As a massive Lord of the Rings fan, I was inexpressibly delighted when Peter Jackson announced that he would be returning to Middle Earth to film The Hobbit, the book that serves as the prequel to The Lord of the Rings. Once casting announcements were made, my excitement continued to grow: Martin Freeman (Watson in BBC's excellent Sherlock) is playing the eponymous hobbit Bilbo Baggins, Richard Armitage (from the BBC's equally excellent adaptation of North & South) is dwarf-king Thorin Oakenshield, Luke Evans is the heroic Bard, and Lee Pace is Thranduil, elf-king of Mirkwood and father of Legolas. Of course, most of the original LOTR actors are also reprising their roles, including Andy Serkis as Gollum and Ian McKellen as Gandalf. Throw in a dozen more dwarves and let the high-jinx ensue.
The movie started production in March 2011, and Part 1 is scheduled to release in December of this year. Peter Jackson just announced that instead of two parts, The Hobbit is going to follow in the footsteps of LOTR and be a trilogy. This is somewhat worrisome, because I was hard-pressed to understand how they were turning this rather slim novel into two movies, let alone three. But as the motto of any rabid fan should be, "Our not to reason why, ours but to do and die," I am certain I will love every part of this movie and am merely dying of impatience. Enter, The Hobbit Facebook page.
The page was started last year in obvious recognition of the legions of fans who simply cannot sit back and await the final product. When making LOTR, Peter Jackson fully embraced the fan base and was constantly supplying us with snippets of information about how filming was progressing and offering up tantalizing set photos and videos. Now with The Hobbit, he has filmed a series of production videos that give us a glimpse into Stone Street Studios in Wellington and the epic undertaking to bring Middle Earth back to life. The first video was released in April 2011 and each subsequent release has introduced us to the dedicated people behind-the-scenes who are involved in putting this project together. Set decorators, hair and make-up artists, caterers, costume designers, prosthetics experts, linguists, stuntmen, calligraphers - it's astonishing how many people are working around the clock to get this movie made. And of course, there are the actors themselves, prancing around on set in their giant hobbit feet or intricate dwarf beards and having the time of their lives.
These videos serve as a reminder of how amazing The Lord of the Rings trilogy was in its attention to detail and The Hobbit looks all set to follow in its footsteps. The final production video was released last month and revealed bits of the Comic Con panel as well as the final days of principal shooting in Wellington. Now we move on to post-production, and although the wait to December seems interminable, I have no doubt Jackson will keep us entertained with more videos and photos that make the wait less dreary. If you weren't excited before, you should watch these videos and catch the Hobbit fever, because it's time we headed back to Middle Earth.
The movie started production in March 2011, and Part 1 is scheduled to release in December of this year. Peter Jackson just announced that instead of two parts, The Hobbit is going to follow in the footsteps of LOTR and be a trilogy. This is somewhat worrisome, because I was hard-pressed to understand how they were turning this rather slim novel into two movies, let alone three. But as the motto of any rabid fan should be, "Our not to reason why, ours but to do and die," I am certain I will love every part of this movie and am merely dying of impatience. Enter, The Hobbit Facebook page.
The page was started last year in obvious recognition of the legions of fans who simply cannot sit back and await the final product. When making LOTR, Peter Jackson fully embraced the fan base and was constantly supplying us with snippets of information about how filming was progressing and offering up tantalizing set photos and videos. Now with The Hobbit, he has filmed a series of production videos that give us a glimpse into Stone Street Studios in Wellington and the epic undertaking to bring Middle Earth back to life. The first video was released in April 2011 and each subsequent release has introduced us to the dedicated people behind-the-scenes who are involved in putting this project together. Set decorators, hair and make-up artists, caterers, costume designers, prosthetics experts, linguists, stuntmen, calligraphers - it's astonishing how many people are working around the clock to get this movie made. And of course, there are the actors themselves, prancing around on set in their giant hobbit feet or intricate dwarf beards and having the time of their lives.
These videos serve as a reminder of how amazing The Lord of the Rings trilogy was in its attention to detail and The Hobbit looks all set to follow in its footsteps. The final production video was released last month and revealed bits of the Comic Con panel as well as the final days of principal shooting in Wellington. Now we move on to post-production, and although the wait to December seems interminable, I have no doubt Jackson will keep us entertained with more videos and photos that make the wait less dreary. If you weren't excited before, you should watch these videos and catch the Hobbit fever, because it's time we headed back to Middle Earth.
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