Gandalf leaving the Company at the eaves of Mirkwood increases the story tension.“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” impressed the Cinema Audio Society enough to shoulder into one of the five live action nominations for sound mixing the group awards annually. The group’s noms reflect an Academy Award nomination about 75 percent of the time.
Films competing against TH:AUJ are “Les Miserables,” “Lincoln,” “Skyfall” and “Zero Dark Thirty.” For a full story and list of nominations that include animated films and television, you can click right here.
TH:AUJ was mixed with new technology Dolby Atmos which dramatically increases the number of sound spots film technicians can place in the film. Thursday marks the announcement of Oscar nominations and the film has a chance to nab a spot for sound mixing and sound editing.
TheOneRing.net will host a party in Hollywood on Oscar night to celebrate film. See details right here.
The complete award for the film follows:
“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey”
Production Mixer- Tony Johnson, CAS
Re-recording Mixer – Christopher Boyes
Re-recording Mixer – Michael Hedges, CAS
Re-recording Mixer – Michael Semanick, CAS
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) just announced its nominations for the best films of 2012, and “The Hobbit,” snagged 3 separate nominations. One each for Sound, Special Visual Effects and Hair & Makeup. “Lincoln” received the most nominations with 10, even though Director Steven Spielberg was not one of the directorial nominees. Following close behind were “Argo,” “Les Miserables,” “Life of Pi” and “Zero Dark Thirty,” all with multiple nominations and among the Best Film category, along with “Lincoln.”
In the Sound category, “The Hobbit” is nominated with “Django Unchained,” “Les Miserables,” “Life of Pi” and “Skyfall.” In my opinion if the voters were able to see and hear a Dolby Atmos screening, this would be in the bag, but that is still a fresh and technology with limited availability. In the Special Visual Effects category, “The Hobbit,” is nominated with “The Dark Knight Rises,” “Life of Pi,” “Prometheus” and “Marvel’s Avengers Assemble.” In the Hair and Makeup category, all the nominees except “The Hobbit” are period pieces, while “The Hobbit,” definitely has some fantastical creations. Not sure which is the advantage here. The other nominees are “Anna Karenina,” “Hitchcock,” “Les Miserables” and “Lincoln.”
One notable nominee in the Documentary category is “West of Memphis,” produced by Fran Walsh and Peter Jackson. Jackson appears in the film that looks at the arrest, conviction and release of three then teens for a murder in West Memphis, Arkansas. Many felt it was a wrong conviction. The British Academy Film Awards will take place on February 10 at London’s Royal Opera House. For a full list of the nominations, please check the BAFTA website
What are all the young kids reading today? TOLKIEN! Legions of fans who followed the hit Disney Channel series “The Suite Life of Zack & Cody” may be surprised to learn star Dylan Sprouse has embraced his inner-geek, avidly loves Tolkien, and has already seen THE HOBBIT: AUJ four times. Join us on today’s *live* webcast as congenial host Cliff “Quickbeam” Broadway is joined by this special young talent: a Nickelodeon Kid’s Choice Award-winner and T.V. star who’s here to show how generational love of J.R.R. Tolkien is handed down to kids and inspires them to great things! If you’ve got a youngling in the house who’s a fan, they’ll definitely want to join the show *live* and bring their comments to the chat! TORn TUESDAY begins at 5:00PM Pacific Time right here on our Live Event Page, or you can turn on your camera and join in our Stickam hosted page here. You can even watch live from your smartphone using the Stickam App.
The Goblin King from “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” Image by Warner Bros. Pictures
“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” earned the top nomination for visual effects and six others nominations at the 11th annual Visual Effects Society Awards, set for Feb. 5 at the Beverly Hilton. “The Avengers,” and “The Life of Pi,” are close behind with six nominations each and are also in the top category.
The awards recognize special effect driven films such as those mentioned above in a different category from those features where effects play a secondary role. It recognizes work in animated films, broadcast, commercials, video games and student work. Weta Digital is represented with “The Hobbit” and a work on a few others films as well.
It also recognizes special effect characters pitting Gollum against the Goblin King, Hulk and the tiger from “Life of Pi,” named Richard Parker. There are currently 10 films on the Academy Award list for Best Visual Effects with the official nominations expected January 10. “The Hobbit,” is very likely to be on the final ballot. TheOneRing.net is hosting an awards-night celebration in Hollywood on the nights of the awards. Some tickets remain available.
Nominations for The Hobbit are as follows:
1. Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects-Driven Feature Motion Picture
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Joe Letteri
Eileen Moran
Eric Saindon
Kevin L. Sherwood
2 & 3. Outstanding Animated Character in a Live Action Feature Motion Picture
The Hobbit: Goblin King
Jung Min Chan
James Jacobs
David Clayton
Guillaume Francois
The Hobbit: Gollum
Gino Acevedo
Alessandro Bonora
Jeff Capogreco
Kevin Estey
4. Outstanding Created Environment in a Live Action Feature Motion Picture
The Hobbit: Goblin Caverns
Ryan Arcus
Simon Jung
Alastair Maher
Anthony M. Patti
5. Outstanding Virtual Cinematography in a Live Action Feature Motion Picture
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Matt Aitken
Victor Huang
R. Christopher White
6. Outstanding FX and Simulation Animation in a Live Action Feature Motion Picture
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Areito Echevarria
Garry Runke
Francois Sugny
7. Outstanding Compositing in a Feature Motion Picture
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Jean-Luc Azzis
Steven Mcgillen
Christoph Salzmann
Charles Tait
Often, when a lengthy discussion of the Hobbit films takes place, someone asks “What about the other books? What about material from The Silmarillion, or Unfinished Tales? Will these be adapted to the big screen?”
