Jed Brophy and Weta Workshop propbuilder Samantha Swords star in the new short film ‘The Offering’, written and directed by Elizabeth Crummett. ‘The Offering’ is a unique take on the classic damsel in distress story, and features some lively swordplay between Jed and Samantha. Watch it here; you can also follow the production on ‘The Offering’ Facebook page.
UPDATE: Photo of Manu Bennett at the TORn “Hobbit” preview panel.
Gandalf & Saruman at SLCC 2013
SALT LAKE CITY — Once scheduled for a smaller venue in the suburbs, the first ever Salt Lake Comic Con filled Utah’s capital city’s largest convention venue and had it bursting at the seams Saturday. For a time the hundreds waiting outside were not allowed to enter except at a 1-out-1-in rate. Word on the dealer’s floor said it was because the fire marshal closed the space but that rumor was never confirmed.
Reports in the media called the event “record setting” for a first-year convention, and that is possibly true, but such stats aren’t readily available. In any case, it was a massive event with celebrities that included William Kircher (Bifur) and Manu Bennett (Azog) and other pop-culture icons like William Shatner and Adam West.
Azog at Weta booth, Salt Lake Comic Con 2013
TheOneRing.net was part of the fun as well, with staffer (and this writer) Larry D. Curtis (MrCere) attending with the show in his (my) hometown. the SLComic Con invited TORn to present a panel about Smaug and serve on other panels as well, with topics including Fantasy Films, all things Tolkien, Geek Culture and film school.
Bennett and Kircher were kind enough to drop by TheOneRing panel that also included author and TORn friend Paul Genesse. He helped moderate the panel and showed incredible enthusiasm for the material.
TheOneRing also managed a booth on the at time very crowded floor supported by incredible friends at Badali Jewelry and Weta Workshop making its first U.S. appearance outside of the San Diego Comic Con. TORn helped back in a small way to staff the Weta booth and send those with questions about where to purchase The One Ring to Badali’s very nearby booth. Artist David Powell was also kind enough to sign posters of his art for fans.
The Salt Palace Convention Center can be expanded and the SLCC will return next year. TheOneRing.net hopes to be part of the show. Thanks to Dan McBride and Blonde Ninja for their support of the TORn booth. Thanks also to the many financial supports at the event and to Salt Lake Comic Con for letting us be a part of the show. If you attended and would like TORn to return, you can use the contact info here to let them know.
If anybody has images of Bennett and Kircher attending the TORn panel, please send them in! We were busy having a panel and didn’t get any photos.
As the release of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey in Extended Edition format approaches, Empire Magazine examines whether studios are giving the format their full support. Perhaps what’s on offer in the AUJ EE works as a counter-example against Empire’s critique? Tell us your thoughts!
Thanks to Ringer Rud the Spud for the link. (more…)
Posted in Blu-Ray, Hobbit Movie, Merchandise, MGM, New Line Cinema, Studios, The Hobbit, Warner Bros.
Thanks to Ringer Roheryn on the TORn messageboards for spotting this little news story about recording for the Desolation of Smaug soundtrack!
The New Zealand public has essentially lost access to Wellington’s Town Hall while the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra records the score for the second Hobbit movie.
The orchestra last month cancelled its Heights of Passion tour to free up time to record the score.
In a public notice today, Wellington City Council announced ”strict security” was in place at the Town Hall from now until the end of next month while the orchestra records the film score.
There will be no public access during this time, the notice said.
Posted in Hobbit Movie, Howard Shore, soundtrack, The Hobbit, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
In this piece on his blog Midgardsmal, linguist David Salo writes about how he derived various Orkish dialects used in the Lord of the Rings films from his own extrapolations of Black Speech, and
about his thoughts on the approach Sauron might have taken in putting together Black Speech itself.
Nothing official has been announced yet, but indications out of the Capital City are that things are progressing towards something Lord of the Rings fans have long desired, a museum dedicated to Middle-earth. For a more dynamic experience for visitors, it makes more sense for it to be a more general Film museum focused on all the films coming from Wingnut and WETA. That would allow for visitors to see new exhibits over time, but with a heavy focus on Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. Te Papa had a very popular Lord of the Rings exhibit in 2002 and again in 2006, which turned out to be its most popular exhibit, so the market is there. Locations being looked at are somewhere along the waterfront. This would gives fans year round a second place to connect with their LOTR fandom alongside the WETA Cave, and something for them to see long after the final film is released. One of the biggest hurdles when this idea was first conceived was the licensing rights, but indications seem to imply that is less of an impediment right now.
