The Noldor, New Zealand

Rounding things off. NZ-Noldor is winding down.

noreply@blogger.com (Jack) — Sat, 31 Jan 2015 03:33:00 +0000

As you may have noticed, this blog has been pretty inactive in the last few years. I've been concentrating my actions and attention running on the Wellington Tolkien Fellowship, Welly-moot.com instead.

One of the main reasons for starting the NZ Noldor blog was to provide an outlet for juicy gossip about the Hobbit movies. They have now, of course, all been released (with the exception of the last extended movie, due in 6 months or more).

As such, I've decided to let this blog wind down, and will relinquish the domain name "nznoldor.com". The blog will continue to exist as the (free) subdomain of google, nznoldor.blogspot.com, which has in fact, always worked anyway. I will, in all likelihood, NOT be updating this site after this post (Ha! Famous last words!)

The only reason I haven't deleted it altogether is that there's a few people who follow it on twitter, and particularly on facebook, where there's sporadic discussions still going on. Also, I'm still seeing a fair amount of traffic looking through the archives. One particularly popular page was the report about the female orc in the Weta cave. Go figure!

So, in short:

If you want to continue following this blog, please change your visits to http://nznoldor.blogspot.com/.

If you want to continue reading about Hobbit and LOTR movie news, can I suggest the excellent sites Middle-earth News ("http://middleearthnews.com/") and TheOneRing.net ("http://www.theonering.net/").

If you're local to Wellington (or elsewhere in New Zealand), I would recommend you follow the Wellington Tolkien group Welly-moot ("http://www.welly-moot.net/")

It's been fun - and I want to thank everyone over the years for providing me and our readers with tasty rumours and fun information about the fantastic Hobbit movies. Also, one final apology to PJ and the crew for all the times I got in the way. (Sorry, Matt!) ;)

This is NZ Noldor, signing off!

- Jack

Hobbit Party Week is here!

noreply@blogger.com (Jack) — Sun, 25 Nov 2012 10:27:00 +0000

Here is a quick update on all the Hobbit parties I'm aware of - this is no doubt a non-exhaustive list but will give you some idea of how tired we will be on December the 2nd (so, more of an exhausting list)...

First up is the Hobbit Artisan Market, which will go from Saturday November 24th to Wednesday 28th, so, Premiere Day. I managed to get to it briefly on Saturday late afternoon after a tour finished earlier than usual (cruiseship tour), and it was a lot of fun. If you haven't been to it yet, go as soon as you can - apart from anything else, they're selling the special Hobbit 3D glasses (in the Dwarven style), which will not be produced again.

Also a sight to behold is the phenomenally cool dragon by Kim Beaton, in the very last stand at the end of the market. The dragon weighs 3 tons, apparently! It looks amazingly lifelike, especially considering it's made from moldable "flexible" concrete.

The next party is of course the Hobbit Premiere Tour Costume Party, organised by Red Carpet Tours and TheOneRing.net. Tickets are still available (although not cheap), and discounts are now being given to students with valid ID. The costume party will start at 7:30pm on Monday the 26th. We will be attending - our costumes are all ready!

On Tuesday the 27th, the Wellington Youth Hostel will host its own Red Carpet Party. Tickets are a lot more reasonably priced there, and a prize will be given to the best costume. I'm in! This costume has a one week rental! I'm expecting the Middle-Earth News Network Tour attendees to be there, but please, everyone else also turn up to the Welsh Dragon Bar that night!

On Wednesday of course, the Official Red Carpet Walk itself will be held, and that will take the better part of the late afternoon and early evening. Pre-carpet entertainment will begin at 3:00pm, and the stars will begin to arrive at 4:30pm or so.

Before that though, early morning at 7:45am, I will be giving an interview to TV3, which should be aired on Breakfast TV at around 8:15am. Very exciting for nobody except myself, I'm sure!

At 10:00am, of course, the New Zealand Tolkien Smial will have its official Second Breakfast, beside the red carpet, underneath the Tripod in Courtenay Place (opposite the Embassy Theatre). TVNZ will be there to join us for a bit as well, so that might be quite fun. Come one, come all, and you're still wearing a costume from an earlier party, please don't be shy! It's "bring-a-plate", so don't show up empty handed please!

In the evening there's a secret party for Hobbit extras, but I can't confirm where that's being held, so good luck finding it!

Next, on Thursday the 29th, the Weta Collectors Forum "Shadow & Glame" is having an Afternoon Tea at 4:00pm at the Roxy Cinema in Miramar. That will be a nice time to catch up with some other old friends as well. I don't have a proper link to this party, except for a picture invite - does anyone have more info?

Finally, on Friday and Saturday night (Nov 30, and Dec 1), we will be going to a another very special event - a Middle-earth themed Burlesque Cabaret called "Bare and Back Again". Should be a ton of R18 fun!

So, which events will you be attending? Leave me a note! I'm intending to go to all of them - sleep is for the weak!

YES! Embassy Theatre Box Office has agreed to open at Midnight!

noreply@blogger.com (Jack) — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 06:28:00 +0000

(reposted from www.welly-moot.com)

Breaking news! The wait is over!!

We've just heard that the Embassy Theatre has agreed to open up their Box Office for ticket sales, tomorrow midnight - at 12:01am, EARLY Wednesday morning.

So let's make it worth their while; if you are able, turn up to the Embassy around 11:30pm on the evening of Tuesday the 6th of November, ready to purchase your HOBBIT Tickets for December 12th!

This information was posted on their Facebook page:

**Due to a lot of expressed interest we will be opening our onsite Box Office sales at midnight on the 7th Nov (Tues night/Wed morn). The Box Office will be open for a limited time on this night and we will re-open at 9am on Wed morning**

Online tickets will be available from midnight on Wednesday (Tues night/Wed morn).

