Welcome to our collection of TORn’s hottest topics for the past week. If you’ve fallen behind on what’s happening on the Message Boards, here’s a great way to catch the highlights. Or if you’re new to TORn and want to enjoy some great conversations, just follow the links to some of our most popular discussions. Watch this space as every weekend we will spotlight the most popular buzz on TORn’s Message Boards. Everyone is welcome, so come on in and join in the fun!
Let’s hope that, for once, what happens in Vegas won’t stay in Vegas. Up to ten minutes of The Hobbit will be shown this Tuesday, both in 3D and 48 fps. From The Hollywood Reporter: The Hobbit will be one of many films that will be previewed at the theater owners confab, where for the first time in at least a decade, all of the major studios will present preview clips of their upcoming slate.
Millions of fans around the world are eagerly anticipating the prequel to Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy, which grossed an estimated $2.9 billion worldwide. Read More …
Conan Stevens is an Australian actor and stuntman. After recent work on “A Game of Thrones,” the magic of the internet created a connection between TheOneRing.net and Stevens (cast as Bolg in the two-part adaptation of “The Hobbit,”) leading to the following interview. Currently TORn is embedded in the production, but that event and this interview are not related.
TheOneRing.net: Update us on everything you have going on at the moment.
Conan Stevens: Compared to the the 24 months prior, last year was a good year for me. To start with I managed to get onto “The Hobbit,” which is a story in itself. I missed the main round of auditions but managed to get a foot in the door at the last second – just as I came down with dysentery. So that was a combination of luck, tenacity and 25 years of preparation/wasting time with RPG’s the SCA, Martial Arts, Pro Wrestling, etc.
Readers of this site, if not the known cinema universe, know that Peter Jackson‘s two-part adaptation of “The Hobbit,” has been filming at a technology-bending, 48 frame-per-second rate. But behind the appreciation of improving the cinematic experience, the question has lingered: Will anybody actually be able to see it at 48fps? Will it improve the 3D experience for viewers? Currently, no theater can show the film as it is being shot. The Hollywood Reporter writes that between now and December, a big change will take place. (Just a hunch, but the movie title will get fixed soon.)
The story begins:
Headline: Peter Jackson’s ‘The Hobbit’ Should Hit Theaters at 48-Per-Second Frame Rate
After Jackson and James Cameron championed higher frame rates as a solution to exhibition problems, projection manufacturers are working to support the move in time for the movie’s December 14, 2012 release date. The cinema technology industry is working to give moviegoers the opportunity to see “The Hobbit: An Unfinished Journey” in 3D projected at 48 frames per second when it hits theaters in December.
Read the whole story right here.
The Weta Cave, will be hosting a celebration of Obscura Day, an international celebration of unusual places, this Saturday, April 28. If you’re lucky enough to be in Wellington that day, this is a ‘must attend’ event! But, arrive early as space is first come, first served.
From our friends at the Weta Cave: The Weta Cave, an emporium of all things weird and wonderful, is proud to host Weta Artist Steven Saunders for a talk on the process behind Weta sculpture. Weta Workshop is the extraordinary visual design company best known for their work on the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, King Kong, The Chronicles of Narnia, and Avatar. The Weta Cave is Weta’s mini-museum, theaterette, and shop on a corner of the Workshop itself. Artist Steven Saunders will give a special Obscura Day talk taking you through the sculpting process behind Wetas new Gandalf sculpture. Not to be missed, this talk will provide unique insights into creative processes and into fantasy art from the sculptures perspective. Read More …
Discussion board member Modtheow reminds us of this annual event where discussion board members N.E. Brigand, visualweasel and Indigo Istar will be among the presenters!
Every year about 3,000 medievalists descend on Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, MI for the International Congress on Medieval Studies, but tucked into the over 600 sessions on every medieval topic imaginable, you can find 6 or 7 sessions on Tolkien, often referred to as “Tolkien at Kalamazoo.” You don’t have to be a medieval scholar to attend this conference, though I should say that it is meant to be a scholarly event — still, there’s lots of fun to be had, especially in the Friday night “Tolkien Unbound” entertainment, or the Saturday night dance, or in some of the gaming sessions, or dinner at Bilbo’s Restaurant. You can find information about the full conference here.
fallen behind on what’s happening on the Message Boards, here’s a great way to catch the highlights. Or if you’re new to TORn and want to enjoy some great conversations, just follow the links to some of our most popular discussions. Watch this space as every weekend we will spotlight the most popular buzz on TORn’s Message Boards. Everyone is welcome, so come on in and join in the fun!
