Weta Workshop’s mastery is to come to horrifying life in a TV drama depicting the 1953 Tangiwai train disaster.
The frightening scene, when the train, with 285 people on board, plunges into a swollen river just minutes after a volcanic lahar knocks out the rail bridge, was recreated in one-sixth scale at Makara, west of Wellington.
Keen train buff and Weta founder Sir Richard Taylor oversaw the creation of a finely detailed scale replica of the original Ka Class steam locomotive and 11 carriages, complete with lights, blinds and dolls. The scene, shot over two nights last December, posed a series of challenges – the biggest of which was the low $3 million budget, director Charlie Haskell said. More..
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The artisans at Weta as most folks know are some of the kings when it comes to the special effects world. We know their work from
films such as; District 9, King Kong, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, The Lovely Bones, The Adventures of Tintin, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, and of course both of The Hobbit films. In other words some of your favorite films and mine have been worked on or touched by some truly skillful folks.
However, these fine artists are also some of the masters behind many of you Ringers favorite collectibles. That’s why I’m writing about this particular item because it shows the amazing work that the creators working at Weta have made over the last ten years. The item I will be writing a bit about is the brand new released at Comic-Con 2011 Weta: The Collectors Guide. This amazing book captures the work Weta has done over the last ten years into one of the best reference books and coffee table books I’ve had the pleasure to own. Just a couple of the reasons I love this book are the amount of pictures taken of the items ranging from The Lord of the Rings to Halo. They’re all beautifully done and show off just how great the work coming from Weta has been over the last ten years. The other being the amount of information in the book not just on the collectibles, but the people behind the scenes the artists themselves will give collectors a real insight into who made these pieces. Finally, a nice addition is quotes and pictures from collectors who own many of these pieces. It’s nice to see people who I call friends pictures or quote from people who say what I’ve felt when looking at these items. Continue reading “Collecting The Precious – Weta: The Collector’s Guide”
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The man in charge of communication between Hobbiton and the outside world wears many hats, but he promises none of them belong to a hobbit. Hobbiton Movie Set & Farm Tours media and communications manager Ian Brodie has read The Lord of the Rings 40 times, but he said his fan level had not crossed into the fanatical – he never dresses up in character. Mr Brodie, who moved to Matamata from Wanaka two years ago, was tight-lipped about when Waikato could expect to have movie stars in our midst again for the filming of The Hobbit.
“You know I can’t tell you that,” he said. “That information will come out of Wellington.”
Mr Brodie was just 14 years old when he first read The Lord of the Rings and, on a roadtrip with his family at the time, he decided New Zealand would make a perfect Middle Earth. More..
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Wellington food writer Delaney Mes, author of the blog Heartbreak Pie (www.heartbreakpie.com), cook on the Good Morning show and Fishhead Magazine restaurant reviewer is going on 17 dates and eating 17 of the 50 Burger Wellington burger entries, then writing about it. She writes this about James Nesbitt: James Nesbitt is an actor. He’s well known for playing testicular-cancer suffering Adam in the hit British series Cold Feet. I know about the cancer part because an older lady at the table along from us hit him up about it before he sat down. She got the testicle bit wrong though, and it was hilarious. He’s known for other hit roles on TV and theatre, and he’s currently living with his family in Wellington filming The Hobbit. We talked wine, charm and foreign accents over The Polly Burger at Cafe Polo yesterday. And ladies and gentlemen, we may just have a winner. More..
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Join in the fun with TORn Tuesday! This LIVE event is hosted by long-time staffer Clifford Broadway, aka Quickbeam, and will cover a variety of topics today: An in-depth look at Fantasy Flight Games The Lord of the Rings Card Game, discussion on Luke Evans aka Bard in The Hobbit, and the box office success of Harry Potter over that of The Return of the King. Cliff will also be interacting live with our Barliman’s chatroom during the show and taking questions about anything and everything related to the world of J.R.R. Tolkien. Check out the broadcast in our LIVE event section tonight at 5pm PST! [LIVE Event Area] (See All Times)
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Hollywood star Orlando Bloom has been seen out and about in Wellington, joining a growing number of Hobbit actors arriving in the city as production resumes after a three-month hiatus.
Wellingtonians Miranda Webster, Aggie Galloway, Kayla Carruthers, Sam Walton and Hannah Robson met Bloom yesterday when they saw him shopping in the central city.
Ms Carruthers, 19, said she and her friends were on Vivian St when they saw Bloom go into a photography store.
“We weren’t sure at first if it was him or not, so we waited around casually outside the stop, and then when he came out we saw it was definitely him.” [Read more]
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