This hobbit’s been keeping a close eye on the set at Wingate, in Wellington:
“there is quite a bit of construction underway at Wingate. Part of a wall complete with arches has been erected. All about the set are bits of wall, stairs, arches etc, made of timber frames covered in polystyrene blocks painted black. The set looks like it will be much larger than any other set that has been erected at this site. I wonder if this set will be part of Minas Tirith? We wonderssssssess, yess we doesss.”
Thanks for that!
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Another article has appeared, this time in “The Lakes District and Central Otago News” on Friday October 6th. It doesn’t have any pictures but a transcript follows.
Docdanz
Movie set moving to Poolburn
By Kirsty Leggett
The filming of the trilogy “Lord of the Rings” continues to amaze and entertain spectators throughout the region and the Poolburn community is no exception.
Crib, bach and hut owners along the Poolburn Dam have received letters from the location manager informing them of the proposed plans around the dam site. The Lakes District and Central Otago News understands the owners have been told to make no comment if approached by the media. Location manager Robin Murphy said the construction and filming of scenes in the area were to remain confidential and were protected by copyright. She also said filming in the area will have positive benefits for the region with increased accommodation, the spending power of the crew and potential news of local labour. But it has been confirmed the building of the “village” set began two weeks ago and could take around five or six weeks to be fully completed. During that time the hut owners have been asked to cooperate with film crew and personnel, including the possibility of vacating the area when necessary. This may be especially necessary as some shots will require the use of the lake and it’s surrounds, she said. Media Liaison Officer Melissa Booth said at this stage the building of the set is a priority and filming would not start for another few weeks. “We are dealing on a weekly basis at the moment, we are presently still in Wellington and will be filming in Twizel before we know more about the filming in Poolburn. It will be another couple of weeks at least before we come down but it will definitely be after a stint in Twizel,” she said. Meanwhile the residents based around the Poolburn Dam have to accept the disruptions to their area and wait for filming to be completed and they get their dam back.
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Ringer Spy Silmarien snaps some great pics of Minas Tirith!
These photos were taken last Saturday from the carpark across from the quarry.
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From: Robbit the Hobbit
Click on the image to enlarge
Here is a great picture from last nights Evening Post. As you can see, Minas Tirith is a hive of activity. What that picture does not show, on the far right past the end of the crane’s boom is a wall about the same height as the the other building, and to the left, where the caves were, a new wall is being built.
At Wingate there are several square holes dug in the ground. In these holes are timber frames, and i believe these are foundations for some large structure. Time will tell what is planned for Wingate 🙂
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Ringer Spy DocDanz sends in the latest word on a possible new set on the South Island, with a promise to get more news later!
Just a quick note to say that I saw an interesting article in the “Central Otago Mirror”. Apparently a Lord of the Rings set is being built near the Poolburn Dam in the Ida Valley – a beautiful and remote valley in Central Otago. There was a picture of construction but litte else. I passed through the area in January and it is quite spectacular – a dry, wide, open valley with mainly sheep farming and a river with willow trees alongside. The Poolburn Gorge is particularly spectacular but I don’t think that this is where they are filming. I hope to check it out in the weekend so watch this space.
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Ringer Spy Francois sends in an interview with Christopher Lee (Saruman) from French ‘Lucasfilm Magazine’.
Hi Xoanon!
I bought the french Lucasfilm Magazine. There was a teasing cover promising exclusive interview with Christopher Lee. The baseline reads “calls to the force in episode 2, and throws a spell upon Lord of the rings”. From the beginnig of the interview, M. Lee shows clearly that he totally respects his vow of secrecy in a meaningful comment about his character in SWE2 :
Christopher Lee : […] I’ve been entrusted for many secrets during WW2, and if I spoke, people died. I was in the intelligence service, special ops, and I’m not going to tell much more. I’ve signed the « official secret act » that bounds me for life. And what I mean by this , is that I’m able to keep a secret, and if I’m asked to say nothing, I say nothing. Never.
Later on, M. Lee speaks about how experienced directors know the importance of « having fun » (speaking about his experiences with Lucas, Spielberg, Joe Dante and Tim Burton) .
CL : […] in the same way, we had great fun on LOTR, this gigantic epic adventure […]
Now come some good excerpts from the interview…
Q : Are you in the 3 LOTR movies ?
CL : I’m surely in the two first. Concerning the third, I’m not sure. I’ve signed a confidentiality agreement. Similar to the one with Star Wars which forbids me to reveal anything. […]
Q : Have the 3 movies been filmed at the same time ?
CL : I’ll just say that they filmed the whole story. I really cannot say more. They’re shooting the whole story which will be shaped in three different movies. According to my personnal involvement, and what I’ve seen of action scenes, I would say that the effect will be as big as StarWars’ in its time. The two movies possess an epic dimension, though they’re absolutely not alike since the first takes place in space in an undefined epoch, and the other takes place on earth, in fact the « middle-earth » in, again, an undefined epoch. No epoch or precise date is the only connection between these two productions.
Q : I’m a great admirer of LOTR director Peter Jackson. Do you feel the same way?
CL : He’s extraordinary. He’s an absolutely remarkable director. And I know what I’m talking about, because I had the privilege to work with several directors of that level. Of course, in the case of LOTR, what Peter Jackson is doing comes from the mind and work of another genius, J.R.R. Tolkien. But Peter Jackson is an incredible director. He has extraordinary intuition – all of the great directors know exactly what they want and how to get it. They don’t always reach it, they would be first to admit that. But Peter Jackson’s intuition in terms of dialogues, scene organization, is infallible. He seems to always know exactly what he wants – when he says « OK, we just got to print all this », we can be sure we won’t do better, that is very encouraging.
Q: How long is oyur shoot in Australia?
CL: Between 3 or 4 months, and I’ll have to go back to Wellington immediately after for my ADR (Additional Dialogue Recording), for LOTR.
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