The good folks at Newsmonitor Services Limited have given me permission to post thier interview with Barrie Osborne that aired on Tuesday.
Please note: The following is Copyright.
PAUL HOLMES: Now Lord of the Rings, they must, well they were tremendously happy at the reaction around the world really to that sneak preview of Lord of the Rings which they put on the website the other night and almost, I think, 1.7 million fans really of Lord of the Rings, 1.7 million curious people around the world accessed that website in the, in the first 24 hours, remember it was put on a website at 7 o’clock last Friday night. Anyway what about the making of Lord of the Rings. It’s produced by Barry Osborne who, or it’s being produced by Barry Osborne, Director Peter Jackson of course but produced by Barry Osborne who was also producer of the Matrix and Barry Osborne is with us, good morning.
BARRY OSBORNE: Hello Paul how are you.
HOLMES: Good where are you.
OSBORNE: Standing on top of Mt Ruapehu at the moment.
HOLMES: You could probably think of better places to be.
OSBORNE: That’s a lovely spot however it’s a little foggy.
HOLMES: Congratulations on the Matrix (thank you very much) do you say Matrix or four oscars for technical brilliance that must have been very heartening.
OSBORNE: Yes it was it was a lot of fun to make that film.
HOLMES: Is the technical stuff, are the special effects going to be very much a feature of Lord of the Rings.
OSBORNE: Ah yes actually you couldn’t bring this picture to the screen without relying on the recent increases in the capabilities of visual effects, technology yeah.
HOLMES: Are you going to be doing, do you call that post production don’t you a lot of that, are you going to be done that here or in Los Angeles.
OSBORNE: The entire films are being done here including all the post production and the visual effects are at WETA which is Peter’s company with several partners.
HOLMES: And so we must be then pretty good by world standards if Peter can do it here.
OSBORNE: You certainly are and they’ve got quite a facility in Wellington that they’ve built up.
HOLMES: You must have been, were you surprised by reaction to the 2 minutes on the website the other night.
OSBORNE: Ah yeah it’s really gratifying and I think it’s a tribute to both Lord of the Rings and the international cast that has been assembled to portray it on the screen and to Peter Jackson, yeah it’s really gratifying. We’re out here day after day slogging it out for 255 days up and down mountains and all over the country and it’s great to see that there’s such an interest in the work, it makes all that effort worth while.
HOLMES: Especially when you put about $360 million or when people, you know, when you’ve got backers who have put 360 million bucks in it’s nice to know there is tremendous interest.
OSBORNE: It certainly takes a little pressure off.
HOLMES: I bet it does. Of course yes up and down mountains as you say in all kinds of weather of course people forget that, you know, the making of a film is really, it can be a lot of drudgery can’t it.
OSBORNE: A lot of long hours and a lot of effort yes and a lot of hard work.
HOLMES: It’s a trilogy, you are doing it as a trilogy as Tolkien conceived the story, are you, I’m just intrigued by this because I haven’t been able to really find this out. Are you making them all at once.
OSBORNE: Yes we are, we’re going, we’re filming for about a 15 month period and we’re filming as I say all over New Zealand rather than going around the country several times. We’re doing whatever scenes are appropriate from any of one of the three trilogies in each of the locations that we go to.
HOLMES: All right that must make it very hard for the Director, it must make it very hard for the actors, you know, to keep an eye on where their characters ought to be in terms of development.
OSBORNE: Correct at least however we have the books and you can always refer to that, you can always refer to the scripts and keep in character. Yes it is though, it’s very difficult.
HOLMES: Are you going to release them all at once or are you going to tease them out.
OSBORNE: They are going to be released 6 months to a year apart and partially because of the amount of work in post production, post production and the visual effects that take quite a long time to produce after the films are finished filming.
HOLMES: Is that where the money goes really is it, I mean is that what eats the money the visual effects.
OSBORNE: Well it’s a combination but yes the visual effects are a huge chunk of our budget.