Phone sales will be available from 9am on Wednesday morning.

Information about screening times will be avaliable on Wednesday at midnight.

384 7657 or deluxe.co.nz or 10 Kent Terrace

Some Ticket pricing information was given as well:

Main auditorium 3D is $18.50 (adult) $14.50 (child/senior) $17 (student) - doesn't include glasses, which are $1 each pair (brand new-you get to keep them or you can bring your own Real D pair)

Alex and I will be there with our brand new Welly-moot banner, and hopefully we'll have the finished Welly-moot T-shirts as well, so we should be easy to spot!

Perhaps we should draw a few Dwarves on it, or a Dragon maybe?

It's all coming together nicely! Spread the word, and see you at the Embassy tomorrow night! Come in costume if you can/want!

And I would like to extend a BIG "thank you" to Elly from the Embassy for making it happen!

Line Party possible in Wellington, NZ, but we need fans to email them quickly!

noreply@blogger.com (Jack) — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 09:05:00 +0000

It looks like Wellington MAY have a line party. We held Welly-moot (the meeting of Wellington's Tolkien enthusiasts) at the Embassy Theatre yesterday. I spoke to the Elly, the manager there, and asked her when Hobbit tickets to the December 13th opening would be available. She said at 12:01am Nov 7th (online), and 09:00am next morning (physical box office).

Then I asked her if she would consider opening the physical box office at midnight as well, and she said she'd consider it IF she got enough demand for it.

So: please, if you know anyone in Wellington who wants to stand in line for the world's FIRST official tickets (keep in mind our midnight happens an hour before anyone else's midnight!!), get them to send an email to Elly, the manager of Wellington's Embassy Theatre, at manager@deluxe.co.nz with a subject of "Please open the Box Office at 12:01am, Nov 7th for Hobbit Tickets!".

If it opens, I plan to be there on the night - let's see how many others we can get to join us!

Elly is a very nice person, and TOTALLY enthusiastic about The Hobbit, so please be nice to her when you email her!

We need the fans to show how important this is, so please DO email her!

Radio Interview

noreply@blogger.com (Jack) — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 06:36:00 +0000

In the last few days an article has appeard on the Guardian UK's website from a fellow named James Russell, who asserts that Peter Jackson's creative juices may have dried up, as evidenced by the fact that he's split the book into three parts. I got a call from a local radio station about what I thought about it, and heres the interview:

Please excuse the bad quality of the sound - I fluked the timing of it going to air, and simply recorded it with my iPhone off the computer's speakers. If I find a better version online, I'll re-upload it.

The original article can be found here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/filmblog/2012/sep/03/peter-jackson-three-hobbit-films

- Jack

Weta's new Hobbit Books announced!

noreply@blogger.com (Jack) — Sun, 02 Sep 2012 03:37:00 +0000

After my previous report, it looks like the embargoes are lifting from a number of new Hobbit related books. Amazon is starting to show a wealth of new information, and some of the authors themselves are revealing the covers of their new works.

The first one, the Almanac 2013 by Paddy Kempshall, is available via Amazon.com here:

Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - Annual/Almanac 2013 (by Paddy Kempshall)

The copy I have is titled"Almanac 2013", where the Amazon one is listed as "Annual 2013". I'm making an assumption here but I'm guessing it's the same book for the US market.

Paddy Kempshall is also publishing a Movie Storybook on The Hobbit, but no cover has been released yet, at least none I've found so far. It's listed on Amazon though.

Next, I saw that Brian Sibley has revealed the cover of his new book as well, via his blog and Facebook page. Also, it has been listed for pre-orders on Amazon.com, to be released on December 14th.

Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - Official Movie Guide

Brian Sibley is a long time Tolkien fan, and has written numerous books on the subject. Among his credits is also the 1980 BBC Radioplay of the dramatisation of The Lord Of The Rings - an excellent 13 hour long audiobook. Brian also wrote Sir Peter Jackson's biography, and has collaborated with the artist John Howe on three Middle-earth map books. I had the immense pleasure to meet Brian when he came to New Zealand last year for the research of this new book. Unfortunately I was not allowed to blog about it back then (and neither was he, obviously). He offered to autograph any of his books I might have on my bookshelf, and I was a bit surprised to find so many there - I walked in to our meeting with an almost embarrassing stack of literature! (cryptic: I also met his rabbit - but more on that soon!)

Jude Fisher has also announced her new book via Facebook, and it's also up for pre-orders on Amazon.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - Visual Companion

If Jude's previous Visual Companions are anything to go by, they will definitely be gracing my bookshelf the minute they come out. She worked on LOTR books, both separately as three books, as well as a general LOTR Trilogy Companion. Her LOTR books listed characters and locations found in the movies in an easy to read style, great for Middle-earth virgins but also fantastic for the advanced Ringer fans. Well worth adding to your collections!

Finally (and Weta Publishing has yet to announce these officially), I spotted two Weta Publishing books on Amazon, including one with a cover shot.

Weta's Hobbit Chronicles (by Daniel Falconer)

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - Chronicles is written by Daniel Falconer, with a foreword by LOTR's Art Director and and introduction by Weta's head wizard Richard Taylor. Sounds good - so just shut up and take my money already! Unfortunately it's also (you guessed it) only up for pre-orders. *sigh*...

Amazon has also listed another Weta book, Hobbit Art (a Hobbit Film Tie-in). No further details are available on that one yet.

First look at King Thranduil, father of Legolas!

noreply@blogger.com (Jack) — Thu, 30 Aug 2012 09:57:00 +0000

It's been a little while since my last blog entry here. I've not sat still, I've just been so busy with various other rojects that are all coming to fruition in the meantime. More on some of those projects later, but in the meantime, I wanted to show you something I bought at the Weta Cave today.

