From Jared Smith of taranaki-daily-news: For two years Jay Rei worked as a light rigger on The Hobbbit films. His work is critical: sync-ing lighting scenes and green screens helps with post-production of the films and avoids costly re-shoots.
Mr Rei dismisses the critics who say the recent announcement of three Hobbit films is stretching the source material too thin.
“That would depend on their comprehension, making a book into a movie is a big deal, Pete’s got an amazing brain, brilliant. He tries every variation there is. We got quite enough footage to do the two movies we were away for, and now the third.”
Tom Scott from dominion-post: A Hobbit movie set discreetly hidden in the Maupuia bush will remain for up to 16 extra months and walkers may be able to get close enough to check it out. The site which was used to film scenes of the town of Dalewas due to come down on August 31 but the Wellington City Council recently approved another resource consent. This consent means the set will remain until December 31, 2013.
This means it will be used for the making of Desolation of Smaug which — if the title is a reliable clue — will deal with the dragon Smaug. The site is privately owned, but walking tracks in the area are open at the owner’s discretion and glimpses of the site ”may be possible” from sites in Evans Bay and Roseneath. Potential spoiler warning
Since the Hobbit film trilogy began shooting principal photography 18 months ago, the production has played its very cards close to its chest, and Stone Street Studios has proved more leak-proof than the White House.
In light of this, speculation on the films — whether pertaining to structure or content — has the hallmark of paleolithic archaeology: not only are large inferences having to be made from an extremely small amount of evidence, but the legitimacy and relevance of the evidence itself is by no means certain.
With all this in mind, I’ll try and draw some tentative conclusions about the trilogy’s plot and structure — with particular attention to any evidence of departures from the book — from what we understand to be official biographical notes that will accompany the character figurines from The Hobbit.
While it is impossible to confirm that the descriptive information released with these figurines accurately reflects the film-makers vision, they are detailed and idiosyncratic enough to suggest there is a high degree of alignment.
Note that some of the biographies (Kili, Fili, Gloin and Dwalin, for example) are left out here. Where this occurs this is because, in my view, they offered no insight on the trilogy plot, structure, or departures from the source material. And if spoilers and speculation aren’t your thing, best to stop reading now. (more…)
Many Ringers have wondered how much of Guillermo Del Toro’s conceptual work and vision we’ll end up seeing in The Hobbit. In a video interview with io9‘s Annalee Newitz, Peter Jackson provides the answer: not much. Del Toro had already invested 18 months in concept designs for the creatures and the world of The Hobbit waiting for movie to be greenlit. But in 2010 he left the project because of the delays, and Jackson eventually took over.
Jackson says: “I looked at his designs and I said: ‘The only person who can make a Guillermo Del Toro movie is Guillermo. It shouldn’t be me. I can’t put my head into somebody else’s idea — I have to generate it from the beginning.’ So really I redesigned the film pretty much. Some of Guillermo’s DNA is in there…”
Although “The Hobbit” features several Lord of The Rings returning cast members, Ian McKellen, Cate Blanchett, Elijah Wood and others reprise their roles, Associated Press writes that the much of the film’s potential hinges on newcomer Martian Freeman.
The filmmakers were so set on having Martin Freeman to play Bilbo they halted production for three months while Freeman returned to British TV to reprise his role as Dr Watson“Sherlock“. Peter Jackson says “It was sort of unheard of for a big-budget movie, but because we wanted him so badly, the studio supported us, and we made that provision in our schedule,”, “He carries the movie. You get that casting wrong and you’re in huge trouble.” [Read More]
Andy Serkis who’s new to directing was honored to be asked to be the second unit director on The Hobbit (and he does a good job as we have seen through out Peter Jacksons video blogs). Peter Jackson gave Andy Serkis filmmaking tips and acted as a mentor. contactmusic.com quoting from EMPIRE magazine:
Serkis explained: ‘‘He would watch form his set, call: ‘No, no, it’s not working. Just bail out of the shot.’ He was mentoring me. ”There were different ways we worked. We’d set up entire sequences, or he’d start a scene and I would finish it if there wasn’t time.”
