Ringer Spy Dernhelm sends in her report on some rumors regarding the script. Check it out in The Spy Reports.
Month: December 1999
This is a rather cool sotry sent in by Ringer Spy Dave. Check it out:
I thought you might be interested in this tidbit. It was in Friday’s Globe and Mail by Jan Melnyk.
Here is the important part: “My co-worker told a story at work about her aunt. Here’s how it goes:
Many years ago, her aunt was walking through an English public garden when a man approached her. “Do you have the time? he asked. She looked at her watch but he shook his head. “No, do you have the time to sit and talk?” he asked politely. They sat on a bench among the flowers while he talked about his life and asked about hers. She was very young, and he was very old.
She listened as he related the events of his youth and the wars he had lived through. He told her of his hopes for the human race. One thing he didn’t tell her about was his accomplishments. He had penned The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy. The man was J.R.R. Tolkien.
What a great listen. I reeled in awe as my friend finished her delightful story.”
The rest of the article goes on about storytelling. What a lucky woman her friend’s aunt was. Imagine being able to have that kind of discussion with the Master. Wow. That would have been a life experience for me. Anyways, I thought you might be interested.
Xoanon here,
Having read what Dernhelm reports, I must say that it’s very akin to the scripts that I’ve read. The decapitation though, that’s new to me. So this will be regarded as a serious RUMOR and nothing more.
From: Dernhelm
I’ve heard some new rumors about the script from an insider.
With Eomer being out, Eowyn becomes queen of Mark, she still marries Faramir though. And it seems to be some change in Eowyns personality, she’ll be much tougher, maybe as some sort of mix between Eomer and Eowyn.
Also, the scoring of the shire will be a bit different, as it will not include Grima Wormstounge. He will be blamed by Eowyn for her last living relative’s(Theoden) death. And she will find him after Saruman left him, and she will decapitate Wormstounge, Theoden’s evil advisor.
Tehanu’s 3rd report is chalk full of news!
After being in Queenstown for a few days, I’ve chatted to a few people that know people in the production (well, that’s everyone in Queenstown actually) and I can answer some questions that have come up a few times.
1) Moria orcs have scaly skin – greenish, if I remember rightly. The Uruk-Hai are black and smooth-skinned. So, something for everyone there.
2)Legolas is fair-haired not dark, according to an orc I spoke to. You can all expend a lot of Internet bandwidth discussing this, I know. Legolas also wears two throwing-knives in a kind of back-holster (you’ll see the blades poking up over his shoulders) and a small bow which is beautifully made with laminated would and finely detailed inlay work. Let’s hope we get to see that ín close-up!
3)My source says that Orlando Bloom makes a great Legolas. He also had positive things to say about Liv as Arwen. I know some of you think that I’ve got a bias here (rah rah rah, everything’s going to be great etc.) but if so it’s one that all the extras I’ve spoken to share. Their bias could stem from the fact that they are having such a great time and are totally stoked to be involved in the film. On the other hand to offset that, I know that in New Zealand, the more famous somebody is, the more reluctant we are to be impressed by them. Especially if they’re from overseas. So if the local consensus is that Liv is doing a good job, then I’m looking forward to seeing her as Arwen.
4) Moria orc armour is leather and chainmail (actually fabric or knit mesh sprayed to look metallic, so my scepticism about that was unfounded!) with an overall spiky impression. The helmets are hard to see out of. In fact the layers of prosthetics are hard to see out of. Some of them had been in scenes to do with the breakup of the Fellowship, and several of them said that at first they were continually running into trees instead of doing whatever tightly-choreographed fight scene had been planned.
5) I asked about how PJ directed them, and they confirmed the impression I’d got from the ‘NZOnfilm’ article on the stuntmen: he keeps a close eye on things, but lets people work things out for themselves, and only offers suggestions when the result doesn’t work for him. One comment I heard was that he puts a good deal of trust in his assistant directors.
6) Somewone said of Boyd and Monaghan that they seem to have a naturally impish ‘hobbit-quality’ both in and out of character, and are pretty hilarious.
7) Ears-up for NZers – I heard a RNZ interview on the Kim Hill show with some guy who’d designed armoured boots to protect loggers from chainsaw injuries. The boots were co-designed by Warren Green, who’s one of the head armourers for LOTR. He came to armouring from a background in clothing design. I could hear Kim Hill’s interest perk up as Warren’s current fortunes on LOTR were described. “He must think all his Christmases have come at once!” she said, and I could almost hear her thinking, ‘Now THAT would be a good interview subject!. I wouldn’t be surprised if she tries to get an interview with him. If it happens, we want to hear about it!
Tehanu has poped up again for her 3rd report on the goings on down south. This time she has news on Uruk-Hai Orcs, Legolas, Liv and more! Plus you take take a ganer at Xtem’s latest news concerning the filming schedule and a rumor about Liv and moss, the mouldy kind. Check it out in The Spy Reports.
There have been rumours circulating that Liv Tyler, during filming, accidentally steped on some moss, which she is allergic to, and is subsquently doing the remainder of her parts with blue screen, indoors.
Some reports state that she is doing all these back in the U.S, where she has gone to get treatment for it, others say that while she DID go to the States for treatment, she is now back in New Zealand to complete the filming.
As yet there can be no confirmations about this, or when it took place.