For more details, read the article here.
Posted in Events, Exhibits, Fans, Hobbit Movie, Lord of the Rings, LotR Movies, Meet Ups, MGM, New Line Cinema, Peter Jackson, Studios, The Hobbit, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, The Hobbit: There and Back Again, Tolkien, Warner Bros., WETA Cave
Lord of the Rings producer Barrie Osborne is apparently interested in shooting a Viking film. He it thinks may do for Norwegian tourism what LOTR and The Hobbit has done for New Zealand. Thanks to Ringer Obi donkenobi for the heads-up! (more…)
Looks like the cast of The Hobbit are deep in Additional Dialogue Recording (ADR) right now, going by one of Graham McTavish’s (who plays Dwalin) recent tweets. ADR is, of course, used to re-record any original dialogue that wasn’t initially good on set, or wasn’t picked up well by the boom microphones. Thanks to Ringer TheSexyBeard for spotting this story! (more…)
Posted in Graham McTavish, Hobbit Movie, Production, Richard Armitage, The Hobbit, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Beginning last Saturday and running through to September 4, TheOneRing.net is hosting a Pledge Drive (see the banner at the top) as well as a bunch of auctions for some really cool memorabilia and collectibles.
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.
Posted in Barliman News, Barlimans, Cannes 2001, Casting Rumors, ComicCon, Conventions, Costuming, Crew News, Director Rumors, DragonCon, Events, Fans, Fellowship of the Ring, Film Screenings, Green Books, Hall of Fire, Hobbit Book, Hobbit Cast News, Hobbit Movie, Hobbit Movie Rumors, J.R.R. Tolkien, Lectures & Education, Locations Sets, Lord of the Rings, LotR Books, LotR Cast News, LotR Movies, Make the Hobbit Happen, Meet Ups, Movie Fellowship of the Ring, Movie Return of the King, Movie The Two Towers, MrCere in New Zealand, New Zealand, Old Cannes News, Old ComicCon News, Old DragonCon News, Old Main News, Old Oscar Party News, Old Spy Reports, Original TORn, Oscar Parties, Other Events, Other Merchandise, Other Tolkien books, Peter Jackson, PJ New Line, PJ's Other Films, Production, Return of the King, Rumors Spy News, Rumours Spy News, Studios, The Hobbit, The Two Towers, Tolkien, Tolkien Reading Day, Trailer, Wellington
Author Doug Adams, who famously documented the story of the Lord of the Rings soundtracks in The Music of the Lord of the Rings Films has been conducting an Ask Me Anything over on his blog.
He writes:
Posted in Hobbit Movie, Howard Shore, soundtrack, The Hobbit, The Hobbit: An Unexpected JourneyI still can’t answer many Hobbit questions, but for the time being, feel free to post them here and I’ll do the best I can!
Comic-Con 2013 brought us a look at the amazing mini-environments that capture various Hobbit Holes in the Shire. We already have #1 Bagshot Row and now via the most recent newsletter fans get to pre-order the next Hobbit Hole #40 Bagshot Row. This beautiful collectible captures some of the unique looks and personalities you will find as you roam around the shire. This Hobbit Hole comes in at $40 and will be shipping from New Zealand in early October.
Two of Peter Jackson’s companies will be among the honorees at the International 3D & Advanced Imaging Society’s 5th annual 3D Technology Awards. The awards will be presented Sept. 18 during a ceremony at Paramount Studios.
The Society’s Lumiere statuettes for technology will be awarded to Weta Digital for the visual effects pipeline it created for Avatar; and to Park Road Post for the 3D high frame rate pipeline it developed for The Hobbit.
Related, a Lumiere will also be awarded to manufacturer SGO for its Mistika postproduction system, which was a key tool used at Park Road Post for its 3D high frame rate pipeline.
Posted in Hobbit Movie, Peter Jackson, Production, The Hobbit, WETA Digital, WETA Workshop