The first of The Hobbit books seems to have come out, somewhat unexpectedly and suddenly, and it's called "The Hobbit (An Unexpected Journey) Almanac 2013". The book is a hard cover, issued by HarperCollins Children's Books, and it's essentially a puzzle and activities book for kids. It's a lovely looking book, very glossy and lots of fun stuff for the younger crowd, say, about 7-10 year olds.

The Hobbit, An Unexpected Journey - Almanac 2013

What's a little odd is that it's such a high quality pressing - it's supposed to be scribbled on by children, which seems such a waste of a great looking book. It's a beautifully bound hardcover with full colour glossy pictures on all pages. What's also a bit odd is that the book is aimed pretty much at the children that The Hobbit book is aimed at - age 6 and up. Wasn't Peter Jackson making a much darker movie? Why aim this at the younger market? Isn't that a bit like having a "Texas Chainsaw Massacre Crayon Colouring Book"?

One of the most delightful pages is the one that shows King Thranduil (played by Lee Pace) in all his glory. It's officially the first time he's been seen - there's been lots of speculation about what Legolas's father might look like, but here he is!

I have to say - he looks pretty fantastic. You can definitely see a family resemblance between him and his son, right down to the dark eyebrows and the blond hair! Very impressed once again by the Hobbit design team!

Also in the book are some smaller photos of his home:

The last photo here is a great shot of the White Council together somewhere - Gandalf, Elrond, Galadriel, and Saruman the White as well.

Click on any of the pictures if you want to see larger versions.

Visit to Hobbiton

noreply@blogger.com (Jack) — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 21:38:00 +0000

Back in January, we celebrated our Anniversary by visiting the Hobbiton set in Matamata, north of Taupo. I had wanted to show the photos here much earlier, but was unfortunately prevented from doing so by the Non-Disclosure Agreement they made everybody sign there (as you buy your ticket).

However, it seems that Common Sense has prevailed, and they're now allowing people to show their photos finally. It's not like we haven't already seen what it looks like in the Lord Of The Rings movies, a decade ago!

So, this will be a lengthy blog entry - there's almost 50 photos here. I'll add the occasional comment but in general I'll let the photos do the talking.

As always, the photos are mine, and I retain my copyrights. The sets themselves (and the rights to them) belong to the studio - but I took these pictures. If you want to use them, please check with me first, and also the Hobbiton people themselves. They still don't want them to be shown commercially (so, not in the general media).

As always, click on the pics for better quality. The detail is terrific!


The road to Hobbiton is (coincidentally!) named Buckland Road.

My wife Alex, in front of the bus named after her favourite Middle-earth citizen.

A chair, ready to be relaxed in. If it wasn't half-sized.

The ladder reached to my chest. So good to be "tall".

A yellow door.

The garden needs some work. Apparently there are lazy hobbits also.

A blue door.

A green door.

"Just check if anyone's in?"

Another yellow door.

Another green door.

The wood neatly stacked ready for winter.

I love the little overhang so the rain doesn't get in.

A much tidier garden. Obviously well-to-do hobbits.

Another yellow door.

Yellow is obviously a favourite colour in this part of town.

The fence has been made to look much older and moldier.

Gorgeous house, with chimney.

Presumably the house of the cart-maker. Note the rounded gate and the squared door. A bit of a rebel hobbit, this one. Square doors are all the rage in Bree, don't you know?

Another blue door.

The fence is kept shut with an old horse-shoe.

Fantastic gardens everywhere too. Rows of cabbages and other vegies.

The view across the lake. On the other side, still off-limits, is the bridge-house, the Green Dragon pub, and the mill.

Three hobbit-houses at the lakeside. Behind it, a familiar sight!

Going uphill now, with houses uilt in to the hillside, and chimneys everywhere from the houses beneath.

The view from the hill.

More gardens near the top. To the right of this hobbit's abode, a beehive.

More detail. By the way, the tree at the left is fake. Could you tell?

I don't need to describe this one. We all know who lives here!

We felt an overpowering urge to knock on this door. With a staff. Incidentally, I couldn't find any "secret signs" on it (but then it wouldn't be secret, would it?)

No really, it's fake. Trust me. It's life-sized.

Signs everywhere, in case you get lost. The writing is in the unmistakable script of Daniel Reeve.

After a visit to the Green Dragon, you might need the signs to get home, I'd imagine.

And that's where Mr Bilbo lives!

The road to East Farthing. Gandalf came in through here on his cart.

The magnificent Party Tree. It's real, don't worry (but it's a Pine Tree, not an Oak).

The Honey Factory. Two hobbit-child's toys on the left.

Two beautifully painted See-Saws, on the Party-Field.

The mold is real mold, artifically grown.

And the cabbage is real too. A whopper!

Warning - Hobbits Underfoot!

A special sight. The tour went past this but didn't go into it. Apparently this much more overgrown section was Guillermo del Toro's vision of the Shire. It looked a lot darker and more mysterious!

The wood-shed.

A wishing well, covered to make it safe for hobbit children.

And one more child's toy - a swing under a tree. I'd imagine it would be a nice place to enjoy a pipe as well.

Back in the Shire's Rest, everything was Hobbit-themed. The clock...

...the Fireplace, ...

...and even the Toilet-roll Holder had the right shape.

The Shire's Rest is the cafe, by the way.

I'd love comments! Are they on the right track? Are you green with envy? Better yet, are you planning a visit?

Leave me your thoughts!

Hobbit Casting Call Chaos

noreply@blogger.com (Jack) — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 21:37:00 +0000

===
12:05pm - update - If you want to read how disappointed people were, read this report.
===
11:53am - Update - an application form has now been posted on TradeMe. You still have to send it in by physical mail though.
===
Complete chaos ensued after the studio totally underestimated how many Hobbit fans live in Wellington.

NZ Police closed the event, an hour and a half in.

