This month on J.W. Braun’s Bookshelf, J.W. takes a look at The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Chronicles II:…
Continue ReadingThis month on J.W. Braun’s Bookshelf, J.W. takes a look at The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Chronicles II: Creatures and Characters by Daniel Falconer and Weta Workshop. Meanwhile, he announces a new contest and answers your questions in the mailbag section below.
Continue reading “J.W. Reviews The Hobbit Chronicles II Book”
Note: A photo gallery follows the text and videos, click for larger versions.
After all, Tourism New Zealand’s motto is “New Zealand is Middle-earth” and this is true in so many ways and for much longer than just the weeks after the debut of the film. For example, above is the video made for TORn by fellow filmmaker Dan McBride who shot and edited the video tour you probably have already watched. We, and a gaggle of other media, toured the Hobbiton Movie Set and witnessed Prime Minister John Key open the new Green Dragon building accompanied by a bunch of actors who reminded us a whole lot of a company of Dwarves. (Incidentally, we had just talked to him the day before so when he showed up again, we wondered why we were being followed and what we had done wrong.)
The video speaks for itself but this remarkable property is, as far as I know, unique in all the world for its ability to transport visitors inside a book, or a movie for that matter. Being there doesn’t feel like walking on a set, rather it feels like immersion. It looks, smells, sounds and feels like one imagines Hobbiton would if you could take a magic wardrobe to J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth. The Hobbit holes scattered about are, more or less, as they were for filming of “The Hobbit,” movies. It seems safe to assume we will see more of The Shire in subsequent movies and in the Extended Edition on home video before the end of the year.
Hamilton is also near with more accommodations and an airport. Not far from Auckland, 160 kilometers in fact, visitors can easily manage the two hour car ride. It goes without saying that driving through the countryside is spectacular as well. My dream would be to meet with TheOneRing.net staff and friends in The Green Dragon, which can be reserved for private functions. They serve food and drink and I just bet you can guess what size the ale comes in. Weddings have and will happen here. The atmosphere and the finish on the place are just as good as you hope they are. In truth, for movies fans and Tolkien fans, the entire movie set experience is simply magic.
The region is full of food and drink, excellent accommodations and plenty more worth-while excursions. We will tackle them all in a future story. But add the farm visit and Waitomo Caves to your bucket lists. They really are wold-class destinations not to be missed but especially not by Tolkienites.
While you are here, please enjoy other videos from the premiere. First, actors talking about rings:
And Red Carpet highlights.
If you’re going to be in Calgary, Canada this weekend and you’re a fan of the work Weta Workshop then make your way to The Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo is this weekend April 26-28th. This will be Weta’s first time at the show! So if you’re a fan of Middle-earth, TinTin, and Dr. Grordbort’s make sure you visit booth number Z-603 where you can get Weta Treasure cards good for discounts and prizes via the Weta Website.
Weta Goes to Calgary
Woohoo – Weta will be attending the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo 2013.
When: April 26-28, 2013
Where: The BMO Centre, Stampede Park, Calgary, Alberta
The Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo is the only festival in Calgary where you can get your sci-fi, film, television, fantasy, horror, comic book, gaming, and animation fix all in one incredible weekend. Join 60,000 other fans for this celebration of pop culture.
We are absolutely thrilled to have been invited by the organisers and we’ve been eagerly packing cool stuff from Middle-earth and beyond onto trucks and into planes to have a great range available to purchase at the Weta booth. Our booth number is Z-603 (Please Note: due to some international systems issues, we will only be able to accept cash at our booth – we cannot accept any payment cards).
This is our first ever show in Canada and we can’t wait to hook up with our fans and friends at the convention.
Richard Taylor and David Tremont will be at the Weta Booth along with Ri, Tim and Stacy.
This year the Calgary Expo will feature a variety of guests from different industries. From film and television stars to make-up artists, writers, comic book creators, cosplay specialists and much more – the Calgary Expo covers every corner of pop culture imaginable!
There will be over 600 exhibitors, artists, and special guests, all in one spot!
From Otago Daily Times: In 1974, the name Aragorn Peak appeared on a Fiordland topographic map published by the Department of Lands and Survey, but by 1980 the mountain had been stripped of the name.
The New Zealand Geographic Board has decided to keep the mountainous area Tolkien-free after declining a proposal to name a nearby peak Tolkien Mountain.
Manapouri man Aaron Nicholson had applied to have an unnamed 1757m peak at the northern end of the Earl Mountains in Fiordland National Park, named Tolkien Mountain but the New Zealand Geographic Board has declined the application.
New Zealand Geographic Board secretary Wendy Shaw said the board’s naming policy had not been met and it was not convinced the peak needed a name.
”The proposal would have had to have provided a strong association between the person being honoured/commemorated, and the area where the feature is located.
But, Warner Bros. has a lineup of loaded films for 2013 and “The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug” is only a part. Three big time directors were also on hand to introduce their films. Guillermo del Toro, co-writer on “The Hobbit” films was there to introduce “Pacific Rim,” the film he eventually made after historical and monumental delays on the Middle-earth production forced him to leave the project. Zach Snyder was at CinemaCon as director of “Man of Steel,” and Todd Philips for “Hangover 3.” Stockholders must be ecstatic. Snyder is hoping to do with WB’s Superman franchise what Christopher Nolan has done for the company with its Batman flagship. Nolan is a producer on the project.
Variety said the following about “The Hobbit.”
““The Hobbit” director Peter Jackson also appeared in a video with a few brief clips from the “Desolation of Smaug” with Evangeline Lilly and Orlando Bloom appearing.
Jackson’s matter-of-fact presentation was in sharp contrast with last year’s CinemaCon event when WB’s presentation — including 10 minutes of “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” — generated a mixed reaction over the pic’s 48 frames-per-second format.”
You can read Deadline’s whole story here.
Variety’s full story is here.
Letteri on Smaug: “Really, we could’ve done Smaug in the traditional way – just ask Benedict Cumberbatch to come into a voice booth and record his dialogue, and do everything entirely with keyframe animation. But when we record what Benedict’s body is doing, it frees him up to give us some idea of the physicality and intimate the poses, so that what he’s got on his mind can come through in how he’s performing it – and we’ll take that and extend it into what we do with the dragon.”
Letteri on revisiting Gollum: “I don’t think so – it’s not something that Peter’s ever indicated that he was interested in doing, and for my mind I’m happy to just have the film be finished as a film. We were lucky to be able to come back and do Gollum now with what we know ten years later – we have the best of both worlds, we can do that in new scenes. But even if that hadn’t been the case, I’m inclined to say a film exists in and of its time – and if you want to see something new, go and make a new film.”
You can read the rest of the excellent article right here!