Del Toro to helm The Hobbit!
- Voronwë the Faithful
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An interesting comment from GdT at TORN about how much design work has been done. Apparently, at ComicCon, James Cameron made a comment having seen some of Weta design work on The Hobbit and being very impressed with it (supposedly his exact words were that it was “the s***”). There was some talk at TORN about whether this was an honest opinion or currying favor. Today, GdT posted this:
Setting aside the question of what James Cameron's opinion is (which I don't really care about), this gives some indication of just how much design work has already been done. Smaug, fully designed? The spiders, Mirkwood? The Dwarven and Goblin armies that participate in the BOTFA? Thranduill's throne room? That's a lot of stuff!For what is worth: Jim and I have been dear friends for over 17 years now. But that has not prevented us being very critical of each other's work through the years. Just so you know- he would NEVER declare anything like this if he didn't feel that way. What he saw were very strong designs and maquettes: GOBLINS and their environment, SMAUG (fully designed but without final color / texture), SPIDERS OF MIRKWOOD, MIRKWOOD, STONE TROLLS, WARGS, IRON HILL DWARVES, GUNDABAD ARMY, THRANDUILL'S THRONE ROOM etc, etc and he was delighted. This for me, as his friend, and as a filmmaker, meant a whole lot. You will / may disagree at the end of the process but, I assure you, this IS his opinion.
"Spirits in the shape of hawks and eagles flew ever to and from his halls; and their eyes could see to the depths of the seas, and pierce the hidden caverns beneath the world."
- Voronwë the Faithful
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I noted that, too, soli. And I thought the reference to "Gundabad army" was quite promising. He could have just said "Goblin army" but by referencing the northern Orcish capital where the Goblins gathered before attacking he is telling us that he really has studied the story with a fine tooth comb.
"Spirits in the shape of hawks and eagles flew ever to and from his halls; and their eyes could see to the depths of the seas, and pierce the hidden caverns beneath the world."
- Voronwë the Faithful
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- Primula Baggins
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I just read it. It's 10 pages but they're very short pages, and it's full of interesting new information. I thought it was very encouraging, showing that both GdT and PJ are approaching their roles on the film and the structure of the story very much as I had hoped they would.
“There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
- Voronwë the Faithful
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I was particularly pleased to see that GdT is determined to put a different stamp on these films, rather than trying to cookie-cut them into the same mold as the LOTR films.
"Spirits in the shape of hawks and eagles flew ever to and from his halls; and their eyes could see to the depths of the seas, and pierce the hidden caverns beneath the world."
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There was lots of great dialogue in all three of the films. Much of it came from the books and some of it was written for the screen.
One thing I would suggest for anyone discussing such a subject is that they pick up a screenplay of any major film adapted from a book and read it. Then read the book again and look for the same lines that were spoken. One thing that will jump out at you - and all you really need to do is lay the script side by side with the book - is that hardly any films allow actors to speak more than a few lines at a time anymore. This is not something Jackson invented but something that has been around for a long time now.
In books, people often speak in paragraphs, sometimes for a page or more. Rarely does that happen in films anymore. Eight sentences of dialogue in a book becomes a two line exchange in a film. Again, Peter Jackson did not invent that. Movies have been like that for a long time now.
I suspect that we will see some of the beautiful lines from HOBBIT in the films. I also suspect that if you have high hopes of seeing pages of dialogue transferred to the screen, your hopes will be dashed.
One thing I would suggest for anyone discussing such a subject is that they pick up a screenplay of any major film adapted from a book and read it. Then read the book again and look for the same lines that were spoken. One thing that will jump out at you - and all you really need to do is lay the script side by side with the book - is that hardly any films allow actors to speak more than a few lines at a time anymore. This is not something Jackson invented but something that has been around for a long time now.
In books, people often speak in paragraphs, sometimes for a page or more. Rarely does that happen in films anymore. Eight sentences of dialogue in a book becomes a two line exchange in a film. Again, Peter Jackson did not invent that. Movies have been like that for a long time now.
I suspect that we will see some of the beautiful lines from HOBBIT in the films. I also suspect that if you have high hopes of seeing pages of dialogue transferred to the screen, your hopes will be dashed.