Start: Okahune Finish: Wellington Mileage: 291 K/ 181 Miles Film Sites visited: River Anduin, Elves leaving Rivendell and Arwen’s vision, The Green Parrot Cafe
Special Guest: Horse trainer Chris Rutten at Cavallo Farms
Our first stop today was at Taihape, where the Rangiteki River at Mokai Canyon is one of many locations used for the River Anduin in Fellowship. You’ll recognize the curve and bank of the river in the photo – just imagine the elven boats there. The view is from the Mokai Bridge 260 feet above the river! Mokai is also home to Gravity Canyon, which offers bungy jumping off the bridge and a speed ride on cables called a flying fox. The owners are planning to add a giant swing and swing bridge for their adventure-mad visitors. Remember, commercial bungy jumping was invented in New Zealand! (You’ll see where on Day 11.) Their gallery at http://www.gravitycanyon.co.nz has more pictures of the canyon (and the adventurers).
Leaving Rivendell
From Taihape we drove to the Waitarere Forest, where the scenes of the Elves are leaving Rivendell and Arwen’s vision were filmed. Also where Figwit spoke his only lines in the film, as Arwen turned back to Rivendell. This site is easily recognized by the look of the trees and the line of the path the elves’ horses followed through the pine trees. The forest looks a bit bare in winter. During filming, the bases of the trees were covered with ferns to make the forest look thicker and more lush. The Waitarere was also used for Ithilien, in the Ephel Duath foothills where Gollum and Smeagol have their conversation (“You don’t have any friends. No one likes you”) and Gollum tells Frodo and Sam, “Must GO!” and for Trollshaw Forest, where Sam and Frodo saw Bilbo’s stone trolls.
The forest is very quiet – because of all the pine needles and leaves all sound is muffled. It’s easy to turn around and expect to see the cloaked elves on their horses, carrying their lamps.
Chris Rutten/Cavallo Farm
The highpoint of the day was a visit to Chris Rutten at Cavallo Farm in Te Horo, north of Wellington. Chris trained both actors and horses for The Lord of the Rings. He explained that the farm was like a second home for the actors for their riding and fight practice. He showed us the training barn where Viggo Mortensen practiced the difficult scenes with Uraeus (Brego) in The Two Towers, where Brego comes to his rescue at the riverbank after he has ridden off the cliff. Many of the actors, although not Viggo, started their training with Chris six months before the start of filming. Chris spoke very fondly about his work with Bernard Hill, Miranda Otto, and Karl Urban, as the riding skills they developed were so central to their characters
Chris’s other principal responsibility was training the horses to be comfortable in the film environment, getting them used to obstacles, noise, and movement. The horses would walk though an obstacle course of plastic sheets and objects hanging around them to get acclimated.
Chris showed us one of the horses, a thoroughbred still at the farm, who was ridden by a Gondorian guard. He explained that he had sold one of the Black Rider horses to an American who renamed him Bilbo Baggins and plans to enter him in the next Olympics.
Chris provided more than 50 horses for the films and was very involved as a horse wrangler in the many scenes involving horses and riding He managed the ponies as well, including Clydie, who played Gandalf’ cart horse. The Black Rider horses and many of the others were geldings, but Shadowfax, Asfaloth, and Brego were stallions.
Everyone involved in the filming of Helm’s Deep had long days and Chris was no exception. He would leave around 3:30 in the morning and return around 7 at night. Chris also spent six weeks on the South Island at Tarras, working with Liv Tyler’s riding double Jane Abbott on the filming of the famous scene in Fellowship in which Arwen and Frodo are chased by the Ringwraiths to the Ford of Bruinen.
In addition to training actors and horses and wrangling, Chris appeared onscreen in a number of roles including a Black Rider, the Witch King, Rohan and Gondorian soldiers, and as riding double for Viggo Mortensen, Bernard Hill, and Bruce Hopkins. His family also worked as extras.
