Robert Rutherford writes: You may be interested in a photo essay we took on our three ring tour of the locations of Lord of the Rings.
The star of this production is our brand new aeroplane that we have registered LOR in honor of our time working on the LOR films here in New Zealand. This was the first time that we have been able to use the new aircraft on our long tour. The photos depict as follows
“Rohan 1” LOR and our company at the Poolburn Rohan location. From where we parked the aeroplane is a five minute walk to what we now call the Uruk-Hai gorge where Pippin drops the lothlorien clasp and Aragorn finds it. We then followed the “Orc trail” to the “Rohan village” This set is about the only one left in New Zealand of which some remains. It was here that the Rohan mother puts her children on the horse and tells them to ride to Edoras. We then flew to the Edoras location at MT Potts where we had lunch with “Marie Clair Desbough”, she and her husband Mark own the station on which Edoras was constructed After lunch we took to the air again and flew past
“Edoras/Mt Sunday” The backdrop of this photo is the Two Thumb range into which was inserted Helms Deep as a CGI. We then flew onto the”Pelennor Fields” location where we landed smack bang in the middle of the location that will I am sure be the most monumental cinema battle ever filmed. We then walked across to the grip road from which the cavalry charges were filmed. I still remember well first visiting this site with Barry Osbourne back in 2000 when it was decided exactly where to build this road.
The cast and extras must have had a pretty rough time filming these scenes as the ground is still scattered here and there with the bits of the plastic scales torn from the armour they wore. The last photo of the set is ” Pelennor Fields battle field” taken from the air you can see quite clearly the straight lines of the grip road and airstrip.
We are all looking forward to the release of the film in Dec.
New Theatre Company’s Debut Part of Cincinnati’s “Arts Renaissance:” Making History with J.R.R. Tolkien’s THE RETURN OF THE KING
A hobbit-sized theatre company in Cincinnati, Ohio is about to embark on a huge adventure! For the opening of their inaugural 2003-2004 season, they will present an original staged adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s, The Return of the King – book three of his fantasy masterpiece, The Lord of the Rings. CLEAR STAGE CINCINNATI is proud to quietly make theatrical history – as this production marks the first time that all three installments of the trilogy has ever been written and produced by a single adaptor in three subsequent years. [Lifeline Theatre in Chicago recently produced the trilogy over 6 years, with 4 different authors.] The production itself is a world debut – and the culmination of three years of production efforts at the Aronoff Center.
The production runs October 17-25, 2003 at the Jarson-Kaplan Theater in the Aronoff Center for the Arts – just weeks before the international release of the live-action movie of the same name. The first two installments, The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers, were produced by Ovation Theatre Company (also in Cincinnati) to critical acclaim and box office success! (Several staff members left Ovation Theatre Company to continue their pursuit of the “Tolkien Quest!”)
Cincinnati is experiencing an “Arts Renaissance!” The opening of the Rosenthal Contemporary Arts Center (directly across the street from the Aronoff Center) has caused an international “buzz” in the world of modern art and architecture! Cincinnati boasts a host of theatres, professional sports teams, and TallStacks steamboats glittering along the Ohio River. This fall promises to be the most exciting Cincinnati has seen in years!
Ohio-native, Blake Bowden, is pleased to be completing this quest with his production colleagues – a journey that has lasted for more than 10 years. “When I saw Mary Zimmerman’s theatre-workshop of The Odyssey, I knew that Tolkien should be on the stage as well,” he said. More than just a playwright and actor, Dr. Bowden is also a child psychologist who found the power of myth healing in his work with terminally ill children during his residency in Boston. “My bag-of-tricks didn’t work with kids who were dying. But spending the time to read a compelling story of a hero’s journey seemed to help them come to terms with their lives and where they were going.” Dr. Bowden was recently recognized by Cincinnati Magazine as a member of the “Creative Class,” one of 70 young professionals who are vital to the creativity and vibrancy of the city.
