deagolTheOneRing.net readers will remember actor Thomas Robins as Deagol, from that wonderful scene with Andy Serkis at the opening of The Return of the King; and some sharper-eyed viewers may also have spotted him (under heavy prosthetics!) as Young Thrain, in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.  What you may not know is that New Zealander Robins also works as a producer and director, and TORn recently had a chance to chat to him about his latest project.  It’s an intriguing one, for sure, and involves combining New Zealand film makers with the nascent movie industry in Laos!  Staffer greendragon talked to Robins to find out more, and of course to ask him about time spent in Middle-earth!  Read the full interview – and find out how you can get involved with Robins’ new movie project – after the break.

Continue reading “Actor Thomas Robins (Deagol and Young Thrain) talks to TORn”

Film Unit sound stages Oct 2003

Welcome back to another in my occasional series about how I did the research for my book, The Frodo Franchise: The Lord of the Rings and Modern Hollywood. (Click here to read Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4.)

By the time I got to Wellington for my first research trip, in late September of 2003, principal photography was over. I didn’t expect that I would get to to on set and see Peter at work. In fact, Peter was in London supervising the editing and musical scoring for the first week and a half of my four-week visit. As I described in the second part of this series, I did get a delightful tour of the Stone Street Studios on my first day of active research. At that point, pickups of some orcs, destined to be inserted via CGI into battle scenes, were being shot against a big green-screen as they fired bows (the arrows to be added via computer). One of the cinematography crew members was directing this action. I was briefly in the studio again later and saw a little more filming of orc pickups. Those were my only on-set experiences.

Continue reading “Researching THE FRODO FRANCHISE: Part 5, Watching Peter Jackson Direct”

As you know, we’re currently conducting our pledge drive to raise funds and keep our servers running. We also have some very exciting auctions going on over at Ebay.

There are some fabulous, exclusive pieces up for grabs – including some things which, usually, money can’t buy! Time is running out on some of our auctions too, so best check them out now. Here are just three that might tickle your fancy:

Continue reading “TORn Light the Beacons auction: LOTR and Hobbit Bookmarks, Lord of the Rings Poster by Cauty, Sam and Frodo on Mt. Doom ROTK Poster”

VandersteltFellowshipfinalartI wanted to hightlight a few more of the awesome items that have recently gone up for order via our Light The Beacons Auction.

We recently added a couple of amazing items from our friend artist Jerry Vanderstelt covering his The Lord of the Rings Trilogy prints as well as his newest print of Dwalin the Dwarf from The Hobbit Trilogy. We’ve also added a couple of autograph items from Graham McTavish and William Kircher who play Dwalin and Bifur in The Hobbit Trilogy.

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy 3-Piece Print Set

This auction offers a beautiful three-piece set of The Lord of the Rings Collector Edition Lithographs by prominent artist, Jerry VanderStelt. Best known not only for his works inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien, he also captures the worlds of Indiana Jones, Star Wars, and much more in the Fantasy/SciFi genre. Each Lithograph of the three-piece set has a unique Remarque or sketch drawn on the bottom left corner, signed separately from the normal signature and a certification of authenticity.

TORn Collector’s Edition of The Hobbit Magazine signed by Dwalin and Bifur

This is a new copy of TheOneRing.net’s premier magazine tribute to The Hobbit! A collaborative effort between Topix Media Lab and your friends here at TheOneRing.net, it covers everything you need to know about The Hobbit movies from a fan perspective. Side-bars and feature articles, contributed by our own volunteer staff, include interviews, a feature on book versus the movie, articles on games and collectibles, a Middle-earth timeline, and much more! The high-quality, glossy paper used for this magazine is also packed with colorful pictures of cast and crew members, locations, collectibles, gorgeous fan art and a few exclusives! One thing that makes this truly a collector’s edition is that there are only two ads in the entire 82-page magazine.

Dwalin the Dwarf Print by Jerry Vanderstelt

Jerry Vanderstelt is also offering the winner of this Auction the choice of the frame-ready canvas or to have the canvas Gallery Wrapped.  The two images displayed with this Auction show the raw, canvas form and also how the Gallery Wrap option gives it a mounted, more dimensional look.  The canvas measures 18 x 24 inches, NOT counting the border that is designed to be Gallery Wrapped. Once it is Gallery Wrapped, the canvas will measure 18 x 24 inches.  Please allow 2-3 weeks for completion. The work uses the finest materials available of archival inks as well as Breathing Color’s exclusive “Lyve” canvas and “Timeless” protective finish.

he Hobbit Paperback signed by Graham McTavish and William Kircher

This is a NEW paperback copy of The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien with a movie tie-in picture from The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey film released in December, 2012.  This copy has travelled to DragonCon 2013 in Atlanta, Georgia and has found itself autographed by two Dwarves (William Kircher and Graham McTavish) for TORn’s Fundraiser Auction.

 

TORn logoBeginning last Saturday and running through to September 4, TheOneRing.net is hosting a Pledge Drive (see the banner at the top) as well as a bunch of auctions for some really cool memorabilia and collectibles.

The day-to-day operation of the website, and the events we host, require a lot more resources than when we first started nearly 15 years ago. We sometimes find it hard to ask our readers for the help we need to keep running, so we began discussing what it is that makes TheOneRing.net worth helping out. It started out as a search for the Top Ten Moments of TORn, but the list got so long because each staff member had their own idea of important moments in TORn history. Here, instead, is something more encompassing: Ten Ways TORn helps serve Tolkien and Lord of the Rings fandom (listed in no specific order).

And, if you enjoy what we do, consider a donation (no amount too small, because every bit does help!) to keep us running!

If you can’t, that’s fine as well — keep reading, commenting and contributing. Because TORn is as much you as it is us!

If you’ve ever sent in an article, submitted a photo or report, posted on our messageboards, visited our chat, or commented on our twitter, facebook or g+, you’re the reason TheOneRing.net is among the largest and most-respected pillars of the Tolkien community on the web.

Continue reading “Ten ways TORn serves Tolkien and Lord of the Rings fandom”

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.

As you know, over the next couple of weeks or so TORn is conducting a pledge drive to raise funds and keep our servers running. But, as you might know, we also have some very exciting auctions going on over at ebay.

We have some fabulous, exclusive pieces up for grabs – including some things which, usually, money can’t buy! Here’s just four that might tickle your fancy:

Continue reading “TORn Light the Beacons auction: Burger King Lord of the Rings Goblets, HUGE replica of Bilbo’s Contract signed by Celebs & Oscar Party Attendees, LOTR: The Two Towers (Sony PlayStation 2, 2004), LOTR: The Return of the King (Sony PlayStation 2, 2003)”