HOLMES: And also the sets, I mean you are building the most phenomenally elaborate sets.
OSBORNE: They are it sort of reminds me I did Apocalypse Now years and years ago in a huge compound, a scope I thought I would never see again I am seeing on this film.
HOLMES: What did you do in Apocalypse.
OSBORNE: I was a Production Manager.
HOLMES: What an amazing film to work on (thank you) eh.
OSBORNE: Yeah it was quite an undertaking it was quite an experience.
HOLMES: We’re talking to Barry Osborne, Barry if you will stay there just for a minute I will take a break and then we will come back to you is that all right.(sure) Barry Osborne, Producer himself of Lord of the Rings, he’s going to be with us. He’s up Mt Ruapehu at the moment in the fog. He’s on a cellphone we will come back to him in a couple of minutes. […] Our very special guest this morning is Barry Osborne, he’s the producer no less, the producer of the Lord of the Rings trilogy being made at tremendous, hundreds of millions expense, here in New Zealand Barry Osborne is still with us in the fog up Mt Ruapehu. Who is playing Gandalf.
OSBORNE: Gandalf is played by Sir Ian McKellern.
HOLMES: Sir Ian McKellern himself. What kind of approach is he taking Barry.
OSBORNE: You know he’s studied the books, he knows the books quite well and he’s got a sense of humour in the role and a sense of dignity, he’s great.
HOLMES: And Frodo.
OSBORNE: Frodo is Elijah Wood.
HOLMES: Did you get good response to the Hobbits by the way, all the extras, how many extras have you got.
OSBORNE: We have 350 extras on Ruapehu actually (how many) 350 (that’s a lot of extras) we do have a lot of extras yes.
HOLMES: In the fog feeding them soup.
OSBORNE: Exactly, actually the fog is starting to lift it’s gratifying.
HOLMES: That’s very nice. The, did you get over your Department of Conservation worries, can you use choppers there at all.
OSBORNE: No we can’t use helicopters which we felt it would have been actually less impact on the land had they allowed that but for whatever their internal policies are they didn’t but they’ve been very cooperative and we are very gratified to have that.
HOLMES: Were you a little bit out by that though. Here we are spending $360 million of overseas money and we couldn’t use a chopper in a national park.
OSBORNE: Well they have the right to determine, you know, I understand the need to protect the land. I just and I would never weigh the amount of money we’re spending against the need to, for conservation. I was a little surprised because I actually thought we would have had less impact by using helicopters than we’ll have by trudging everything in by foot.
HOLMES: Tell me about Peter Jackson as a Director. I understand he’s wonderful with his stars, he’s wonderful at getting the best out of his key actors.
OSBORNE: Yes he is, he’s always, he works very closely with them and encourages their input and spends a lot of time doing rehearsal. Peter is a tireless director, he works on Sunday often with them and having them over at the house and doing research for the work coming up the next week, gives them a lot of time on Saturday so it’s great.
HOLMES: Where do they rehearse, I mean where would they, so at his..
OSBORNE: Well they might rehearse at his home or sometimes go to the sound station if there’s a set up and rehearse on set it depends, various.
HOLMES: So how many people up the mountain have you got at the moment. You talked about 650 extras, 300 what did you say (350) 350 extras and then of course I mean you’ve got the catering teams as well, you’ve got, how many people would you have up there.
OSBORNE: Well I would guess and this is just a guess, it would be between A and B we have two units up here so we probably have another 300 people so we’ve employ about 650 all told maybe 700.
HOLMES: And are the stars in trailers, you know, like they are in Los Angeles. (yes they are) In trailers, so you have got to cart the trailers in as well.
OSBORNE: Yes we do.
HOLMES: What are trailers like, are they just big caravans.
OSBORNE: They are big caravans, they’re about, I think our caravans are about 32, 36 feet long.
HOLMES: And did you have to, like do they have to be imported, do they..
OSBORNE: No we got them from various places within New Zealand.
HOLMES: And do they have to have special star things in them.
