Ringer Spy WaiSpy sends in pics from both the Hayward Hills and Wingate sets. I have been down…
Continue ReadingRinger Spy WaiSpy sends in pics from both the Hayward Hills and Wingate sets.
I have been down to visit the sites at Wingate and Haywards (yesterday) and have some pictures from both sites. At Wingate, they appear to be wrecking the interior castle set (not visible originally from outside) and painting the palace(?) facade black. At Haywards, there seemed to be some filming going on, as the pictures from there show.
I’ll keep a look out on the train tomorrow and let you know if I see more.
I wrote a review soon after seeing it but didn’t go into the minutia as only fans would likely be interested. The producer mentioned that special software has been developed to allow for the massive battle scenes. Instead of the orcs running like ants …each individual is autonomous (spell check please) and fights when confronted. It even differentiates between trees and other obstacles , amazing. They were yet to add additional coloring , sound and special effects of course but what I saw impressed me.
There is an exciting scene where the black riders chase the hobbits on to a barge. Frodo jumps on to it just before the black riders overtake him and then the riders head back to travel many miles to the next bridge to catch up with them( this is before Bree of course). I can’t recall if that scene was in the book though. At the beginning when Frodo greets Gandalf there is a shot of the shire with the massive party tree and in the next scene they are at Bag End checking out the ring. There are 2 portraits on the wall above the fireplace 1 male (smoking) and 1 female. Frodo’s parents I presume. McKellen is spot on as the wizard and Wood convincing as Frodo. When they encounter the black riders on the road they have just picked some mushrooms and Frodo senses something/someone on the road ahead. As they hide under the tree off the road the black rider stops and starts sniffing and the hobbits look terrified. The scene has no music but is chilling and true to the book.
The snow scene is where the fellowship are trying to avoid Moria. Frodo for some reason has dropped the ring ; perhaps he has slipped it’s not clear in the footage shown but Borimir picks it up and looks through it. He mutters something like ”how can such a small thing cause so much trouble”(not an exact quote). Sean Bean is very good as is Legolas but I thought the elf would be more lightly built to ‘skip over snow’ and such like. This Legolas looks very strong but many fans may see him that way I guess. He was still very good. The scene at Orthanc with Saruman took my breath away.
The strongly built orc looks fantastic and I can’t wait to see them again. Lee obviously delights in his role and from what I’ve read he has waited a lifetime to play this part. Maybe he will steal a few scenes from McKellan from what I saw. It looked like it had just emerged from an egg or cuckcoon…it’s not really clear where it came from but it was naked and steaming hence the assumption that it had just been born and so life like I’m not suprised the producers wanted to show it off. Lee booms out “Whom do you serve?”, “The white hand of Saruman!” it replies in a hideous voice. I think you will be impressed with these huge orcs that can run in the sun. I’ll try and remember more details and send them to you but hopefully they will release this or similar footage so the real fans can see it. Of the 50 people I saw this with I’m sure only a few were fans and it’s sad that someone can see this preview who doesn’t really have empathy with the material. Well lets hope it’s not too long before everybody gets a look in.
Cheers , Ozscot
From: Saint
Now ToyFare magazine is the premier Action Figure and Toy Collecting mag in existence. Their info is almost always 100% reliable. I picked up the new issue today, and was treated to this article about Gentle Giant Studios, a toy company that is turning the Action Figure world on its ear with their ultra-detailed figures.
They’ve created a new form of toy sculpting called Laser Scan, where they digitally scan an actor from a film, and turn that scan into a toy which looks exactly like the person. Results in HIGHLY detailed toys, with amazing likenesses.
Anyways, in this article it talks about how Gentle Giant, using its Laser Scan, has made some killer wrestling toys, and is going to be doing the Star Wars Episode II toys. Now I didn’t care about any of that, but then I read further into the article, and it said this: Karl Meyer, president of Gentle Giant Studios, said this “We’ve been working with Fox Studios, scanning the major actors like Mark Wahlberg for the upcoming Planet of the Apes remake,” Meyer said, “In addition to that, we just got back from New Zealand after scanning the principal actors in the Lord of the Rings film for Toy Biz (who are making the actual toys).”
So they are using their revolutionary technology to make amazingly life like LOTR figures. Man o man, I can’t wait to see them.
But I wasn’t happy with just that little tidbit of info, so I made my way over to http://www.gentlegiantstudios.com/ to see what I could find. I found several pics of their great toys, and then I clicked on the Laser Scanning section, and it said in large letters “Now Scanning Lord of the Rings.” oh yeah!
Look through their site, especially the Laser Scanning section, to see many examples of how they do Scan people, and what the finished products look like. Enjoy!
From: Ozscot
Hello , I saw the 20 minute trailer in Melbourne recently and I can confirm that this is accurate. The footage which covered the Prancing Pony was authentic and just as I imagined it. Shortly after the pic you have featured there is a shot of Aragorn hooded with a long pipe in his mouth …just like the book. After that shot and not necessarily in order you see Aragorn throwing Frodo into a room and chastising him (I assume it’s after his faux pax in the bar with the ring) That is at odds from the book as Aragorn was already in the room but this small detail did not affect my enjoyment of the footage. As a Tolkien fan of many years I am very excited about this film. I believe it will be huge and will meet the expectations of the great majority of fans. One piece of trivia I can give you is that all the hobbits speak in a english accent except Billy Boyd who has a broad Glaswegian accent…och aye.
Quickly becoming the most photographed movie set in history, ringer spy WaiSpy checks in yet again with some great pics from the set.
Ringer Spy Robbit the Hobbit sends in some great pics from the Evening Post. Enjoy!