After showing us the horses, training barn, and grounds, Chris took us into his house to meet his family, served us tea and coffee and let us look at his photo albums and other memorabilia from the production, including a signed and dedicated work from Viggo Mortensen.
Chris was the first of several extraordinary people we met on the tour who were actively involved in the Lord of The Rings. Listening to him talk about working with Bernard Hill and Viggo Mortensen, facing the challenges of filming the chase scene, working at Helm’s Deep, and preparing horses for life on set, and being able to see up close horses that were ridden in the films, brought each of us closer to the creation process. Driving around on our own, we never would have met Chris and heard his stories.
Lindale Center
Heading down toward Wellington, we stopped at the Lindale Center in Paraparaumu, a wonderful combination of food shops and galleries, and also the chance to see New Zealand farm animals. After visiting Cavallo Farm, our fellowship was ready for something to tide us over until dinner, so among us all we sampled the local Kapiti cheese, ice cream, honey products, olives, candy, and wine bar. (More about Lindale at http://www.kapiti.org.nz/unique.html#lindale)
It is really true that there are elves everywhere in New Zealand! Our bus driver Wayne met Mike working in the coffee bar at Lindale Center. Mike played an elf in Haldir’s contingent at Helm’s Deep, telling us he was the third elf from the second flag….He also played an Uruk-Hai, wearing full armor for that part. Mike’s uncle had applied to be an extra but was too short (guess all the hobbit extras had been cast by then) so Mike and his cousin applied. He was called back for The Return of the King but couldn’t work because he was away on vacation.
Leaving Lindale, we drove thorough Paekakariki, where the scene with the dead Mumakil was filmed, and Pukerua Bay, where Peter Jackson grew up, and headed into Wellington.
Dinner at the Green Parrot
Our dinner was at the Green Parrot Café, just a few blocks from the Embassy Theatre. The Green Parrot was a favorite of Viggo Mortensen, but many of the cast and crew ate here regularly. Can you find Viggo, Peter Jackson, Elijah Wood and Sean Astin in the large mural that decorates one wall? There is also a collection of photos featuring Viggo and Elijah.
On the next corner is Molly Malone’s pub, a favorite of Sean Bean. This pub had Legolas’ arrow hanging on it as part of the premiere celebrations. Driving through Wellington nightlife, we also passed Roger’s Tatoo Art at 198 Cuba Street, where the Fellowship cast members (and members of earlier Red Carpet tours) got their Elvish tattoos. Feedback or questions? Email me!
Tomorrow: Daniel Reeve (calligrapher and mapmaker), production facilities in Miramar, The Shire, The Chocolate Fish Café, and the Embassy Theatre.
Start: Rotorua Finish: Ohakune Mileage: 276 K/ 172 miles Film Sites visited: Emyn Muil, Mordor, Gollum’s Fishing Pool, The Powderhorn Chateau
We left Rotorua heading south, passing Lake Taupo, New Zealand’s largest lake. We headed for Tongariro National Park and its three famous volcanoes, Mt. Tongariro, Mt.Ngauruhoe, and Mt Ruapehu. The park was designated a World Heritage Site because of its cultural and religious significance to the Maori people. The volcanoes here are the highest mountains on the North Island, with Mt. Ruapehu reaching over 9000 feet. The views of the snow-covered volcanoes from the road were spectacular, especially as it was such a clear day. The perfect volcanic cone of Mt. Ngauruhoe was used to represent Mt. Doom.
The Emyn Muil and Mordor
The ski slopes known as the Whakapapa Ski Fields on Mt. Ruapehu were used for the Emyn Muil and Mordor. We were visiting in winter, not the season the filming took place. The opening of ski season was just a week away, so the path was already quite icy and slippery. It was a bit scary, our first real adventure of the path, and we needed to help each other up the path. One woman in our group had a fear of heights, but she did a great job, with the rest of us offering help, in confronting it and making it to the top.
