As staffer Garfeimao stated in the post below, convention season is getting going! The same weekend that some…
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As staffer Garfeimao stated in the post below, convention season is getting going! The same weekend that some TORn staff will be at WonderCon in Anaheim, there is a very exciting convention taking place in Germany – HobbitCon! Message boarder kiwifan attended last year, and shared the fun of this exclusive event with us. Here’s what she had to say:
Continue reading “HobbitCon 2 in Bonn, Germany – April 19-21”
It clocks in at only 15 seconds, but as these things go this TV spot for the home video release of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is pretty good. Very punchy.
Lots of Smaug and fire, as you’d expect. Check it out below. Continue reading “Watch TV Spot #1 for the home video release of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug ”
Courtesy of the efforts of Ringer mukankakuna on the TORn forums, here’s a video that reveals the differences between the trailer and the theatrical release of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.
As others have noted, perhaps the most significant change is to the colour-grading. The colours in the theatrical release are much more muted, and as one commenter put it, bleak. In particular, gone are the super-saturated blues that many objected to when the trailer was released. As someone who has railed against the teal and orange trend, I think the more natural colour palette is definitely better Continue reading “See the differences between the trailer and the theatrical release of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug”
In addition to the featurette posted earlier – showing Orlando Bloom practicing a Laketown fight scene – Warner Brothers UK has posted another sneak peek at the upcoming Blu-ray and DVD releases of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.
This clip examines the design of Beorn, with interviews from actor Mikael Persbrandt and Hair/Make-up Designer Peter King.
The Blu-ray/DVD of The Desolation of Smaug will be released this coming Tuesday, April 8. Continue reading “Beorn the Shapeshifter: Sneak Peek at ‘Desolation of Smaug’ Blu-ray/DVD bonus features”
The little behind-the-scenes clip of Orlando playing with his knives was pretty cool, but this is just a whole ‘nother level of “wow”. Thanks to Ringer Smaug the Stupendous for the heads-up!
Click below (run, do not walk!) and see exactly how Weta created Lake-town using a variety of CGI and VFX techniques.
Continue reading “See how WETA brought Lake-town to life for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug”
This piece by Simon J. Cook does happen to mirror some of my own thoughts on the place and benefit of any re-imagining of Tolkien’s vision of Middle-earth within the world.
Still, as much as Tolkien’s letter to Waldman (Letter #131) opens Middle-earth to new perspectives, and vivid reinterpretations, I believe it’s equally important to acknowledge the flipside: missives sent to Allen & Unwin (Letter #188) and Forest J Ackerman (Letter #210) show Tolkien also cared deeply about what others did with his works.
I think it’s a balancing act that will never be resolved to everyone’s satisfaction.
Continue reading “In praise of Peter Jackson’s Hobbit”