The Return of the King features the talents of actors and artists from the tri-state region including:
Puppeteers: Carus Waggoner and Rick Couch (The Cincinnati Enquirer “Jackie Award,” Citybeat “Best of” award);
Set Design: Thyra Hartshorn (Isabella Duncan Award, San Francisco Ballet);
Original Music: Steve Goers (Grammy nomination);
Graphics/Web Design: Jay Nungesser (WebAwards Standard of Excellence);
Director/Fight Director: Gina Cerimele-Mechley (CEA Entertainment Award nominee, The Cincinnati Enquirer “Jackie Award”);
Actor: Joe Sofranko (CAA Overture Award for Drama, Cappies “Best Actor”);
Actor/Playwright: Blake Bowden (CEA Entertainment Award nominee, The Cincinnati Enquirer “Jackie Award,” Cincinnati Magazine Creative Class recognition);
Actor/Puppetry Director: Aretta Baumgartner (president of the local chapter of the American Puppetry Guild);
Actor: Elizabeth Harris (The Cincinnati Enquirer “Jackie Award,” CEA Entertainment Award nominee).
A cast of 25 actors will present the world of Middle Earth and the “War of the Rings” in the intimate Jarson-Kaplan theatre at the Aronoff Center for the Arts. Audience members will see Orcs and Ents come to life, Wizards battle, Elves and Dwarves bickering, and Hobbits striving to fulfill their quest to destroy the One Ring of Power. An enormous battle scene is featured in the production that includes an army of Orcs, a stable of horses, a forest of Ents, an angry wizard, and the henchman for the Dark Lord, Sauron, himself. Grammy nominee, Steve Goers, has composed a score to accompany the production – furnishing a lush musical soundscape to Middle Earth. Huge Puppets and intricate mask-work rounds out the show – providing a unique scare for the Halloween season! The Return of the King is directed by award-winning actor, educator, and Fight Choreographer, Gina Cerimele-Mechley.
Performance Schedule:
Friday, October 17th @ 8:00p Saturday, October 18th @ 2:00p Saturday, October 18th @ 8:00p Sunday, October 19th @ 2:00p Friday, October 24th @ 8:00p Saturday, October 25th @ 2:00p Saturday, October 25th @ 8:00p
Thursday, October 16th @ 8:00p – Pay-what-you-can Night. This final dress rehearsal/preview is open to the public.
Tickets for The Return of the King can be purchased at the Aronoff Center Box Office, all Ticketmaster outlets, online at www.ticketmaster.com, or by phone at 513.241-7469. Visit www.clearstagecincinnati for more information about CLEAR STAGE CINCINNATI, The Return of the King, or the Cincinnati arts scene!
Tickets are $16 (General Admission); $14 (Seniors); and $12 (Students).
CLEAR STAGE CINCINNATI is a professional theatre company that strives to develop and showcase fresh theatrical talent by providing a “Clear Stage” for the advancement of artistic professionals. Note: All artists associated with CLEAR STAGE CINCINNATI are paid. Please list under “Professional Theatre” section.
Gimli (Elizabeth Harris), Aragorn (Dave Early), Legolas (Adam McLean) mount their horses for battle.
Gollum (Aretta Baumgartner) leads the way to Mordor… Sam (above, Blake Bowden) bids farewell to Frodo (Joe Sofranko)… Orcs on the prowl!
Please credit all photos to RICH SOFRANKO PHOTOGRAPHY with thanks to Ovation Theatre Company. (Image quality reduced for this press release. High Quality digital photographs for the production are available for reprint.)
Actors available for news spots/appearances – in costume, with huge puppets, magic, and music from a Grammy-nominated composer! This is a Cincinnati-original project – at the Aronoff Center Oct 17-25!