It was well worth the hike to see the actual spot where Sam and Frodo climb over the rocky ledge in the Emyn Muil (easily recognized from the rock formations and the stream below), where they realize they are lost and stop to have some lembas bread. A little higher up and trickier to reach on the ice was the ledge Gollum crept down while Sam and Frodo were sleeping.
Gollum’s Fishing Pool
From Tongariro National Park we headed to the site of Gollum’s Fishing Pool, located at
Mangawhero Falls near Ohakune. These scenes were filmed in May, when the pool was covered with an early snow. Our guides told us the production company got a fire engine to remove it and also got some heaters. Andy Serkis must have nearly frozen in the icy water. And, there is a waterfall with quite a drop just past the part of the stream where the filming took place – very far to fall! Good information on the National Park and the Ohakune area can be found at http://www.ohakune.info/
The Powderhorn Chateau
We stayed at the Powderhorn Chateau near Ohakune, where many of the cast and crew stayed during filming. You can examine the hotel register books with signatures and personal comments from Peter Jackson, Ian McKellen, Orlando Bloom, Sean Astin, Billy Boyd, Elijah Wood, Andy Serkis and many others, and take a look at their signed t-shirts. Best of all, you can stay in one of the stars rooms – there is even a list of room codes to choose from. (I stayed in Orlando Bloom’s room!) We also got to see a beautiful suite of rooms built by the hotel for Peter Jackson and his family, known as The Mansion but located on the second floor of the hotel. At the hotel’s website (http://www.powderhorn.co.nz/) you can take a virtual tour of The Mansion.
Tomorrow: The site of the elves leaving Rivendell, where Arwen has her vision, and a visit with Chris Rutten at Cavallo Farms (Chris trained both horses and riders for The Lord of the Rings and played several parts himself)
This weekend, Hall of Fire resumes discussing the Silmarillion with chapter 10 – Of The Sindar. After the dramatic rebellion of the Noldor, our focus switches to the rise of the mightiest kingdom of the Sindar – that of Thingol and Melian in Doriath. We’ll discuss the arrival of the dwarves, and examine the affect their partnership has on Doriath’s development and the events surrounding the creation of Menegroth and the girdling of Doriath by the power of Melian.
Join us on the TORn IRC server this Sunday July 10 in #thehalloffire as we discuss chapter 10 of the Silmarillion – Of the Sindar.
Asia-Pacific 4.00am (Monday) Brisbane 4.00am (Monday) Sydney 6.00am (Monday) Wellington
Chats usually last 45 mins to an hour, and are very newbie friendly. Simply drop in and join the conversation!
Where?
Chat happens on #thehalloffire on irc.theonering.net – the TORn IRC server. You can connect instantly via our java chat client that works inside your web browser (find it here!) or choose to install a dedicated chat program such as mIRC on your computer.
To find out more about using mIRC to connect to TORn IRC server, check out these instructions.
Upcoming topics:
July 10 – The Silmarillion – Of the Sindar July 16 – The Silmarillion – Of the Sindar July 22 – Theoden King of the Mark July 28 – Theoden King of the Mark
Got a topic? Let us know your idea!
If you have a burning desire to discuss something in Hall of Fire, drop us a line with your topic at halloffire@theonering.net. If we like it, we’ll probably give it a run in the coming weeks – you might even get to guest moderate the session!
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Ringer Celebriel just returned from an LOTR locations tour in New Zealand. Today starts her day-by-day account of the visit.
Day by Day in Middle Earth: Celebriel’s New Zealand Visit with Red Carpet Tours: Day 1
Start: Auckland Finish: Rotorua Mileage: 293 K/ 182 Miles Film Sites visited: Hobbiton
Our tour of Middle Earth started appropriately enough in The Shire. The Hobbiton set is located on the Alexander farm outside Matamata, about two hours south of Auckland. The farm covers 1250 acres and is used to raise Romney sheep and Angus cattle. The location is as magical in real life as it appears in The Fellowship of the Ring. The landscape has about 80 shades of green and light that casts a golden glow at certain times of day.
