Laura writes: Earlier tonight in Australia, the Logie Awards were presented. They are the awards for Australian television, with both public and industry voted awards.
David Wenham was nominated in the Most Outstanding Actor category, a industry/peer voted award for his performance in the mini-series After The Deluge. Fellow nominees included Ray Barrett (After The Deluge), Tim Draxl (The Shark Net), William McInnes (The Shark Net).
Unfortunately David Wenham lost, with the award going to his co-star Ray Barrett.
After The Deluge was an outstanding mini-series. It tells the story of an old man (Ray Barrett) who is suffering the effects of Alzheimer’s disease. He is living in both the present but with delusions and visions of the WWII. His 3 sons are dealing with their father’s illness as well as their own personal troubles. The oldest, played by Hugo Weaving, is a musical has-been who now produces music, but running off the rails. David Wenham is dealing with the breakdown of his marriage, which he doesn’t want to happen, as well as raising his 2 kids. Samuel Johnson and his wife have been trying for children without success, and their relationship is on the brink of collapse.
That’s just a basic wrap-up of the beginning, as the story unfolds, it all these events begin to tangle together, bringing the sons back together with their father.
I also saw the first ad for the Orlando Bloom movie Troy during an ad break in the broadcast. It opens in Australia on May 13th.
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Choice of Lzthien
I attended the Session with Barrie Osborne at the Riverview Theater in Minneapolis and it was a fantastic night. Despite having been busy all day, Barrie was wonderful and extremely gracious. His talk focused on some of the major challenges of the project and how they were ‘solved’.
1) The challenge of bringing a 1200 page novel to the screen. Barrie mentioned that this was both a blessing and a curse. It was a blessing since there was so much detail there in the books already to guide the filmmakers. The curse was of course the length. He cited the ‘Council of Elrond’ chapter as an example and also talked about how they had to make dramatic liberties. Barrie also discussed the challenge of LOTR being a fantasy and how they wanted to connect with the audience and ‘make it real’. An important part of this was making the characters 3 dimensional. For example Gandalf was a wizard, but a wizard who smokes, likes to drink and loves life. Aragorn is aware of how his ancestors failed and fears he could never amount to anything. And for Boromir, important backstory was added to show how he was motivated by the love of his kingdom and his father. He makes a mistake and sacrifices his life to redeem himself.
Barrie also cited how important leadership was and that Viggo and Ian McKellan supplied this to the younger actors. Apparently when Viggo went back to LA for Christmas break, he got permission to take his sword back with him so he could practice! Viggos last minute casting was also brought up and Barrie said that Stuart was actually the first one to realize that he was too young to play Aragorn.
2) The challenge of scale. Different techniques were discussed such as forced perspective, motion capture and scale doubles. He talked about the scene in Bag End between Gandalf and Bilbo as one example, and mentioned that Gandalfs hat in that scene is CG!
3) The challenge of the long journey It was a long journey both in terms of the story and of the shooting. Barrie talked about some of the techniques used to show the passage of time in the movies: music, set designs, costumes, digital coloring and even sound design. One scene discussed in particular was the opening of ROTK. Digital coloring had to be used to turn the lake from brown (it had been raining) to blue and to add leaves to the trees (since that scene was filmed in the fall.
4) The challenge of the epic battles. Discussion on this topic was centered around MASSIVEhow it was developed, how it works and how it was used. One thing I did not know was that the two different armies are each assigned a different pitch in the program. There were some very interesting clips shown detailing how a scene was composited using MASSIVE, the different stages in the process. The main scene used was the Rohirrim charging into the orc army outside Minas Tirith.
5) The challenge of CG creatures. Gollum was the main creature discussed. Clips similar to the previous ones were shown, detailed how Andys performance was turned into the Gollum we see. There were also some comparison shots of Andy & Gollum from ROTK. Barrie said that Fran and Andy were the heart and soul of Gollum.
6) The challenge of the infrastructure in NZ.