What was advertised on TradeMe (NZ's auction and job seeker's site) as "The Hobbit Official Extras Casting Call 2012", ended up causing massive delays on Wellington's motorway, and according to NZ Police, at least two traffic accidents. The whole event, which was supposed to start at 1:00pm and finish at 4:00pm, was shut down by the NZ Police just after 2:30pm, when it became obvious that there was no crowd control or traffic control organised.

Hopefuls waiting in the park next to the hall

What happened? Originally, the advertisement was listed on January 19th (NB - this link may stop working, so I have saved the files, available for reference). By 7:00am, the next morning, close to 19,000 people had seen the advert. By the morning after the event, almost 150,000 people had seen it. Wellington only has a population of around 200,000 people, so the equivalent of 75% of the Wellington population saw the advertisement.

The casting call took place in the Belmont Hall, which is listed as a venue with a capacity of accommodating a mere 150 people, with carparks to match. The hall is located right next to NZ Highway 2, the second largest road out of Wellington.

Also using the Hutt Motorway on January 28th was large amounts of traffic for the annual Wellington Cup. This is one of New Zealand's most important horse races, and draws big crowds every year. This year was no exception. This event is well advertised, and has been going since 1874.

To make matters worse, Wellington was host to two large cruiseships (the Pacific Dawn and the Dawn Princess), with an estimated 4000-5000 tourists in the region as well. Although 74 cruiseships visits are expected this season, there are only seven days this season when two ships berth on the same day. Today was one of those days. This information is available online, and has been available since August 2011.

Production company Three Foot Seven told 3 News they had expected 1200 people to attend the casting call. TV 3 reported that "thousands more" showed up. NZ's news website stuff.co.nz estimated that at least 3000 people had turned up by 1:00pm (ie, before the traffic seriously began). One report I heard from an anonymous source at the studio was that at least 4500 people attended.

Early in the day, there were still orderly lines

Quit long lines, in fact

To cope with all these 1200 expected people, the production company 3foot7 had put a skeleton staff in charge. The hobbit hopefuls I spoke to all reported that only one or two studio people were desparately trying to manage the crowds outside. One report said this guy wasn't actually working for the studio but had taken it upon himself to sort things out. Well done, mate. Good on you for giving it a go.

This unsung hero WAS the crowd control

Some of the hopefuls had been free-camping in the park next to the hall overnight, although most showed up after 10:00am on the morning.

Most online reports agreed that roughly 800 people had made it through the doors before the Police turned up (www.stuff.co.nz incl video) (TV3 Video) (Hutt News). The most distant report I read came from Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad, so this fiasco is being reported worldwide.

The lucky 800 fans that did get in had their photos taken, their measurements recorded, and contact details entered.

The lucky few, before the Police showed up

Application forms were handed out to many people in line, but not to all. When it became clear that the event was being stopped by the Police, an announcement was made that all attendees would also be able to send in their details online that evening, something which at this stage (a day later) has not eventuated.


Filling out application forms outside

The disappointed, heading home again

And how necessary was it all? The lucky few who got inside only had their details taken. All this could have been done online. In fact, it HAD been done online, and through this blog. Just check through my blog in the last three years. At this stage I'm unsure what happened to the details of all the people who previously applied online, or actually printed out their CV's and sent them via mail. If anyone from the studio is reading this, please drop me a line! I'm more than happy to keep people informed.

All in all, a day that the studio could learn two important lessons from.

(1) The studio does not exist in a vaccuum. Other events may clash and interfere with badly organised studio plans. These other events are not hard to discover.

(2) There are MANY thousands of people in Wellington who want to be involved in The Hobbit. An event such as this will always be attended by people who are not even hopeful - large numbers of people were obviously too tall, too short, the wrong build, or had had no working visa. They just wanted to BE there. For any event related to The Hobbit, there will be more people present than expected (even if you take this statement into account). How many people attended the "Pro-Hobbit Rally" last year? How many were present at the ROTK Premiere in 2003? Take a look at these two photos from those events.

The Pro-Hobbit Rally in October 2010. We showed our support

This 2003 crowd (which continued from one end of the city to the other) was estimated by ABC News at 400,000. Ridiculous of course - Wellington hasn't got that many people.

At the end of this year, Wellington will be hosting the Premiere of the first of the Hobbit movies. Let's hope that goes a bit smoother than this weekend's fiasco. To begin with, it would be nice to know a date for the Premiere, so that the city can begin to plan around it already. We already know that both TORn and Middle-earth Network are planning Hobbit tours for the fans around the time of the premiere but are unable to confirm nbumbers until we know when the actual event takes place.

My message to the studios - please get yourselves better organised. The fans deserve better than this.

Been busy!

noreply@blogger.com (Jack) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 10:10:00 +0000

As you can see, I've updated the look of the NZ Noldor Blog - or as it's now known, "The Noldor, New Zealand". Nice and pretentious, hehe. The link stays the same, don't worry.

I discovered that Google's Blogger service has a few new features, mostly in the background but also some that may prove useful for you, the readers. For instance, it's now possible to reply to comments, and have the replies linked with the original comment. This will make conversations here a lot easier.

The changed blog is still a work in progress, so if there's anything amiss, can you drop me a line please...? (and please note the new address there!)

I've also been working hard on the new website for Welly-moot, the Wellington (NZ) Chapter of the Tolkien Society in the UK. Kris and I have been setting it up here in Wellington, and we'll be arranging regular meetings from now on, every last Sunday of the even-numbered months. The schedule for the meetings are posted on the Welly-moot blog, but for now, the next/first meeting will be on February 26th, 2:00pm at the Embassy Cinema, upstairs in the lounge. Come join us if you have a chance!

I've also managed to take a quick break from LOTR touring last week - Alex and I celebrated our 3rd/7th anniversary (met/got married) by driving up to Matamata and visiting the gorgeous Hobbiton set. On the way there we made a quick stop at Mount Doom (Mount Ruapehu) as well.