OSBORNE: We try to make it comfortable for the actors, the actors are pretty cooperative with us, you try to give them a comfortable place to go and relax between scenes especially when you are filming all night so they will have a stereo and they have a TV and a video player and (and a heater) and a heater and they have air conditioning when that’s appropriate.
HOLMES: Do you try and heat the sets at the moment because it’s pretty chilly I imagine.
OSBORNE: It is chilly but no that would be impossible, we do have warm up tents and that sort of thing when it’s appropriate.
HOLMES: Yeah the special effects you are going to be using. Of course you just won the four oscars of course or the film won the four oscars your film Matrix but are these special effects we’re going to see in the Lord of the Rings Trilogy are they very much state of the art.
OSBORNE: Yes they are, yeah they are. In fact some of what was on in the internet tease areas was really proof of concept stuff not really finished effects but it gives you an indication of direction that we’re going in.
HOLMES: Speaking of the internet there were on a negative note some reservations expressed by the, you know, the purist Lord of the Rings purists and nutters around the world are you worried by reaction to that because the book, you know, people, so many hundreds of, probably millions of people around the world feel they own the book.
OSBORNE: Of course then it’s an incredible responsibility to bring Tolkien’s work to the screen but we have taken great care to actually honour what we believe his intent was and in fact we have his, the two main Tolkien conceptual artists, Alan Lee and John Howe have been our conceptual artists and have worked on this film from day one helping to design the sets and helping to design the look of the film so that we would actually be true to Tolkien’s image so some of those comments I think, although we take them on board, we hope people reserve judgement till they actually see the finished film.
HOLMES: Just very quickly, how long did Peter work on the film.
OSBORNE: Well Peter has been working on this for over four years
HOLMES: Yeah, hey well listen Barry thank you very much indeed for your time and all the very best with the progress of the film and it’s going to be a beauty.
OSBORNE: Thank you very much. (goodbye now) Appreciate the time, yeah bye bye.
HOLMES: That’s Barry Osborne the Producer himself the man really in charge of the spending of the hundreds of millions of dollars on Lord of the Rings.
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Official press release from New Line Cinema:
(Los Angeles, Ca April 10, 2000) — More web browsers downloaded the online promotional trailer for The Lord of the Rings during its first 24-hours of availability than any other film marketing footage in history, including the online trailer for Star Wars: Episode 1 The Phantom Menace, it was announced today by New Line Cinema.
1,671,000 people worldwide downloaded behind-the-scenes promotional footage of The Lord of the Rings on Friday, April 7th alone. The number has been confirmed by Apple Computer, which also counted downloads for last year’s Star Wars web extravaganza. Apple reported only 1 million downloads in the first 24-hour period that the Star Wars theatrical trailer was available online.
Records on the official The Lord of the Rings site were shattered almost immediately as fans of the J.R.R. Tolkein novel began logging onto www.lordoftherings.net for exclusive behind-the-scenes access to the secretive motion picture project.
Traffic to the site was steady through the day and night due to the studio’s outreach to approximately 25 The Lord of the Rings fan websites which had been heralding the launch of the trailer for days. The promotion of the global online event was also aided by New Line’s exclusive NeoPlanet Lord of the Rings web browser and a unique series of internet clubs.
“This staggering number validates New Line’s investment in The Lord of the Rings,” said Joe Nimziki, President of Theatrical Marketing for New Line. “To outpace Star Wars by such a large margin is a great indication of the popularity of this franchise.”
According to Gordon Paddison, Vice President of Worldwide Interactive Marketing, the success of the online effort is directly attributed to the allegiance of devoted fans. “The power behind this number is the fans and the incredible success we’ve had is directly attributed to the coordinated relationship we’ve had with the online community. We have been working closely with The Lord of the Rings fan sites worldwide for the past year and this staggering launch shows how important the online community is to our marketing efforts moving forward.”
