Michelle Lee from The Hair and Makeup Artist Network sends this in: I just wanted to let you know we are having a networking dinner with John Slowsky the pre-production art director from Lord of the Rings. Details are attached if you would like to post them to the site. More..
Category: Crew News
All news about the LOTR Crew.
Although actors like Viggo Mortensen, Ian McKellen and Elijah Wood, not to mention writer-director Peter Jackson and producer Fran Walsh are often credited with the success of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, the real folks responsible for bringing them to life are the crew members behind the scenes, led by Weta workshop president Richard Taylor. Since the beginning of the film series, Taylor has provided vital, insightful information about the making of the films, and helped flesh out their journey from page to screen.
This week, Warner Home Video released the theatrical versions of the Lord of the Rings trilogy on Blu-ray. The good folks at WHV offered Hollywood News an opportunity to talk with Taylor about the process of blowing up the films to Blu-ray, and they caught up with him late last week while driving to San Francisco for Wondercon. Although Taylor admitted outright that he hadn’t seen the new discs and had little to do with the high-definition remastering, the effects guru spoke about his interest in the films as new iterations arrive in fans’ hands, and then offered a few brief details about his upcoming work on The Hobbit, which is among Hollywood’s most highly-anticipated future films. More.
To promote the release of The Lord of the Rings Trilogy on Blu-ray DVD Richard Taylor dropped us a line to talk all things ‘Rings’. Richard is hard at work on production of the The Hobbit, and during the chat we spoke a bit about blu-ray and 3D technology effecting the way the folks at his WETA Workshop go about creating sets and props. Our very own MrCere also had the chance to chat with Richard, be on the lookout for his report as well.
Order Lord Of The Rings Trilogy (BD) at the WBshop.com! Continue reading “TORN Chats with Richard Taylor”
LOTR Artist and friend of TORN, Alan Lee, writes: Slightly off-topic, but April 1 is the US release date of SHAPESHIFTERS – tales from Ovid’s Metamorphoses, retold by Adrian Mitchell and illustrated by Tolkien artist Alan Lee. You could do worse – while waiting for the Hobbit movies – than spending time revisiting some of these beautiful and magical stories.
Order SHAPESHIFTERS – tales from Ovid’s Metamorphoses on Amazon.com Today!
The folks at Weta have made it possible to own your own Hobbiton. There are two versions, the Open Edition and the Collector’s Editon with interiors. While your eyes soak that in, don’t miss the four-part series by site-friend Daniel Falconer about how this collectible came together.
The guys over at MTV caught up with the incredibly talented and extremely busy co-founder and director of WETA, the Oscar Award winning Richard Taylor, right after he got off “a big meeting about how to make the new designs of armor for the new film” no less. Taylor shared a deal of information regarding the early pre-production that’s been going on in New Zealand while the rest of the world is anticipating the long-awaited greenlight for the two Hobbit films.
“The lovely thing about ‘The Hobbit'”, says Taylor, “is that the race of the dwarves comes to the forefront in the story, and [we’ll depict] the uniqueness of the collection of the dwarves. There’s a journey through the story with Bilbo, and that’s something that’s incredibly exciting — that we’re going to have a chance to feed and develop and watch them take on a much greater presence than the one dwarf named Gimli was able to in the Lord of the Rings. Gimli had an incredible presence, of course, but he was only one character. And it’s fantastic to think that we’re going to be able to develop the dwarves to such a higher degree … the richness of their culture. The fact that through so many different dwarfs, you’ll get to appreciate their cultural differences, where they come from, them as a people.”
Taylor had more to say concerning the early design phase that they’re currently in, about the new and wonderful worlds that the story of The Hobbit takes you to, and about working with Guillermo del Toro and Peter Jackson.
Read the entire interview over at the MTV Movies Blog.