(Updates in Red Below) Today is the day! At 3pm ET (worldwide), Peter Jackson will be sharing an exclusive peek at ‘The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug‘ and answering previously submitted video questions from fans worldwide. The staff here at TheOneRing.net will be covering the event but we wanted to share a few tidbits of information before the big event…

1. Limited Access

hobbit_auj ultraviolet code

The live event is limited to holders of an UltraViolet™ code, available by purchasing The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, which is in most locations now on Blu-ray Combo Pack, Blu-ray 3D Combo Pack and 2-disc DVD Special. Users should go to www.thehobbit.com/sneak at 3pm ET and enter their code to participate. According to James Nesbitt, an ‘edited version will be archived for later viewing.’ If you are unlucky enough to live in an area where the film has not been released on Blu-ray/DVD yet, at least you know you’ll be able to see the event at a later date. If you read the fine print on the sheet included in your Blu-Ray/DVD however, it does say ‘Content may not be available after 5/24/13.’ This is what we call ‘covering our butts’ with fine print. Our expectation is the content will be available.

The broadcast will be in English only and last no longer than 1 hour. 

Attention UK Ringers: Thanks to Ringer Morgulvortex for sending along this info…

If you pre-ordered The Hobbit (Blu-ray or 3D Blu-ray) from Amazon.co.uk before today a code will have been sent to your e-mail address. Even though it’s being released in April!!!

Also we have a different website to view the live event; http://wwws.warnerbros.co.uk/thehobbitpart1/sneak/

2. Technical Requirements

According to more fine print….

Users should have a PC with Windows 2000 or higher or Mac computer with OS X 10.3 or higher and a high-speed internet connection, and Adobe Flash Player 10.0.22+ plug-in. Browser should be Firefox 1.1 or above, Internet Explorer 7.0 or above, Safari 1.0 or above, Google Chrome or Opera.

Mobile users should have iOS 3.0 or above or Android OS Version 3.0 or above or devices with a Flash plugin.

3. Start Time

The event starts at 3pm ET – Click here for a full list of the start time in your region! [Start Time]

4. Fan Questions

Peter will be answering previously submitted fan questions. These questions were required to be in the form of a video and submitted by March 19th. There is unlikely going to be a ‘live’ component to interact with Peter, but we do know the official hashtag for the event is #Hobbit2SneakPeek. Update: You can also tweet questions LIVE to Peter Jackson using #askPeterlive. So tweet away!

We of course will have loads of fans hanging out in our live chatroom, Barlimans. [Connect to Barlimans]

5. So what will we actually see?!

Bottom line, we’ll probably see a condensed trailer of some sort. We can expect to see our first glimpses of Legolas, Tauriel, Beorn and maybe Bard. We did see quite a bit of Smaug in AUJ, but we don’t believe we’ll get a full reveal of Smaug at this point. (Although it would be amazing if we did!!) 

Since WB is hoping folks continue to buy copies of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and log in with their UltraViolet code to view this sneak peek, we can deduce we won’t see this tease in the form of a trailer until May/June in front of a big WB summer release.

6. What about TheOneRing.net’s Coverage?

During the event, you can join our staff in Barlimans to chat during the entire event. We will also be tweeting along with #Hobbit2SneakPeek @theoneringnet.

Immediately following the event, our staff will be compiling our comments and posting a comprehensive analysis of everything revealed.

You’ll want to stay tuned to TheOneRing.net for the next day or so as we digest every single detail!

So we’ll see you at the big event!

Jump over to www.thehobbit.com/sneak!

 

ANDREW GORRIE/The Dominion Post Kiwi satire website The Civilian pokes some fun at Peter Jackson, envisioning a scenario where the three Hobbit screenwriters plan to novelise the three Hobbit films.

 

AWARD-WINNING New Zealand director Peter Jackson has said he’s considering a novel adaptation of his popular film trilogy The Hobbit.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, the first film in the series, was released late last year to widespread popularity, grossing more than $1,000,000,000 worldwide at the box office. That success has inspired Jackson – who was reportedly “captivated” by his story – to make it available in other mediums. Continue reading “Peter Jackson planning novelisation of The Hobbit”

hobbit-anunexpectedjourney04 The stars of The Hobbit have taken part in a promotional visit for Tourism New Zealand speaking about why they love the country where the J.R.R. Tolkien movies are filmed.

The short film, which appears on the DVD as an extra, features New Zealand director Peter Jackson as well as British stars Sir Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage and James Nesbitt, discussing their experiences filming on location and love of the country’s dramatic landscape.

In the six-minute video, Jackson introduces key areas where The Hobbit was filmed, including Hobbiton in Matamata, on the North Island and Twizel, an alpine village, and Central Otago, a dramatic dry landscape, both on the South Island. Continue reading “Hobbit film’s stars discuss their love of New Zealand”

Peter Jackson with his Doctor Who collection

EW.com: Peter Jackson has exclusively confirmed that he is still interested in directing an episode ofDoctor Who. The Lord of the Rings filmmaker has also named his fee: a Dalek. The offer came in the course of Jackson’s appreciation of the British science fiction show that appears in the new issue of Entertainment Weekly.

Jackson is a diehard Who fan who has been watching the 50-year-old series almost since it began broadcasting and who first expressed his willingness to direct an episode last year. In the EW article, he reveals that he met current Who executive producer Steven Moffat over Christmas and assured him he wasn’t joking. “They don’t even have to pay me,” Jackson writes. “But I have got my eye on one of those nice new gold-colored Daleks. They must have a spare one (hint, hint).” Jackson already owns two used-on-the-show Daleks — the most famous of the Doctor Who monsters — which you can see in the photograph above.

[Read More]

Welcome friends to our innovative HBBT_BestBuy-212x300streaming video webcast TORn TUESDAY, starting in about an hour at 5pm Pacific Time right here on our Live Event page. We heard that Ian McKellen is officiating over Patrick Stewart’s wedding, and we have the scoop! Also today, as the wind reversed from the West, the ravens were seen flying back to The Mountain, and the Home Video Gods were pleased with our morning sacrifice, and lo! WE HAVE THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY out now on DVD and Blu-Ray Combo Pack (at least in North America)!!!! Your amiable host Clifford “Quickbeam” Broadway, with producer Justin “I Love Jar-Jar” Sewell will review the home video versions and discuss all the new packaging & content. Let us guide you to making the right choice! Don’t be confused by all those many packages and review sites. The fun begins *live* at 5:00pm Pacific with our built-in Barliman’s Chat Room right here [Live Event Page], where you can chat and bring your questions.

Visual effects motion control operator Paul Maple In an interview with lansingstatejournal.com, visual effects motion control operator Paul Maple discusses his work on numerous films and television series and how his programming skills got him work on The Hobbit.

MAPLES is one of a handful of people in the world working as a motion control operator, one of many ways to create visual effects in films.

At its heart, his skill employs computer programming to control a camera crane. And he is good at it, having been nominated for three Emmy Awards.

In the case of Maples’ work on “The Hobbit” and “Star Trek:Deep Space Nine,” the programming can do things like create a twin, make one actor look much larger than another (think Gandalf and Bilbo), and effect different speeds in music videos.

“They’re camera tricks, but it all has to be very precise to work,” he said.

“The 3-D guys can import my camera move data into their computers to recreate my shots in a virtual world. I can also receive moves from them.”

[Read More]