Official The Hobbit thread

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tecnowraith said:
WETA Digital is working on it now cause a friend of mine is a creature designer and he said will be busy for awhile. Now WETA Workshop is another question. There 2 different WETA production companies.
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there is a chance that WB will split the CGI to different VFX houses.
 
redhawk23 said:
Hey dude news flash, its a franchis about a mythical reality, not a period film or documentary about Scandanavian warriors. Who the hell ever said they have to be strictly Scandanavian? Its dwarvish culture, developing on its own, who says they cant come up with some of the same technology and concepts used in non scandanavian axes? being so fond of axes, they possibly have gone through every possible combination.
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Of course I understand that the Dwarves' culture is not a historical one; it is, however, roundly derived from Norse myth. The Dwarvish language is basically modified Old Norse, and the names of the Dwarves of the Hobbit are all lifted from the pages of Snorri Sturlisson. That is not to say that everything about the Dwarves on screen has to be homogeneously Scandinavian, but I do feel that it should be the major influence. I am only arguing my point because you declared that the movies' axes were Scandinavian in design. The lattice-type axes represent, in my view, a cultural influence which just isn't particularly relevant. It hardly ruins the movies, but it is something I would change if it was up to me. That's all.

By comparison, the movies got the Anglo-Saxon culture of the Rohirrim, with their armour influenced by Sutton Hoo and Coppergate, pretty much exactly right.

In another comparison, the Easterlings had their Indian/Middle Eastern influences highly repressed, probably for reasons of cultural sensitivity.
 
I really hope we're not trying to argue realism in a movie about an evil dark lord, flying wraiths, demon spirits, hobbits, dwarves, elves, wizards, and talking trees. Just saying.
 
Who on earth mentioned realism? I am talking about accuracy.
 
regwec said:
Who on earth mentioned realism? I am talking about accuracy.
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Accuracy based on how you think it should be? Or accuracy based on how Tolkien meant for it to be? You're trying to argue historical accuracy about a series of books that is not based on history.
 
Tolkien was a linguistics master, and wrote a lot of his stories extrapolated on his knowledge of languages. However, having read the books, I'm not sure he ever gave a detailed description of what sorts of technologies that were available to the different Races of Middle Earth.

While I'm sure his intentions were that the race of Dwarves were to be based on the Nordic traditions, it was probably to give the people reading his books a frame of reference. Up to that point, no one had really tried to write a fantasy book in as serious of a tone has he had. Nowdays, we take for granted that when you say Dwarf, the image of a gruff, bearded stocky humanoid comes to mind. Up to that point, the closest real life counterpart would have been a Viking warrior. That's not to say Jackson's artistic license takes away from the original story at all. In my mind, it still allows for the variations we see on the screen.

Regardless, nothing could be quite as bad as Rankin-Bass' attempt at bringing the story to life.
 
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Marx said:
Accuracy based on how you think it should be? Or accuracy based on how Tolkien meant for it to be? You're trying to argue historical accuracy about a series of books that is not based on history.
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I agree. It's like Rohan was loosely inspired by Northern Europenan designs but it's not exactly 'based' or accurate. Just inspired and from there, Weta did their own thing.
 
Marx said:
Accuracy based on how you think it should be? Or accuracy based on how Tolkien meant for it to be? You're trying to argue historical accuracy about a series of books that is not based on history.
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Can you explain why you have re imagined this as a debate on realism, then?

I am talking about accuracy based on fidelity to how Tolkien fleshed out his invented world. His books evidently are not a historical adaptation (I really fail to see why I have to point this out), but the cultures contained within and some of the figurative events and personalities involved with those cultures are most often either lifted from history or historical literature. The Rohirrim are not "loosely based on North European cultures", they are the Anglo-Saxons of Mercia given cavalry and Saruman for neighbours. Their language and their names are Old English. In a letter, Tolkien said that their clothing should be based on that of the Anglo-Saxons in the Bayeux tapestry. The "Mark", their homeland, is a phonetic spelling of the name "Mercia" in the Mercian dialectical vernacular. Read Tom Shippey on this- he covers it all at much greater length than I can.

