The TORn family would like to congratulate Sir Peter Jackson who is among the six new inductees to New Zealand’s Business Hall of Fame. The Lord of the Rings and Hobbit film productions contributed to the New Zealand economy for years, not to mention Weta Workshop, Weta Digital, and many other spin-off endeavors that Peter had a personal hand in founding, or contributed to in partnership with others.
The hall of fame was established in 1994 to recognise and celebrate individual business people who have made a big contribution to the economic and social development of New Zealand. According to the stuff.co.nz article, the inauguration ceremony will take place on Thursday, June 9. Congratulations, P.J.!! Read More …
Weta Digital has been nominated for Outstanding Visual Effects in a Real-time Project by the Visual Effects Society for the virtual reality demo “The Hobbit: A Thief in the Shadows.” The virtual reality (VR) experience, a collaboration between Weta Digital, Epic Games, NVIDIA and Oculus is designed to let someone wearing the PC headsets for gamers to take Bilbo’s place as he first encounters Smaug (voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch) in his lair.
124 years ago today, on January 3, 1892, John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was born in Bloemfontein Africa. Forty-five years later, in 1937, his book The Hobbit, was published which he had written for his children. Together with its sequel, The Lord of the Rings, it launched generations of readers on adventures through the invented world of Middle-earth that would impact many of us for the rest of our lives.
Today, we here at TORn join millions of fans worldwide in celebrating Tolkien’s birthday. On this day, you might read a favorite passage or two from Tolkien’s writings or, like many of our message board members, you might even be in the midst of your annual read-through of The Hobbit and/or The Lord of the Rings.
Many fans will be gathering at local pubs with fellow member of the Tolkien Society to raise a glass to: “The Professor!” If you’d like to learn more about the annual January third tradition, or even find a local gathering near you, visit the Tolkien Society’s Tolkien Birthday Toast 2016 page here.
However you decide to celebrate, join us in wishing a happy birthday to “The Professor,” who’s life’s work has come to mean so much to us. Happy birthday, J.R.R. Tolkien!
You know what Bilbo had to say about adventures: ‘Nasty disturbing uncomfortable things! Make you late for dinner!’ But Professor Tolkien’s own great-grandson, Royd Tolkien, is ignoring all that Bilbo had to say and taking the plunge into a significant adventure of his own!
Royd very sadly lost his younger brother, Mike, earlier this year. Mike had ALS, also known as Motor Neurone Disease, or Lou Gehrig’s Disease. Royd had to watch his active, thrill-seeking brother succumb to a terrible disease, for which there is currently no cure.
But Mike left Royd a legacy – a ‘bucket list’ of fifty challenges for the much more Bilbo-like (ie less thrill-seeking, more cake-and-tea-enjoying!) older brother Royd to undertake. And Royd is going to fulfil that list, with the help of none other than actor Jed Brophy, surrounded by the beautiful scenery of Middle-earth – by which I mean, of course, New Zealand.
This is a remarkable quest, and one which you will be able to see – because Royd is going to make a film of his adventures! Read more about the amazing journey the Professor’s great-grandson has ahead of him at Royd’s website, here. You can also get involved, support Royd on his odyssey, and maybe grab yourself a pretty amazing perk with some Middle-earth cast or crew (including Richard Taylor and folks at Weta!) – learn more here.
It’s a dangerous business, going out your front door – especially when you have no idea what challenges your little brother has left, to test, stretch and possibly humiliate you! Here at TORn we wish Royd every success, and joyful travels; and we honour the memory of Mike, of TORn’s friend Mel, who also sailed into the West far too early, and to all who battle ALS.
The 43rd annual Annie Awards nominations were announced and “The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies” received 3 nods in 2 categories. The Annie Awards honor the very best in the world of animation including animated effects and are handed out by the International Animated Film Society (ASIFA). The previous “Hobbit” films received 2 nominations each with the character animation of Gollum winning for “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey”. Will Smaug win the battle over the Hulk, Ultron, Indominus Rex, a Revenant Bear and orc Azog?
