going to see in The Hobbit, pointing out that he and his companions in Lord of the Rings only made it to the Misty Mountains before turning south. Peter shows us some of the artwork designs for the forest of Mirkwood, which used to be the Greenwood but has become dark and fearsome.

We get a recorded greeting from Evangeline Lilly who says that when she was doing her ADR session, she saw a mockup of Thranduil’s realm, but it was unfinished, and she wants to know what will Peter’s vision look like? Peter describes the underground realm of the elves and shows us artwork by John Howe depicting the entryway to the realm reached by a bridge across a perilous river. (I was on the chatroom with TORn staffer Demosthenes while I was watching, and he showed me that this art is extremely similar to Alan Lee’s depiction of “Menegroth of the Thousand Caves.”). Peter says that he tried to make this cavernous realm still look elvish, but that it’s less “gentle and friendly” than Rivendell.

A recorded video from actor Dominic Monaghan asks Peter what is the best untrue rumor he’s heard about himself (and gives us a view of the backyard of Dom’s home, which he says is “wiiiiiild!”). Peter says that the wildest rumor he heard was that he was moving his family onto a boat to live twelve miles off the coast of New Zealand to avoid paying taxes. He said that besides the fact that he gets seasick, he’s “happy to pay taxes.”

A Twitter user asks if the Necromancer will play a greater role in The Desolation of Smaug? Peter and Jed deadpan respond, “Yes.” And that’s all they’re saying…

Peter then says, to our great disappointment, that they do not have a trailer for us yet, that it will be coming this summer, but they do have a scene to show us. He intros it by saying that it’s a scene based on information from the appendices of Lord of the Rings, building on the Necromancer/Dol Guldur story line and Gandalf’s consultation with Galadriel regarding the Morgul blade that Radagast found. Gandalf goes to what Peter refers to as “the High Fells” to investigate. The scene opens with Gandalf lighting the end of his staff at the top of a narrow staircase that goes around the inside wall of a square tower. He climbs down towards a door that’s surrounded by the mangled wreckage of an iron gate. Through the gate, he enters a narrow crypt with a sarcophagus at the end. The lid is broken and shoved aside, and as Gandalf slowly approaches, a bird suddenly flies out and into his face (in what will undoubtedly be a cheap thrill moment in 3D). Radagast appears in the doorway behind him and takes off his hat to give the bird access to its nest in his hair.

“Oh. You,” says Gandalf.

“Yes, it’s me. Why am I here? This is not a nice place to meet,” replies Radagast.

Gandalf tells him it was built by a nameless servant of evil – one of nine.

Radagast asks, “Who would break into such a foul place?”

“No one. These tombs were opened from the inside…”

The event was wrapped up with a fast-paced montage of sneak peek shots including:

• Bilbo levering barrels out of their large stack
• Dwarves wrapped up in spider silk (looking just like Frodo wrapped up by Shelob)
• An axe, presumably wielded by Beorn, chopping wood
• Legolas sliding down a green Slip ‘n’ Slide
• Thorin, fronting the company of Dwarves, in falling snow, facing the Master of Laketown, Bard, and others, and saying, “We are the Dwarves of Erebor. We have come to reclaim our homeland.”
• Lots of fighting with various orcs, elves, and dwarves!

To help capture that excitement, we’ve just opened up a special Flickr gallery just for this purpose. The only rules for the gallery are that you, your family, your pet or something Middle-earth-esque is featured in the photo WITH a copy of ‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey‘ on Blu-Ray or DVD. Well, and of course keep it family friendly Follow the break to see folks who have already submitted their photos and join in – as and when the home entertainment release of An Unexpected Journey reaches your corner of the world! [Flickr Gallery]

Consumers will have a lot of choices when it comes to which version of “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” they decide to have at home. There will definitely be an extended edition in time for the holidays confirmed by a press release from Warner Bros., but the choices are greater than just to get the theatrical version or the extended version.

Those in the U.S. can buy the film March 19, but with a variety of versions, all of which we will detail here. Besides the several formats it will be available in, there are exclusive editions at Target, Best Buy and Wal-Mart. But have no fear busy potential consumer, we will make everything clear below, detailing all the versions, the available covers and the in-store exclusives. Interestingly, many theaters are still showing the film which crossed the $1 billion earnings mark over the weekend.