Despite popular belief that all of Tolkien's ideas are original and malleable, he often reprocessed concepts found in early medieval history and literature. The magic rings and the Dwarves are lifted from the nibelungenlied, while the Dwarves' names come from Edda. The dragon with it's hoard of treasure comes directly from Beowulf. "Saruman" is "wily man" in Old English. "Gandalf" is "elf with staff" in Old Norse. Tolkien's truly original creations are the Hobbits, and the Orcs, though the material culture and language of the latter seems to be highly Turkic.

Now, all of this doesn't mean that you can't give the Dwarves a funky axe design just because it looks funky. But Weta took immense care to understand the roots of each imaginary culture, which makes the faintly African Dwarven axes seem like a rare misstep.

It's not a massive issue, but I would fix it if it was up to me. I am astonished that this is such a controversial viewpoint!
 
If Weta Workshop is cut loose due to the project leaving NZ, I could see Jackson walking. There is no way in hell he would work on these films without this group of people.
 
NZ Herald said:
Jackson: Hobbit union "had gun to our head"

Sir Peter Jackson has today produced a letter which he says counters claims by NZ Actors' Equity that they sought a meeting with the producer prior to blacklisting The Hobbitfilms.

In a statement, Sir Peter said the letter was sent to production company 3 foot 7 from the International Federation of Actors (FIA) on August 17.

He said it stated that as the production intended to "hire performers under non-union contracts" the FIA unanimously voted to urge its affiliates to instruct its members not to act in the two films "until such time as the producer has entered into a collective bargaining agreement with the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance".

Sir Peter said the letter was the first time he was made aware of the issue.

"It was the first time a meeting was ever requested and it was clear from the letter, they had already voted to blacklist us, before even asking for one conversation with me.

"I am sick and tired of hearing Equity say "all we ever wanted was a meeting," because it's disingenuous - they fail to add that from the outset, they had a gun to our head."

Sir Peter said the fact the move came from an Australian union had only made him angrier.

"It just made me incredibly angry, I wondered how can a union behave like this? How could (MEAA assistant federal secretary) Simon Whipp initiate an international strike action against our film with no prior vote from the Kiwi membership?"

Sir Peter Jackson said he would not meet with NZ Actors' Equity to collectively bargain terms and conditions for the cast as he was advised this was illegal under New Zealand law.

Despite their request, the union kept the blacklisting in place even after acknowledging what they were requesting was illegal, he said.

"They are attempting to characterise their actions as an innocent request for a meeting, but the truth is they kept a loaded gun to our heads the entire time."
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SOURCE: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/movies/news/article.cfm?c_id=200&objectid=10683359
 
regwec said:
It's not a massive issue, but I would fix it if it was up to me. I am astonished that this is such a controversial viewpoint!
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If you stop trolling and stop providing 100% of the controversy, then the thread wouldn't have this "controversial viewpoint" of yours. :doh:
 
I hear we'll get the decision this weekend on whether or not they'll be staying in New Zealand. I somehow get the feeling that as much as it pains Jackson, he'll have no choice but to move.
 
Doctor Jones said:
I hear we'll get the decision this weekend on whether or not they'll be staying in New Zealand. I somehow get the feeling that as much as it pains Jackson, he'll have no choice but to move.
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Well, it's 2:17 PM on Wednesday in NZ at the moment. I believe they are having meetings right now as I type.

So yeah, we could get an answer in a couple of hours, or a couple more days. I'm certainly leaning towards the latter.

I just hope Jackson is able to be a professional and not carry his emotional baggage into the films - in the event that they move production. But at the same time, WB better not even consider the idea of replacing Weta Workshop. That is simply inexcusable.
 
Uh, I don't think either one of those comments are trolling :dry:.

The first comment was him voicing his opinion.
The second is a joke.

Lighten up :up:.
 
Televised press release 5 minutes ago from Prime Minister John Key...

Summary:
The Hobbit is going ahead IN NEW ZEALAND! :woot:
 
Finally :up:.

Now get moving on casting McKellen.
 
After seven long years of waiting, three more months and cameras start rolling :up:.

Now bring on more casting.
 
Boom said:
After seven long years of waiting, three more months and cameras start rolling :up:.

Now bring on more casting.
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It's so weird to read that. Just a month ago I really thought this movie would never happen.
 
Awesome!

I couldn't see WB moving the movie to a different country: WETA is based here, along with the majority of Jackson's crew. Plus you would have ship out the props, and hire new, maybe less dependable crews overseas.

Plus, they would have to scout other countries and that can only delay the production.
 
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