I'll try to get more pictures up later (non-disclosure-agreement allowing!), but in the meantime, here's my Gollum face on Mount Doom:

More soon!

Welly-moot number six was a total success!

noreply@blogger.com (Jack) — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 10:25:00 +0000

It's almost 11:00pm, and I just got back from the Embassy Cinema in Wellington, where the 6th Welly-moot just took place. It was the second meeting in the last month - the previous meeting wasn't quite as well attended as I'd hoped, but this one made up for it. All in all I think there were 14 people there, and a lot of business was discussed.


Clockwise from me in the green shirt - Peter Kenny, Todd Rippon, Astrid, Erica, Kris, Viviane, Sven, Kim, Mervi, and Paul. The others joined later.

Apart from myself and my beautiful wife, we met up with Mervi from Finland, and Kris who is living here in the Wellington region. Mervi represented the two Finnish Tolkien Societies, while Kris and I are halfway through setting up the Wellington one (but more on that later). New Zealander Erica from TheOneRing.net joined soon afterwards, and then Peter Kenny (Australian's Brisbane Tolkien Appreciate Society) and Astrid (Austria's Tyrol Tolkien Smial) came in as well. Peter and Astrid joined me on a LOTR tour yesterday, in fact they are both interviewed on the TVNZ News segment about our reaction to the new Hobbit Trailer.

Also in attendance were Paul from the UK, Brendon and his partner from Australia, and three lost backpackers I found on the side of the hill during yesterday's tour, Viviane, Sven and Kim.

If that lineup wasn't special enough yet, we had a ANOTHER special guest for the evening - Todd Rippon also joined us, and he spoke about his time as an Oliphaunt rider, and his ultimate demise at the hands of that cruel elf, Legolas (but "that still only counts as one!").

Todd had some exclusive photos from his time on the set, which unfortunately I can't reproduce here but were enjoyed by all present (so attend next time!).

During the evening, Peter Kenny also recited some of his Hobbit poetry, which went down a treat, as did the cake and the ice coffees.

Other business of course included a discussion about the new Hobbit Trailer released yesterday. I "happened" to have it with me - it's downloadable from Apple.com after all, and my iPad 2 does the job very nicely, thank you! In fact I think we played the trailer 3 or 4 times, in all. Also on hand was our newsclip from yesterday, of course (that's definitely bragging rights), and a small clip from The Hunt For Gollum as well, once the discussion mentioned it. It's a solid piece of Middle-earth film, and if you haven't seen it yet you definitely should!

One final point that was discussed was that Kris and I are definitely setting up the official Tolkien Sciety in some form here in Wellington, and that will be announced properly as things happen in the near future. I'm hoping that by the next meeting we will have the official approval from the UK as well. Exciting times!

- Jack

Hobbit Trailer released - and I made it to TV News again

noreply@blogger.com (Jack) — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 09:45:00 +0000

By now I'm sure everyone has seen the brand new Hobbit Trailer - just in case you haven't yet, check it out at Apple's Movie Trailer directory.

I got a call from TVNZ this morning, to see if I would be available to comment on the trailer later, for their evening news. I told them I'd be touring with a group of LOTR fans, so they invited the whole group along, to watch it at 4:00pm (local NZ time) on the satellite feed! Well, we didn't have to think about that too long, that's for sure!

They interviewed us all at length afterwards, although most of that was reduced to some very excited soundbites. We got a few words in towards the end though.

You can watch the whole reaction-interview at TVNZ's website.

Overall a great trailer - I had expected more of a teaser trailer - you know, fade in, one quick image, and fade out, and repeat. Instead we got one full of exciting content, and lots of mystery! Was the elf in white actually Galadriel or not (I don't think it was, personally)? Where were the ruins that Gandalf was walking through?

Also, some revealing moments - we now have a much better idea about how Frodo fits into the Hobbit movie (considering his character hasn't actually been born yet). That will put a few minds at ease, I'd say!

One little detail I loved was that Bilbo shows off his (newly found) sword Sting, and the markings on the blade are correctly incomplete - the elfish lettering which appear on it during LOTR refer to an incident that happens during the last half of the Hobbit book, and the writing doesn't get added to the sword until after he vists the Elves again in Rivendell. Well done, Weta Workshop!

All things considered, it was a great trailer. It gave lots of hints that The Hobbit would be part of LOTR's story line, but different as well. Get the old audience back onside, and add new ones as well.

By the way, if you want to keep the trailer, it's actually downloadable from the Apple site.

TORn's MrCere on tour with Rover Tours

noreply@blogger.com (Jack) — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 09:02:00 +0000

I had the pleasure of showing Larry Curtis (TheOneRing's MrCere) around Wellington's LOTR locations last week. We had planned to meet in the evening but unfortunately he was unavoidably detained elsewhere and couldn't make it.

He did manage to write up the tour on TheOneRing.net's blog, and it looks like he had a good time!

So, instead of meeting with MrCere and Tehanu (also from TORn), I met up with Kristi, who has attended earlier Welly-moots, and we discussed setting up as an official Tolkien Society spinoff - a "Smial". The official plans are now underway, so watch this space!

Meanwhile though - in a week and a half there will be another chance for Wellington's Hobbit friends to get together, again at the Embassy Theatre.

Peter Kenny, from the Australian Tolkien Society will be in Wellington, and he's keen to get together with like-minded people here. Also with him will be Astrid from the Austrian Tolkien Society, so a good get together is promised!

The details of the meeting again - it will take place at the Embassy Theatre on Thursday the 22nd of December at 7:30pm.

Hopefully we'll see you there!

