Some of the Middle-earth clothing from Black Milk has made a splash on our Facebook page but with fashion and popular culture taking center stage this week leading up to our own One Expected Party on Oscar night, it seemed a good time to share it here. Will we see a Doorway party dress? How about Witch King leggings? While we kind of want to chastise the company for not hyphenating and not making the e lower case in Middle-earth, its pretty cool to see a company take geek culture in mainstream directions. Its R2-D2 dress is well-known on websites like Tumblr, Twitter and Pinterest. The Australian company gets our kudos for making geek, chic. In the meantime, if you want to or plan to be in the Los Angeles area this weekend and want to join us for the party, we would love to have you, even if you aren’t wearing all the names of the dwarves on your leggings. Tickets remain and with food and entertainment like One Man LOTR and Billy Boyd’s Beekcake on the musical menu, and Hobbit Oscar nominations for visual effects, hair and makeup and production design, it will be a night of legend.
With an eye for attention to the minutest detail, Peter Jackson and his design team source for their movies with great care. Who could forget that wonderful fabric created by Stansborough Fibres for those magical elven cloaks in The Lord of the Rings? The same folks created Gandalf’s silver scarf for The Hobbit movies.
But just where did Ori get his amazing woollies? Who (apart from those elusive dwarf women!) knits for dwarves? A fascinating (and quite technical) article in Knitting Daily, sourced from The Wheel magazine, sheds some light on how the yarn for the films was created. Read the article here – thanks to ringerspy String for the heads up!
Weta Digital’s Simon Clutterbuck, James Jacobs, Dr. Richard Dorling won Oscars Sunday, Feb. 10, 2013.Most think of film as art form and much is made about those who dazzle at its highest levels, but science has always been a key component to cinema. A group who worked on “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” received early Oscar awards — for science — Sunday night. Those who perform such technical innovation rarely get even a sniff of the spotlight but Simon Clutterbuck, Richard Dorling and James Jacobs were recognized for their work bringing Gollum to life, especially for his skin and movement.
The new tech makes Gollum appear more lifelike in an approach the team calls “Tissue: A Physically-Based Character Simulation Framework.”
“The framework is used to construct and simulate the anatomical components of our digital creatures and characters,” Jacobs, a supervisor for creature special-effects told NBC. (Read the whole article right here.)
Reuters also has a story with details about the Weta Digital winners and others recognized Sunday night.
Congrats to those gentlemen and all of Weta Digital for its mastery of converting Andy Serkis’ performance to screen. TheOneRing.net will celebrate the Oscars, including other nominees for work on The Hobbit, in two weeks featuring on stage Beecake with Billy Boyd. Details to buy tickets are right here.
Software brought Gollum’s skin to life for “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” earning it an Oscar for technology and science
This week, Vanity fair is looking at Oscar nominated films in a recurring feature called “Sketch to Still.” The series focuses on the creative process of making movies. This week they are talking to Oscar nominee Peter Swords King about his work in makeup and hair design for Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit movies.
The dwarves’ look is also influenced by their lifestyle. “They drink a lot—their manners are really bad at the table. Any person who’s drunk all their lives, their nose is going to get quite red. All they do is eat meat. It’s not a very good diet. They live outside, so they’re beaten, battered, and bruised,” says King.Once the sketches were perfected, the filmmakers began casting. At this point, the hair-and-makeup team fit the actors for wigs, as well as prosthetics.
When it comes to award ceremonies, Rick Findlater is usually back at a hotel making stars look their best.
But the Australian hair and make-up artist will now be at the centre of the action after being nominated for both British and American academy awards for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.
Warner Bros is threatening that the Government’s release of confidential documents about the Hobbit union debate would be a “major disincentive” to future film-making in New Zealand.
The New Zealand Ombudsman has ordered the Government to release documents about the deal it struck to ensure the Hobbit movies were made in the country.
The Government secured the three movies by changing employment laws and beefing up the tax rebate sweetener for the productions, resulting in an additional $25 million in incentives for Warner Bros.
Unions fought the law changes and the Labour Party accused the government of chequebook legislation.
When it comes to award ceremonies, Rick Findlater is usually back at a hotel making stars look their best.
Warner Bros is threatening that the Government’s release of confidential documents about the Hobbit union debate would be a “major disincentive” to future film-making in New Zealand.