The Nashville Symphony Orchestra will be performing the LOTR Score at the Curb Event Center in Nashville, Tennessee tonight (November 5th). Tickets are still available! Click here for more info and follow this link for more cities and showtimes! [More]

Toronto will play host to fantasy fans from around the world this weekend, as the Fantasy Worldwide International Film Festival launches its inaugural event. The three-day festival, which runs through Sunday, will showcase 31 films from six continents at Toronto’s Bloor Cinema…Highlights of the event include Lord of the Brush, a documentary biography of Canadian artist John Howe, who helped bring to life J.R.R. Tolkien’s world in Peter Jackson’s Oscar-winning Lord of the Rings film trilogy. [More]

Alan Lee, the acclaimed LOTR illustrator and Academy Award-winning conceptual designer for the film trilogy, will join us in the Hall of Fire (on the TORn IRC server) today at 6pm EST for a live question and answer session! Alan will be answering questions on his work illustrating Lord of the Rings, his involvement with Peter Jackson and WETA as a conceptual designer for the Lord of the Rings film Trilogy and his new book The Lord of the Rings sketchbook. [More]

Everyone is reminded that Alan Lee, the acclaimed LOTR illustrator and Academy Award-winning conceptual designer for the film trilogy, will join us in the Hall of Fire (on the TORn IRC server) on Saturday November 5 at 6pm EST for a live question and answer session.

Alan will be answering questions on his work illustrating Lord of the Rings, his involvement with Peter Jackson and WETA as a conceptual designer for the Lord of the Rings film Trilogy and his new book The Lord of the Rings sketchbook.

The book presents more than 150 of Lee’s celebrated illustrations to show how his imagery for both the illustrated Lord of the Rings and the films progressed from concept to finished art. In addition, the book contains 20 full-color plates and numerous examples of the conceptual art produced for Peter Jackson’s film adaptation.

Alan has been creating fantasy artwork since 1978. He’s illustrated writers such as Dennis L McKiernen, Ursula K. Le Guin and has also worked as a set designer on the films Legend (1985), Erik the Viking (1989) and Merlin (1998).

To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of Tolkien, a new 1,200 page edition of The Lord of the Rings was planned. Alan Lee was chosen as the illustrator. With 50 colour plates, the book was a stunning artistic and commercial success.

This chat will be held on Saturday November 5 at 6pm EST on the TORn IRC server. However, if you can’t make it, you can still submit your question for Alan simply by e-mailing it to us at halloffire@theonering.net. We’ll ask it for you on the day!

Alan’s United States book tour

Alan Lee is currently touring the United States to promote and talk about his new book during October. His events will will feature a slide show, a Q&A with fans, and a booksigning. You can also order your copy from Amazon here.

And if you want to find out more about his tour, including dates and locations, check out Alan’s tour blog! Get along, ask some questions, buy the book and get it signed by Alan, himself.

About the live Q&A

Because we expect a large number of people, this chat will be moderated. That means you’ll pass your questions to us and we’ll ask them on your behalf. The reason we do this is because we don’t want Alan overwhelmed by dozens of people all asking a question at the same time.

Time zone conversions

Not sure what time the chat will be where you are? Check this little conversion table out for some help.

America:
6.00pm EST (New York)
5.00pm CST (Chicago)
4.00pm MST (Salt Lake City)
2.00pm PST (Los Angeles)

Europe:
11.00pm GMT (London)
11.30pm CET (Paris)

Asia-Pacific:
7.00am AWST (Sunday 6th) Perth
9.00am AEST (Sunday 6th) Brisbane
10.00am AEDT (Sunday 6th) Sydney
1.00pm NZDT (Sunday 6th) Wellington

Our chats usually last 45 mins to an hour, and are very newbie friendly. Simply drop in and join the conversation!

Where?

Chat happens on #thehalloffire on irc.theonering.net – the TORn IRC server. You can connect instantly via our java chat client that works inside your web browser (find it here! ) or choose to install a dedicated chat program such as mIRC on your computer.

To find out more about using mIRC to connect to TORn IRC server, check out these instructions.

Upcoming topics:

Sun November 13 – The seven deadly sins in LoTR
Sat November 19 – The seven deadly sins in LoTR

Got a topic? Let us know your idea!

If you have a burning desire to discuss something in Hall of Fire, drop us a line with your topic at halloffire@theonering.net. If we like it, we’ll probably give it a run in the coming weeks – you might even get to guest moderate the session!

Check out ringersstore.com — the brand new RINGERS website and online store — a destination you absolutely must visit for details on the upcoming smash-hit documentary RINGERS: LORD OF THE FANS, and for specialty shopping items you can find nowhere else! The familiar old URL lordofthefans.net will redirect you to www.ringersstore.com. Revel in the glowing reviews as critics around the world rally to praise the film called “Wildly entertaining!” (Amazon.com) and what “Will always be a salient part of Lord of the Rings history!” (Filmthreat.com)…. While you are there, join the discussion boards as the buzz continues to build on this groundbreaking film, being released Nov. 22 by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

From Houghton Mifflin: Following up on TORN’s Hall of Fire live chat, Houghton Mifflin will also give fans a chance to ask questions of Alan Lee. If anyone misses the live chat, or doesn’t have the opportunity to get their question answered, here’s another opportunity for them:

Pose questions about Alan Lee’s brand-new book, ‘THE LORD OF THE RINGS SKETCHBOOK’, to Alan Lee himself! The world-renowned, Academy Award-winning Lord of the Rings artist will answer your questions about the SKETCHBOOK the week of November 7th on Houghton Mifflin’s online Discussion Forum. The Forum will be accepting questions on Monday, November 7th & 8th. Alan Lee’s answers will be posted by Friday, November 11. Unfortunately, due to the high volume of requests we cannot guarantee answers to all questions. [More]