- Jack

Two Wgtn gatherings in the next two weeks!

noreply@blogger.com (Jack) — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 09:41:00 +0000

Heads up for all Wellington Hobbit friends - your presence is requested! I'm meeting up with some international guests this month, and would like you to come as well!

The first gathering will be in honour of Larry "Mr Cere"Curtis, from www.TheOneRing.net, who is gracing NZ with his presence right now. He's Hobbit-chasing his way across the country, and will be in Wellington this week. On Thursday he will be going to the Weta Cave, but I probably won't be making it to that one. Knowing the Weta Cave, it'll be a seriously geeky affair, and probably very noisy and crowded - no doubt fun, but I've got a better idea!

Instead, I've arranged to meet him and Wellington's own TORn representative (read: TORn founder) Erica "Tehanu" Challis. The meeting will take place at 7:30pm, upstairs at the Embassy Theatre. The big differences between Weta Cave and the Embassy is that the Embassy has (a) seats, (b) coffee, and (c) cake. It'll be a better place to catch up, and have a good old-fashioned chat with everyone.

Meeting two will be a few weeks later - on the 22st of December, just before Christmas, the Australian Tolkien Appreciation Society's Peter "Proudfoot" Kenny will be visiting Wellington, together with Astrid from the Tyrol Tolkien Society (Austria). I'll be taking them on a LOTR tour the day before, and just before they leave Wellington, we're going to meet up once more time.

And of course, we'd like to show the Aussies (and the other Aussies - the Austrians) that we do things properly here in NZ, so we need a good turnout for an evening of Hobbit-loving madness. It will be at the same venue, the Embassy, and will start at the same time, 7:30pm.

So, those details again:

To meet TORn's Mr Cere, come meet us this coming Friday the 9th of December at the Embassy at 7:30pm.

To meet Peter Kenny, be at the Embassy Theatre on Thursday the 22nd of December at 7:30pm.

They'll both be fun evenings, and you're all more than welcome to come to both, of course! Bring friends!

Can you please drop me a line if you plan to attend, so I can put a few extra tables together on the night?

More fame (but still no fortune...)

noreply@blogger.com (Jack) — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 07:57:00 +0000

==========
Update - the iTunes link has now been posted... also, a direct link to Council of Westmarch's own streaming media server.
==========

I was interviewed a few weeks ago by Danbo Brandybuck from the Council of Westmarch, a Montana (USA) based Tolkien community group. It looks like the interview has been edited for release, and has made it onto Middle-earth Radio, and has just finished streaming for the first time.

My bit is in the section The Golden Perch (complete shownotes here). During the interview, one of the things I talk about is a particularly cool visit to the Park Road Post Production facilities - Sir Peter Jackson's studios.

Hopefully it will be available as a PodCast soon as well, so it can be downloaded via iTunes. I'll post a link to it as soon as I know it.

In the meantime, the schedules for a reply are found here. Look for "The Council of Westmarch - The Wardens of Westmarch Ep1".

- Jack

One more update on Manapouri rumours

noreply@blogger.com (Jack) — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 21:26:00 +0000

I received one more update from my source down south (previous reports here, and here).

Apparently while he had some spare time in Te Anau he drove around to one of the lodges, where the Hobbit headquarters were rumoured to be.

He noticed a bunch of markers and roadsigns pointing the way - I've seen the same signs here in Wellington, pointing to various filming locations. They are designed to get a filmcrew, often unfamiliar with the local roads, effeciently to the set without getting lost.

If anyone knows what "LR" stands for, drop me a line? They are most likely the inital letters of the working title of The Hobbit project, whatever that happens to be. For instance, with King Kong the letters were "BPP" (Big Primate Productions).

Now before you all start following the signs to Hobbit paradise, keep in mind that just before you get to the good bits, you'll meet the security crew, who are paid to keep you out, and they're very good at it. I wouldn't suggest tangling with any of them - they are there to make sure the production doesn't get distracted by a thousand onlookers - so PLEASE stay out of their way!

My contact mentioned that the "hired goon" was friendly but looked like he meant business. When asked if all this was to do with "the movie" he replied "it's only a gate". They're happy to talk about the weather but you won't get any Hobbit details from them. I've tried for years here in Wellington - they're very good!

When the "spy mission" was completed, he drove off back home, but was unsure if the large white SUV suddenly behind him was the same white SUV that was parked at the security checkpoint. Quote :

I think I lost him just past the local Bar and Grill where I did a sudden right turn. Recon he might have stopped there as a safe place for a “steak out”.

I reported my story to some locals and heard of a local lady getting frisked at a check point near the Te Anau Helicopter Hanger [JM: presumably to avoid aerial photography of the sets].

All very exciting!

Update on yesterday's Te Anau spy report

noreply@blogger.com (Jack) — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 04:37:00 +0000

I've had a small update on yesterday's report about Te Anau as a Hobbit location - additional material has come to hand that they're looking at Manapouri - several of the Hobbit crew members are reportedly staying there.

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My source informs me that "two non-local Jet Rangers Heading South a couple of days ago
in the Direction of Mt Titiroa (our most unique Peak)". Of course, just because they're "non-local" doesn't mean that they are Hobbit crewmembers, however, he went on to say that "There are some Hobbit Crew staying in Manapouri. Word is there are two locations mentioned.. the Mavora Lakes and Te Anau Downs".

I love this James Bond stuff.... Where's Q when you need him!

Brief spy report from Te Anau

noreply@blogger.com (Jack) — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 22:05:00 +0000

I just got the briefest of reports from one of my spies down south:

Te Anau just has been over-run with PJs Film Crew. No word of any battle scenes or the like in the wind.

The information came from the same source as my earlier report, which turned out to be spot-on; the dates are completely accurate.

View Larger Map

Te Anau is located close to Queenstown, on the way to Manapouri. Large amounts of LOTR were filmed there, including the Dead Marshes, and parts of the great River Anduin.