Here are the nominations for “The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies”:
Outstanding Achievement, Animated Effects in a Live Action Production Jurassic World – Animated Effects – Universal Studios / Legendary Pictures – Effects TD Supervisor: Raul Essig,
Digital Artist: Roman Schmidt, Digital Artist: Mark Chataway, Digital Artist: Ryan Hopkins Marvel’s Avengers : Age of Ultron – Sokovia Destruction – Marvel Studios – Creature Sim Supervisor: Michael Balog, Creature Simulation Lead: Jim Van Allen, Effects Simulation Supervisor: Florent Andorra, Effects Lead: Georg Kaltenbrunner Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials – Gotham Group 20th Century Fox – FX Supervisor: Ronnie Menahem, CG Supervisor: Pavani Rao Boddapati, Lighting TD: Francois Sugny, Models: Leslie Chan, FX TD: Nicolas Petit The Hobbit : The Battle of the Five Armies – New Line Cinema Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) – WingNut Films 3Foot7, FX Supervisor: Ronnie Menahem, Lead FX TD: Brian Goodwin, FX Supervisor: Jason Lazaroff, Senior Environment Artist: Paul Harris, Lead Modeller: James Ogle
Outstanding Achievement, Character Animation in a Live Action Production Jurassic World – Indominus Rex – Universal Studios / Legendary Pictures – VFX Animation Supervisor: Glen McIntosh, Associate Animation Supervisor: Kevin Martel, Lead Animator: Kyle Winkelman, Digital Artist: Rodrick Fransham, Creature Supervisor: Kaori Ogino Marvel’s Avengers : Age of Ultron – The Hulk – Marvel Studios – Assoc. Animation Supervisor: Jakub Pistecky, Animator: Gang Trinh, Animator: Craig Penn, Lead Animator: Mickael Coedel, Lead Animator : Yair Gutierrez Marvel’s Avengers : Age of Ultron – Ultron – Marvel Studios – Lead Animator: Peter Tan, Animator: Boonyiki Lim,
Animator: Sachio Nishiyama, Animator: Byounghee Cho, Animator: Roy Tan The Hobbit : The Battle of the Five Armies – AZOG – New Line Cinema Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) – WingNut Films 3Foot7, Animation Supervisor: Aaron Gilman, Senior Facial Modeller: Howard Sly, Lead Animator: Matthew Riordan, Creature TD: Kevin Kelm, Lead Shader TD: Guillaume Francois The Hobbit : The Battle of the Five Armies – SMAUG – New Line Cinema Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) – WingNut Films 3Foot7, Animation Supervisor: David Clayton, Creature Supervisor: Gios Johnston, Senior Modeller: Andreja Vuckovic, Lead Shader TD: Guillaume Francois, Senior Animator: Daniel Zettl The Revenant – The Bear – Regency Enterprises, New Regency Pictures, Anonymous Content, M Productions, Appian Way, RatPac-Dune Entertainment – Animation Supervisor: Matthew Shumway, Lead Digital Artist: Adrian Millington, Digital Artist: Blaine Toderian, Digital Artist: Alexander Poei, Digital Artist: Kevin Lan
Black Friday comes to Middle-earth today at HobbitShop.com, the official online shop of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit film trilogies! The shop is offering savings of up to 60% on officially licensed jewelry, phone cases, chess sets, collectibles, and more, plus Buy One, Get One 50% Off all shirts! Check it out at http://www.hobbitshop.com !
The TORn family would like to congratulate Sir Peter Jackson who is among the six new inductees to New Zealand’s Business Hall of Fame. The Lord of the Rings and Hobbit film productions contributed to the New Zealand economy for years, not to mention Weta Workshop, Weta Digital, and many other spin-off endeavors that Peter had a personal hand in founding, or contributed to in partnership with others.
