Archive for the ‘Production’ Category
August 28, 2013 at 6:20 am by Kili
Tolkien’s love of Anglo-Saxon history is well-known, as are his influences from such Nordic works as Beowulf and the Finnish Kalevala. His passion for these cultures is evident in every race he created for Middle-earth, including the dwarves. Yet as has been highlighted in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, some of the inspiration for the dwarven race may have come from an understated influence: the Celts. (more…)
Posted in Aidan Turner, Alan Lee, Billy Connolly, Characters, Dean O'Gorman, Graham McTavish, Green Books, Hobbit Movie, Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, James Nesbitt, Ken Stott, Lectures & Education, Miscellaneous, soundtrack, The Hobbit, Uncategorized, WETA Workshop
August 28, 2013 at 4:35 am by Demosthenes
| Source: TVNZ| No Comments »
The mayor of Los Angeles says New Zealand and other countries are taking film and television work from Hollywood, prompting him to declare a “state of emergency”.
Eric Garcetti was elected in May and says the city’s pre-eminence in the entertainment industry is under pressure from other US cities as well New Zealand, the UK, Australia and Canada. (more…)
Posted in Hobbit Movie, New Zealand, Peter Jackson, Studios, The Hobbit
August 26, 2013 at 9:51 pm by Kelvarhin
Congratulations to Howard Shore for taking out the number one spot on ClassicFM’s Movie Music Chart with his Lord of the Rings Soundtrack . Howard has also taken ninth spot with The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journeys’ Soundtrack.
Posted in Headlines, Hobbit Movie, Howard Shore, Lord of the Rings, LotR Movies, Music, soundtrack, The Hobbit, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
August 24, 2013 at 7:35 am by Demosthenes
| Source: Stuff.co.nz| No Comments »
Johnny Fraser-Allen. Photo: FAIRFAX NZ.
Johnny Frazer Allen is a rising star in Tolkien fandom and the art world. He won a lot of hearts at San Diego Comic-con with his generosity and authentic fan enthusiasm, providing insight into the design of Radagast while signing with author/actress Evangeline Lilly. TheOneRing.net even covered his Gloaming exhibition earlier this year.
Johnny has a standing invite to appear on TORn Tuesdays to further chat with fans, when he’s able to break free from his many obligations!
Here, mainstream magazine Stuff now profiles Frazer-Allen’s rising career.
There is a fairytale-like feeling to the story of 28-year-old Johnny Fraser-Allen. A chance encounter with Weta Workshop’s Sir Richard Taylor at the airport, and the pivotal decision to miss a flight home so he could talk to him, landed Fraser-Allen his dream job at Weta at the age of 19. Nearly a decade on, he has put working for the creative company on hold to focus on his latest adventure – writing and illustrating children’s books, and gearing up for his second exhibition.
Landing his dream job at Weta took a touch of fate for Fraser-Allen. He had flown from Christchurch to Wellington, hoping to show Taylor his final high school design portfolio at a photography exhibition by Lord of The Rings star Viggo Mortensen, but Taylor was a no-show.
Despondently waiting for his flight home, he spotted Taylor at the airport. “I had the choice of missing my flight or talking to him, so I missed my flight.”
The meeting was a turning point.
“Richard took a lot of time with me, gave me a lot of advice, then he gave me his card and told me to bring my portfolio up in person.”
When Fraser-Allen got home, he scrapped his portfolio and started again, based on the Oscar winner’s advice.
When Taylor eventually looked at his portfolio, he said Fraser-Allen’s skills weren’t good enough for the design room, but he employed him based on his enthusiasm.
[Read More]
Posted in Crew News, Evangeline Lilly, Hobbit Movie, Production, Richard Taylor, The Hobbit, WETA Workshop
August 24, 2013 at 6:35 am by Demosthenes
Last weekend, The Hall of Fire examined what’s undoubtedly the movie topic of the moment — the character and appearance of Beorn. Lots of thoughtful opinions from all sides, and some interesting analysis of the mythic roots of Tolkien’s shapeshifter as well as of Alan Lee, John Howe and Ted Nasmith’s classic illustrations. Plenty of spoilers, too! For those who couldn’t attend, here’s a log.