There was very limited space at WETA, they had to dub almost all the sound and had to import most of the equipment. Barrie cited the expansion of WETAat one point during ROTK production there were 2,500 computers being used but 1,000 more were needed and within two weeks! The sattelite system they ended up using in order to meet the challenges associated with filming at rural locations.
He summarized by saying these challenges were met by: a clear vision, an understanding of the financial and technical resources, an early recognition of the unknown, open communication and collaboration, a willingness to adjust plans to fit reality and the courage to go on when things got dark and difficult.
Barrie saved the best for last. He said how each actor had a farewell clip made for them on their last day of shooting (the ones weve heard so much about) and then proceed to show us the clips for Legolas and Elrond! The clips were fantastic. Each one was a montage of character moments and some bloopers set to several different song clips.
For Legolas: I forget the first song but things really picked up when ‘Hungry Eyes’ started. This of course highlighted many of Legolas looks, carefully chosen to fit the lyrics. The final bit was to ‘Poison Arrow’ (or something like that) and showcased his archery. For Elrond: The only song I remember was ‘I will Surive’. Some footage from the prologue battle that didnt make the cut was shown (some good stuff), a scene in Rivendell I didnt recognize and clips from all three movies. The second half was titled ‘Agent Elrond’. A couple of bloopers from a scene where Hugo couldnt get the dialogue right and kept swearing. Also when he threw back his hood in ROTK (to give Anduril to Aragorn), he was wearing the Agent Smith sunglasses. And from that same scene when Viggo drew the sword he clipped Hugos nose. Both of them were way too funny. Barrie wouldnt show more, saying that they might be showing up on DVD in a few years!
During the Q & A part someone asked him about his most memorable experience. Barrie described 2: the camping out to get the sunset on film that we hear about on the TT EE.
The other one was after they had finished some filming near Nelson and had to go to Queenstown. Apparently PJ decided to drive (instead of flying) and so Andrew Lesnie decided to go with him. At that point Barrie figured he better go with both of them. They left late afternoon/early evening after filming and stopped somewhere for the night. The next morning it was discovered they were almost out of gas. PJ assured them it wasnt a problemthey would pass lots of farms along the way where they could get a farmer to fill the car up. But as they drove there were no farms so they had to turn around to where they had been staying to the gas station. It was now 6am and the station didnt open until 8am. PJ mentioned that the owner probably lived in the house behind the station, so why didnt they go wake them up? As the producer, Barrie was given this task. He knocked on the door and when the owner answered, offered him 100 dollars to fill up the tank. Apparently John Rhys Davies was following behind them and when he stopped at the same gas station later heard a story about some ‘crazy people’.
Sean Bean and Orlando were also driving. They stopped on the way to do some antique shopping at the request of Orlando. It was raining extremely hard and they ran into a landslide so they had to turn around and go back. But then they ran into another landslide. They ended up staying and some random house for the night and then they had to convince Sean to fly out on a helicopter the next day since he was needed.
iMark The Blue
Hello, iMark the Blue here. I have just returned home from a presentation by Barrie Osborne. It was an entertaining evening. Mr. Osborne discussed the major challenges they faced making the trilogy and how they overcame them. Mr. Osborne also had some video footage . A fully edited segment on Edoras which was not in the TTT appendices, a few new “Massive” Demo shots (the CGI army program) some Gollum and Minas Trinith Effect shots in progress demonstrations, and – a goodbye clip for Orlando Bloom, and one for Hugo Weaving – These clips were mostly shots of the characters played by the actors from the trilogy in a montage from, but they had some funny older songs with lyrics that made it humorous. I think it was being played off a DVD, and there was a link for many of the other main cast members. . . My guess is that it was a preliminary ROTK appendices of some sort? He said something about not being able to show us more because it will be on the DVD? He also made the comment that he would be interested in producing “The Hobbit” with Peter and Fran.
