Middle-earth Madness lived up to its name last night as hundreds of fans gathered at the Best Buy in Los Angeles, CA to celebrate the release of The Lord of the Rings Extended Edition Trilogy on Blu-Ray. Actors John Noble (Denethor) and Sala Baker (Sauron) signed copies of the Trilogy as fans snatched up the brand new high-def version of the films.
Nicole Roberts walked away with the Grand Prize trip to New Zealand with her inspired and creative ‘Showgirl Balrog’ costume. (pics below) As you will see in our photo gallery, the competition was challenging and we’d like to thank all of the contestants for their talented entries! Nicole’s costume was judged as the best by Academy Award Winner Sir Richard Taylor of Weta Workshop with help from Lead Designer Daniel Falconer. (We recently interviewed Daniel here)
The LA wing of TheOneRing.net staff was out in full force, and for those of us who could not attend, we’d like to thank them for their tireless efforts to make everything go smoothly! These volunteers spent nearly 15 hours yesterday! So a special thanks to Quickbeam, Cathy, Josh, Suvi, Justin, Peter, Alyse, Catherine, Michael, Echo, Alex, David and Cat from Alleycatscratch.com!
We’d like to thank Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, Weta Workshop and Best Buy for making this event possible!
Click the ‘continue reading’ button to view all of the photos from the event as well as some videos. We’ll be updating them as more come in!
Continue reading “Middle-earth Madness – A Night to Remember!”
So we have a few more details to share with you concerning the Middle-earth Madness celebration taking place right now at the Best Buy in Los Angeles. (1301 W. Pico. Blvd) First off, we can confirm that John Noble (Denethor), Brad Dourif (Wormtongue) and Sala Baker (Sauron) will be attending this evening’s festivities! Secondly, there will be a Laser Light show and Fireworks starting at approximately 11:45. (How awesome is that?!) And of course, what Tolkien can be had in LA without a game of Goblin Ball! (You know, you knock the heads off Goblins for fun). We’ve also got loads of shirts, posters and other swag to hand out throughout the evening. And of course, we are streaming events live as they happen on our Stickam account. You can see it on the homepage of TORn, or through the following link. [Stickam] If you are following along on Twitter, our hashtag is #MEMadness, and of course, we’ll be posting pics on Facebook throughout the evening. If you want to have your chance at winning a Grand Prize trip to New Zealand, make sure you get to Best Buy BEFORE 7pm PT. And we can’t forget the whole reason we are throwing this party today…the release of The Lord of the Rings Extended Edition Trilogy on Blu-Ray is tonight at Midnight! The countdown continues!! [Live Stream] [Facebook] [Twitter] [Event Details] [WBshop.com]
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]
We are just days away! Get your costumes ready and join TheOneRing.net and fellow Ringers at Best Buy in Los Angeles on Monday, June 27th for the midnight launch and celebration of The Lord of the Rings The Motion Picture Trilogy Extended Edition on Blu-ray! The party starts officially at 12 noon on the 27th at Best Buy’s West side store at 11301 W. Pico. Blvd. [Best Buy Store Info/Map]
The first 150 guests in line at the store on Monday, June 27th at Noon will have the opportunity to get an autograph from cast members of the films. Costume Contest entrants will be judged by your friends here at TheOneRing.net and finalists personally selected by the four-time Academy Award(R)-winning Sir Richard Taylor, co-owner and lead creative at Weta Workshop.
Continue reading “Join us Monday, June 27th for the ‘Middle-earth Madness’ Launch Event!”
‘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.
We’ve been teasing it for weeks, and we can finally announce it! TheOneRing.net is proud to be a part of a very special event happening in Los Angeles on June 27th. The event titled ‘Middle-earth Midnight Madness’ is a launch celebration for the release of The Lord of the Rings Extended Editions on Blu-Ray and will be held at Best Buy’s West Los Angeles location, 11301 W. Pico Blvd.. The event will feature cast member greetings, trivia, games, and loads of prizes. But the biggest prizes will be reserved for a special costume competition, where one lucky contestant will capture the Grand Prize of a VIP “Tour of Middle-earth” – an all-expense-paid trip to New Zealand (Auckland, Wellington, Queenstown), courtesy of Air New Zealand and Weta Workshop. Two Second Prize winners will receive an Official 10k Solid Gold version of The One Ring from Noble Collections! Yea, we told you it was going to big! Click ‘Continue Reading’ to read a summary of all the events and full details. TORn staffers, including everyone’s favorite emcee Quickbeam, will be on hand. Hope to see you there!
Continue reading “Middle-earth Madness in LA June 27th! Win a Trip to NZ!”