Kyra-LoTRchild from: THE DISTRICT OF DARK WHISPERS writes: I thought you might be interested in the District of Dark Whispers Baggins Birthday report. One of the reasons the party went over so well was because you posted the notice about it on TORN……..we had a lot of newbie Rings show up, so thanks so much!
THE DISTRICT OF DARK WHISPERS 2ND ANNUAL BAGGINS BIRTHDAY PARTY – September 21st – Bilbo Baggins Cafe in Alexandria Virginia
30 people showed up for the largest DoDW gathering yet! The party lasted three hours at the Green Dragon-like pub/cafe, Bilbo Baggins Global Cafe in the lovely Old Town Alexandria (recently hit by tropical storm Isabel). The cafe gave us the ENTIRE downstairs area for the party and two fantastic (and very patient) waiters.
We began the party by doing introductions all round, since about half the people that came to this gathering were newbies. Then, in order to kind of break the ice, we got everyone to sing a round of the Tookish pub song (Hey Ho to the bottle I go…..). I swear, we should become the ‘Shire Choir’ (to quote DoDWer Rachel).
Then after everyone had settled, we raised our glasses (pints!) to ‘The Baggins.’ Following that we pulled four names to compeat in a game of LoTR PASSWORD. Rachel and Neil won the first two rounds (recieving TTT draft packs as prizes)……..but everyone agreed to go on to a third just for fun. After that we went ahead and did our Secret Hobbit gift exchange………..this year having some very interesting Hobbit gifts. Some people brought baskets of Hobbit favorites like potatos, carrots, green beans and other veggie delights…….then others brought LoTR items like LoTR TCG starter packs, gollum action figures, ancient scrolls, etc. EVERYONE ended up with great stuff! It was great. Then we ended the party with one last round of the Tookish pub song.
It was great fun……….looking forward to next year’s party!
Gandalf is the first to see the Eagles coming out of the North upon the field of battle. Soon all the hosts of Mordor tremble when the will of Sauron is removed from them, and the armies of the West watch in awe as Barad Dur crumble and the spirit of Sauron makes one last hateful threat against Middle-Earth. But Gandalf bids Gwaihir the Windlord bear him to Mt. Doom. There Frodo and Sam wait for the end in the fires.
Our heroes awaken in fair Ithilien in the keeping of the King. There they receive the praise of the armies of the West, and after long ordeals are finally reunited with their friends.
How is Sauron’s fall described, and what does it tell us about the Dark Lord? Sam’s indomitable spirit once again makes a difference between life and death on Mt. Doom, but I cannot help at times feeling that Tolkien chose an ‘easy way out’ to save his heroes from the fire. What do you think?
What do you think about Frodo’s reluctance to carry a sword? Tolkien wanted to create a feeling of Eucatastrophe in this chapter. His definition of Eucatastrophe being “sudden joyous ‘turn’…it denies (in the face of much evidence, if you will) universal defeat and in so far is evangelium [good news], giving a fleeting glimpse of Joy, Joy beyond the walls of the world, poignant as grief”. How do you think he succeeded in this undertaking?
Join us in #thehalloffire as we discuss this chapter that poses so many interesting questions.
Upcoming Topics: October 4-5: Leaf by Niggle
Times: Saturday Chat: 5:30pm ET (17:30) [also 11:30pm (23:30) CET and 7:30am Sunday (07:30) AET]
Sunday Chat: 7:00 pm (19:00) CET [also 1:00pm (13:00) ET and 3:00am (03:00) 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.
I was fortunate to see the trailer yesterday evening in a local cinema. It is seeming likely that the trailer will be run in front of the premiere this weekend A league of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Beyond that I would imgaine it would be run in front of Pirates of the Caribean, which premiered 2 weeks ago and is stil going very strong here.