Also, this weekend (Saturday August 24 at 6pm EDT (New York time)) we’ll be returning to our Lord of the Rings book chats. This week we begin the first chapter of book four — The Taming of Smeagol — so be sure to join us for this exciting topic! (more…)
Posted in Alan Lee, Barlimans, Characters, Green Books, Hall of Fire, Hobbit Book, Hobbit Movie, J.R.R. Tolkien, John Howe, Locations Sets, Mikael Persbrandt, The Hobbit, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, Tolkien
August 23, 2013 at 6:17 pm by Demosthenes
| Source: hfrmovies.com| No Comments »
Over at HFRmovies.com a talented fellow named Michael Sanders has used some nifty video trickery to interpolate what the Desolation of Smaug trailer might look like at 48 frames per second. It’s a very interesting experiment.
Several TORn staff have compared the Sanders’ 48fps interpolation and the 24fps rendition initially released by Warner Bros. side-by-side — and we feel that even Sanders’ “amateur” (and that word seems unfair for something that looks so good) interpolation reduces picture blurring blurring from camera panning and fast movement. (more…)
Posted in Creations, Fans, Headlines, Hobbit Movie, Studios, The Hobbit, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, Trailer, Warner Bros.
August 22, 2013 at 8:58 am by deej
At a recent event in Edinburgh, Scotland, ‘Doctor Who’ showrunner Steven Moffat addressed Peter Jackson’s eagerness to direct an episode of the classic show:
“He’s serious about it. We talked at The Hobbit premiere – he just wants a Dalek. So we’ll give him a Dalek and he’ll direct an episode. I think he’d like to us to go to New Zealand. I think it’s entirely possible.”
Series 8 is scheduled to start filming in January 2014, however there has been no word yet on when PJ would film his episode.
It’s not likely we’ll see the TARDIS flying over Hobbiton, however I think it is very likely that PJ will get his wish to film against the gorgeous backdrop of New Zealand.
Thanks to Blogtor Who for the Q & A highlights.
Posted in Director news, Peter Jackson
August 19, 2013 at 11:46 pm by MrCere
The World Soundtrack Academy has nominated Howard Shore’s “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” soundtrack in the category “Best Original Film Score of the Year.” The Academy is dedicated to the art of film scoring and the preservation of its history. Shore’s work is one of five in the category.
The rest are:
Anna Karenina by Dario Marianelli
Life of Pi by Mychael Danna
The Master by Jonny Greenwood
Skyfall by Thomas Newman
With an awards show in Belgium, there are also categories for “Film Composer of the Year,” and “Best Original Song Written Directly For a Film.” You can see the full list of nominees and learn more about the organization right here. Tickets are available on the site as well.
Posted in Hobbit Movie, Howard Shore, Production, The Hobbit, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
August 19, 2013 at 9:54 pm by elessar
Dating back to Comic-Con 2012 when Weta Workshop had the three giant Trolls guarding their booth these three trolls have been a huge hit with fans around the world. Tonight, via their most recent newsletter, fans are getting a chance to add another one of these mini-versions to their collections. Bert the Troll is joining Tom the Troll who was released as an in-stock item during Comic-Con 2013. You can Pre-Order Bert the Troll right now for $75 with him shipping in November/December of this year. The third member of this trio William will be coming up for Pre-Order before October to complete your trio of Trolls.
Posted in Collectibles, Collectibles, ComicCon, Conventions, Hobbit Movie, Merchandise, Shop, The Hobbit, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, The Hobbit: There and Back Again, Weta Collectibles, WETA Workshop
August 19, 2013 at 8:45 am by Demosthenes
Weta designer Paul Tobin
TORn staffer Justin caught up with Weta conceptual designer Paul Tobin at the San Diego Comic-Con last month and scored this long, informative chat about the intense effort that went into the design of the dwarves of the Company, and about John Howe’s immense artistic talent.
As well as working on Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit Trilogy, Tobin has worked on James Cameron’s Avatar (2009) and Andrew Adamson’s The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005), Prince Caspian (2008). (more…)
Posted in ComicCon, Conventions, Events, Headlines, Hobbit Movie, John Howe, Production, The Hobbit
August 18, 2013 at 11:54 am by Arandir
| Source: International Broadcasting Convention| No Comments »
Peter Jackson, director of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit film trilogies, will soon be awarded the International Broadcasting Convention’s (IBC) highest honor in recognition of his work “fostering the relationship between technology and creativity” in the film industry. (more…)
Posted in Director news, Headlines, Hobbit Movie, Lord of the Rings, LotR Movies, Peter Jackson, Production, The Hobbit