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Having escaped the Goblins, Bilbo finds that he is still lost in the
vastness of Middle-Earth. His good luck saves him once again though and he soon locates his friends. He tells the story about Gollum to the Compay, but seems disinclined to talk about the Ring. Fearing Goblins out to avenge their dead leader Gandalf urges the Company on. They soon find themselves facing a different enemy however. A band of Wargs forces them to seek refugee in the trees.
Considering what Bilbo does and says in this chapter, do you think the
Ring is already at work? Where did the Great Eagles come from and what
exactly are the Goblins and the Wargs planning? This weekend in
#thehalloffire we discuss Chapter 6 of ‘The Hobbit’ – Out of the
Frying-Pan into the Fire.
Upcoming topics:
weekend 240404-250404: Tolkien and environmentalism
weekend 010504-020504: The Hobbit – Chapter 7
Times:
Saturday Chat:
5:30pm ET (17:30)
[also 11:30pm (23:30) CET and 9:30am Sunday (09:30) AET]
Sunday Chat:
7:00 pm (19:00) CET
[also 1:00pm (13:00) ET and 5:00am (05:00) Monday morning AET]
ET = Eastern Time, USA’s East Coast
CET = Central European Time, Central Europe
AET = Australian East Coast
Do you have a possible topic for Hall of Fire? Drop us a line at
halloffire@theonering.net
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Ringer Spy Sam writes: I found this interview with Elijah Wood about his taste in music in the May issue of the UK music magazine MOJO.
What music are you currently grooving to?
I’m really into Scottish music. People don’t realise there’s all this great talent coming out of there right now – I particularly like Franz Ferdinand. And I’m in kind of a Beatles kick at the moment. I love Let It Be…Naked and the John Lennon box set is amazing! And I’m a huge Michel Gondry fan, of the way he combines music and video. I got to meet with him when I was doing Two Towers and Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind, which was great.
What, if push comes to shove, is your all-time favourite album?
Oh that’s impossible! I mean really. How do you answer that? I’ve not been to a record store in over a month – which is really weird for me! And I’m getting into new music -I only discovered The Stone Roses during Lord of The Rings. I really like The White Stripes’ Elephant though.
What was the first record you bought? And where did you buy it?
I can’t remember. There’s always been music around. I’m incredibly passionate about it, kind of insane even.
Which musician have you ever wanted to be?
In my fantasies, it would be great! But as a music-minded person you have your rock ‘n’ roll dreams but I wouldn’t personally want to apply them – I love music too much to screw it up, ha ha! But I’m starting my own record label this summer with a friend to facilitate indie bands, get music I believe in out there. Only indie – to help these musicians signed and heard!
What do you sing in the shower?
I don’t!
What is your favourite Saturday night record?
That’s difficult to answer, because I love so much music. Let’s see – Led Zeppelin, Smashing Pumpkins or Jimi Hendrix.
And your Sunday morning record?
Maybe The Flaming Lips, Radiohead or Massive Attack
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Ninth Annual Los Angeles Times Festival of Books Serves up Literary Smorgasbord April 24-25 at UCLA
24th Annual Los Angeles Times Book Prize Awards Ceremony to Highlight Festival
LOS ANGELES, April 14, 2004 – Tens of thousands of book lovers of all ages will find a smorgasbord of appealing choices when they gather for the ninth annual Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, Saturday, April 24, and Sunday, April 25, on the UCLA campus.
Some of the nearly 400 authors who will participate in this year’s Festival are Mitch Albom, Julie Andrews, Clive Barker, Michael Benson, T. C. Boyle, Ray Bradbury, Susie Bright, Stephen J. Cannell, Iris Chang, Sandra Cisneros, Mary Higgins Clark, Carol Higgins Clark, Susie Coelho, Rocco DiSpirito, Carol Muske-Dukes, James Ellroy, Carrie Fisher, Dana Gioia, Arianna Huffington, Chalmers Johnson, Larry King, Dean Koontz, Elmore Leonard, Anchee Min, Nuala O’Faolain, Anna Quindlen, Laura Schlessinger, David Shannon, Jane Smiley, Tavis Smiley, Kevin Starr, Anthony Swofford, Nicholas von Hoffman and Alice Walker. In addition, “Tonight Show” host and best-selling author Jay Leno will make his Festival of Books debut on the Target Stage.