I watched the trailer and my first impression was that although it was good, the trailer/preview on the Two Towers DVD had much more feeling and just seemed better.(Ofcourse this could simply be my mind that makes me wonder this as I did see the DVD first heh) I dot remember too many things of the trailer, however your mention of Shelob being in it, is true. She does a quick 1 second onscren time. It is right in the same scene as we saw Peter Jackson watch in the preview on the DVD. Quite nice actually. Frodo runs down the hall, looks back and sees Shelob, as do we for the 1 second(probly less). Other things to note. Theres a brief scene where we see Gandalf ride out towards a big army/skirmish, his staff lighting up the area. I am asuming this could be where he rides out to help Faramir in the books. Other than that there is a nice view of Merry in battlegear looking up at Eowyn, also in battlegear. And she says to him: “Stay with me.” Or something like that. A scene I would imagine where the are about to go into battle. There is also a few shots of a Legolas that looks not as we have seen him before, as far as I could tell. He looked very scary, and in one of these shots, he says: “He has come.” (I think) This COULD possibly be where the army is at the gates to Mordor, and Saurons representative comes out. It sure looks very ominous and my impressions was that Legolas had doom written on his otherwise determined face. heh
The score in the trailer is overall very low key, which might be one of the reasons I dont actually think the trailer leads of to something quite big. I have enjoyed the fan-trailer you posted a little while ago, and the music in that as well as the preview on the DVD seems stronger and more fitting somehow.
Anyways, these were a few of the things I recall mostly from the trailer. Its a feast to be sure. 🙂
Feasul
Hi guys, i just wanted to point out that in the shot of frodo climbing up the cliff with Minas Morgul in the back, you can actually see the army of the witch king coming out of it, you see troops moving below, coming out of, i guess, the same gate that we saw in FOTR.
I’m delighted that this scene is actually in the film because I loved it so much in the book and I think it is a very iconic scene from the trilogy. Not to mention that it is also a relief to see that Minas Morgul IS in the films, when it wasn’t even on Faramir’s map!
MovieImp
I Work at a theatre and we loaded up the trailer really quick for a once thru last night. This is what I remember:
Legolas and Aragorn open the trailer. Legolas says something about the Eye of Mordor is looking at them or something like that and he has the hood of his cape up and he is looking toward Aragorn. There is a later shot in the trailer that is similar to this one.
Aragorn and Gandalf talking about Frodo’s chances.
There is a shot of Legolas that is very familiar shooting his bow. I’ve seen it somewhere. .
A great shot of Legolas climbing the trunk or leg of the Oliphant. You are looking down at him while he is climbing up toward you.
It’s very powerful when they are reforging the sword and Elrond brings it to Aragorn and tells him to basically buck up and be the king. That part was in the E clip. You can’t really tell who is reforging the sword it went by very fast.
A couple more shots of Legolas. A big close up as he turns and looks at something and the one where he is fighting in the midst of all the orcs shouting.
There is a major stunning shot of the ringwraiths flying down to the war fields and just wrecking havoc. Your level on the field looking at the ringwraiths flying down toward the galloping horsemen and they just drop toward them and wham into them and they go flying. It’s hard to describe.
The shots from the E clip of Frodo and Sam climbing up and Gollum looking at the ring with major lust going on. Also of Sam yelling at Gollum that he is leading them into a trap and Frodo says no we are taking him with us. Gollum looks back and just gives this evil smile to Sam.
A great shot of Dernhelm with Merry saying whatever happens stay close to me.
The music is different but the same feeling and it was stunning. It was very familiar yet different just like what they did with TTT. It has some same basic themes but seemed more on the dramatic rather than urgent side.
There is a great shot of Shelob and she is freakin scary as all get out chasing them thru the tunnels.
There is also a really quick shot of Sam and Frodo and it just makes you hurt for the pain in their faces and I’m pretty sure the ring is doing something to Frodo’s neck it looked raw, burned.
There is not much of Pippin just the one shot with Merry telling him they will see the Shire again.
Lots of Elrond telling Arwyn that he can do no more for her as she gave up her grace to another. Arwyn also states it is time for the sword to be returned to the king.