When the “Lord of the Rings,” films were hitting the home video market, many users were also making the late jump from VHS to DVD and those films, for many, were the incentive needed to jump to a new format. This is true now with DVD and Blu-ray although there seems to be much less push from the industry to make that happen, perhaps because of the growing all digital download market. Amazon has versions of all these films and we have the choices below linked if you wish to pre-order there. Doing so earns us a commission so support your friendly not-for-profit website if you are going to buy online. Prices range all over the place, but Amazon seems to be very competitive.  Below are all the versions available supplied to us by the studio along with the official box art. Way down we provide the non-U.S. release dates as well as a link to a useful message board page with further information. Unfortunately for some, “Return of the King,” was the last Middle-earth movie to be released on VHS!

2-disc DVD edition of “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.”

Still watching films old school style? Then the 2-disc special edition DVD is probably for you. It comes with both a DVD of the film and an Ultraviolet copy, which is useful for using the computer on laptops or down the road when it seems likely we will never deal with discs at all. The official information is as follows:

2-Disc Special Edition DVD

o DVD copy of the film

o Ultraviolet copy of the film

o Bonus content includes 10 production videos

2-disc Blu-ray edition of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.

For those who enjoy the superior picture of Blu-ray, and have invested in a player, the combo pack for that format might be the way to go. But, those who will eventually watch Blu-rays, this version also comes with a DVD copy of the film. Personally, I wouldn’t touch the old format, even for the nostalgia of having all the Middle-earth movies lined up together in one packaging line, but including the DVD here makes it a non-choice. WB’s Blu-ray releases are region free, meaning they will play world-wide and aren’t specially coded for regional players. Eventually we will download and watch all movies and rarely bother with discs but for now this is the best format available and I still like to hold a product and packaging in my hands.

Blu-ray™ Combo Pack

o Blu-ray copy of the film

o DVD copy of the film

o Ultraviolet copy of the film

o Bonus content includes 10 production videos

3D Blu-ray combo pack of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

If you are really forward thinking or an early adopter of technology the 3D version of the film will also be available now on Blu-ray as well. You need a 3D television to actually use this version but what do you know, it also comes with a regular Blu-ray copy, a DVD copy and an Ultraviolet copy while the bonus material is the same. This is the one Peter Jackson wants you to buy, or at least watch, to see his personal version of the film. 3D TVs will be more and more affordable and more common. For me the best thing about this version is the fantastic lenticular Gandalf cover. Fortunately there aren’t individual lenticular editions with Thorin, Bilbo, Bombur and the rest of the company on them.
3D Blu-ray™ Combo Pack

o 3D Blu-ray copy of the film

o Blu-ray copy of the film

o DVD copy of the film

o Ultraviolet copy of the film

o Bonus content includes 10 production videos

But the choices are not over. Three big box retailers also have ways to tempt you to buy from their outlet and each definitely has its appeal. Collectors, start giving plasma now because some will want all three. Each version is for the Blu-ray combo pack, which means if you are buying the 3D Blu-ray combo pack, where you buy can be determined solely by price.

The Best Buy exclusive version of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Best Buy’s exclusive comes with a documentary titled: “A Hobbit’s Tale Part 1: The Journey Begins,” and a flip lenticular with Bilbo and Gollum.  No word on who produced this documentary but I have a completely unconfirmed, baseless guess (that I believe to be true) that it comes from the same folks who produced the video blogs, which means they will be excellent. Please don’t base any purchase on my hunches, and you may not blame me or anybody else if that is wrong. TheOneRing will post a review of that content when available. The Best Buy cover is also interesting.

Best Buy – Blu-ray™ Combo Pack with Exclusive Documentary A Hobbit’s Tale Part 1: The Journey Begins and Flip Lenticular

o   Blu-ray copy of the film

o   DVD copy of the film

o   Ultraviolet copy of the film

o   Bonus content includes 10 production videos, as well as exclusive bonus documentary A Hobbit’s Tale Part 1: The Journey Begins

o   Includes exclusive Bilbo/Gollum flip lenticular packaging

Target’s exclusive is LEGO-centric and while I am not a “LEGO guy” and didn’t play with them as a child, these sets have won me over completely and the included Bilbo Baggins minifigure is pretty sweet booty. Those figure characters are absurdly cute but it also contains the exclusive featureete: “LEGO The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.” Target probably hopes to sell Hobbit LEGO sets as well as the Blu-ray and for some this will be another no-hesitation choice. It also features unique art that I haven’t seen anywhere else.

