Official 'The Hobbit' Thread - Part 15

[regwec]

Clumsy dialogue, wooden acting, fan fiction, and billions of identical videogame miniatures. Not looking good.

Oh, what could have been. In an alternate universe, we would be looking forward to watching part II of Del Toro's Hobbit on DVD this Christmas.

 

[Marvolo]

Or it may have been weird and awful. We just dont know and the grass always looks greener on the other side. I think Del Toro's steam punk elements (that Jackson removed when he took over) would have irked a lot of traditionalists.

I really dont see any clumsy dialogue or wooden acting in that trailer.

 

[Guts]

It looks like Gandalf and Galadriel are surrounded by the Nazgul.

 

[Marvolo]

Holy ****! I missed that!

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Ok, that is pretty cool. I like the trailer, but I can't get as hyped as I have in the past.

 

[Quasimod0]

Looks great to me! I'm ready for it! Definitely more excited than I was for the second one.

 

[regwec]

I really dont see any clumsy dialogue or wooden acting in that trailer.

"Those bats are bred for war?"

 

[DarthSkywalker]

"Those bats are bred for war?"

And clear and horrible attempt to harken back to the LotR.

 

[jmc]

Or it may have been weird and awful. We just dont know and the grass always looks greener on the other side. I think Del Toro's steam punk elements (that Jackson removed when he took over) would have irked a lot of traditionalists.

I really dont see any clumsy dialogue or wooden acting in that trailer.

I actually think the acting has been a bit overly dramatic in this series of films.

 

[Marvolo]

Bloom's delivery seems fine to me.

 

[C. Lee]

Bloom's delivery seems fine to me.

The people who have liked the other two seem to find no fault with it...the ones who didn't like the other two seem to not like it. Just another day at the Hype.

 

[regwec]

It's consistent with the rest of the "breathy line-reading while staring into middle-distance" approach that Bloom has used to bring Middle Earth's most famous elf to life.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

It's consistent with the rest of the "breathy line-reading while staring into middle-distance" approach that Bloom has used to bring Middle Earth's most famous elf to life.

All joking aside, I though Bloom kicked ass in DoS. His "you made me bleed my own blood" moment was classic. He is definitely something I am looking forward to in the finale installment.

 

[Marvolo]

The people who have liked the other two seem to find no fault with it...the ones who didn't like the other two seem to not like it. Just another day at the Hype.

I must admit I was close to coming on here and fussing about the heavily cgi'd quality of the film, but honestly on further examination I think the film is gorgeous. Sure its got a lottt of cgi and everything looks like its been enhanced with cgi and computee grading etc but Jackson has really taken the fantasy storybook quality to its fullest conclusion in the film.

Does the film look visually anything like LOTR? God no! But Im a sucker for pretty stuff and I think its purddyy!

 

[DarthSkywalker]

I think the CGI in the trailer looks pretty poor, but I have come to expect that with these films. Goblin Town, Gollum and Smaug aside, it has been hit or miss. Smaug, Gollum, and goblin town were glorious though.

 

[jmc]

I think what makes the LOTR visuals look better is there's a tactile feel to it all given the use of miniatures and costumes. The visuals with The Hobbit are just too hollow to my eye, there's an inherent weight and depth missing.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

I simply think there is a lot of rushing here. If they could make the orcs in Goblin Town or Smaug, they could do it again. But they simply don't have the post-production time.

 

[Quasimod0]

I think what makes the LOTR visuals look better is there's a tactile feel to it all given the use of miniatures and costumes. The visuals with The Hobbit are just too hollow to my eye, there's an inherent weight and depth missing.

I can definitely agree with that. Even as a huge fan of Jackson's Hobbit films. There's just something raw and natural about using costumes and minatures.
However, the heavier CG use in the Hobbit films feels almost fitting. It gives the films a more fantasy-like "storybook" kind of look. Compared to the LOTR trilogy, which is more gritty and raw. And told almost like it is a true story.