A quick shot of Eomer sobbing on the battlefield holding someone.
it goes by really really fast but it is simply wonderful.
Betababs writes:
I work at the theaters, in modesto california, i was lucky last night and got to see it early, heres what was in it
is saw the trailer last night, and it was phenomenol. I really cant put it into words, but it’s fanatastic. Heres what I remember
Starts of with a shot of minus morgul and mt doom in the background, and there is a huge light shooting up from the tower
Then it goes to legolas with neat hood on, standing with aragorn, saying something about the ememy
Aragorn and Gandalf talking about Frodo, and if he is still alive, Aragorn ask Gandalf “what does your heart tell you”
Some other things that stuck out
Elrond saying the enemy will never let aragorn take the throne of Gondor
Arwen saying it is time….(for aragorn to be king)
Arwen saying give him the sword of the king, and shots of them forging it
Shot of elrond giving Aragorn the sword, aragon takes anduril out of its sheath like lighting and looks at it
Elrond says “BECOME WHAT YOU WERE MEANT TO BE” I almost cried
Then an awesome airial shot of 3 nazgul swooping down like lighting above minas tirith
Shots of the battle of pelenor fields, a nazgul swooping down on a couple horses
Eomer crying, holding theoden
Frodo being chased by shelob
Dernhelm talking to merry, saying to stick with her no matter what
Cool shot of Gandalf and pippin looking at the brewing storm
Shots of Gollum, Frodo, and Sam
Sam hears what gollum says about killing them, but frodo says he will not abandon him
Eomer saying we cant defeat sauron by force, aragorn says we can buy frodo some time
Aragorn gives a speech, possible to the rohirrim? or the army of the west in mordor.
Some shots of the paths of the dead
Legolas on a mumakil
Some battle shots
Thats all I remember but im so stoked to see this movie, i hope this helps
JD sends along some great news from NZ, 3foot6’s Chris and Dan Hennah, they were part of an annual arts festival in Nelson. Take a look at the interesting swag of news he picked up!
Hello peoples, I have some news that doesn’t have anything to do with the trailer, but is quite spoilerific. Please note that I haven’t made any of this up, it is entirely true.
I live in Nelson, New Zealand, and part of our annual arts festival, Dan Hennah (Art director for LOTR), was having a question and answer session.
I went along, and himself and his wife (really nice people), had brought a few props and photos with them.
They brought a One Ring (I got to try it on!), and other items. Most I had seen, but among them was a diamond vase thing. I asked Dan what it was, and he took it and took of the top. As he pulled the top off, I saw that a inky rats tale with spikes was hanging off the lid.
He told me that it was Wormtounge’s poison jar, I asked when does he use that, and he said that he uses it to kill Theodred. I was surprised because I thought that that was really clever. It would make his character more evil. He went on to say that it wasn’t in the books, and I asked him if it would appear in the EE of the TT. He said most defiantly.
I then looked around, and on the wall was two pictures of the encampment seen in the DVD trailer and on previous posts. I asked if that is from the third film (obviously fishing for info), and Chris Hennah said yes, it was at Dunharrow.
It had an inside shot of the the Kings tent (Theoden), with skins and shields, and kingly stuff.
Another picture showed Arwyn looking very sick in a bed with Elrond at her side, re-enforcing the whole, sick of grieve theory.
In the actual question and Answer part of the afternoon, I asked Dan, what his favourite part in the trilogy was and he said he couldn’t give too much away, but he said when Farimir storms the Orcs out of Osgiliath onto the Pellenor Fields. He said it is quite an important part of the story. I can’t remember if it happened in the book.
Any way, it was an enjoyable morning, and he said that filming will finish in the next week. At the moment they are filming background battle shots and Mumukil etc.
So I hope I have some new news in there, oh and that Wormtounge vase thing, was really foul. I think my friend summed it up by saying “They really do a good job at making things look evil don’t they!”