The Hobbit News for iPad App from TheOneRing.net is finally here! A feast of rich imagery and content, many have already found it in the Apple App store and downloaded it. As well as the good stuff already found in the iPhone App, the iPad version spreads it out for easier and more colourful reading with a brand new interface. Among the highlights are reading through all of the major stories from TheOneRing.net, a complete listing of cast and characters, video features, a diverse variety of Tolkien content, and even the ability to chat in Barlimans! We did have to charge a very small fee for this one, so we hope you consider spending the 99¢ to get it from the App store today. And of course, if you like it, why not drop us a review on the store! [iPad Version] [Free iPhone App]
I admit, when I first heard talk of “a third ‘Hobbit’ movie” from the floor of Comic-Con, I was skeptical. Reporters Quickbeam and Justin brought back footage from a press conference (that you can watch right here) breaking the story that additional shooting was a possibility, directly from Peter Jackson’s mouth. I downplayed it because from a five-week set visit I knew the team was going to return to shooting right after Comic-Con. I thought the media was being its usual bombastic self by calling a little more shooting “a third “Hobbit” movie. They absolutely had it posted first, breaking the story so kudos to them, but I dismissed it. How quickly things change.
Now it seems inevitable that this will happen. Jackson clearly has the will or he wouldn’t have spoken about it so fully. The studio clearly has the will because they are talking about it instead of dismissing it. So what would this mean besides another year of happy blood sweat and tears at TheOneRing.net? Lets look at all the facts and see if we can’t come to some conclusions educated guesses.
ON THE RECORD, WHAT WAS SAID:
Jackson spoke about this, very likely not by accident, from the television press line meet-and-greet at Comic-Con that took place before the famous Hall H event for fans. (Watch the first two or three minutes of Jackson’s own production diary #8 for the best account of Hall H.) (more…)
When it comes to LOTR & the Hobbit, the online gushing is usually non-stop.
Not today, though. The unconfirmed news that Peter Jackson may turn “The Hobbit” into a trilogy has been blowing up on social media, and it’s not all happy. A common response has been “not sure how I feel about this,” but there’s been quite a bit of negativity mixed in with the happiness and mixed-emotions.
We combed through the last 12 hours of tweets and pulled together a selection of what Twitter users have to say. You’ll find Yays, Naes and a whole bunch of head-scratching. Read on:
Talking to USA Today’s Brian Truitt in San Diego, Peter Jackson talks about raising the bar for The Hobbit, with a new movie technology. Peter Jackson says using 48 fps “gives you an illusion of life that’s so much more vivid than 24 frames does,” he says.
“The entire industry is in some respect waiting to see what happens with The Hobbit. I’m very happy to be the guinea pig.”
Jackson predicts that by the time The Hobbit is released, there will be several tent-pole studio movies that will be using the technology.
If not, he says that the industry might as well throw in the towel. Read more [here]
TheOneRing.net scored a few exclusive moments with Peter Jackson in the Comic-Con press line to chat. He was asked about his additional filming plans for The Hobbit.
Jackson says that he greatly desires to go back and film more in Middle-earth. This extra footage may or may not be destined for extended editions — extended editions are something that we definitely expect to see. However, the exciting possibility is that a third Hobbit film is also on Jackson’s mind — and he admitted it!
He wouldn’t outright commit to anything. He didn’t say: “Yes, I’m doing a third film”. On the other hand, he didn’t close the door completely.
His words: “There’s much more material from the Appendices of Lord of the Rings that we didn’t fit in.”
Remember though, we reported the other day that Warner Bros has no plans for a third film. Studio sources told Variety that “the plan was always for two.” What will happen? Well, it may all hinge on what sort of success An Unexpected Journey has this December.
The Los Angeles Times caught up with Peter Jackson for a quick Q & A interview. He told Geoff Boucher about his choice for making two movies and Jackson was “surprised at how rich the world is, and how many interesting themes and characters there are to explore” and by “also using extensive parts of the appendixes, which were published at the end of “Return of the King.” This is not just “The Hobbit” – it’s “The Hobbit” set in a much greater context of events taking place throughout Middle-earth during this period”
Peter Jackson also added: “. The material is so rich. In fact, only this last week or two, we’ve been talking to the studio about allowing us to shoot some additional material next year, to fully complete the story.” Extended Edition anyone? here’s hoping:) [More]
From Jared Smith of taranaki-daily-news: For two years Jay Rei worked as a light rigger on The Hobbbit films. His work is critical: sync-ing lighting scenes and green screens helps with post-production of the films and avoids costly re-shoots.
Tom Scott from 
When it comes to LOTR & the Hobbit, the online gushing is usually non-stop.
TheOneRing.net scored a few 