One of the most celebrated novels of the 20th Century, The Lord of the Rings is a groundbreaking epic of good versus evil, extraordinary heroes, wondrous creatures and dark armies of terror. Generations of more than 50 million people around the globe, in 25 different languages have grown up with this epic history. The legend has inspired an entire genre of movies, fiction, and has influenced some of the greatest artists of our time. It has made dreamers out of children and adults, and has recently been named the number one most popular book of the century. But it has never been told in its entirety on the screen.
Using the power of contemporary cinema technology, New Line Cinema is transforming J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic into a history-making motion picture event. Beginning in the year 2001, New Line will present a grand trilogy of live-action feature films — The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers and The Return of the King — that will take audiences inside Tolkien’s living, breathing mythology, the world that is Middle-earth. The three separately released installments will also mark the return of “Cliffhanger Cinema” for the first time since the serial adventures of decades past.
The Lord of the Rings will collectively re-tell the story of Frodo Baggins, who battles against the Dark Lord, Sauron to save Middle-earth from the grip of evil. In the films, Frodo and The Fellowship embarks on a desperate journey to rid the earth of the source of Sauron’s greatest strength, the One Ring, a ring of such power that it cannot be destroyed. His extraordinary adventures across the treacherous landscape of Middle-earth reveal how the power of friendship and courage can hold the forces of darkness at bay.
Tolkien’s mythic vision will come to life through cutting-edge cinema technology and artistry, forging unprecedented opportunities for marketing and licensing.
By shooting all three films consecutively during one massive production and post-production schedule, New Line Cinema is making history. Never before has such a monumental undertaking been contemplated or executed. The commitment of time, resources and manpower are unheard of and all three films are being produced concurrently with the same director and core cast. Helmer Peter Jackson, whose visionary style of filmmaking and emotional acuity won accolades for his Heavenly Creatures and The Frighteners, brings his deep love for the source material to the project. The film features a strong international cast that includes (in alphabetical order) Sean Astin, Sean Bean, Cate Blanchett, Orlando Bloom, Billy Boyd, Brad Dourif, Ian Holm, Christopher Lee, Ian McKellen, Dominic Monaghan, Viggo Mortensen, John Rhys-Davis, Liv Tyler, and Elijah Wood. But the real star of the film is the story itself – a classic hero’s quest in which the smallest of beings changes the course of the future with the vastness of his courage.
Founded in 1967, New Line Cinema is the entertainment industry’s leading independent producer and distributor of theatrical motion pictures. New Line licenses its films to ancillary markets including cable and broadcast television as well as to international venues. The company, which is a subsidiary of Time Warner Inc., operates several divisions including in-house theatrical distribution, marketing, home video, television, acquisitions, production, licensing and merchandising units.
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This is an email I received from super Ringer fan DA:
Hello,
Thanks for a great site! I was taking a look at your frame-by-frame of the teaser trailer, and I figure you folks probably know what the “scan” scene on http://www.theonering.net/movie/preview/page04.html really was, but I wanted to make sure.
I believe it’s showing a technique called “laser stripe scanning”, which is a method of building a 3D computer model used in computer animation. The idea is to have an artist first construct a sculpture of some model such as a character’s head. The model is then placed in a laser scanner, a device that shoots a thin laser stripe at the sculpture, and records its reflection with a special camera. It can then compute, based on how the stripe’s image follows the bulges and dips on the sculpture, what the 3D shape is. After some further analysis is done on this 3D data, it can be used in animation.
The technology involved here is relatively new, and has been viable for use in the animation industry only for the past couple of years, but it’s a very effective method of creating realistic 3D computer models. At http://graphics.stanford.edu/projects/mich/ you can see some interesting photos and information on a project using laser stripe scanning to digitize the sculpture work of Michaelangelo in Italy. The people doing this for LOTR are probably using similar (albeit smaller) equipment.
I’m a graduate student in computer science at the University of Washington in Seattle. My adviser here, Dr. *******, did some of the pioneering work on this technology as his Ph.D. thesis back in the mid 90’s.
