Here’s a really interesting behind-the-scenes clip from the folks at Weta Digital that delves into the virtual cinematography of The Desolation of Smaug.
Apparently, fully a quarter of the film is made of all-CG shots, and this clip describes the typical workflow of developing the camerawork, keyframe refinement and how lighting choices were dictated by the mood of each scene. Thanks to Ringer Sandesh for the heads-up!
Continue reading “Video: virtual cinematography in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug”
TORn staffer greendragon says: Continuing my ‘Inside the Middle-earth Actor’s Studio’ series of interviews, I recently had the great pleasure of a phone conversation with Peter Hambleton, who plays Gloin in The Hobbit movies. What a charming, erudite, intelligent and modest chap he is! He has nothing but praise for his fellow cast members, and for director Peter Jackson; I’d wonder if he was perhaps being too generous in his kind words, were it not for the fact that ALL the cast talk about each other, and their experiences on set, in such glowing terms. It’s really no surprise that all the cast talk about having a great time making The Hobbit movies; they’re all such nice people!
Hambleton and I talked for an hour, and covered topics such as what he’s working on now, how he prepares for a role, what he thinks of Middle-earth fandom, and just why Peter Jackson is a brilliant director of actors. He also gives a little hint of something we might see in the third Hobbit movie, and spills the beans about another movie he’d love to do with PJ…
Continue reading “EXCLUSIVE – Peter Hambleton (Gloin) chats with TheOneRing.net”
A little bird came knocking today, and whispered some intriguing — and slightly baffling — news into our ears. Ringer Spy The Knocking Thrush, who is a reliable source, dropped us a line to let us know that New Line have registered a new title: The Hobbit: Into the Fire. But for what?
A quick reminder of the history of The Hobbit movie titles may be in order!
Continue reading “EXCLUSIVE – The Hobbit: There and Back Again may become The Hobbit: Into the Fire?”
Convention season is upon us, and the first big shindig on the TheOneRing.net Calendar is Wondercon in Anaheim. Tickets are still available if you find yourself in So Cal this weekend, so head on over to the Wondercon site and register to attend. There is a full schedule of panels, screenings, an artist alley to visit, the exhibitors hall for all your geeky shopping needs, and plenty of cosplay going on. We will be reporting on the Warner Bros. panel on Saturday morning, so follow our tweets for live reporting from the con, and a post later that afternoon for any and all Hobbit details. TheOneRing.net will have it’s first big panel of the year on Saturday afternoon at 5:30pm in Room 300DE.
For the collectors out there, don’t miss some of the wonderful exclusives that will be at Wondercon throughout the weekend. You can find the list at Wondercon Exclusives where you will see TORn’s own Wondercon Dragon shirt and Badali Jewelry’s Gold plated Dwarven battle axe. TORn’s booth is #1504 and Badali is just two booths away at booth #1404. And there are some wonderful exclusives offered by a number of other vendors as well, so happy shopping.
Sauron created the One Ring in secrecy, so little is known of how he created it. Gandalf was able to do research in the libraries of Gondor to determine the nature and look of the One Ring, but not much more on it’s forging. Luckily, our good friends at Badali Jewelry are much more forthcoming in how they make this very special item. Below is a video of just what goes into making the One Ring, minus the Malice of Sauron being added to it.
Now that you have seen the process, we asked the artisans at Badali what kind of timeline it takes, and here is the response from Janelle Powell:
From start to finish it takes us about a week to make each item, but that is because we are doing each step in batches to maximize our work time. The actual time spent on each One Ring of Power is approximately 3-4 hours of hands on work time (meaning its in the hands of a jeweler and actively being worked on). This does not include time for the investment to set up (approximately 1 hour), time in the burn out ovens (an overnight process), cool down time (15-20 minutes), time in the pickle (varies), time in the ultra sonic cleaner, and time in the tumblers (anywhere from 1hr to overnight). If the item in question is one of our Gollum Gold 24k Gold Plated One Rings these are sent out of house to be plated which takes about a week and a half. Once they come back from the plater we inspect each ring to make sure that the plating was done properly, string them on a chain and pack them in their draw string pouches. If there is any enamel or paint work to be done on the ring, this adds anywhere from 10 minutes – 2 hours of time as well. All and all, it’s a lengthy back breaking process, but the results are well worth it and ensure that we produce the highest quality items for our customers.
Badali Jewelry will be at Wondercon this coming weekend, and can be found at booth #1404, just a few spaces over from TORn’s booth at #1504. Make sure to stop by and say hello, check out their amazing work, and enter their drawing for some free jewelry. You can also visit them on the web right here.
Smaug the Magnificent indeed! We had some incredible entries to our ‘Show us your passion for Smaug’ contest – it was as difficult to pick winners as we expected it to be. The panel of TORn staff judges really enjoyed seeing entries from all over the world; we received art work from countries such as Serbia, Australia, China, Slovakia, and Thailand, to name but a few! The dragons came in all shapes and sizes; as well as beautiful paintings and sketches, we received photographs of sculptures, decorated cakes, costumes, LEGO creations, knitted and sewn wyverns, and even a candle holder, a carved pumpkin and a jewelry Smaug!
Continue reading “Show us your passion for Smaug – contest WINNERS”
