Ever wondered how Hollywood’s premiere press junkets work? The ABC’s Dominique Schwartz gives some interesting insights in this report from The Hobbit premiere.
“It certainly helps to leave conventional logic at the top of the rabbit hole when dealing with Hollywood studios and film distributors.
I admit, I’m no entertainment reporter; I’ve worn bullet-proof vests more often than 3D glasses. In the 80s I did interview Crowded House while jumping up and down on a bed in a very crowded house in South Melbourne when the band launched its self-titled debut album.”
Neil Finn talks to Andrew Dickens of News Talk ZB about recording “The Song of the Lonely Mountain” for the end credits of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.
Choice quote regarding the “anvils” used in the song:
“I’d love to paint a picture of a big, blacksmith’s anvil sitting in the middle of the studio but, in actual fact, it was my son Liam […] poised over an electronic keyboard.”
Lots of people are on the road right now, heading to Wellington for the Premiere, so we figured they wouldn’t really be in a position to book a party ticket ahead of time very easily. So we’re going to have one of those flash EFTPOS machines so you can pay at the door. It accepts credit cards too – how convenient is that?
Many Tolkien and Peter Jackson fans have pondered this vexing questions for over 10 years and from the LOTR movies may secretly be rather disappointed from what they have seen on the big screen.
TORN’S Elven super sleuth Dimli has been delving deeply and can now tell you the story so far. There are quite a few interesting clues along the way.
Tolkien’s simple but graphic description from the ‘The Hobbit’ concisely tells us what Gandalf looked like – “- – an old man with a tall pointed blue hat, a long grey cloak, a silver scarf over which his long white beard hung down below his waist, and immense black boots’.
From the LOTR trilogy-the hat, the cloak, the beard & the boots are now well imprinted in our memories. But, the equally important Silver Scarf has, somewhat MAGICALLY, disappeared off the very face of Middle Earth.
A seemingly major omission from Peter Jackson. Or was it?
Here is what Sir Ian Mckellan has to say about it from his blogs way back in 2000 when he had just started filming on LOTR.
“Peter Jackson has ensured that Tolkien rules the enterprise. So, in working out Gandalf’s description we went back to the few terse descriptions in the novel …….. At last Ngila Dickson placed her pointed, blue grey hat on top. Out of the blue, I remembered the silver scarf that he wears in the book. Somehow it has been overlooked or decided against. Until I looked the part I hadn’t missed it either. And there’s a thing to ponder – what does a man with an umbrella for a hat and a warm cloak need with a scarf? The book starts out in autumn. We are filming in summertime. Weather conditions aside, I thought he might have the scarf as much as he has the pointy hat – to DISGUISE himself. The Gandalf, who visits his old friends Bilbo & Frodo has lots of props. Already I have to cope with his staff, his toffees, his pipe as well as Clyde – why not a scarf to do some MAGIC with?
Two more days in Hobbiton – the forecast is for sunshine which will sparkle on my silver scarf’
So, it is pretty important to both Ian McKellan and Peter Jackson. But, what do we see in the LOTR trilogy? Virtually nothing. Only one single scene where we get just a glimpse of it. What is going on? An oversight? Obviously not. Just a bold decision that might upset the fans. But an important enough reason to not include it. Maybe great foresight.
Now lets jump forward eleven years to Ian McKellan’s blog in March 2011, when filming had commenced on ‘The Hobbit’ movies, he lures us onward.
“The original costume I wore in LOTR now hangs mournfully on a stand by the camera. I can’t wear it in ‘The Hobbit” because it has been noted as of ‘historic status’. Ann (Ann Maskrey – the costume designer for The Hobbit) has made 2 changes … which please me because they relate to Tolkien’s introduction in ‘Fellowship of the Ring’, where he mentions a silver scarf & black boots.
In the (LOTR) film a scarf appeared just once, tied to Gandalf’s cart at Hobbiton. But now I have A SUBSTANTIAL, MAGIC LOOKING SILVERY SCARF TO WEAR AND ACT WITH & PERHAPS FIND SOME PART OF ITS OWN TO PLAY. I’VE ALREADY TWISTED IT INTO A STYLISH TURBAN”.
The plot definitely thickens. Lots of mystery. Elvish magical properties? Does it protect Gandalf in some way? The questions go on…maybe one of you can enlighten us?
Will we have to wait to see the movies to find out? Possibly not.
A quick check on online now reveals quite some incredible authorised images of Gandalf wearing an absolutely amazing silvery scarf as part of his costume for The Hobbit. Hard to tell from the stills but it definitely sparkles & shimmers like moonlit silver. It is substantial. Probably 72 inches (2.8M) long & quite wide.
Could the dwarves of Khazad-dum have discovered another source of the priceless web like veins Mithril to create this startling effect?
We will definitely have to wait & watch the movies to answer this one. Or will we?
The inexhaustible Dimli has done the incredible. In his own words “In the very Middle of Middle Earth in Wellington, New Zealand you can find ‘The Galadhrim Elves’ aka ‘Stansborough’, the weavers that created many of the fabrics for the LOTR Trilogy and discovered that they are also the designers & creators of Gandalf’s magical silver scarf”.
So we’ve heard ‘Radagast The Brown’ in its entirety. And we’ve heard one-minute previews of every the tracks. Now Fandango has a preview of ‘The Adventure Begins’ on their Soundtrack of the Day page. It’s pretty sweet — go check it out if you haven’t already! Continue reading “Preview Shore’s ‘The Adventure Begins’”
Ever wondered how Hollywood’s premiere press junkets work? The ABC’s Dominique Schwartz gives some interesting insights in this report from The Hobbit premiere.
