Earlier tonight Sean Astin (Samwise Gamgee) appeared on Access Hollywood to promote his special dedications for the upcoming L.A. Marathon and show his #run3rd hashtag-inspired running shirt. Check out the clip here. Just a few short weeks ago Sean happily showed Ringer fans at TheOneRing.net a sneak-peak when he joined our live weekly webcast TORn TUESDAYS with Cliff Broadway. Sean treated us to stunningly cool movie props and authentic costumes from the LOTR trilogy and talked enthusiastically about running and training. Check out the TORn TUESDAY archive on our Live Event page where we start talking about marathons about an hour in.
Follow Sean Astin on Twitter.
Visit the official Sean Astin website.
Find out more about Sean Astin’s Run3rd special project.
I stumbled on this short story on Weta and about the chainmaille process. It’s not news, but it is nerdily interesting.
We’ve been talking chainmaille with Emily. These days she’s the Make-Up and Hair Department co-ordinator, but we knew she was one of the pioneers in the chainmaille department and spent a long time putting an unfathomable amount of rings together for the costumes for The Lord of the Rings. Find out what it’s like to put together 5-10,000 rings. Per day. [READ MORE]
Middle Earth Has Never Sounded So Good.
The Lord of the Rings In Concert: The Fellowship of the Ring is the groundbreaking first installment of Peter Jackson’s Oscar-winning film trilogy. Featuring, Howard Shore’s complete Academy Award® and Grammy®–winning score performed live on-stage by more than 250 musicians with the film projected on an immense 60-foot screen. Entertainment Weekly calls it “High Class Geekery” and The San Francisco Examiner exclaims “It’s The Concert of the Decade.”
The Lord of the Rings in Concert will be hitting San Diego, California on October 13. In addition to the orchestra performance of the soundtrack live to the screening of the film, they will also have 22 original movie props and costumes on display. Since they will also have the San Diego Civic Youth Orchestra performing before the big concert, this is definitely going to be a Family Friendly event. See the link below for tickets and further details. http://valleyviewcasinocenter.com/Lord-of-the-Rings-In-Concert-October-13-7-30-pm
But the invasion begins earlier, this Saturday, to be exact. There will be a flashmob of Hobbits and other Middle-earth denizens near the Old Globe Theater tomorrow, October 8 at 12:30pm. See the Valley View Casino Center’s facebook page linked below for more details and a Youtube video showing the flashmob dance steps. More..
Middle-earth Madness invades LA today and TheOneRing.net will be hosting the activities throughout the day! For those of us not able to make the event in LA, we will be occasionally streaming live from the event as the more exciting events happen, and as our amateur internet connection allows. For those of you lucky enough to be attending at the West LA Best Buy, you’ll be competing for some great prizes with the LA TORn staff, including everyone’s favorite Tolkien emcee, Quickbeam! We also have late word that FRINGE star and LOTR vet John Noble, as well as Sauron himself, Sala Baker, will be in attendance. There are also rumors a few other cast members might just drop by for fun! Of course the real countdown will be to the midnight release of The Lord of the Rings Extended Edition on Blu-Ray and the awarding of the costuming Grand Prize – a trip to New Zealand! Follow along all day through Facebook, Twitter and our live stream at Stickam. [Live Stream] [Facebook] [Twitter] [Event Details]
‘Middle-earth Madness’ is coming to Los Angeles on Monday, June 27th. For those of you competing for the trip to New Zealand and other great prizes, we thought we’d share a few insights about the competition. Check out the official rules over at the LordoftheRings.net and look forward to seeing you on Monday! [Event Details] [Official Rules]
- Handmade costumes are preferred over store bought costumes, except for the very creative use of store bought items and how they are used.
- Try to keep true to Middle-earth fashion sensibilities. In other words, leave the sneakers and jeans in the car Elves. Try for a ‘tip of the head down to your toes’ look for your character.
- Weapons should be peace bonded, meaning they should be rendered inoperable. Swords and knives tied down, arrows should not be able to be drawn, etc. Other items, such as spears and pikes should be treated like a walking stick, rather than a weapon, and used simply as a prop. You are strongly discouraged from brandishing your weapons, even in jest or on stage, as there will be people and equipment in close proximity to the costume contest. Any deviation from this will see you disqualified from the contest and removed from the premises.
- This contest is a solo entrant event, but feel free to come with fellow costumed friends, as long as each person enters separately.
- There will be no performances on stage. The first round will be en masse in the staging area near the stage, where the judging staff will wander through looking at everyone and promote those who will earn a pass into the second round. This will be the Semi-finalist round and will include a walk across the stage, with lighting, but again, no performances. Judges will convene and decide upon those who will move on to the third round. The Finalists will be called up to the stage, and if there is time, each will be asked to briefly describe something about their costume to the crowd. Sir Richard Taylor of WETA will skype in at this time, already having in hand photos of all the Finalists, and he will make the final determination of the 6 prize winners.
- We are making the Registration and Waiver form available online, so if you are able to, please print and fill it out and bring it to the Best Buy with you. Also, if you have any existing photos of you in your costume, that would be excellent for the judging staff to be able to attach a photo to your entry form. This is not a requirement, but will help our judges out immensely.
- When filling out the entry form, please be specific about any aspect of the costume you want judges to know about, such as hand beading, leather tool work, hand knitted scarves, etc. Please use extra sheets of paper to describe details, using large font. Remember to put your name on the upper right corner of each page used
- If you do end up in the second round and get to participate in the stage walk, please inform contest staff of any special needs you might have, or if your costume might create difficulties managing the stage unassisted. We want to notate any requirements for assistance on the entry form, so just let us know if you think you’ll need help. There will be staff stationed on either side of the stage to help prevent accidents, so your attention to this detail is appreciated.
- Once you turn in your registration, we will need to get a photo of you in costume holding the number you will be issued. While this is not required the moment you register, it is required to be complete no later than 7pm. These are the photos that will be sent to Sir Richard Taylor at WETA if you make the Finalist cut, so make sure your makeup and hair and costume are ready to go when you get your picture taken.
For the folks at Weta to be successful they need super talented people to help bring the world of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit to life. These folks are responsible for making the award-winning armor, weapons, costumes, and, of course, digital effects that have gained them so much acclaim. I thought for you all it would be great if we could sit down with one of these amazing individuals to find out what it’s like to help bring these worlds to life.
Well, Daniel Falconer one of the key artists at Weta has been kind enough to sit down and answer a few questions for everyone. As many of you may know Daniel been apart of amazing pieces like Bag End, Rivendell, Treebeard’s bust, and books like The Art of District 9. Having had a chance to own or see many of these pieces I was quite eager to sit down with Daniel and get his thoughts on being apart of helping Weta create these amazing things. After, reading this Q&A I would suggest to all the readers to get one of these great collectibles Daniel and Weta have created. Continue reading “Collecting the Precious: Interview with Weta’s own Daniel Falconer”
Earlier tonight Sean Astin (Samwise Gamgee) appeared on Access Hollywood to promote his special dedications for the upcoming L.A. Marathon and show his #run3rd hashtag-inspired running shirt. Check out the clip here. Just a few short weeks ago Sean happily showed Ringer fans at TheOneRing.net a sneak-peak when he joined our live weekly webcast TORn TUESDAYS with Cliff Broadway. Sean treated us to stunningly cool movie props and authentic costumes from the LOTR trilogy and talked enthusiastically about running and training. Check out the TORn TUESDAY archive on our Live Event page where we start talking about marathons about an hour in.