Target – Blu-ray™ Combo Pack with Exclusive LEGO® Bilbo Minifigure and behind-the-scenes LEGO Featurette

o   Blu-ray copy of the film

o   DVD copy of the film

o   Ultraviolet copy of the film

o   Bonus content includes 10 production videos, as well as exclusive bonus behind-the-scenes featurette LEGO THE HOBBIT: An Unexpected Journey

o   Includes exclusive LEGO Bilbo Baggins Minifigure

The Wal-Mart exclusive version of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Finally, Wal-Mart weighs in with a third tempting exclusive edition that contains four bonus featurettes (titles below) and a 64-page book, “The World of Hobbits.” Unlike a LEGO figure, it is impossible to know the quality of the book and extra extras until seeing them but just a stab in the dark (a dark, underground cave) but they are probably quite good and may (MAY!) be from the behind-the-scenes team. Wal-Mart is offering a real incentive for those hungry for more information about this film. Fans of Thorin Oakenshield will appreciate him on the cover and again, like the Target edition, the art here is unique as far as I know. From the art provided it looks as if the book is the size of the Blu-ray packaging.

Wal-Mart – Blu-ray™ Book Combo Pack with 64-Page The World of Hobbits Book and Exclusive Digital Featurettes

o   Blu-ray copy of the film

o   DVD copy of the film

o   Ultraviolet copy of the film

o   Bonus content includes 10 production videos, as well as 4 exclusive bonus featurettes entitled The Journey Back to Middle-earth, Bilbo and The Riddle Game, Gandalf and the White Council, and Thorin and the “Song of the Lonely Mountain” accessible digitally through Vudu

o   Includes 64-page The World of Hobbits book within the Blu-ray packaging

The WBshop.com exclusive comes with a panoramic poster that features combat ready dwarves. Pretty cool! Canadians can get it in French with the same cover as Best Buy, except, you know, in French.

Thanks to message board user TheHutt, we also have a fair bit of information about foreign editions of The Hobbit.  I was going to copy it all here, but he has done such a good job presenting it all, that I suggest you simply click here.  Again, collectors, beware, because there are some pretty cool versions listed, like the UK’s Amazon-exclusive Steelbook edition with a lenticular Bilbo / Gollum. Yes, I want it and it would be precious to me.

Some foreign dates are as follows:

UK – April 8

Germany – April 19

Russia – April 11

France – April 19

Italy – April 9

Czech Republic – April 19

The 1977 animated version of The Hobbit by Rankin and Bass.

And hey, you can always get the 1977 Rankin and Bass animated version as well with John Huston!

All these choices certainly are nice for the consumer unless there are completests out there who feel like they need to own them all. (But I confess to wanting some of the non-U.S. versions too!)  Also, some will accuse the studio of “double dipping”  by having a theatrical edition and later, an extended edition with extra content. We disagree with that notion because Warner Bros. has been upfront about the eventual release of both. A true double dip, and the feeling of being ripped off, doesn’t stem from having more than one choice but from a consumer thinking she has purchased the definitive version only to find out later there is another even more definitive version. (Yes Star Wars, we are looking at you but you have plenty of company.)  In this case, we have plenty of advance knowledge of our choices. Further, there will be very likely be a rich supply of quality extras on the extended editions from Pellerin Media, the group that defined what DVD extras should be with the LOTR EEs. That extra content, hopefully wide and deep, will add value to that later release.  Does the studio want to maximize its earnings? Of course, but they are being transparent with consumers. Those wishing only to buy one version will have Netflix or Redbox or neighbors or friends to watch it with in the meantime.

Finally, some will question using the video blogs from Peter Jackson’s Facebook page as extra materials. TheOneRing doesn’t have an official position about it, but as I said and wrote to anybody who would listen as they were released, they are better quality features than most DVD extras anyway. And, chasing them down on Facebook or YouTube is a lot less satisfying for me than watching them in my man cave will be. And, I just think they are that good. I look forward to having them presented on a disc in an organized fashion where I can, if I want, watch them consecutively and really get a good feeling for the shooting of the film.

Meanwhile, to distract those who are still waiting, we’ve been sharing some interviews with various cast members.  You can see our chats with Richard Armitage here and with Andy Serkis here, while a conversation with Bilbo himself, Martin Freeman, can be found here.

Our final interview is with the man who brought Bofur to life, James Nesbitt. This charming fellow chatted with staffer greendragon about the delights of being made into an action figure, what he hopes to see in the Extended Edition, and why three movies just aren’t enough.  He even has a word to say about TORn’s own Oscar celebrations – and how he might party with us in future!

Special thanks to staffer MrCere for editing these video interviews.