He's trying to get some more details from whoever is talking, and hopefully some photos as well. I'll post them when they get here!

- Jack M.

Back from hiatus

noreply@blogger.com (Jack) — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 06:31:00 +0000

It's been a busy few months. I haven't managed to get a lot of blogging done lately, only a few facebook and twitter updates. We've had a few birthdays here at home, and we've had other family staying with us, which always take precedence.

At work, our busy cruiseship touring season has begun again. By the time I come home from a full day tour, I'm usually pretty bushed, and my online activities are generally restricted to be read-only.

In all honesty though, there hasn't been that much to report. The Hobbit production is in full swing but none of it seems to be here in Wellington at the moment - Peter Jackson's various film teams have left Wellywood, and have headed further north and further south. I've seen the occasional celebrity in town but generally they were already reported by other sources.

I don't mean to imply that I've been sitting still - far from it! I've been working on a myriad of LOTR related projects, some for my own pleasure, some for work, and some for the online community. I'll try to get some of the projects online, as soon as I can (or in some cases, as soon as the cloak of secrecy comes off them).

I've also formed a very exciting alliance with fairly new forum - Middle-earth Network. I joined them a few months ago, and it looks like I'm in great company - people like the wellknown artists Ted Nasmith and Jef Murray, and the Tolkien Professor Corey Olsen. Frankly I feel like a hobbit at an Elven dinner party! Still, any excuse for a banquet...

The Middle-earth News/NZ Noldor alliance means I'll have some better resources behind me to get on with some very exciting LOTR related projects - some of which are already underway. I hope to have some announcements about some of them soon - patience!

What I will also report a bit more often, is reports from the field that are not necessarily Hobbit related, but more general stuff. Earlier this year another tree blew over in Isengard (Upper Hutt's Harcourt Park), unfortunately it was a "reference" tree (ie, it appeared in FOTR).

It's been replaced by two new young ones. If there's call for more reports like that, let me know - I'll pop some photos on a bit more often.

Also, is it time for another Welly-moot? I'm keen! Anyone else? Drop me a comment, here or on Facebook!

- Jack

The Wellywood sign - vote now!

noreply@blogger.com (Jack) — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 22:49:00 +0000

Now is the time to cast a vote for the "Wellywood" sign. Cast your vote here. The vote closes on Friday, November 18 and the winner will be announced on Monday, November 21.

The sign will be located at the entrance to the Miramar suburb. Elsewhere in Miramar you will find Park Road Post Production facilities, the Stone Street Studios, the Weta Workshop, Weta Digital, the Weta Cave, the Roxy Cinema, and huge number of other film industry companies.

There's been a lot of local debate for and against the sign. Personally, I'm totally in favour of it.

The Wellywood sign would be perfect - it yells "film industry", which none of the other options do. That was the whole point of the sign in the first place. Currently, if you are a visitor to Wellington, there is nothing to photograph as an iconic "Wellington film industry souvenir" photo. Paris has its Eiffel Tower, Sydney has the Opera House, New York has the Statue of Liberty. And of course, Hollywood has its sign as well. Our little town isn't important enough for a tower, but a simple sign on the hill would be perfect.

Some of the early options included a giant Weta (a NZ insect), or the phrase "Middle-earth". All cool signs, I'm sure - but Wellywood is more than the Weta Workshop, and certainly more than the Middle-earth films. Even in Wellington, there are lots of people who don't realise the Weta Workshop has been involved in more than 120 movies since the LOTR trilogy; including such huge franchises as Narnia, and the X-Men movies, and of course Oscar nominees Avatar and District 9, and more recently the new Spielberg/Jackson production of Tintin.

The two other options - the Taniwha (a sea-monster from Maori mythology), and the wind-blown Wellington sign - are interesting choices, but neither say anything about Wellington's huge achievemnents in the world's film industry.

"Wellywood" celebrates it in one iconic and easy to recognise sign. Vote now, and lets get this going viral among Wellington's many fans outside the country! Please repost this message elsewhere too!

Again, you can cast your vote here.

- Jack Machiela, from the NZ Noldor blog

PS - in case this is reposted and the hyperlink is lost - the voting link goes to http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/wellywood-or-what/wellywood-poll/5927480/Vote-now-The-final-Wellywood-vote

Welly-moot #4 report - great meetup!

noreply@blogger.com (Jack) — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 02:29:00 +0000

No excuses - I'm late with my report! It's already been five days since the fourth Welly-moot took place at Wellington's Embassy Theatre, and it was a great success!

The only bit of confusion happened at the start of the meeting - our meeting's start time coincided with the Embassy's start time of the Grease movie nostalgia session, and they'd arranged for a live Rock'n'Roll band to be entertaining that audience before their movie began. Unfortunately they were still playing in "our" spot when we got to the cafe.

Luckily though, they were fun to watch, and the singing (and dancing!) stopped just as I started getting worried, so that all worked ok.

All in all, the Welly-moot attracted a good size "crowd" of hobbit lovers, including some familiar faces, as well as some new ones.

Welly-moot #4 - the biggest one yet!

It was really nice to catch up with Emily again (second from the left in the photo), she attended the first Welly-moot as well. Rachel (far left) was here at the Embassy for the previous meeting, while Ryan, Jenifer and little Hawk (front and centre) have been to all four Welly-moots so far - well done and well met!

A few days before the meeting, I got an email from Ayako, a lovely Japanese woman from Palmerston North, and she came to the meeting with her husband Randall and daughter Rio, as well as a friend Maki with her daughter. The day before the meeting I had Kumiko on my tour - another Japanese woman currently living in Wellington with and her son, and they also both came today. Add to that my wife Aiko, and it quickly became the Japanese contingent of the Welly-moot. (Aiko managed to avoid the camera's eye by volunteering to take the photo - everyone else is at the back on the right). Tolkien is still very popular in Japan as well, it seems!