Festival hours are 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. on Sunday.
Admission is free to the public. However, tickets will be required to attend indoor author panel discussions and lectures. Beginning April 18 at 12 noon, tickets will be available free of charge at all participating Southern California Ticketmaster locations. A limited number of tickets also will be available on-site. On-campus parking is $7.
General event information is available online at www.latimes.com/festivalofbooks or by calling 1-800-LA TIMES ext. 7BOOK. Detailed information on all festival activities will be published in the April 18 edition of the Los Angeles Times.
The Los Angeles Times Festival of Books – one of the nation’s premier public literary festivals and the largest of its kind on the West Coast – was created in 1996 by The Times to promote literacy, celebrate the written word, and bring together those who create books with the people who love to read them. It is presented in association with UCLA.
Festival Highlights
- More than 400 authors participating in 95 panels, readings and book signings
- Seven stages showcasing book and poetry readings, cooking demonstrations, children’s storytelling and cartoon characters, and music, drama and dance performances
- 24th annual Los Angeles Times Book Prize awards ceremony
- More than 280 exhibitors including specialty booksellers and major book publishers
- The “World’s Largest Crossword Puzzle” on a 35’ x 50’ vinyl mat in UCLA’s North Athletic Field. Teams of children will use large red foam letters to complete the puzzle, and each participant will receive a prize following completion of the puzzle.
A complete list of panels with their date, time and location is available online at the Festival of books Web site and will be published in the special Festival of Books section in the Sunday, April 18th edition of the Los Angeles Times.
Author Sessions
Authors featured in solo sessions include Mitch Albom, A. Scott Berg, T.C. Boyle, Sandra Cisneros, Arianna Huffington, Karen Hughes, Chang-rae Lee, Larry King, Dean Koontz, George Pelecanos, R.L. Stine, John Rechy, Alice Walker and Timothy Zahn.
Among the authors who will be featured in “In Conversation with …” sessions are Clive Barker, Ray Bradbury and Ray Harryhausen, Susie Bright, Mary Higgins Clark and Carol Higgins Clark, Carrie Fisher, Carl Hiaasen, Elmore Leonard, Anna Quindlen, Dr. Laura Schlessinger, Jane Smiley and Gay Talese.
Panel Sessions
- Biography and History — “What’s That Sound? The Sixties Revisited,” “The Wanderers,” “Epic Lives,” “Behind the Mask,” “Stalin: Anatomy of a Tyrant,” “The Discoverers,” “Does History Have a Moral?”
- Children and Families — “Children’s Authors: Creating Tales for Kids,” “Picture This! Illustrating Children’s Books,” “Getting Real: Readers on the Verge”
- Current interest — “The U.S. and Iraq One Year Later: Right to Get In? Wrong to Get Out?,” “Can America Pursue a Moral Foreign Policy?,” “Beyond Barbie: American Women Today,” “Queer Street: Is There a Gay Sensibility?,” “Law and Disorder: Gangs, the LAPD and the Pursuit of Justice,” “The Seduction of War,” “Manufacturing Fear: American Culture Today,” “The Golden Door: Mexico Now, California Tomorrow,” “High Noon: Can America Go it Alone?”
- Ethnic interest — “Latino Writing: Then & Now ,” “From Negro to African American: Is There a Limit to Identity Politics?”
