Video Blog #8: What did we learn?

Ok, so I'm a little late getting the production video up, but there's good reason for that: first, as you can see . . . the old blog has been undergoing some renovations; second, well . . . life is busy; and third, has to be my favorite production video so far, and there is a lot of info to glean from it.

So, if you haven't seen the video yet, go ahead and watch it, then jump past the break to take a look at some screen shots (courtesy of DarkJackal) and we'll talk a bit about the new hints/clues/revelations we get in this little reel!

STONE-GIANTS! Woot! Everyone has been waiting to see if these guys would be included in the movie, and it turns out they will be! Gotta admit, the whole literally-made-of-rock thing was not what I was expecting, and I'm still a little undecided about how much I like it. But, just the fact that the stone-giants will make an appearance in the movie is enough to get me grinning. And would you look at the rock this guy is hefting! No wonder the Thorin and the dwarves wanted to get in out of the rain. Anyways, can't really describe how happy this short scene made me.

More scenes from Bilbo's encounter with the trolls. Now, we've all heard by now that yes, the trolls will speak. But it's fun to see a bit more of this moment. I think this screen shot in particular is really fun . . Bilbo is in his good old Shire clothing, mixing it up with the trolls. Can I say again that I think Martin Freeman is the perfect choice for our plucky hobbit?

Was I more excited about the glimpses of this DWARF ARMY or the stone-giant? Hard to say. These stumpy warriors look awesome. I mean, look at that war hammer in the upper picture. That thing is huge. Its interesting to me that the soldiers have such a uniform appearance. You would think that dwarves, being master crafstmen and artisans, would appreciate a more individualized armor system, where every warrior constructs his own armor and weapons. But hey, I'm not directing the movie, am I? Also interesting to note, the dwarf soldiers don't seem to be using axes as their primary weapons. Now, in some ways this makes sense . . . being short the dwarves would need some way to extend their reach in order to combat taller races like Men, Elves and Orcs. On the other hand, not seeing these dwarven warriors with axes makes me a little sad. But, the huge hammer makes up for it, I guess.

Another treat was this partial view of a dwarven king, one of his councilors and several more soldiers. Which king is it? Possibly Dain Ironfoot, but with those soldiers in the background, my money is on Thrain or Thror.

And is this our first glimpse of Tauriel in action? Yeah, I think so. Interestingly, there are actual several elves in the picture. You can see the head and shoulders to the right of the orc's knee, the camera is obscuring another (maybe that's Tauriel?), and a final elf on the extreme right of the picture. Another point of interest is that the orc seems to be wearing some kind of green-screen cap. Are goblin-ish cameras going to be added in post production?

And finally we got a bit more information on Radagast. Here are several interior shost of his house, Rhosgobel. I have to admit, I think this looks perfect . . . a cluttered, slightly dirty wizard's cottage. I love all the little details. In the second image note the (rugged) clay mug, the bowl of dried herbs (or a salad Radagast forgot to eat?) and the wooden mortar (on the left hand edge) and the clay (or stone) pestles. The idea that Radagast would collect, cure and blend herbs is certainly consistent with the descriptions we have of him. The windchime (?) or astrolabe (?) in the third photo is intriguing to say the least. What could it possibly be used for? Or is it simply decorative? One interesting thing about the astrolabe (?) is that the brass pieces are fairly complex and well made. Since Radagast probably didn't do the smelting/forging/casting by himself, I assume this means that at some point in his history he had more contact with the outside world. The fourth and final photo caught my eye because of the interesting branch ornament that dominates the center of the room. Bird roost, anyone? All in all, these frames just get me really excited to see Radagast.

Dale! Our first concrete look at Dale. I was blown away with how awesome this city looks. I love how distinct it is from any of the other Mannish cultures we've seen so far. There have been some complaints/criticisms that the architecture looks too Mediterranean, and that Dale is too far north for such buildings to be practical. To me, this says more about the critics' lack of cultural/historical understanding than anything else. Romans (the progenitors of this style of architecture) expanded through most of Europe, building cities as far north as England using their typical architectural style, including tile roofs. In modern day rural Peru, tile roofs are by far the most common type of roof, even though cold temperatures and even snow are a common occurrence in the high Andes. Dale has a wonderful hilly look to it, with winding roads that slant this way and that, just like the city is nestled on the lower slopes of the Lonely Mountain. The fact that Dale, unlike Rohan, is constructed primarily of stone, suggests that the Dwarves of Erebor have had a large influence on this Mannish city; however, the pastel banners and flowing curves seen in some of the buildings' artistic flourished may hint at an Elvish influence, perhaps due to Dale's proximity to Thranduil's kingdom. The two statues in the second picture look very Arthurian, in my opinion, suggesting that Dale has been modeled more on the classical medieval England than on Anglo-Saxon England (Rohan) and Rome (Gondor). Additionally, the city is filled with small trees, vines and other plants, something we never saw in either Rohan or Gondor––perhaps Dale-ish culture has maintained a more prominent connection with nature than the other Mannish cultures. All in all, I think Dale is fantastic, and I can't wait to see it in it's finished form.

My favorite part of the production video was the extended view we got of Beorn's house. The fact that it was built to dwarf-scale just made it seem that much more . . . well, fantastic. The detail that the WETA folks put into the sets never ceases to amaze me. The carving that decorates almost every inch of the hal is exquisite. Did you see the beaver? Beaver! And there are other small details that I really appreciated: the wooden ale mugs, the straw on the floor. Great stuff. Just great stuff.

More Mystery Dwarves! Now, I'm fairly confident in guessing that the guy in the bottom picture is Thrain, but I'm at a loss as to who the other two dwarves in the first picture are. Their outfits are awesome, especially the little embellishments, like the closer dwarf's headband and the metal badges on their chests. Now, it's possible these guys are just extra dwarfs that feature in some flashback to the Lonely Mountain . . . in fact, maybe that's the most likely, cause I have no idea who else they could be.

Now, at first glance the above photos might not appear to significan; but after taking a second look, I realized that Bombur, Kili, Fili, Dori and Dwalin are all wearing new outfits. Judging from the background visible in the second and fourth images, the dwarves are in the ruins of Dale. So, my guess is that after the dwarves tumble out of their barrels into Lake-Town, the Lake Men outfit them with new clothing (you'll notice the clothes the dwarves are wearing look a little large).

And last, but not least, we get our first glimpse of the wine cellar in the Wood Elves' caves. It's a small detail, but I really liked the design of the wine bottles. WETA has a way of taking simple things, like wine bottles, and creating something totally unexpected but still completely believable. Well done. Many people have pointed out that unlike in the book, Thorin is captured with the rest of the dwarves. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out.

Well, that's it for the review. This most recent video has really gotten me excited for the movie. Only four more months.

Sigh . . .