The answer to this question is a simple one. As it stands, the literary executor of J.R.R. Tolkien’s work, his son, Christopher Tolkien, has refused to consider any further licensing of his father’s work for cinematic purposes.
Many fans are quite frustrated by this state of affairs. They know there is interesting material contained in these other sources, such as the well-known “Quest for Erebor.” That one short work alone would illuminate in key ways the motivations and decisions of principal characters in the films. (For the curious, the Quest for Erebor may be found in a shortened form in “Unfinished Tales”, and in a fuller form in the revised edition of Douglas Anderson’s “Annotated Hobbit.”) Continue reading “Concerning Christopher – An Essay on Tolkien’s Son’s Decision to Not Allow Further Cinematic Licensing of His Work”
If you have a Tolkien/Middle-earth inspired poem you’d like to share, then send it to poetry@theonering.net. One poem per person may be submitted each month. Please make sure to proofread your work before sending it in. TheOneRing.net is not responsible for poems posting with spelling or grammatical errors.
“By my beard! You are shorter and wider than last we met.”
-Dwalin to Balin as they meet up for the meeting at Bag End
Yet another one of the statues we saw at Comic-Con 2012 for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey was for the character Dwalin. Dwalin joined Thorin, Gandalf, Bilbo, Balin, and Bombur (not yet released). Dwalin went up for sale the same day as his brother Balin, making them the fourth and fifth statues released.
In Peter Jackson’s adaptation of The Hobbit, Dwalin was one of the many dwarves of the Lonely Mountain driven into exile by the dragon in the Third Age. Dwalin would join his brother Balin and Thrain in a group who would try to take back Erebor in 2841 of the Third Age. Dwalin would be one of the company who, one hundred years later, joined Thorin in trying to retake Erebor, and was successful in doing so. After the mountain was retaken, Dwalin would go on to be very successful with his brother Balin, and would live to be one of the oldest Dwarfs on record.
PACKAGING
The graphics on the box follow the same pattern we’ve seen with both Thorin and Balin, keeping the now familiar Dwarven design. Per the format we’ve come to know, the front of the box gives you a great shot of Dwalin, graphic work for the title of the movie, and of course the Weta logo. The sides of the box for Dwalin also present a familiar format with different looks at the statue on one side, while the other side of the box presents some of the various products you can get for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, such as the Balin statue, Thorin’s Map, Key to Erebor, and Bilbo’s Contract. The back of the box contains a great story on Dwalin, as well as information regarding details of the character and statue. The styrofoam on the inside is typical with what we’ve come used to getting with these statues, but does have a special compartment for his arms holding his axes.
SCULPTING
Greg Tozer is a name fans of Middle-earth collecting should know, if they own a certain statue of a Dark Lord of Mordor. That’s correct – the massive and awesome statue of Sauron from The Lord of the Rings statue line was created by Greg Tozer and David Tremont (who worked on Barad-Dûr). Dwalin is my favorite looking Dwarf design from The Hobbit, so I was super excited to get this into my collection. As is the case with his brother Balin, the likeness to Graham McTavish’s portrayal of Dwalin is fantastic. Not to be outdone is the work on the outfit of Dwalin; Mr. Tozer did a superb job of sculpting the fine details of the cloth part of his outfit with all the little lines in their place, and the fur of the outfit also wonderfully matches its onscreen counterpart. The leatherwork on the Dwalin statue is also exceptional. You have great detailed work in his chest guard and his belt, which lead into his sheath holding his knife. Dwalin, like any warrior, must have weapons which he takes into battle, and this warrior carries two nasty looking axes. These axes, named Ukhlat and Umraz, have all the Dwarven detail you see on the larger props in the movie, including the names carved into the axes. Any warrior must protect his hands, and Dwalin takes every precaution with two metal guards, which in the right situation could also be used as weapons. Finally, on his back, Dwalin has two holders for his axes, which are also sculpted very well.
PAINT
Dwalin continues the streak of very well painted statues from Weta Workshop. The skin tones use the proper paint mixture to not only make the statue look like a miniature Dwarf but also very like the character appeared on screen. The painting on Dwalin’s outfit is equally good. All the pieces of cloth, fur, and leather look as they should and as they did when we saw them in the movie. One of the great things about the cloth aspects of the paint is the proper green tint, giving homage to the green hood he wears in the book. As with both Thorin and Balin, the metal paint look to his axes makes them very much like used versions of something he’d carry if the statue were real. Much like with those two Dwarves, the Dwarven details of his axes are still there for the world to see. Finally, Dwalin has tattoos in support of his Dwarven heritage. These tattoos are decals, allowing fans to get great clean lines and show no blurring at all on the statue (both his head and on his hands).
Overall
Dwalin retails for $249, and while he is more expensive than his brother Balin, he is still a good deal. As I said earlier in this review, I love the design of Dwalin, from the tattoos and weapons, to just his overall look; he’s freaking cool! So for me, the $249 was easy for that reason alone. He looks great with the other four statues and if you can add him to your collection, I say go for it! Dwalin, like the other statues so far, is an open edition.
SPECIFICATIONS
Dwalin is an open edition statue with a retail price of $249. He’s also instock as of right now, so don’t delay.
Dimensions:
9.8″ x 9.1″ x 5.9″ (H x W x D)
25 cm x 23 cm x 15 cm
