In an exclusive interview with Entertainment Weekly, Ed Sheeran talks about his experience down in New Zealand working with Peter Jackson on “I See Fire” for the end credits of The Desolation of Smaug.
“He [Peter Jackson] was fantastic. At every point where I’d be adding something, I’d play him the song afterwards. I was there for three days, and at the end of every day he would come and listen to the song and give me notes.
He knows what he wants, but he doesn’t pretend to be musical in any way. He let me go on with it, but he also knows his movie, so he would tell me something needs to be less energetic, or more relaxed, or whatever. He knows the colors and templates of what the song should be rather than how the melody should go.”
Read the entire interview over at EW.com.
Posted in:
Share:
It’s time to announce November’s Rewrite Tolkien contest, where you, the fans, can rewrite your favorite passages or scenes in the style of a classic author. We will select a theme each month, and then it’s up to you to put your spin on it!
The theme for the month of November is:
The Hobbit as written by J.K. Rowling/ The Harry Potter series
Using characters from ‘The Hobbit’, come up with a poem or short story in the style of J.K. Rowling – Gandalf’s early years at Hogwarts…Beorn vs. Fluffy…Dobby the house elf paying his cousins in Mirkwood a visit- It’s up to you!
Our judges will read through all of your submissions, and choose the best of the bunch. The Grand Prize Winner will get their entry read live by our own Quickbeam on the first TORn Tuesday of December, as well as having it published here on TheOneRing.net. Two runners-up will have their stories posted here on TORn.
The contest deadline is 12:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST) on Monday, November 25th. Please be sure to read all of the submission guidelines below and submit your entry to rewrite_tolkien_contest@theonering.net.
Good luck!
****Submission Guidelines****
- Contest is open to individuals worldwide, age 13 and up at the time of entry.
- To avoid duplicate submissions, please include your name and location on all entries.
- To qualify, submissions must be a minimum of 500 words and maximum of 2000 words, feature characters from The Hobbit and be in the style of the author/genre for that month’s contest.
- All submissions should be emailed to mailto: rewrite_tolkien_contest@theonering.net with the entry in the body of the email. No attachments.
- No posting your entry on the message boards or TORn’s Facebook page.
- No profanity. We realize that some authors’ styles require it, so if you MUST use profanity, please censor it with asterisks.
- By submitting, you are giving TORn permission to reproduce your entry on our website or other formats (Twitter, Facebook, etc…)
- Only one entry per person, and each entry may not be submitted more than once.
- Contestants are only eligible to win once in a 12 month period.
- Entries that do not follow these submission guidelines will not be considered for the contest.
*Illustration by Mary GrandPre
Posted in:
Share:
We’ve started to see more and more products announced and launched tying into The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. One of the companies turning out some pretty cool stuff for film two is our friends at The Bridge Direct. The collectible we’re covering today is Radagast the Brown, from their 6” line of figures. After seeing this piece at San Diego Comic-Con this past summer, I was quite excited to get this; and I have to say this figure lived up to my expectations.
PACKAGING
The layout for the box design for Radagast is exactly the same as we saw with wave one of the figures, for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. The new figures differ in the graphics, as well as the coloring of the box. The images show the company climbing what I would assume is the Lonely Mountain, with another view of that same Mountain in the background. You also have a blue tone to the coloring, which suggests the darker turn the movie will take, compared to how wave one and movie one matched up.
On the bottom of the box you have a cardboard slip with the character’s name and a picture of the character all rendered in the same coloring. The back of the box has a great little breakdown of the second movie. They not only do this in English but also in French, which I have to say I really got a kick out of. You also get a look at the three 6” figures in wave two: Radagast, Legolas, and Azog.
Accessories/Articulation
Radagast is simple when it comes to the number of items you get with him; he comes with his hat and his staff. However, this matches exactly what we see him with during the movie, so you get to create the exact look of what we saw.
