FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: THE ORIGINS OF FANTASY, REVEALED AT THE 2004 SAN DIEGO COMICON
The utopian visions of other worlds that make up the backdrops in Hollywood’s multimillion dollar feature film industry may seem futuristic or magical to moviegoers, but any time traveler worth his salt could tell you that these landscapes have more in common with Earth’s recent past than the far future.
The designs and decorations of a late 19th century art movement called Art Nouveau have influenced a whole lineage of Fantasy film making, and artifacts that would be right at home in the parlors of Frodo Baggins or Ming the Merciless will be on display courtesy of Century Guild at the 2004 San Diego Comicon.
Artists at the turn of the last century reacted against the Industrial Revolution by taking their design inspirations from dreams and nature and blending these elements into their work in a completely original and mystical way, leaving behind the classical traditions of the Victorian Era and creating the first completely original design movement in centuries.
In the decades to come, writers such as Edgar Rice Burroughs would look directly to Art Nouveau when describing the palaces of Mars, and by the 1930s the machine age of Art Deco style had rendered the furniture of the Art Nouveau era so unfashionable that it was an easy and inexpensive choice to decorate the palaces of the planet Mongo for the Flash Gordon serials.
It’s no wonder, then, that when today’s set designers envision fantastic things beyond normal imagination they also look to Art Nouveau for inspiration: we see bronze numerals by Hector Guimard, designer of the French Metropolitain stations, marking the chambers of the intelligent dinosaurs in Dinotopia; Art Nouveau lighting by Louis Comfort Tiffany decorates a palace in The Fifth Element; and Peter Behrens-inspired statuary from the Darmstadt art colony of 1901 makes up most of the Teutonic design of The Chronicles of Riddick. H.R. Giger’s Oscar-nominated creature design from the movie Alien would feel right at place in Holland circa 1900, and the subtle modernizations that turned Celtic stylings into something suitable for Middle Earth in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy follow a path well mapped by the British designer Archibald Knox for England’s Liberty and Co.
A magical box guarded by watchful gnomes in which a young Harry Potter could safely keep his wand, iridescent monolithic vases that could have been excavated from Atlantis, and Frodo-worthy statues of sinuous, fire-breathing dragons are among the Art Nouveau artifacts that will be on display and available for sale courtesy of Century Guild at the San Diego Comicon, booth 3445 in the San Diego Convention center, July 22-25 2004.
For more information or images please contact Thomas Negovan at 312.720.7201 or disinfo@centuryguild.net.
What do you get when you mix a gaggle of Hobbits – a bevy of beautiful Elven Ladies – a horde of stalwart Dwarves – and a menagerie of mortal Men? Add in a couple of Orcish louts just for fun, sprinkle in some funny Kiwi accents, then give them free reign in a fabulous San Diego club so they can all relax, drink, and talk? Now just imagine what all this mischief will add up to?
Well it’s got to be the first ever RingersMoot! What else would you expect from the filmmaking team behind “RINGERS: LORD OF THE FANS”?
We know that you kids are going to San Diego in July. We know you’re headed out to Comic-Con for the yearly blitzkrieg of Tolkien pop mania. Ah, the energy! The blaring screens and kiosks! The amazing costumes! The magical exclusive first-look at our feature documentary “Ringers”! It just wouldn’t be summer without Comic-Con! And since we _know_ that all you Ringers will there, we decided to give you guys a social venue where EVERYONE can have a relaxing, fun time at our informal gathering. We do not expect to have any special celebrity guests, we will have plenty of stars on hand. Last year 250 Ringers dropped into our confessional booth at Comic Con to express their love of “The Lord of the Rings,” everyday Ringers truly are the stars of our film!
On Thursday, July 22, 2004, the “Ringers” filmmakers are holding a special 1-hour panel with author Peter S. Beagle [full story on our website]. When the panel ends at 7:00PM, we are all heading out to the RingersMoot. Come along and have a pint with us [and bring along your beer stein from our CaféPress store: “Yes, it does come in pints!”] at the fabulous nightspot THE MARTINI RANCH. Here is all the info:
RingersMoot location: The Martini Ranch club, 528 F Street, San Diego – just 6 blocks north of the Convention Center.
