Extra_Extra2

January’s Rewrite Tolkien contest – The Hobbit in the style of a newspaper article – ends on Monday, January 27th at noon, Eastern Standard Time, so there’s only a short time left to submit your entry.

Click here for contest information and submission guidelines, and good luck!

 

SoundWorks1SoundWorks Collection recently took a trip to Wellington, New Zealand to speak with the wizards at Park Road Post Studios about their work on The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. From these interviews comes a 10-minute video (which we’ve embedded below) detailing the tremendous process of constructing the sound design of the second film in Peter Jackson’s epic adaptation.

This profile comes on the heels of the Oscar nominations the film
received in both sound categories – Sound Editing and Sound Mixing (in addition to Visual Effects). The Academy Awards ceremony will be held on Sunday, March 2.

Interviews in this video include re-recording mixers Michael Hedges, Christopher Boyes, Michael Semanick, and Gary Summers, as well as composer Howard Shore and producer/co-screenwriter Philippa Boyens. Continue reading “SoundWorks Collection profiles ‘The Desolation of Smaug’”

VoormanOne
of the very best aspects of the Academy Awards is the ability of the nominations and forthcoming telecast to shine a light on smaller films
that would perhaps otherwise go unnoticed by the general public. Such is the case with a film that Martin Freeman shot a couple of years ago
called The Voorman Problem. Directed by Mark Gill and also starring
Tom Hollander, Simon Griffiths and Elisabeth Gray, the film has been nominated for Best Live Action Short at the 86th Annual Academy Awards. We would like to offer our heartfelt congratulations to Mr. Gill and his cast and crew.

The film will be touring in cinemas with the Oscar Shorts starting January 31st, and will appear on iTunes on February 28th. Visit the official site for the film by clicking here. Continue reading “Short Film ‘The Voorman Problem’ starring Martin Freeman nominated for Academy Award”

Hobbit Desolation of Smaug PosterThe Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced their nominations
for the 86th Annual Academy Awards this morning, and The Desolation of Smaug received 3 nods.

Best Sound Mixing
Christopher Boyes, Michael Hedges, Michael Semanick and Tony Johnson
 
Best Sound Editing
Brent Burge
 
Best Visual Effects
Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton and Eric Reynolds
 

Congratulations to the nominees! The ceremony will be held on March 2nd. Continue reading “‘The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug’ nominated for 3 Oscars”

oscar-party-picFull details aren’t ready for full disclosure just yet, but should be available very soon. Just crossing the Ts and dotting the Is on booking a venue. We wanted to make sure you knew this was happening today, just as the Oscar Nominations are announced so you can ‘Save the Date’. Here is what we can tell you.

The Oscar party will be held on Sunday, March 2, but then, that date was chosen by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

This will be a viewing party, with dinner, games, auction and raffles, and some geeky fun. That also means it will start in the mid to late afternoon as the Red Carpet telecast gets underway.

Rather than a big fancy party as in years past, we’ve decided to go more casual this year. This is more of an Oscar Moot, a gathering of friends and fans for food, Fellowship and fun. No need for fancy dress, although costumes are always welcome.

The cost will be much more within reach, basically just covering the meal, tax and gratuities.

We are endeavoring to make this family friendly, all ages welcome, so feel free to bring the younglings.

Look for more details in the coming weeks when we issue the formal invite.

movie brawl 2014Anyone up for a little game of ‘Swamp the movie poll?’ MTV is hosting a little poll to discover the most anticipated film of 2014. Round one is in full swing now with just a few more hours left to help The Hobbit: There and Back Again beat off it’s competition. The first round closes at 12 noon EST tomorrow, just 11 hours or so from now. If we can get The Hobbit: TABA to move on to the next round, keep this link around to help keep it moving along. Movie Brawl 2014 You can vote as often as you like, so let’s make the next few hours count.