We’ve been getting about a million spy reports a day here at TheOneRing.net. So I’ve taken the best of the bunch and posted them. Do you live near a LOTR set? Drop me a line!
From:Cathy
Have just read the spy report re the bright lights on the Helms Deep set. They certainly are bright at night.
We live on the hill opposite. Have finally bought a pair of binoculars to get a better look at the set, and hopefully some of the filming.
Most appears to be taking place down in a hollow just below on of the large walls ( so we can’t really see much) They have erected a wind break fence so now we can not see where the cast have been waiting (blast)
Will keep you posted if I get to see any thing exciting.
From: Sledge
The entrance to Dry Creek Quarry has traffic cones down the middle of the road and traffic controllers managing access in and out of the site and on to the public road.
I travel to Wellington (week) daily by train, passing the quarry and tent village where it’s all happening.
Last Friday I was on my way over the “Haywards Hill” and stopped at the entrance to the quarry to check progress on the sets. I was surprised to see apparently no-one at the gates, no cones, and 2 large marqee tents at the base of the castle ramparts being built.
This should all be classified as RUMOR since I cannot confirm it at this time:
Heard this week that nearby residents had been complaining about the bright lights shining through the night as filming took place at Dry Creek Quarry. Rumour around the set has it that the same residents will be offered a whirlwind tour through the set on the fleet of minibuses.
Other info picked up this week:
The coffee bill for this movie will be around NZD$200,000 (US$100,000).:
Waitresses tour the set offering actors tea and coffee constantly
There are several types of coffee available, and at least 10 different teas
The minibus windows are lined with a dark one-way film that hides the occupants
The entrance to Dry Creek Quarry has traffic cones down the middle of the road and traffic controllers managing access in and out of the site and on to the public road
Smaller shoots are taking place at many locations in the hills along the Hutt Road
Security guards with dogs are patrolling the difficult terrain all around Hels Deep
I am currently chatting with a good friend who is a Rohan Warrior extra…. when asked about costumes :
“oh we are just in standard sort of viking type gear – (person’s name) is playing as an elf and their costumes are kewl – he is one of the few guys skinny enough to fit them lol”
Filming at “Helms Deep” will apparently take 5 weeks…..so about 1 down and in the middle of week 2 I guess
Xoanon here, seems that NZ TV3 footage is doing the rounds, check back here soon for a computerized version!
Just this minute finished watching the BBC News 24 entertainment news show “Zero 30” The had about a 50 or so second long article on LOTR…the V.O. was just your basic “Filming got underway…expected to take 10 months” etc etc…but the pictures were something really special…actual footage from the Helms Deep set…a few arty shots of it shiloetted against the setting sun plus shots of the on site constuction, lorrys driving in and out of the set (which is so huge it dwarfs them). Plus shots of the set itself…some from a distance, very similar to the ones already your site…and also some from VERY close up revealing the exact look of Helms Deep…wow..it looks good, dark and forboding…the brickwork is a very very dark green (moss covered prosumably) and looks deeply weathered…it really looks as if it has withstanded years of battles and bad weather, and it does look like a very strong fort.
The main shot was directly front on, there was a large archway entrance in the wall and you could see a turret just off to one side. Then there was a slight angled shot and you could see the scaffolding that was holding it up (and theres a lot of it…it really is BIG!!) The look and the colour of it really add to the feel that it’s part of the landscape, ie it wouldn’t look out of place if you stumbled accros it in a forgotten valley somewhere. I would guess its an indicator into the overall dark look that PJ is going for…and if all this is just for Helms Deep then I’d be willing to bet that Orthanc will look REALLY scary!!
One LOTR fan got a bit of a bonus to their NZ holiday when they got a glimpse of what they believe to be working or test shots for LOTR…they just happened to be around at the same time that Wingnut were picking up the prints. My correspondent didn’t think he was seeing Mortensen or Bean, but two stand-ins posing for a test shot thus: “One shot showed ‘Aragorn’ standing against a tree in what is probably fairly old forest, possibly a native beech wood. The undergrowth is fairly light, but there are many fallen, moss-covered logs, just like in mature beech woods I have been through here.” (the forest round Paradise looks like that, the deer have been through and eaten out the undergrowth – Tehanu) “He is dressed in brown leather clothes that look worn and dirty but are finely detailed (perhaps including a weskit and a cloak). He has his hand on a broadsword with its point on the ground, and his head is bowed. The sword itself is very finely crafted, with dark rune-looking things all down the centre of the blade (which is basically black) and bright edges. (Doesn’t one of the swordsmiths for LOTR specialise in patterned blades?) Picture 2 shows ‘Aragorn’ stooping over ‘Boromir’, who is lying partially obscured by a moss-covered log, in a slightly inclined position with one all-black arrow sticking out of his chest (there may have been more arrows inhim or around – I doubt they’d get the ‘pierced by many arrows’ thing wrong, so this would have to be later in the scene when he is picking them out. Both men have shoulder-length scraggly hair and I think some beard growth, both details commensurate with having been on a long, tiring journey from Lorien. In any case, if these pictures are representative of a scene in TFOTR(which I stress they may not be), I give them a big thumbs-up for capturing the scene.” Thanks to B L S for that.
This arrived in the mailbox today from somebody with a ringside seat of the developments at Dry Creek Quarry. He lives opposite. “Sunday saw the first lot of rehearsing done. While all was quiet on the building front (first time in 4 months), around about 40 people, the leading extras I imagine, went through their paces. They spent around 3 hours around the “wall” near the top of the quarry, doing what? I couldn’t quite work that out. Then they jumped in about 6 white vans and went down to the base of the quarry. There they each had a long jousting type spear. About four times the height of themselves, 5 metres long! They looked to be in some type of formation on a large ramp. They marched up it and lowered their spears from an upright position to a horizontal position as they went. Back and forth for 30mins. In the vans and off again towards Wellington. Today is the day that the LOTR crew set up their business. They strolled onto the Helm’s Deep set like an army of ants. Mega number of cars, vans, utes, trucks and cranes. The majority of cars are parked in the landfill site in Manor Park (well over a hundred now! I guess they belong to extras.)This afternoon, out came those temporary orange fences and barriers, more scaffolding and lighting rigs, not to mention the lights themselves. Also more marquee tents. The wall at the top of the quarry has seen a lot of action, heaps of equipment has been set up on both sides of the wall. Including some large ladder-type rigs placed into position (as I write) by crane against the side of the wall.” Many thanks to Martyn for that, who has a pretty enviable address for the next few months. Another local has sent word that residents in nearby Manor Park have been given notices in their mailboxes concerning the Helm’s Deep set; it seems that filming is set to start Monday night, 17/01/00 Apparently it was to be kept hush hush. Hmmmmm, I’m trying to figure out the psychology of that.