- Fiction — “Once Upon a Time in America,” “Searching for Stories,” “Fiction and the Taboo of Race,” “Love in All the Wrong Places,” “Raising the Dead: Writing Historical Fiction,” “Finding Truth in Fiction,” “Fiction and the News From Elsewhere,” “The Necessity of Fiction,” “The Heart of the Matter,” “Life Among the Ruins,” “Searching for Love”
- Hollywood and Entertainment — “Moving Pictures and the Birth of Modernism,” “Fiction: Writing Hollywood,” “The Higher Gossip and the Culture of Celebrity,” “William Gibson and Bruce Wagner: A Conversation about 21st Century Hollywood and Beyond”
- International — “China in the American Imagination,” “Going Global: America’s Manifest Destiny?,” “From Afghanistan to Israel and Iran: Women in the Middle “
- Journalism and publishing — “Can Independent Publishing Survive?,” “From Granta to McSweeney’s: Can Independent Magazines Survive?,” “Reporting L.A. ,” “Finding Writers, Publishing Well”
- Los Angeles and California — “The Illusive City: Looking for L.A.,” “California’s Invisible History,” “Writing L.A.”
- Memoir — “Against Forgetting,” “American Lives”
- Mystery/Thriller/Crime –“Not Your Usual Suspects,” “Less than Heavenly: Mysteries and Thrillers in the City of Angels,” “Mayhem, Mystery and Murder,” “Classic Crime,” “Behind the Yellow Tape,” “Hardboiled Loners”
- Nonfiction — “Down and Dirty: Breaking the Bad News,” “Creative Nonfiction I: How I Got the Story,” “Creative Nonfiction II: How I Got the Story,” “Commerce and Aesthetics in the Making of America’s Culture”
- Poetry — “The Magic of Words,” “Why Write Poetry?”
- Politics — “Voices of Exile: Courage to Write,” “Critics and Crusaders: The Future of Dissent,” “From Watergate to 9/11 & Beyond,” “Separate but Equal: Fifty Years After Brown v. Board of Education,” “How Did Liberalism Become a Dirty Word?”
- Science — “Writing Science,” “The Wonder of the Cosmos” Other panels include: “The Art of the Short Story,” “Outdoor: The Call of the Wild,” “Working Out and Writing it Up,” “Fables and Fantasies From Beyond,” “Whom Does God Belong to?,” “Music: Hearing it on Paper,” “Writing Home: Better Living Through Better Design,” “Going Places: At Home in the World.”
Seven Stages: Discussions, Readings, Family Entertainment
The Barnes & Noble Stage will feature Mitch Albom, Eric Jerome Dickey, William Gibson, Arianna Huffington, Karen Hughes, Dean Koontz, Chang-rae Lee, Brett Lott, George Pelecanos, Nicholas Sparks & Micah Sparks, Neal Stephenson, Alice Walker and Tobias Wolff.
The Cooking Stage will dish up a varied selection that includes Katherine Alford, Leslie Brenner, Rocco DiSpirito, Suzanne Dunaway, Gale Gand, Tanya Holland, Jacqui Malouf, David Rosengarten, Juliette Rossant, Joachim Splichal and Carla Williams.
The ETC. Stage will feature a variety of speakers and performers including Susie Coelho, Kitty Felde, Andy Griffiths, Rayma Harishankar, R.L. Stine, Timothy Zahn, The Chameleons, Japanese Music and Dance with Kishin Daiko, the Korean Classical Music and Dance Company, Write Girl and Will and Company, who will perform “Robin Hood.”
Among the authors gracing the Poetry Stage will be Sandra Cisneros, Henri Cole, Dana Gioia, Anthony Hecht, Tung-Hui Hu, Barbara Hurd, Susan McCabe, Harryette Mullen, Carol Muske-Dukes, David St. John and Mark Turpin.
The Reading by 9 Storytelling Stage activities will include performances by the Parachute Express, Jay Jay the Jet Plane, Beethoven’s Wig, the Children’s Museum of Los Angeles, Adventures in Poetry and Jim Gamble’s Puppetry, as well as readings and storytelling by KTLA’s Michaela Pereira, Leila Feinstein, Sam Rubin and Eric Spillman; Margaret Chodos-Irvine & Betsy Rosenthal, Lois Ehlert, Betsy Lewin, J.P. Nightingale, Jose Luis Orozco, Marilyn Singer, Jim Weiss and Jane West.