Some very special guests also joined us - two of Weta Workshop's best designers/inventors/wizards, Warren and Kim Beaton. I met Kim a few years ago, and have had the pleasure of taking them both on a tour around the Wellington region last year. Since then, they've (a) invented some animal-leg stilts, (b) designed a complete cinema for Peter Jackson, (c) are working on a certain Middle-earth movie that starts with "H", and (d) got married, so you could so their year has been reasonably active.

All in all, a rowdy and fun afternoon. The discussions I was part of included the inevitable Rugby World Cup, and the recent snowfalls in Wellington. Also, for some reason, Legolas's presence in Wellington seemed to be a hot topic. Everybody seemed to want to know where to find him (don't worry, Orlando and Miranda, your secret is safe - I certainly don't know it)!

The other rumours currently floating about are the sheer number of "absolutely confirmed" (read: totally not confirmed) filming locations for The Hobbit around the end of the year. Queenstown, Dunedin, Nelson, Te Anau, and Wellington are all contenders, apparently. The studio isn't giving out actual confirmations, so we'll just have to wait and see. Personally, I'm obviously waiting for Wellington locations to add to our tours in the future.

In order for me to entice Ayako to drive all the way from Palmerston North with her family for our meeting, I had promised to take them to the Mount Victoria LOTR location, which we did at the end of the day. The Embassy Theatre is actually on Mt Vic anyway, so that wasn't far to drive. Ryan and Jenifer joined us as well, and we ended up re-enacting the hobbits' famous "Get Off The Road" scene, before parting ways until the next meeting.

I hope everyone enjoyed it as much as we did - and if you didn't/couldn't come this time, we'd love to see you next time!

- Jack M.

Welly-moot #4 - Hobbit meeting on 4th of Sept

noreply@blogger.com (Jack) — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 22:51:00 +0000

I flipped a coin in the air and decided it was time to have ourselves another Hobbit meeting. They're always fun, and enjoyed by everyone there. So, here are the details:

What : Welly-moot #4
When : September the 4th, at 2:00pm
Where : Embassy Theatre, upstairs in the cafe
Who : All Hobbit friends in Wellington on the day (that's you!)
What to bring : Money for coffee & cakes, yourselves.(*)

(*) and cool stuff to show off, if you want to! A good old fashioned Show'n'Tell!

The agenda for the meeting : we all turn up, and have a fun afternoon, meeting old friends and making new ones.

I have set up a facebook event for it as well - if you're on Facebook, add yourself to the attendee list here.

Looking forward to seeing as many of you there as possible!

- Jack M.

MEN Extras required in Wellington!

noreply@blogger.com (Jack) — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 00:32:00 +0000

Last week, it was widely reported that 3 Foot 7 Ltd had put out a call for ELF Extras via New Zealand's job seeking website, Trademe.co.nz.

Originally, the advertisement stated :

We are currently looking for slim men 17-30 years and between 165cm – 178 cm or 5’5” -5’8” AND slim women 17-30 years between 165cm – 173cm or 5’5” to 5’8” to play ELF extras.

I've just revisited the site, and it seems to have changed completely. It now it says :

We are currently looking for MEN based in the Wellington region aged 30 plus, medium - large build, 5'8" - 6 foot (175cm - 183cm) Character faces, beards, missing teeth - all good.

I'm not sure if that means they're still looking for Elves or no longer - I guess it pays to respond quickly to these advertisements!

I'm also not sure if they're looking for MEN as a race (as opposed to ELVES), or MEN as a gender (as opposed to WOMEN extras). I've put my application in just in case - I didn't qualify for the ELF call, but this time I'm in!

Bonus - it no longer requires applicants to be slim and pretty, in fact being larger and ugly may just count as a plus! So, watch for my name in the credits!

So if you live in Wellington (a requirement, I'm afraid), apply quickly before it all changes again!

- Jack

Retraction - Laketown not located as previously reported

noreply@blogger.com (Jack) — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 22:30:00 +0000

It appears that the previous rumour about Laketown having been found was incorrect. Although there is a large movie being filmed in the Duntroon-Kurow area, it is apparently NOT The Hobbit.

New information has come to me which suggests that it is in fact a movie called Mister Pip, which will star Hugh Laurie (from the TV hit series House and the classic Black Adder). Hugh Laurie has previously worked with Stephen Fry on a various projects, notably the comedy show A Bit Of Fry and Laurie.

Of note also is that Mister Pip is being directed by Andrew Adamson, who directed the best two Shrek movies (1 and 2), and the best two Narnia movies (1 and 2). Sounds like Mister Pip, (and any eventual sequel?) will be great (although I'd skip Mister Pip 3)...!

So, no Laketown location yet. That's what you get with rumours!

Keep them coming though! If you've heard anything else please drop me a line!

- Jack M.

Another two possible locations?

noreply@blogger.com (Jack) — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 10:51:00 +0000

I've heard two interesting but fairly non-specific location rumours from another source.

To start with, some of the locals in Te Anau are reporting that some "Hobbit people" (their phrase, not mine!) are putting feelers out for mass accommodation in that area around Late November/Early December 2011. Does that mean they'll be out there filming around then? As far as I know, no actual bookings have been made anywhere, so "wait and see" is probably accurate......

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Also, apparently there's "something large" (movie set related) being set up near the town of Middlemarch, inland from Dunedin. The indications I'm getting is that this was also Hobbit related, but I couldn't get that confirmed. Middlemarch is approximately an hour drive from Dunedin, so it until some of these stories firm up, it's probably not worth anybody's time to get out there and investigate...

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So, nothing solid here at all, just the usual rumours and speculation! Nothing changes, in other words! :)

If anybody has heard any other rumours, please drop me a line!

- Jack M.