Weta Digital is nominated for Visual Effects for its work on “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.” That means co-founder Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton and R. Christopher White could all be walking away from the Academy Awards ceremony this Sunday with golden statues. And the competition comes in the form of more folks at Weta Digital for work on “The Avengers,” and “Prometheus.” “The Life of Pi,” and “Snow White and The Huntsman,” are in the mix as well. Pundits say it comes down to Hobbit vs. Pi. Whatever the outcome, Weta Digital has had a pretty astounding year and with the warm glow of Smaug on the horizon, 2013 looks promising as well. You probably knew all that but what you may have missed are the terrific reels Weta Digital has available to help viewers (and maybe voters) understand what went into the creatures, environments and characters it created for the first of three Hobbit films based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s 75-year-old children’s book.
One of the six showcases on YouTube, “VFX of The Hobbit: Fantastical Creatures & Lands of Epic Beauty & Darkness,” something of a highlight of all the videos, has been watched more than the rest but for anybody who loves cinema, loves the Hobbit film, technology or visual effects, the whole collection is outstanding. And so, we present them all below, embedded in one place for your viewing pleasure.
VFX OF THE HOBBIT: FANTASTICAL CREATURES & LANDS OF EPIC BEAUTY & DARKNESS
Once again it has been a long time since I posted in this series, but what with the run-up to The Hobbit: An Unexpected Adventure and the reaction to it, TheOneRing.net has been a busy place, and now we’re coming up on The One Expected Party on Oscar night! But I’ll delay no longer.
In the first entry I recalled getting the permission to interview the filmmakers and going down to start my work, back in September-October of 2003. The second one dealt with my first interview and tours of the Three Foot Six office building and the Stone Street Studios. Now, more of the facilities I visited.
The Film Unit
My third full day in Wellington was Wednesday, October 1. Melissa Booth called and said I could come to the new Film Unit building to meet Barrie Osborne. He, as I cannot stress often enough, was the one responsible for getting me New Line’s permission to interview the filmmakers for my book. This meeting, though, wouldn’t be for an interview. (I interviewed Barrie twice for the book, first a couple of weeks later and again during my third Wellington visit in December, 2004.) He was driving out to the old Film Unit facility that afternoon to give the people working there, sound mixers, editors, and other post-production crew members, a pep talk.
As most readers know, the race to finish The Return of the King was on by that point, and a lot of people were working long hours. I was told that Barrie often gave these pep talks, and the filmmakers really appreciated them; it was part of what gave the production that feeling of being one big family. I could at least introduce myself to Barrie and ride with him to the Film Unit; the half-hour drives there and back would allow us time to talk about my project. Continue reading “Researching The Frodo Franchise: Part 3, Places Full of Magic”
Some of the Middle-earth clothing from Black Milk has made a splash on our Facebook page but with fashion and popular culture taking center stage this week leading up to our own One Expected Party on Oscar night, it seemed a good time to share it here. Will we see a Doorway party dress? How about Witch King leggings? While we kind of want to chastise the company for not hyphenating and not making the e lower case in Middle-earth, its pretty cool to see a company take geek culture in mainstream directions. Its R2-D2 dress is well-known on websites like Tumblr, Twitter and Pinterest. The Australian company gets our kudos for making geek, chic. In the meantime, if you want to or plan to be in the Los Angeles area this weekend and want to join us for the party, we would love to have you, even if you aren’t wearing all the names of the dwarves on your leggings. Tickets remain and with food and entertainment like One Man LOTR and Billy Boyd’s Beekcake on the musical menu, and Hobbit Oscar nominations for visual effects, hair and makeup and production design, it will be a night of legend.
With an eye for attention to the minutest detail, Peter Jackson and his design team source for their movies with great care. Who could forget that wonderful fabric created by Stansborough Fibres for those magical elven cloaks in The Lord of the Rings? The same folks created Gandalf’s silver scarf for The Hobbit movies.
But just where did Ori get his amazing woollies? Who (apart from those elusive dwarf women!) knits for dwarves? A fascinating (and quite technical) article in Knitting Daily, sourced from The Wheel magazine, sheds some light on how the yarn for the films was created. Read the article here – thanks to ringerspy String for the heads up!
When it comes to award ceremonies, Rick Findlater is usually back at a hotel making stars look their best.
But the Australian hair and make-up artist will now be at the centre of the action after being nominated for both British and American academy awards for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.
Richard Taylor and John Rhys-Davies are both connected to the film project “Glastonbury: Isle of Light,” which is in development. Taylor is in place as part of the team that handles design, production and marketing that also includes Star Wars casting director Robin Gurland.
Rhys-Davies recently was in the region and talked about the film and its importance to the region and the help it might lend tourism. You can view that video right here. A full press release about the film can be found here.
When it comes to award ceremonies, Rick Findlater is usually back at a hotel making stars look their best.