The event is Thursday night, July 22, 2004, starting 8:00pm till close. The event is Thursday night, July 22, 2004, starting 8:00pm till closing. There is no cover charge until 9:00pm, after 9:00pm it is $5 or only $4 with our special flyer. After 10:00PM it’s $9 with our flyer, $10 without it. Be sure to visit our “Ringers” table on the Mezzanine and our huge Panel in Room 6CDEF on Thursday July 22nd to get the discount flyer. The Martini Ranch serves appetizers until 9:00PM, and has a no-host bar, admission is 21 and over only. Be sure to arrive early as we will fill the space to capacity very quickly!
To my deep regret, I missed Charlie Ross’ The One Man Star Wars Trilogy at a previous Toronto Fringe Festival. I wasn’t about to make the same mistake now that Ross has decided to tackle J.R.R. Tolkien in The One Man Lord of the Rings.
It is simply brilliant, one of the most enjoyable shows I can remember in 25 long years of Fringe-going. If you have any strings, pull them. Do whatever you can, but see this show.
Ross has several things going for him. He is a good mimic; he can nail, say, the Gollum voice or the Gandalf voice with consummate ease, or wrinkle his face and pull back his hair to conjure up King Theoden before your very eyes. But it’s also his physicality and tumbling skills. Remember that moment when the skeleton falls down the mine at Moria? Aided by director T J Dawe, Ross recreates that memborable effect.
What’s also impressive is that he’s in complete control of a huge amount of data. He may have three long volumes and 40+ characters to cram into the space of 60 minutes, but he is still relaxed enough to poke fun at the material, or to ad lib a quick aside to the audience.
You’ll need to know the movies, and it doesn’t hurt to have a read the books as well. Ross works exceptionally hard, and he expects his audience to work too. Tickets won’t be easy to come by. Friday’s opening night was completely sold out.
Did anyone else besides me attend the LotR Symphony performance? I had a blast in spite of the 6+ hour driving time surround the event (there & back again-a 12-hour journey!)
It was really wonderful. One of the most wonderful aspects of going to this event was how diverse the audience was. How many times do you get to go to an evening symphony performance and see lots of kids and people from all kinds of backgrounds? You could tell from the look on the kids’ faces that they thought they were as cool as if they had been attending a rock concert! I was sitting in the second row, (being on a budget allows that you get neck strain from tring to look up at the screen to see the lovely sketches from John Howe’s and Alan Lees concept art)….but it also allows you to really hear the instruments not just the mixed projected sound. We sat right under the first violin seat where we heard the unique sound of the hardinger fiddle and the featured vocalist, Sissel, who had a voice like an angel!
When the music from The Fellowship began to play and the first big graphic of Middle Earth came on the screen, I began to cry. I was embarrassed when the lights came up for intermission because I thought my husband would make fun of me (not quite the fan that I am), but he very kindly pointed out to me that he noticed I was not alone in my tearfulness. Sure enough, when I looked around, almost everyone else around me had tears in their eyes. I know I am very emotionally invested in the story and movies of LotR, but I think the music, on its own is also very powerful and moving. I loved the whole score to the Fellowship. The Two Towers played a little more like movie music, although also very beautiful to hear, but when they got to the RotK, I found myself crying again….especially when that short piece of music that plays when, in the movie, Frodo explains how hard it was to be back and that the Shire would never be the same for him. That part always gets me, and hearing the music is very evocative of the emotions expressed in that moment. Then, the Gray Havens and Into the West were also intensely moving. There was a 10 minute standing ovation which followed the concert.
Bravo!
