Barrels out of Bond artworkIt became one of the most talked about scenes in Peter Jackson’s second Hobbit film (for both fans and detractors). Now WIRED has posted a new video that gives a behind the scenes look at the construction of the seven minute barrel sequence from The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. The two and a half minute video discusses the complex editing process as well as the visual effects work done for the sequence. Continue reading “WIRED goes behind the scenes of ‘Desolation of Smaug’ Barrel Escape — VIDEO”

Compose an “Ode to Harry Potter.” Dash off the “The Ballad of Gary Gygax.” Or perhaps a “World of Warcraft War Chant” speaks more to the muse of your geekery?

Now is the time when geek pride meets the poetic. We’re hoping you’ll dust off your quill pens to jot down a geek-themed poem and post it on Geek Mom. If we choose your poem (there will be five winners), you’ll get an autographed, personalized copy of Ethan Gilsdorf’s road trip through geek subcultures, Fantasy Freaks and Gaming Geeks: An Epic Quest for Reality Among Role Players, Online Gamers, and Other Dwellers of Imaginary Realms, now in paperback.

Among other things, Ethan also a poet. So Geek Mom thought it’d be cool to ask you to offer a verse or two. Be it free verse, a limerick, a sonnet, a haiku, or a villanelle or rap — no matter, as long as it speaks of geekdom, pick the subject that will bring out your best. (No need to rhyme, either.) Just enter your literary masterpieces in the comments section below this Q&A with the author. Geek Mom will choose the best five entries by Friday 11/19/10! Good luck, godspeed and geek on!

Wired.com writes: From heated news on the forthcoming Hobbit films — The Office’s Martin Freeman as Bilbo? — to Tuesday’s Blu-ray release of Peter Jackson’s supernova The Lord of the Rings adaptation, J.R.R. Tolkien’s sprawling epic is ruling the news cycle just as it has ruled the fantasy genre for decades. We’re leaping into the fray with a gallery of our favorite fantasy film epics, led by Jackson’s Oscar-winning trilogy.

We’re also handing off an engorged Lord of the Rings prize package to sate one lucky Sméagol obsessively combing the internets for a precious fix. It includes Blu-ray discs for all three films — The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers and The Return of the King — as well bookmarks, a jade necklace, a blue ornament, a deck of cards and a travel candle. One prize package to rule them all, as Gandalf might have said, if he were cleaning out New Line Cinema’s promotional warehouse. More..

From Wired: We take a behind-the-scenes look at Peter Jackson’s new film “The Lovely Bones.” The story revolves around Susie, a 14-year-old girl who is brutally murdered. Stuck in the “in-between,” Susie helps her grieving family find her killer.