A KML file can, for example, add data points to a Google Earth map of New Zealand that show where various scenes from the three ‘Lord of the Rings’ films were shot.
Google Earth has moved into a tighter orbit around Google search. Google Earth users can now search for specific geographic data layers, otherwise known as Keyhole Markup Language (KML) files, to create map overlays.
In a post on the Google Maps API Blog, Google Earth product manager Chikai Ohazama offers an example: Navigate to New Zealand in Google Earth and enter “Lord of the Rings” in the Google Earth search box. The result is a KML file that, when selected, adds data points to the map of New Zealand that show where various scenes from the three Lord of the Rings films were shot. [More] [Google Earth]
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LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – New Zealand is home to a thriving film industry, one that has produced movies like the internationally acclaimed “Whale Rider.” It was an early adopter of incentives that attract outside productions. It’s also the home of Peter Jackson’s effects companies, Weta Digital and Weta Workshop, and their impact on New Zealand’s film industry cannot be underestimated.
Weta has grown from a boutique effects house serving only Jackson’s projects to one that services production the world over. And that has provided New Zealand with an edge that is as sharp as Aragorn’s sword. [More]
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Sir Ian McKellen branded British Academy Awards “downmarket and low key”. The “Lord Of The Rings” star expressed his regret the awards failed to attract neither “Little Miss Sunshine” actor Alan Arkin, who was named Best Supporting Actor, or “Dreamgirls” Jennifer Hudson, named Best Supporting Actress, both of whom failed to collect their awards at the event in London, as FemaleFirst notes. [More]
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To make the top 12 is an honor. To win the competition is a dream. 12 contestants. A panel of expert judges. This is MIDDLE EARTH IDOL. Brought to you by M.A.R.S. Productions, this parody of American Idol and Lord of the Rings features Kiran Shah, Daniel Reeve, Michael Regina, Grant Wilson and Dean Haglund judging Frodo, Galdalf, Gollum and more! Will the Shire bring us the next Middle Earth Idol? Or will the future king of Gondor reign above all others? The first episode will premiere next month at ORC in Burbank, as well as a compilation of the remaining episodes. [More]
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Director James Cameron, hard at work on his sci-fi extravaganza Avatar, is the latest person to comment on the increasingly nasty legal battle between Peter Jackson and New Line over profits from The Lord of The Rings. Jackson, for those who haven’t been keeping up with current events, accused New Line of deceptive accounting practices and demanded that the company submit to an audit. The resulting lawsuit managed to nix any chance of Jackson directing The Hobbit for New Line under their current management and time is running out for the film to be put into production before the rights switch hands again. Already there are rumors that Sam Raimi will be taking over the project before the contract expires in 2009. Premiere Magazine spoke with Cameron about the controversy because Cameron is planning to use Jackson’s Wellington studio to shoot parts of Avatar. [More]
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From movieweb.com: From the imaginations of AnnaSophia Robb and Josh Hutcherson, comes the new film, Bridge to Terabithia. But, those creatures didn’t just come out of no where – the good people at WETA worked tirelessly to get them looking spectacular. The film is an adaptation of the children’s novel by Katherine Patterson; it’s directed by Gabor Csupo, of Nickelodeon cartoon fame.
I had the chance to speak with Matt Aitken, one of the animators at the New Zealand workshop about creating the world of Terabithia. He told me making this land was a little different than working on King Kong and The Lord Of The Rings. [More]
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