Part 2 (see Part 1) of our Weta Workshop Comic-Con 2012 coverage is an comprehensive video of their booth. This is an official booth tour given by Tim Launder, Business Manager of Weta Workshop. In the video below, you get a great explanation of the entire booth layout and the products that Weta featured, including items from The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit films. Thanks to WETA for providing this unique opportunity! [Weta Workshop]
Category: Events
As, we continue our HobbitCon coverage we have a two part experience at the Weta Workshop booth. With Part 1 you’re gonna seeall the pictures and a video of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey statues as well as The Lord of the Rings collectibles at the booth. The statues from The Hobbit looked off the charts great with so much detail, great likenesses, and a great touch by putting the Dwarven map on the elegant simple black base. The Lord of the Rings collectibles at the booth were equally as impressive including a couple items I was eagerly looking forward to seeing in person. The items I looked forward to seeing the most were the Barad-Dur environment and the Fellowship mini-statues. Barad-Dur is the coolest environment I’ve seen and it will absolutely catch the eye of anyone looking at your collection. So don’t miss out on this amazing piece when it goes up for Pre-Order July 31st. The other item or items that stood out to me from The Lord of the Rings section as the three part Fellowship statues which have already started Pre-Ordering. This set is something we’ve all waited a long time to order and seeing them all together in person was a highlight for me at the show. These are must have items if you’re a hardcore Ringer like me. Read the full story below for the video and gallery. [Weta Collectibles]
Continue reading “Collecting The Precious – Comic-Con 2012 Weta Workshop Booth – Part 1”
For those attending viewings of ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ this weekend, you may find yourself listening to the end of Howard Shore’s ‘The Bridge of Khazad Dum’ playing as part of the brand new ‘Man of Steel’ teasers. If you have seen The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, you know (SPOILERS) that when Gandalf falls at the bridge, we have an amazingly emotional and dramatic score to accompany this significant event. I get chills just thinking of the scene. Now, for better or worse, that same theme is used to build emotion for the next attempt to revive the Superman franchise. How do you feel about it? Share your thoughts in the comments, our forum and on Facebook! If you somehow managed to go through the last 10 years without owning Howard Shore’s award-winning score, we highly suggest you pick up today! (There are obviously many versions of the score to own, so browse around a bit) [LOTR:FOTR Score
Ringer Morgan tells us that Daniel Reeve the calligrapher and mapmaker from The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit will be signing copies of his maps and chatting about his involvement in the films at the Weta Cave in Miramar (Wellington) this Sunday.
As well, Weta conceptual designer Greg Broadmore will be signing copies of his over-the-top steampunk extravaganza Dr Grordbort presents: TRIUMPH — unnecessarily violent tales of science fiction adventure for the simple and unfortunate on next Wednesday. Apparently there will be “a splendid high tea” as well. Entry is free.
In true retro-steampunk style, Broadmore’s alter-ego Dr Grordbort has declared: “attendance compulsory on penalty of flogging!”. Be there, or be on the run I guess!
Weta Cave artist signing details:
Daniel Reeve: Sunday July 22, 1pm to 3pm.
Greg Broadmore: Wednesday July 25, 6pm to 7pm.
Ringer Kellyduck sends us this link to what appears to be a substantial partial transcript of the press conference the Hobbit crew gave at Comic-Con last weekend.
I don’t think this is the entire press conference, but it is certainly a substantial part. We also now have some partial video too. (Sorry folks, I know you all want it to see it, but there’s still no showreel footage.)
At the 2012 San Diego Comic-Con, Peter Jackson — joined by The Hobbit cast members Martin Freeman, Andy Serkis, Ian McKellen, and Richard Armitage — said there are other parts of Tolkien’s stories he’d like to be able to tell. Sitting down for a small press conference after the Hall H presentation, Jackson talked about his hopes for shooting more footage. Along with his cast, Jackson discussed revisiting the world he brought to the screen in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, technological advances, and the 48 frames per second debate.
Choice quote from Martin Freeman: I was struck by just how emotional people were talking about the film, talking about anticipating the film. With each question came a preamble about what the previous films have meant in people’s lives. So all cliches aside, it’s a really nice thing to be part of something that actually touches people, genuinely touches people. It’s quite a lovely thing.
MrCere breaking in here. I was planning to report this whole press conference but real life, travel and DragonCon have prevented it and now this transcript is here, so anything I write seems less useful to readers now. The transcript isn’t word-for-word, it has removed the “uhms” and a similar words so the quotes are cleaned up, but it is accurate and easier to read this way. The questions are much more cleaned up. For example: The first one was mine and I said I would love to hear the response from the panel about Hall H, especially from those who were there for the first time. Martin Freeman spoke up, answered then the moderator moved on. (I especially wanted to also hear from Richard Armitage since we talked about things like Comic-Con while in New Zealand but sadly the moment was lost.) Anyway, I didn’t listen to the whole recording but it seems complete to me. Oh, but I do have some photos after the break.
[Partial transcript | [Partial video] | [TORn’s Ultimate Round-up] Continue reading “Comic-Con ‘Hobbit’ press conference transcript”
Mondo, the Alamo Drafthouse’s poster house, debuted a set of three new posters at Comic-Con, designed by artist JC Richard. Each was themed around the Lord of the Rings film trilogy.
In an interview, Mondo’s creative director Justin Ishmael said he understood the trilogy meant a great deal to fans and was delighted to provide a follow-up to an earlier poster centered around a Lego version of the Lord of the Rings.
These posters are directly based on the Peter Jackson’s filmed version of J.R.R. Tolkien’s classics. Ishmael notes an earlier version of the Balrog was knocked back by parent film company Warner Bros, because the artist’s interpretation was closer to Tolkien’s description than what was pictured in Jackson’s film.