The articulation on this figure as a whole is really good. You have great movement in the hands, elbows, shoulders, and ankles. The only area which I found had any kind of limited movement is the head, but that is due to his beard. Overall, you can have some real fun with this figure, creating some of the craziness we could imagine Radagast getting into.
SCULPTING
I love the sculpting job on Radagast. I really think the likeness on this figure is pretty darn close to a dead ringer for what we saw on screen. Within the facial likeness, the little bird’s nest is also there and can be shown or not depending on if you have him wear his hat. The detailing doesn’t stop there, as his outfit has some amazing fine points in it, even with little things I didn’t notice in the movie when I’ve seen it several times. Radagast comes with a couple of extras, which are the hat I just mentioned, and his trusty staff with the blue crystal that he uses to save Sebastian the hedgehog.
PAINT
As I’ve said before in other reviews, the paint can make or break the sculpting work. I really think The Bridge Direct nailed the paintwork on Radagast, giving the character the proper ‘on screen’ look. The skin tone looks like his movie counter part and has a nice natural, alive tone to it. His hair has the proper brown and grey mix as we saw on screen. That’s not my favorite part, though, of what was done to his hair. One of the things I don’t care for with Radagast is the bird poop in his hair – it’s just something I really wish they had left out. Luckily, the way it’s painted on the figure it just looks like a large area of grey hair, and I love it. Much better than what we actually got! His outfit is also painted very nicely, allowing for all the sculpted details to come screaming through.
Overall
Radagast is a fantastic figure. You get a great sized figure and tons of detail. You can get Radagast exclusively at Toys R’ Us for $14.99, along with Azog, Legolas, and the Mirkwood 5-Pack. We want to thank The Bridge Direct for this chance to give our readers a look at this pretty cool figure.
SPECIFICATIONS
Radagast costs $14.99.
PHOTOS
Posted in:
Share:
Peter Jackson has written a lengthy post on his Facebook concerning Ed Sheeran’s end credits song for The Desolation Of Smaug, “I See Fire”, and the music video for it. A few excerpts follow:
“We have a tradition in our Tolkien films of having a song over the closing credits. It’s very important that the song feels right for the world of the movie – and also carries the emotional resonance of the end of that particular film. The Desolation of Smaug is no different. The ending of this film requires a voice and sensibility that will allow an viewer to process what they have just experienced.
Ed watched the movie at Park Road Post, immediately went into a room, and started writing and singing. Much of what you will hear on this song was recorded that same day, with a few overdubs and tweaks the following day. It was a great experience, and what you will see in this video are moments captured by our behind the scenes team during the creation of the song.
But the images are only supporting Ed’s wonderful song. This is his direct emotional response to seeing The Desolation of Smaug, written and performed on the same day he saw the movie.”
You can read PJ’s entire post and watch the video over at his Facebook. Or you can catch just the video on good ol’ YouTube.
The song features on the OST for The Desolation of Smaug, to be released on December 10, and is available for purchase on iTunes as of today.
Posted in:
Share:
We received a lot of great submissions for October’s Rewrite Tolkien contest (characters from The Hobbit in the writing style of Edgar Allan Poe), including some impressive international entries from France and Mexico!
This months winner is…
Continue reading “October’s Rewrite Tolkien contest winners are…”
Posted in:
Share:
Look3D, the company who last year brought you the ‘dwarven’ styled special 3D glasses for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, have just announced their new design for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug; and they’ve allowed TheOneRing.net exclusively to reveal this fabulous item! Along with Warner Bros. and RealD, Look3D have created ‘Thorin Oakenshield’ inspired 3D Glasses, specifically for the new film. The beautiful design features a Dwarven sword in gold and silver along the arm of the glasses, with the movie logo embossed on it. They are packed in a cloth bag which also features the movie logo.
The glasses will be available in selected cinemas worldwide and also on Look3d.com. They will also be available in retail through Best Buy in the US; and possibly in some giveaways from your friends here at TORn! Get ready to watch The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug in style!
Posted in:
Share:
