Ringer Celebriel reports: Calligrapher and mapmaker Daniel Reeve met with a warm and enthusiastic reception from fans at ORC. He presented a slide show with dozens of images of items he created for The Lord of the Rings: countless books, invitations, scrolls, labels, maps, and even props like the telescope in the library at Rivendell.
Daniel explained that the creating the actual film props turned out to be only part of his work. He went on to work with dozens of merchandising licensees, preparing a massive style guide for them to ensure uniformity in graphic presentation, and then also created the titles and graphics for the DVD releases in dozens of languages.
The scope of his work is pretty amazing: Every character and location in The Lord of the Rings has its own unique type treatment, a graphic style and look that helps communicate the essence of that character or place. Even individuals in the same culture were distinguished from one another – Daniel created different handwriting styles for Bilbo and Frodo even though they both wrote using the same hobbit alphabet. Daniel also trained the actors, like Elijah Wood and Ian Holm, who had to write on screen. Fan-favorite exhibits include Elijah’s calligraphy practice sheets.
After the Lord of the Rings, Daniel continued to work with WETA, creating maps and calligraphy for The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and King Kong. If you saws these two films, you’d recognize his handiwork in Tumnus’ arrest warrant, signed and paw-printed by Maugrim, and in the map of Skull Island, which resembles a gorilla print, and the New York newspapers and posters.
In an informal Sunday morning breakfast, Daniel talked a bit about his recent projects. He was selected by the New Zealand government to work on a prestigious calligraphy project creating replicas of the Treaty of Waitangi (1840), the founding documents of the New Zealand nation, consisting of nine documents recording agreements between the British Crown and over five hundred Māori chiefs. The materials are a central part of an exhibition on the treaty, called Treaty 2 U, that’s touring New Zealand in a mobile exhibition trailer from January to May 2006.
He also worked on Dead Letters, a short independent film shot recently in Wellington by Quarter Acre Pictures and directed by Paolo Rotondo. The film, shot in just six days, is a wartime love story set in 1943 involving piles of letters sent to soldiers serving overseas. Grant Major is working on the film’s production design, and Park Road Post is one of many Wellington area businesses supporting the project. Dead Letters was one of only nine films funded by the New Zealand Film Commission’s Short Film Fund in 2005. It will be released this year.
For the film Daniel created letters in different handwriting. Daniel, or actually his hand, makes its film debut writing on camera, in an extreme close-up because the letter writer is supposed to be a woman. Like many others working on this independent film project, Daniel donated his time and talent.
He’s also created a set of illustrations for game cards for Hasbro’s upcoming game based on Pirates of the Caribbean (Reminder: Orlando Bloom fans can see their man in action as Will Turner starting July 7 in the US).
For ORC, Daniel had brought just under a hundred handwritten copies of Bilbo’s birthday party invitation to personalize for attendees and sell. They all sold out Friday, with lines forming at his table immediately after the presentation.
Daniel is a wonderfully talented, gentle, and unassuming artist. I found him standing in the back of the auditorium Saturday while Elijah and Sean were speaking and had to tell him more than once to go up and take an empty seat in the front so they could see he was there.
AICN writer Quint writes: Quint here with a chat I had recently with a man by the name of Michael Pellerin. Michael is the dude most directly responsible for those amazing LORD OF THE RINGS Extended Edition DVDs and has also recently contributed to that fantastic documentary on the 1933 KING KONG DVD as well as providing all those weekly (or bi-weekly as it was during the filming) Production Diaries for Peter Jackson’s KING KONG. I met Michael on one of my last days on the set of KONG. He’s a big fan of the site and even though the pressure of recording DVD material as well as cutting material for the online Production Diaries was obviously stressing him out I could still tell that he was in his element, doing what he loves. [More]
One of the creative talents behind the King Kong Christmas blockbuster, and the Lord of the Rings movies will outline his work at a special presentation at the Porirua Festival of the Elements on Waitangi Day. Titahi Bay’s own Daniel Reeve has become internationally known for his calligraphy and cartography work in films including all three of the LOTR movies, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, King Kong and Van Helsing. [More]
If you’re even casually interested in the languages Tolkien created, you’ll want to join us in Hall of Fire on December 11 at 5.30pm EST when we’ll be joined by Tolkien language expert David Salo for a moderated question and answer session. David was the primary language consultant for Peter Jackson’s adaptation of Lord of the Rings. David wrote Elvish dialogue, and created Dwarvish inscriptions for Moria, as well as the inscriptions for Aragorn’s sword – Anduril – and Frodo’s sword – Sting. [More]
Scholastic Goes Back to Press on Cornelia Funke’s Latest Novel
Dragon Rider Hits #1 on New York Times and Book Sense Best-Seller Lists
NEW YORK, Sept. 30 /PRNewswire/ — Scholastic announced today that it was going back to press for 100,000 copies of its new breakaway best-seller, Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke, bringing the total to 250,000 copies in print. Scholastic released Dragon Rider in mid-August with an initial print run of 150,000 copies. In less than a month the book hit #1 on The New York Times best-seller list as well as the Book Sense best-seller list. In the two short years since Funke’s debut in America, there are currently 2,000,000 copies of her books in print in the U.S. and Canada.
Scholastic is supporting Dragon Rider with a $150,000 marketing campaign including distributing thousands of advanced reading copies, a national print and radio advertising campaign and a national publicity campaign. Cornelia Funke will be touring to New York, Chicago and Los Angeles in October, as well as to Boston where she will be a speaker at the New England Booksellers Association regional convention and Detroit where she will speak at the Great Lakes Booksellers Association regional convention. Funke will also be doing a live web chat on October 5 at 1 p.m. EDT. at http://www.scholastic.com/corneliafunke.
A best-selling author in Germany, Cornelia Funke made her American debut in the fall of 2002 with The Thief Lord and became one of the most successful first-time children’s authors in the United States. The book was a New York Times best-seller for 25 weeks and winner of the 2003 Book Sense Book of the Year Award. According to USA Today, ” … this exquisitely told tale of adventure and intrigue set in contemporary Venice can be read, or more accurately devoured, by teenagers and adults.”
In 2003, Funke followed up with another best-seller, Inkheart. The first title in Funke’s Inkheart trilogy was on The New York Times best-seller list for 21 weeks. The novel was also a Publishers Weekly and Book Sense best- seller and was a finalist for the 2004 Book Sense Book of the Year Award. The thrilling adventure about a young girl, Meggie, whose father can make fictional characters come to life by reading a book out loud, was hailed in a starred review in Publishers Weekly: “Funke once again proves the power of her imagination; readers will be captivated by the thrilling world she has created here.”
Cornelia Funke recently announced a deal with New Line Cinema who will develop her Inkheart trilogy as a potential kid’s fantasy franchise. In a Variety article, New Line executive Vice President Mark Ordesky said, “It’s the perfect segue from ‘Lord of the Rings’ to ‘Inkheart.’ Apart from Cornelia’s huge status within Europe, her international popularity is only just beginning to crest.”
Dragon Rider tells the story of Firedrake and Sorrell, two dragons whose peaceful valley is threatened with danger. Together they set off to find the mythical Rim of Heaven – the only place in the world where dragons can be safe forever. Along the way they meet an orphaned boy named Ben who volunteers to be their navigator and quickly becomes their friend. With an evil dragon hunter on their trail, their quest turns into a battle for survival. A true adventure, Dragon Rider is an exciting, heartwarming, and ultimately triumphant tale about the power of belief and the true meaning of home.
Cornelia Funke is published in America by Scholastic in partnership with The Chicken House-founded in the United Kingdom by Barry Cunningham, the original publisher of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Mr. Cunningham first learned of Cornelia Funke through a letter he received from an eleven- year-old girl wanting to know why her favorite children’s writer wasn’t published in English.
Scholastic Corporation (Nasdaq:SCHL) is the world’s largest publisher and distributor of children’s books. Scholastic creates quality educational and entertaining materials and products for use in school and at home, including children’s books, magazines, technology-based products, teacher materials, television programming, film, videos and toys. The Company distributes its products and services through a variety of channels, including proprietary school-based book clubs, school-based book fairs, and school-based and direct- to-home continuity programs; retail stores, schools, libraries, and television networks; and the Company’s Internet Site, http://www.scholastic.com.
This weekend all things LOTR will gather around Alexandra Palace in London, UK for what promises to be a weekend of great fun and exciting events. If you haven’t done so already: get your tickets now! If you need some more convincing, check out the latest update from the organisers and head over to www.aaaevents.co.uk! See you there!
There are only two days to go to The Fellowship Festival and while it is pretty hectic here at Festival Towers, we just wanted to give you a quick update.
We have just been informed by Karl Urban’s agent that Karl has recently won a new film role which means that Karl will only be appearing at The Fellowship Festival this year so alongside Bernard Hill, Karl is now a worldwide event exclusive. We are very honoured to have both gentlemen join us at the show both have told us that they can’t wait to meet you all.
The event schedule has now been finalised. Due to last minute changes the full programme will be available when you arrive. We have organised question and answer sessions with the cast and crew that are held throughout the day and are repeated every day so you won’t miss out on a thing.
Some of the cast will be showcasing their special talents, check the schedule for times. Come and watch them strut their stuff; they have worked really hard to offer you a really new experience, a chance for you to see them in a new light.
The Tolkien Society have worked incredibly hard to give us many workshops and seminars where you can appreciate the works of Tolkien and Peter Jackson, huge thanks go to Ian and the team for all their hard work.
We are honoured to announce that Sarah McLeod will be singing “Into the West” exclusively at The Fellowship Feast. If you haven’t already got your ticket for the most memorable night of the year, you can buy it at the show from our stand.
Gino Acevedo from Weta Workshop will be transforming a lucky visitor into an orc before your very eyes every single day. We can’t wait to see the results.
The final touches to Mark Ferguson’s new comedy play “The Lord of The Rings 4: Return of The Towering Fellowship” have been finalised and we are looking forward to seeing Mark and some of the other cast members have us in fits of laughter.
EA GAMES are bringing one of their producers to The Festival who will talk to you about how they went about making the films into a game. Essential attendance for those of you who enjoy gaming. Don’t forget that they will also be demonstrating for the very first time, their brand new LOTR games, which are not being released until November.
For those of you who enjoy collecting, you can purchase exclusive items only available at the show and no-where else in the world brought to you by our friends at Cards Inc. You can also purchase official merchandise from our many exhibitors onsite.
Don’t forget, every Festival Ticket holder will be entered into a prize draw to win a holiday for two to New Zealand courtesy of our friends at Red Carpet Tours.
There is so much more that you can do at The Fellowship Festival, we sincerely hope that you make the most of the weekend, you enjoy all the activities that have been organised and have a wonderful time. We are very proud to be involved in such an amazing experience and look forward to seeing you all.
That’s not all folks, we still have some surprises up our sleeves…
