Stories of dragons are as old as the written word and probably a lot older. To keep things inside the J.R.R. Tolkien realm, “Beowulf”, one of the oldest written stories of Europe features not only the monstrous Grendel but his serpentine Mother. Ancient biblical writings allude to the great serpent or dragon while global mythology has oversized lizard creatures popping up so consistently that some have suggested there must be some common shared memory or primitive survival instinct built into humanity to cause us to tell our tribal stories about such a monstrosity. Continue reading “The Dragon Problem: What challenges await GDT and WETA?”
Category: Crew News
All news about the LOTR Crew.
Or Why It All Depends on How You Look at Things
Last week, I was going to pursue that Flat Earth theme, but got distracted (again). I had a visit from a friend. My high-school buddy Harold stopped over on a trek through Europe, hot on the trail of Goethe. He told me a story from back west. Here it is. Continue reading “John Howe’s Journal: COYOTE”
Ringer Spy Elven was kind enough to transcribe the ‘To be Continued’ interview from last week where I discussed our exclusive chat with ‘Hobbit’ director Guillermo del Toro. Take a look! Continue reading “‘To be Continued’ Radio Interview Transcript”
Zack writes: The FOTR with a live symphony and choir on April 24th in Winnipeg, Canada was amazing. They performed everything in the movie from loud themes to background music in audio scenes. This is supposedly the first of the North American tour. If anyone else is able to see this tour don’t be disappointed that sound effects are turned down (this created a few awkward moments, mostly just at the Farwell party and battle scenes) and that there are sub titles because what you hear is mostly the symphony. The Conductor, Ludwig Wicki was the first conductor to perform the FOTR music along live with the full movie just earlier this year and has worked with Howard Shore in preparation. The soloists sang very well, including a 10 year old boy singing the male soprano solos. Overall it was very well done and I hope they come out with the Two Towers soon.
In an exclusive interview with TheOneRing.net, Guillermo del Toro talks about Ian McKellen, Andy Serkis, Howard Shore, Animatronics vs CGI, the ‘tone’ of the upcoming ‘Hobbit’ films and much more!
We had the opportunity to chat with Guillermo del Toro this morning from his current HQ in London. He’s hard at work putting the finishing touches on ‘Hellboy II: The Golden Army’ and taking interviews from news outlets about that film, and the recent announcement that he’ll be doing ‘The Hobbit’ and a subsequent Hobbit sequel down the line.
First things first, YES, that is him on our message boards, he told me he intends to post there as often as he humanly can. And yes, he is as cool and approachable as he sounds. Take a look at my interview! Continue reading “Guillermo del Toro Chats with TORN About ‘The Hobbit’ Films!”
Doug Adams likes his life, he says so on his professional and personal blog and its obvious when you speak to him. Chances are if you appreciate the “Lord of the Rings” films’ soundtracks, you would like his life too. He will soon be the published author – instead of the hard working unpublished author he has been for several years – of the landmark “The Music of the Lord of the Rings Films,” which is an in-depth study of the Howard Shore magnum opus that accompanies Peter Jackson’s film trilogy. Continue reading “‘The Music of the LOTR films’ book nears completion”