About Our Fellowship
There are eleven people in the tour this month, all of us from the United States (California, Maine, and Texas). Usually the group varies between 9 and 15. In addition to the USA, many visitors come from the UK, Canada, and Australia, but groups have included people from Croatia, Finland, Taiwan, Japan, Siberia, even Antarctica!
How It Came To Be
The entrance to the farm is called Buckland Road, perhaps a positive omen for Peter Jackson’s location scouts, who first visited it in late 1998, seeking a place with a good tree, a lake, and flat land that could be used for the party scene in The Fellowship of the Ring. They soon realized that the Alexander farm could be used for all the Hobbiton scenes, and canceled other locations they had identified.
Site construction started early in 1999 and continued through the year. Crew gathered thatch and used it to thatch the roofs of all the Hobbiton buildings. Thirty paddocks were set up on the hillside and crops grown. Sheep were used to nibble the fields to make them appear natural.
Filming took place from December 1999 to February 2000.The contracts indicated that everything had to be removed after filming and the site restored to its original condition. Within ten days, half the set had been removed. But then the rains came, and removal was put off for six months. In that time, increasing numbers of people contacted the Alexanders and neighboring farmers about seeing the set. The Alexanders in turn contacted New Line, and following months of discussions, they had agreement to keep what was left of the original set and allow people to visit. They could not modify the sets or put back what had been demolished.
Touring Hobbiton
We toured Hobbiton with local guide Eric Jackson. Eric took us first to the animal kingdom (where the horses, sheep, and other animals were cared for), technical car park, and general base camp, explaining that the New Zealand army built the road to the site and then the technical car park, designed for up to 170 vehicles. Eric noted that local sheep were not used (even though New Zealand has 40 million of them) – the production obtained English Suffolk sheep that would have been familiar to Tolkien.
The base camp included a large area for trailers, makeup and costuming tents, showers, and a sewer system. There was also a food tent that could accommodate 400 people for 3 meals a day with 2 course lunches and 3 course dinners. The many extras arrived by van. Hobbit auditions were held in Matamata. Over 1000 people were interviewed, all of whom were under 5’4”, rotund, and had nice smiles! This area also had a satellite dish to enable Peter Jackson to keep in touch with other locations, and a generating plant for electricity, and air conditioning. Hobbiton occupied only 10 acres, a very small part of the farm, but it was the biggest green site in the films.
No one stayed on the premises except security – cast and crew were put up at the Novotel in Hamilton. Security was so tight the area was declared a no-fly zone by New Zealand air traffic control!
What are most memorable in Hobbiton today are The Party Tree and Field, Bag End, and Bag Shot Row. From the Party Tree, no modern buildings can be seen in any direction. The tree is about 160 years old. Although it’s now one of the most famous trees in the world, at one time Mr. Alexander thought of cutting it down, as the livestock would get stuck near it.
You can visit Bilbo’s house at Bag End, and from his door you can see The Party Tree and Field. You can also go atop Bag End, where Bilbo and Gandalf had their smoke, and see the remains of the oak tree that hung over Bag End. Oaks are not native to New Zealand, so one was bought and transported to the site. The tree was photographed, cut, pieces numbered, and then bolted and wired together at the site. It was put in with a crane. Students taped on 250,000 oak leaves. A real tree was needed so its leaves would rustle in the wind and show realistic patterns of light and shadow. The tree is onscreen in Fellowship for about 25 seconds.
While Sam and Rosie’s house was lost and the market area burned for the Scouring of the Shire scenes, there are still many hobbit holes to visit and photograph. The site has numerous markers illustrating the town with photos taken on set.