 

[regwec]

The "lighting" often appears too idyllic, as well. There appears always to be a sunset to bounce off polished armour, for instance. I think the naturalistic approach taken in scenes like the fight between the Ithilien rangers and the Haradrim was comparatively convincing.

 

[Octoberist]

Judging from the trailer, this will be a really ugly looking film.

I don't know if it's because its one of the first productions to use (and struggled) the Red Epic, but everything looks so flat and overly sharp. The Greenscreen work always looks like green screen for whatever reason. And everything else feels like sets. There's no textures, there's no life in the way things look.

 

[Marvolo]

I simply think there is a lot of rushing here. If they could make the orcs in Goblin Town or Smaug, they could do it again. But they simply don't have the post-production time.

Thats the sad fact. Watching the docs on the DOS EE its abundantly clear that these films do not have enough Post producrion time. The Smaug scenes in DOS werent even started by WETA until around a month before release. The sound mix guys had to start building the sound mix around the rough animatics. Smaug's design wasnt even finalized until around four months before release. And the sound mix was delivered hours late because they were so far behind they had to work for nearly 48 hours straight to get it wired to LA on time. LA was losing their ****. And the shot of Smaug opening his eye in AUJ was finished on November 25, 2012. The day of delivery. Jackson says "Well I guess I have to approve the shot cause there is no other choice." Stuff like this was the norm during the post-production.

Its impossible to make films like this look flawless with that short of a post production time. Frankly its truly amazing they look half as good as they do. I think most crews would completely collapse under the sort of pressure that Weta and Jacksons whole crew are put under in Post.

 

[Octoberist]

The "lighting" often appears too idyllic, as well. There appears always to be a sunset to bounce off polished armour, for instance. I think the naturalistic approach taken in scenes like the fight between the Ithilien rangers and the Haradrim was comparatively convincing.

I agree.

 

[jmc]

I can definitely agree with that. Even as a huge fan of Jackson's Hobbit films. There's just something raw and natural about using costumes and minatures.
However, the heavier CG use in the Hobbit films feels almost fitting. It gives the films a more fantasy-like "storybook" kind of look. Compared to the LOTR trilogy, which is more gritty and raw. And told almost like it is a true story.

I've got no problem going with a storybook style look and feel but I believe if you're going to do that type of film you're best off doing the entire film in CG, adding real life elements in that type of environment I think can take people out of the film if the CG is overwhelming. I remember when I saw film one thinking how Rivendell just didn't look the same as it did in LOTR and I couldn't figure out why.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Thats the sad fact. Watching the docs on the DOS EE its abundantly clear that these films do not have enough Post producrion time. The Smaug scenes in DOS werent even started by WETA until around a month before release. The sound mix guys had to start building the sound mix around the rough animatics. Smaug's design wasnt even finalized until around four months before release. And the sound mix was delivered hours late because they were so far behind they had to work for nearly 48 hours straight to get it wired to LA on time. LA was losing their ****. And the shot of Smaug opening his eye in AUJ was finished on November 25, 2012. The day of delivery. Jackson says "Well I guess I have to approve the shot cause there is no other choice." Stuff like this was the norm during the post-production.

Its impossible to make films like this look flawless with that short of a post production time. Frankly its truly amazing they look half as good as they do. I think most crews would completely collapse under the sort of pressure that Weta and Jacksons whole crew are put under in Post.

I think they had plenty of time. The problem is Jackson adding tons of extra work for no reason. If Jackson wasn't changing stuff a month out from release, completely scrapping the look of characters over and over again, this wouldn't be an issue.

 

[Marvolo]

I've got no problem going with a storybook style look and feel but I believe if you're going to do that type of film you're best off doing the entire film in CG, adding real life elements in that type of environment I think can take people out of the film if the CG is overwhelming. I remember when I saw film one thinking how Rivendell just didn't look the same as it did in LOTR and I couldn't figure out why.

Rivendell in LOTR was a real model. For AUJ they built it in the computer.

They used sets for both trilogies tho.