—–
Okassan
We were at the Friday night sold out Houston Symphony presentation of the Lord of The Rings Symphony and it was magnificent. Our symphony is one of the top orchestras in the nation and it really showed. The music was overwhelming and the soloists were excellent. Conductor Alexander Mickelthwate was wonderful to watch. He puts his entire being into the music. Soloist Sissel has one of the clearest, purest voices I have ever heard. Her songs in Elvish weren’t just mouthed, they were sung with feeling. Gollum’s Song has never been one of my favorites, but Sissel brought a new life to it. After the concert she autographed her CDs at the gift shop. Alan Lee made an on stage appearance during the ovation. His art work was displayed on a screen above the stage. I especially liked the drawing of Shadowfax. The standing ovation was timed at almost 5 m! inutes and Mr. Mickelthwate had to return to the stage three times. The last time was fun for everyone. You could tell he was enjoying it because of the big grin on his face. First he pointed out the three soloists from the chorus, and everyone kept applauding and cheered. Then he pointed out the lead percussionist, and we all cheered again. He finaly gave up and just started going through every section of the orchestra and each group got a rousing cheer. It was a wonderful night. Howard Shore’s music was designed for a concert hall. Whenever I hear my CDs, this performance will echo in my mind.
PRAGUE — With the scramble to bring in names heating up in the countdown to its July 2 opening night, Karlovy Vary is lining up a slate of stars. Latest to join the parade are John Cleese, who will present the July 10 closing-night screening of “Shrek 2,” and Sherilyn Fenn, star of U.S. competition film “The Cavedweller.”
Stars already confirmed include Elijah Wood and screenwriter Charlie Kaufman for the screening of “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”; Wood is filming “Everything is Illuminated” in Prague for actor-turned-director Liev Schreiber, who’s also expected in Karlovy Vary for the opening weekend.
Director John Irvin and actors Colm Meaney and Bernard Hill will accompany the opening-night showing of their “The Boys From County Clare.” “House of Sand and Fog” helmer Vadim Perelman is expected, and Harvey Keitel will turn up to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award.
Accompanying a John Cassavetes retrospective are actors Ben Gazzara and Seymour Cassel, daughter Xan Cassavetes and producer-editor Al Ruban, who also heads up the main jury.
The 3-year-old Industry Office, which is a networking link for film professionals, particularly buyers, sellers and fest programmers, reports a 50% increase in the number of companies and representatives signed up for its services.
High on the list is Cannes market director Jerome Paillard, attending Karlovy Vary for the first time to discuss possible cooperation between the French market and the Czech fest. Miramax plans to send a rep, its first time at the fest. Also new on the list are theatrical distributors from Poland and Hungary.
Attendance from all regions is on the rise, with especially strong representation from France, Germany and the U.K.
Thanks to Bilbo, Thorin and company have escaped from the dungeons of the Elf-king of Mirkwood. But to what end? Do the dwarves finally consider Bilbo a worthy member of their company? The journey down the river is an unpleasant one for the dwarves, but the end makes up for it — or does it?
Are the men of Lake-Town as friendly and accommodating as they seem, or do they have a more sinister purpose? What of the legends of rivers running with gold? Do they realize what assisting Thorin’s group might cost them? This is our first look at a village of men in Tolkien’s world, does he present them with the same loving and realistic attention to detail as his more fantastic creations?
These and other thought-provoking questions will be discussed when you join us at this week s in #thehalloffire as we look at The Hobbit, Chapter 10: A Warm Welcome.
=== Upcoming topics:
July 10-11 — Magic in Middle Earth July 17-18 — Powerful Objects in Middle Earth’s History July 24-25 — Gandalf’s Involvement with the Hobbits August 7-8 — Middle Earth’s Greatest Cities August 14-15 — The Hobbit: Chapter 11: On the Doorstep
=== Chat Times:
Saturday Chat: 5:30pm ET (17:30) [also 11:30pm (23:30) CET and 9:30am Sunday (07:30) AET]
Sunday Chat: 7:00 pm (19:00) CET [also 1:00pm (13:00) ET and 5:00am (03:00) Monday morning AET]
ET = Eastern Time, USA’s East Coast CET = Central European Time, Central Europe AET = Australian East Coast
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