Eric told us that five marriage proposals have taken place at Hobbiton, not counting Sam and Rosie, and two couples want to be married under the Party Tree. In February 2005, Hobbiton hosted a party for 600 people from a Crystal Cruises ship, complete with costumed Black Riders. The Alexanders are planning to expand the Hobbiton catering business. So maybe those weddings are not out of the question!
Not far from the Alexander farm is the farmhouse rented for four months by Peter Jackson and Barrie Osborne. Rushes were flown to Wellington each night and returned by 7 AM the next day. One room of the house was turned into a studio.
In addition to operating the farm, the Alexanders also run Matamata-based tours to the Hobbiton site. More than 60,000 people visited Hobbiton in the first two years it was open, and the local tours have created jobs as guides, drivers, and café workers, and brought additional money to the local farming economy. The local tours run every day except Christmas. For more information, visit hobbitontours.com
Loria Badali writes: Badali Jewelry will be in the dealer’s room at Comic Con International next week debuting a brand new jewelry line, Geek Tags TM, as well as their Lord of the Rings jewelry line. Geek Tags are Badali Jewelry’s new line of geek jewelry. Each charm displays a geeky phrase – Uber Geek, I (Heart) Geeks, Geek, and much more. Geek Tags are available as a necklace or key chain in sterling silver and base metals. Come meet check out our new line and meet Paul Badali and his crew at booth #432.
Badali Jewelry will be offering a limited edition of 250 Comic Con Exclusive Geek Tags that say: I got my geek on @ Comic Con 2005. The sterling silver exclusive is available as a necklace pendant or key chain. [Badali Jewelry]
It’s that time of year again for fans to gather at the biggest Genre convention of all, Comic-Con! Held annually in San Diego, California – this is the Mother of all Cons. And the third year in a row RINGERS: LORD OF THE FANS will have a large presence.
In 2003, RINGERS shared TheOneRing.net’s booth in the huge “Lord of the Rings” pavilion. Some of you may remember the Confessional Booth and that the cameras were everywhere! (Who can forget the web-cam debut of “TanPants?”) Last year, in 2004 RINGERS hosted a panel with author Peter S. Beagle where roughly 2500 fans cheered at the first sneak peak of this documentary. But for Comic-Con 2005, there are some special things in store for you!
RINGERS: LORD OF THE FANS will host a panel on Friday, July 15 at 12:00 Noon. Filmmakers Carlene Cordova (Sony Pictures Digital Entertainment) and Cliff “Quickbeam” Broadway (TheOneRing.net) join Executive Producer Tom DeSanto (X-Men I & II, Transformers) as they show exclusive clips from RINGERS. They will be announcing the distribution plans for this award winning documentary, narrated by Dominic Monaghan (LOST, The Lord of the Rings). A special surprise guest may even join them for the panel. Come and see why RINGERS: LORD OF THE FANS has generated so much excitement with sold-out film festival audiences!
After the panel, the RINGERS team will be signing autographs and meeting and greeting fellow Ringers at the RINGERS: LORD OF THE FANS booth #1118 in the main Exhibition Hall. Tom DeSanto, Carlene Cordova and Cliff Broadway will be signing from 1:45PM to 3pm. Another signing/meet & greet will take place on Saturday, July 16th from 2:00 to 3:00PM in booth #1118.
The RINGERS booth will be open for the entire run of Comic-Con 2005. From preview night, Wednesday, July 13, 6:00 to 9:00PM through Sunday, July 15th. Comic-Con hours are 10:00AM to 7:00PM Thursday through Saturday, and 10:00AM to 5:00PM on Sunday. Come and get your free RINGERS buttons and removable tattoos. Proclaim your LOTR Fan status by purchasing a special Comic-Con exclusive RINGERS T-shirt. Free RINGERS Lanyard included with every purchase!
Come and meet up with other Ringers and display your costuming in the RINGERS booth! See you there in Comic-Con 2005. [Ringers Website]
