In a 13 page feature on ex-Hobbit director Guillermo del Toro, The New Yorker magazine offers some tasty morsels concerning Guillermo’s vision for Smaug, directly from the director’s own notebook.
But, fans please do remember, del Toro left the production after this interview was granted and things have likely changed. He is repeatedly on the record as supporting whatever decisions Peter Jackson and crew make after his departure and he is one of the two-film production’s biggest fans. Just remember to read the story in that context.
*Possible Spoiler Alert!*
I paused at what looked like an image of a double-bitted medieval hatchet. “That’s Smaug,” del Toro said. It was an overhead view: “See, he’s like a flying axe.” Del Toro thinks that monsters should appear transformed when viewed from a fresh angle, lest the audience lose a sense of awe. Defining silhouettes is the first step in good monster design, he said. “Then you start playing with movement. The next element of design is color. And then finally—finally—comes detail. A lot of people go the other way, and just pile up a lot of detail.”
The article is a marvelous read, so we aren’t going to just copy and paste the good stuff. That just wouldn’t be right! Jump over to The New Yorker’s website for the complete article and more juicy details, including Del Toro’s vision of Thorin. [Full Article]
Merie sends this in: From iftn.ie – “Ros Hubbard is a world renowned casting director having worked on hugely successful films such as ‘The Commitments’, ‘The Lord of the Rings’ trilogy and ‘Father Ted’ with her family. IFTN caught up with the Irish talent spotter to talk about casting hobbits and dwarves for Peter Jackson, her trouble finding thin Irish children and ‘Father Ted’ bringing out her catholic guilt!” She basically confirmed that Saoirse Ronan has a part in “The Hobbit”.