ATLANTA — The 2013 edition of Dragon Con was so vast and so epic that the stories and highlights just keep on coming. While thousands flocked to Atlanta to catch 28 unique Tolkien programming panels, many others just couldn’t attend. So, in order to share the event as widely as possible (and encourage you to attend next year) we brought filmmaker Dan McBride with us this year to run a one man film crew. He recorded many hours of footage and has winnowed it down to a few highlight videos, the first of which is a 10-minute overall big picture view of parts of the Tolkien Track, featured below. It stars Dragon Con’s guests at the event: Manu Bennett, Slyvester McCoy, William Kircher and Graham McTavish. (You can also catch a glimpse of TORn staffers Deej, greendragon, MrCere and Thor.) Enjoy and share the video and look for more in upcoming days including highlights from the already legendary ’80s Dance Party! McBride will hopefully return next year and just imagine what he could do with lights and a crew!
Category: Manu Bennett
UPDATE: Photo of Manu Bennett at the TORn “Hobbit” preview panel.
SALT LAKE CITY — Once scheduled for a smaller venue in the suburbs, the first ever Salt Lake Comic Con filled Utah’s capital city’s largest convention venue and had it bursting at the seams Saturday. For a time the hundreds waiting outside were not allowed to enter except at a 1-out-1-in rate. Word on the dealer’s floor said it was because the fire marshal closed the space but that rumor was never confirmed.
Reports in the media called the event “record setting” for a first-year convention, and that is possibly true, but such stats aren’t readily available. In any case, it was a massive event with celebrities that included William Kircher (Bifur) and Manu Bennett (Azog) and other pop-culture icons like William Shatner and Adam West.
TheOneRing.net was part of the fun as well, with staffer (and this writer) Larry D. Curtis (MrCere) attending with the show in his (my) hometown. the SLComic Con invited TORn to present a panel about Smaug and serve on other panels as well, with topics including Fantasy Films, all things Tolkien, Geek Culture and film school.
Bennett and Kircher were kind enough to drop by TheOneRing panel that also included author and TORn friend Paul Genesse. He helped moderate the panel and showed incredible enthusiasm for the material.
TheOneRing also managed a booth on the at time very crowded floor supported by incredible friends at Badali Jewelry and Weta Workshop making its first U.S. appearance outside of the San Diego Comic Con. TORn helped back in a small way to staff the Weta booth and send those with questions about where to purchase The One Ring to Badali’s very nearby booth. Artist David Powell was also kind enough to sign posters of his art for fans.
The Salt Palace Convention Center can be expanded and the SLCC will return next year. TheOneRing.net hopes to be part of the show. Thanks to Dan McBride and Blonde Ninja for their support of the TORn booth. Thanks also to the many financial supports at the event and to Salt Lake Comic Con for letting us be a part of the show. If you attended and would like TORn to return, you can use the contact info here to let them know.
If anybody has images of Bennett and Kircher attending the TORn panel, please send them in! We were busy having a panel and didn’t get any photos.
As you’ll know, if you’ve been following the Road Trip to DragonCon, that fabulous and fun convention is taking place in Atlanta, Georgia this weekend! And TheOneRing.net will be there in force!
We’ll have a table in the ‘fan tables area’ – please come by and see us! Staffers deej and greendragon will be running the table, with expert help from staffer Thorongil. We’ll have awesome t-shirts and posters for sale, as well as trivia to play and prizes to win! Plus we love meeting fellow fans – so please swing by and say hello! We’ll be in the Hyatt, Exhibition Level, across from the entrance to the Art Show.
TORn will also be presenting two panels at DragonCon: on Saturday, 5.30pm in the Hyatt International South will be The Hobbit: One book, three movies; and on Sunday, 1pm in the Hyatt Centennial 1 we’ll be Previewing The Desolation of Smaug! Staffer MrCere will be joining deej and greendragon – and maybe a few others! – on those panels. Otherwise, catch MrCere very busily running the Tolkien Track at the con this weekend!
Justin and the Road Trip gang will of course be covering events and streaming from the Con! Other exciting happenings include the Evening at Bree party on Friday night, 8.30pm in Hyatt Centennial 1, where The Tolkien Track have their annual shindig with costume contest and with our faves, Emerald Rose, rocking the house! On Saturday night The Tolkien Track have a new event – a late night ‘Middle-earth goes retro’ dance party! 80s music all night long – come on down and party like it’s the Third Age! 80s attire optional but encouraged – what did elves wear in the 80s, anyway? Come party with fellow fans and denizens of Middle-earth, as TORn’s own professional dj (hey, that’s why we call her deej!) spins the discs – 10.30pm Saturday, in the Hilton Grand Ballroom East.
And let’s not forget, of course, that there are some fabulous celebrities at DragonCon this weekend! Already scheduled on panels are William Kircher (Bifur), Graham McTavish (Dwalin) and Sylvester McCoy (Radagast). Manu Bennet (Azog) is also at the con, so we hope to see him on a panel or two, as well! And our good friends from Badali Jewelry will have a booth in the dealers’ hall, in the AmericasMart Building 1, so say hi to them and maybe treat yourself to a gorgeous piece of jewelry!
It’s all happening; it’s going to be a whirlwind of a weekend! We always look forward to meeting fellow Tolkien lovers at all the conventions and events which TheOneRing.net attends – so we hope to see YOU this weekend at DragonCon!
As you are aware, many Hobbit cast members have their own twitter accounts. After Evangeline Lilly participated in a live Twitter Q&A the other day, we thought it would be a great time to remind you of the official accounts. As far as we know each actor manages their twitter personally, offering a great way to keep up with them. Continue reading “Company of Tweets: Follow Your Favourite Hobbit Actors on Twitter”
- Adam Brown
- Billy Boyd
- Billy Connolly
- Conan Stevens
- Dean O'Gorman
- Dominic Monaghan
- Elijah Wood
- Evangeline Lilly
- Graham McTavish
- Hobbit Cast News
- Hobbit Movie
- Ian McKellen
- Jed Brophy
- John Bell
- John Callen
- Luke Evans
- Manu Bennett
- Mark Hadlow
- Sean Astin
- Stephen Fry
- Stephen Hunter
- The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
- TheOneRing.net Community
- WETA Workshop
Welcome to our collection of TORn’s hottest topics for the past week. If you’ve fallen behind on what’s happening on the Message Boards, here’s a great way to catch the highlights. Or if you’re new to TORn and want to enjoy some great conversations, just follow the links to some of our most popular discussions. Watch this space as every weekend we will spotlight the most popular buzz on TORn’s Message Boards. Everyone is welcome, so come on in and join in the fun!
Continue reading “TORn Message Boards Weekly Roundup – April 22, 2013”
Empire Magazine chatted with the man behind the performance capture of Azog, Manu Bennett and in the conversation he confirms what many suspected: the CGI Azog was late to the party. (Our story is late to the party too, released a couple of weeks ago but definitely still worth bringing to readers’ attention.) The protagonist and key villain from Thorin Oakenshield’s past says he was the last ingredient to the film and didn’t even meet Armitage, who he acts against in some scenes, until the film premiered. Best known as a veteran of television series Spartacus, Bennett’s character spoke in black speech.
“I was in the studio doing things for Azog four weeks before the premiere! In some ways I was the final ingredient to the whole thing,” he told Empire. Can we expect more Azog in the extended editions due for the holidays?
“No, because when I was brought in they’d already cut the film. For some of the scenes I had to move through frames.” He also confirms he will return for filming this year but hasn’t seen the script. The entire interview is available at Empire Online Thanks to the many spies who brought this one to our attention.