Featured on the Starbucks Stage will be performances by Ben Arthur, Josh Kelley, Jennifer Marks, Abalaye African Dance Ensemble, Danza Azteca Xochipilli, the Melvin Eddy Blues Band, the Susie Hansen’s Latin Band, Barney Saltzberg, and the Zydeco Party Band.
The Target Stage, designed for the entire family, will feature Julie Andrews, Angelina Ballerina, Barney, Mike Berenstain, Georgia Byng, Dean Koontz, Jay Leno, Glenn Murray, Laura Numeroff, Todd Parr, Seussentennial, R. L. Stine, Rosemary Wells, and Schoolhouse Rock.
Los Angeles Times Book Prize Awards Ceremony
Michael York, author and internationally renowned star of stage, screen and television, will emcee the 24th annual Los Angeles Times Book Prize awards ceremony, which will be held at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 24, at UCLA’s Royce Hall. York is a past participant in the Festival of Books and is the author of “Dispatches from Armageddon: Making the Movie Megiddo: a Devilish Diary” and his 1991 autobiography “Accidentally on Purpose,” and co-author with actor/director Adrian Brine of “A Shakespearean Actor Prepares.”
The Los Angeles Times Book Prizes, established in 1980, recognize outstanding literary achievements in biography, current interest, history, poetry, science and technology, fiction, first fiction, mystery/thriller, and young adult fiction.
In addition, the Robert Kirsch Award annually recognizes the body of work of an author who resides in and/or whose work focuses on the Western United States. It is named after Robert Kirsch, who served as The Times’ book critic for more than 25 years prior to his death in 1980.
Presenting the nine category awards will be Dean Baquet, K.C. Cole, Dana Gioia, Vivian Gornick, Carolyn See, April Smith, Kevin Starr, R.L. Stine and Bruce Wagner. The Kirsch award will be presented by author Jonathan Kirsch, son of the late book critic.
Tickets are $14 per person for a reserved seat. In addition, there will be a first-ever “Interlude Dinner” at 5:30 p.m. in UCLA’s Faculty Center for people who want to attend both the Festival and the Book Prizes event. The cost of the Interlude Dinner, including a prime reserved seat at the Book Prizes awards ceremony, is $48, and for $65, guests get premium all-day parking at Royce Hall as well.
Tickets may be purchased through the UCLA Central Ticket Office at 310-825-2101 or online at www.tickets.ucla.edu. Additional charges apply for online ticket orders.
Information about the Book Prize awards ceremony and awards program is available at www.latimes.com/bookprizes or by calling 1-800-LA TIMES, ext. 72366.
Since 1980, the Book Prizes have honored numerous internationally distinguished literary figures including Ray Bradbury, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Allen Ginsberg, Christopher Isherwood, Milan Kundera, Ursula Le Guin, Frank McCourt, David McCullough, Larry McMurtry, Tillie Olsen, Carl Sagan and W.G. Sebald.
Festival of Books Sponsors
Presenting sponsors of the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books are Barnes & Noble, Starbucks and Target. Major sponsors are Ticketmaster and Borders. Contributing sponsors are Los Angeles Opera and Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Media sponsors are KTLA 5, ESPN Radio AM (710), KABC-AM (790), KCRW-FM (89.9), KFWB-AM (980), KIIS-FM (102.7), KKJZ-FM (88.1), KPCC-FM (89.3), Radio Disney AM (1110) and Distinction Magazine.
The Los Angeles Times, a Tribune Publishing company, is the largest metropolitan daily newspaper in the country and the winner of 35 Pulitzer Prizes. The Times publishes five daily regional editions covering the Los Angeles metropolitan area, Orange and Ventura counties, the San Fernando Valley, and an Inland Empire edition covering Riverside and San Bernardino counties, as well as a national edition. Additional information about The Times is available at www.latimes.com/mediacenter.
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