Sohaib Awan from the radio show Fictional Frontiers also does a segment on SUVUDU that focuses on fantasy and science fiction books, movies and comics. He spoke with our own MrCere this week about his trip to New Zealand including Weta Workshop and Richard Taylor. They talk Hobbit of course, Hobbit trailer insights and a lot about travel possibilities for anybody. Listen to the segment right here.
Category: New Zealand
Check out this local news item about Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit trailer, together with some fans reactions to the trailer.
Eric writes: Ohakune was our destination and was to serve as two locations within Middle Earth. One of these locations was up on Mount Ruapehu, which is the tallest mountain in the North Island and very sacred lands to the local Maori Iwi (tribes). They filmed quite a lot of the Mount Doom scenes in Lord of the Rings, such as Sam carrying Frodo up the cliffs, on other parts of the mountain, but this particular area was new ground for the production. That’s not to say that Ruapehu is Mt. Doom, which is a common misunderstanding amongst touring LOTR geeks.
It’s considered disrespectful to photograph the distinctive peaks of Ruapehu, so while they filmed much of the prologue battle and the slopes of Mt. Doom scenes on Ruapehu they had to digitally construct the imposing Middle Earth landmark out of a hodgepodge of other mountains, including active Hawaiian volcanoes.
UPDATE: There are a couple of film spoiler tidbits in this report. TORn staffer Demosthenes has written some analysis after the cut, but if you want to read Quint’s report in full, then head here. If you want Demosthenes’ SPOILER analysis, head beyond the cut! You’ve been warned! Continue reading “AICN Set Report #6”
10 years have passed since the release of the first of the films in The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and fans will surely recall Frodo’s “chicken dance” at Bilbo’s Birthday party, Merry and Pippin singing in the Green Dragon Inn, Frodo and Sam watching the Wood-elves leaving Middle-earth, and Éowyn singing a dirge at the burial of her cousin Théodred.
The songs and the music for all these scenes, termed “diegetic” or “cultural” music, were composed and performed by Plan 9 (consisting of David Donaldson, Stephen Roche, and Janet Roddick) together with David Long, who also collaborated with them on certain aspects of the sound design for the Dead Marshes, the Ents, and the One Ring.
In celebration of the The Fellowship of the Ring’s 10th Anniversary, TheOneRing.net brings you an exclusive interview with Plan 9.
Join us as we talk to them about how they came on board Peter Jackson’s crew working on the three films, and how they approached composing, performing, and selecting instruments that would lend credibility to the fictional cultures that inhabited Tolkien’s Middle-earth. All this, and also some talk of their as-yet-unreleased music for the films.
Continue reading “FOTR 10th Anniversary Exclusive: An interview with Plan 9”
ANNA PEARSON from stuff.co.nz: The Hobbit film crew are pulling out of the Nelson region due to lousy weather, but it is highly likely they will return next year. Production company 3 Foot 7 publicist Ceris Price said it was too wet for filming, so they were leaving. “We were relying on beautiful weather. It’s just a real shame, because everybody loves Nelson. We have been having a lovely time here, but the weather in the last couple of days has made it very difficult. It’s time for a Christmas break,” she said.
Ms Price said it was “extremely probable” they would return to film at Canaan Downs next year. The film crew packed up and left the Pelorus Bridge campground in a hurry last night. Campground manager Stephanie Neal said a team of workers were removing a scaffolding structure – a walking platform – from near the Pelorus River this morning. More..
Our story so far: Peter Jackson made three Middle-earth movies and people loved them. Now he is making two more and people already love them too. MrCere, Senior Staff, Writer and Photographer at TheOneRing.net (Forged by and for fans since 1999) went to NZ to see what he could see. Landed in Queenstown, found lots of LOTR stuff, drove north to see the people of the ring, visited Hobbiton set and now is in Wellington, center of NZ’s cinematic empire.
It is pretty important while in Wellington for me to participate in what any visitor might and especially activities with a Lord of the Rings slant. The city is one of my favorites around the world, situated as it is on a bay of great natural beauty. I like the size because it feels pretty easy to get to know, but it has the advantages of a big city’s variety with excellent food and lots of travelers and plenty of full-time residents and all kinds of attractions.
This trip I enjoyed walking around the city and thumbing through vinyl records (ask your parents if those foreign objects are unfamiliar to you) checking out a variety of automobile dealerships including an upholstery shop with some interesting old cars, a comic book shop and a burrito joint with great architecture and melted candles. The nightlife here is crazy, including the Saturday morning I woke up early and discovered the Friday night revelry with its thumbing bass and cocktails hadn’t ended as I sought out breakfast.
It also, with its proximity to Peter Jackson’s filmmaking empire, was an important area in the making of The Lord of the Rings, but not just because of the production and effects studios across the harbor. I ended up heading out with
Wellington Rover on its half-day tour to make a visit to filming locations. Continue reading “‘Lord of the Rings’ tours sparkle in Wellington”