Regards,
DA
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NEW LINE CINEMA DEBUTS EXCLUSIVE ONLINE PREVIEW FOR THE LORD OF THE RINGS
LOS ANGELES, CA – April 4, 2000 — New Line Cinema will offer its first behind-the-scenes look at the highly anticipated production of The Lord of the Rings exclusively online beginning at 12:01 AM on Friday, April 7th at www.lordoftherings.net.
The exclusive “First Look at Middle Earth” will feature on-set interviews with the cast, showcase the technology used to re-create J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantastic settings and creatures, and will give fans a glimpse into the WETA workshop where much of the technical wizardry is being orchestrated. Director Peter Jackson narrates the segment as he gives the first virtual tour of the technology and talent that will bring the legendary tale to the big screen.
Apple Computer has partnered with New Line Cinema to bring this preview to the Internet in the highest digital quality through their Quicktime streaming software. It is anticipated that New Line’s partnership with Apple will also bring millions of new fans to the official The Lord of the Rings website.
A countdown to the launch of the exclusive online preview is currently being promoted on www.lordoftherings.net, as well as a myriad of Tolkien fan sites spanning the World Wide Web.
One of the most celebrated novels of the 20th Century, The Lord of the Rings is a groundbreaking epic of good versus evil, extraordinary heroes, wondrous creatures and dark armies of terror. Generations of more than 50 million people around the globe, in 25 different languages have grown up with this epic history. The legend has inspired an entire genre of movies, fiction, and has influenced some of the greatest artists of our time. It has made dreamers out of children and adults, and has recently been named the number one most popular book of the century. But it has never been told in its entirety on the screen.
Using the power of contemporary cinema technology, New Line Cinema is transforming J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic into a history-making motion picture event. Beginning in the year 2001, New Line will present a grand trilogy of live-action feature films — The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers and The Return of the King — that will take audiences inside Tolkien’s living, breathing mythology, the world that is Middle-earth. The three separately released installments will also mark the return of “Cliffhanger Cinema” for the first time since the serial adventures of decades past.
The Lord of the Rings will collectively re-tell the story of Frodo Baggins, who battles against the Dark Lord, Sauron to save Middle-earth from the grip of evil. In the films, Frodo and The Fellowship embarks on a desperate journey to rid the earth of the source of Sauron’s greatest strength, the One Ring, a ring of such power that it cannot be destroyed. His extraordinary adventures across the treacherous landscape of Middle-earth reveal how the power of friendship and courage can hold the forces of darkness at bay.
Tolkien’s mythic vision will come to life through cutting-edge cinema technology and artistry, forging unprecedented opportunities for marketing and licensing.
By shooting all three films consecutively during one massive production and post-production schedule, New Line Cinema is making history. Never before has such a monumental undertaking been contemplated or executed. The commitment of time, resources and manpower are unheard of and all three films are being produced concurrently with the same director and core cast. Helmer Peter Jackson, whose visionary style of filmmaking and emotional acuity won accolades for his Heavenly Creatures and The Frighteners, brings his deep love for the source material to the project. The film features a strong international cast that includes (in alphabetical order) Sean Astin, Sean Bean, Cate Blanchett, Orlando Bloom, Billy Boyd, Brad Dourif, Ian Holm, Christopher Lee, Ian McKellen, Dominic Monaghan, Viggo Mortensen, John Rhys-Davis, Liv Tyler, and Elijah Wood. But the real star of the film is the story itself – a classic hero’s quest in which the smallest of beings changes the course of the future with the vastness of his courage.
Founded in 1967, New Line Cinema is the entertainment industry’s leading independent producer and distributor of theatrical motion pictures. New Line licenses its films to ancillary markets including cable and broadcast television as well as to international venues. The company, which is a subsidiary of Time Warner Inc., operates several divisions including in-house theatrical distribution, marketing, home video, television, acquisitions, production, licensing and merchandising units.
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