A very Happy Birthday to the only actor to span all Middle-earth films (besides that grey wizard) Jed…
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A very Happy Birthday to the only actor to span all Middle-earth films (besides that grey wizard) Jed Brophy! Thanks for all the Orc, Nazgul, Elf and Dwarf mischief!
Here’s to many many more! HAPPY BIRTHDAY JED!
And many thanks to Tamara, admin of The Jed Brophy Fanpage on Facebook for the use of the above image 🙂
Ringer Peter writes to tell us of a push on the website Lego Ideas to get the toymaker to develop and produce an LOTR Minas Tirith set.
Lego Ideas is an initiative by the Lego company that allows fans and collectors to propose ideas for sets, and if they gather sufficient support, have them evaluated by a review board for their commercial potential. Continue reading “Support for this Lego Minas Tirith proposal is snowballing”
Peter Jackson has mused more than once how he’d like to have a Lord of the Rings museum in Wellywood somewhere. Now, fellow filmmaker George Lucas is wants to construct what he calls a Museum of Narrative Art in Chicago — and expressed a desire to include “movies that rely a great deal on design” with in it. Continue reading “Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in Chicago will include The Lord of the Rings material and memorabilia”
Catching up with some of our friends from New Zealand, we learned about a project that involves the efforts of a lot of Kiwis, including Sylvester McCoy of Hobbit fame and Lord of the Rings’ Alex Funke. For good measure New Zealand’s Grammy winner Kimbra (Somebody That I Used To Know) is supporting the project with her voice.
In the age of computer generated effects, the film “Birds” is a throwback. A friend to TORn, Horst Sarubin, who worked on visual effects for the three Hobbit films, is behind the project that uses puppets, shot one frame at a time with incremental movements between frames to create a motion picture. The film, about the struggles of George the bird in the primordial forests of Zealandia (pre-historic New Zealand) to carry on.
McCoy is well known for his bird whistles and humor, which Hobbit director Peter Jackson definitely brought through the former Dr. Who’s Radagast into cinematic Middle-earth. In the film’s kickstarter campaign McCoy presents those whistles and gets a little bird treat in return. In the same video Funke, who is best know for helping make the LOTR bigatures look amazing on screen, explains his role is to make the cinematography great.
The stop-motion technique is being employed to give the filmmakers a hands-on experience and a final project they claim will be alive and organic. Tying closely with the passions of Peter Jackson, these are the same techniques used by Ray Harryhausen and Willis H. O’Brien. The original King Kong movie was made in this fashion, inspiring a generation of filmmakers.
With a team of grass-roots talent with a Middle-earth cinematic legacy efforting the film and a universal appealing story, but set in the ancient human-free land that would eventually become New Zealand, TORn readers may want to know further information is available at georgethebird.com. The grass-roots effort is seeking fan support via the kickstarter campaign above.
Late last month, Warner Bros. put out a new, updated one-pager press release for The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies.
Within it was a new cast list with one interesting, and very obscure, addition, and one even more interesting exclusion.
I’ll quote the listed cast from the Warner Bros. presser below in full. Continue reading “Is Elijah Wood actually in The Hobbit 3? Warner Bros.’ latest presser adds new uncertainty.”
This adorable video makes an excellent addition to Air New Zealand’s more lighthearted and fun approach to safety videos shown at the beginning of every flight.
Kiwi filmmaker Taika Waititi has taken two Middle-earth fans and placed them in the middle of an Epic Journey, surrounded by Hobbits, Dwarves, Orcs and Elves, and some of them are the actual actors from the films. All the bases are covered, seat belts, electronic devices, life vests, etc, but there is a very definite Middle-earth vibe going on. Continue reading “Air New Zealand unveils the Most Epic Safety Video ever made”
