Hall of Fire chat this Saturday: The Pyre of Denethor

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The remote server returned an unexpected response: (417) Expectation failed.
April 11, 2014 at 10:32 pm by Demosthenes  - 

This Saturday at 6pm ET, Hall of Fire will be looking at moral dilemnas as we examine our next chapter of The Return of the King — the Pyre of Denethor.

‘…I am frightened. Something terrible may happen up there. The Lord is out of his mind, I think. I am afraid he will kill himself, and kill Faramir too. Can’t you do something?’

Gandalf looked through the gaping Gate, and already on the fields he heard the gathering sound of battle. He clenched his hand. ‘I must go ‘ he said. ‘The Black Rider is abroad, and he will yet bring ruin on us. I have no time.’

‘But Faramir!’ cried Pippin. ‘He is not dead, and they will burn him alive, if someone does not stop them.’

The Return of the King: Book V, Chapter VII: The Pyre of Denethor

Fearing Denethor is about to act rashly, Pippin has sought out Gandalf at the Great Gate of Minas Tirith. As the battle teeters and rages without, Gandalf faces a desperate choice: leave his key foe the run of the field and face down Gondor’s Steward or abandon the ill and helpless Faramir to the vicissitudes of luck.

Meanwhile in Rath Dínen, Beregond fights Denethor’s servants to a standstill over the life of Faramir.

How has the use of the Palantir poisoned the Steward’s mind? How does Gandalf try to win Denethor back to reality? What do you think about Denethor’s end?

Loyalty to and obedience of authority are key virtues in The Lord of the Rings. Yet in this chapter Tolkien examines the price of uncritical obedience. How do you compare Beregond’s acts with those of Denethor’s personal servants? And what about the murder of the porter, can that be justified?

These are just a few of the questions we’ll ponder this weekend as we explore The Pyre of Denethor in the Hall of Fire.

Upcoming topics

April 19: Morgoth and Sauron: similarities and differences
April 26: ROTK: Bk V, Ch VIII: The Houses of Healing

The Pyre of Denethor by Robert Chronister.

Time zone conversions

Not sure what time the chat will be where you are? Check this little conversion table out for some help. Alternatively, check our handy Event Announcer over on Time and Date for the correct time in your area.

America:
6.00pm EDT (New York)
5.00pm CDT (Chicago)
4.00pm MDT (Denver)
3.00pm PDT (Los Angeles)

Europe:
11.00pm BST (London)
Midnight CEST (Paris)
1.00am EEST (Helsinki)

Asia-Pacific
8.00am AEST (Sunday) Brisbane
9.00am AEDT (Sunday) Sydney, Melbourne
11.00am NZDT (Sunday) Wellington

How long do your topic chats go for?

Our chats usually last from an hour to ninety minutes, and are very newbie friendly. Simply drop in and join the conversation! However, our main room, #theonering.net is open 24 hours a day. We don’t always talk Tolkien there, but if you have a burning question, you’ll usually find one or two of “the regulars” up for a chat!

Where — connection details

Chat happens on #thehalloffire on irc.theonering.net — the TORn IRC server. You can connect instantly via our embedded Mibbit client that works inside your web browser.

Alternatively, you can install a dedicated chat program such as mIRC on your computer and just plug in the following connection details.

Server: irc.theonering.net
Port: 6667
Channel: #thehalloffire

Posted in Barliman News, Barlimans, Hall of Fire on April 11, 2014 by Demosthenes

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Available Now

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The remote server returned an unexpected response: (417) Expectation failed.
Just a little reminder that as of now, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is available nationwide (and few other countries) in multiple different formats without that Star Trek crap that Paramount pulls on their releases where special features vary from store to store and format to format. Nope, here it is thankfully the same. In this case the special features are a behind the scenes look at the film based mostly on Jackson's video blogs and music video. The real goodies are being saved the Extended Edition due sometime around Christmas. Hit the links to order from Amazon, with note on average price for each format.

Versions: BR + DVD + Ultraviolet ($23) | 3D BR + BR + DVD + Ultraviolet ($25) | 2 disc DVD ($17) | Limited Edition Book Ends + 3D Combo Pack ($80)

HobbitCon 2 in Bonn, Germany – April 19-21

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The remote server returned an unexpected response: (417) Expectation failed.
April 7, 2014 at 1:43 pm by greendragon  - 

As staffer Garfeimao stated in the post below, convention season is getting going! The same weekend that some TORn staff will be at WonderCon in Anaheim, there is a very exciting convention taking place in Germany – HobbitCon! Message boarder kiwifan attended last year, and shared the fun of this exclusive event with us.  Here’s what she had to say:

“The first HobbitCon last Easter was such a fabulous event that there will be another one this year, much to the delight of the many fans who wished for this happen. Incidentally, the eight Dwarf actors who were among the ‘star guests’ last year enjoyed themselves so much that they are all returning for this one! Anyone interested in reading about our impressions and adventures at last year’s HobbitCon can read more at the message boards, in a thread started by Rosie-with-the-ribbons on the ‘TORn moots and other events’ board.

Although the convention takes place in Germany (at the Maritim Hotel, Bonn), it’s the only international event of this magnitude that focuses exclusively on The Hobbit and other Tolkien-related topics, and according to the HobbitCon organisers, the majority of those who have already bought tickets come from all over the world — other European countries, Russia, America, and even Japan!

Actors present at HobbitCon 2 will be:

Jed Brophy (Nori)Adam Brown (Ori)John Callen (Oin)Mark Hadlow (Dori)Peter Hambleton (Gloin)Stephen Hunter (Bombur)William Kircher (Bifur)Graham McTavish (Dwalin)Dean O’Gorman (Fili)Ken Stott (Balin)and Mark Atkin, who is Richard Armitage’s stunt double as Thorin.

All the actors will be on stage several times in their respective panels and, in some cases, in a couple of comedy shows as well, which, if they are anything like the one last year, will have the audiences in stitches throughout.

Moreover, WETA Workshop’s creative genius Sir Richard Taylor will be giving two talks and two workshops in which he’ll transform a volunteer member of the audience into a Middle-earth creature!

Also present will be Royd Tolkien, J.R.R. Tolkien’s great-grandson, who’ll give two panels, and Emil Johansson, the creator of the LotR Project, who’ll talk about The Science of Middle-earth, The Hobbit book and the movie.

Mark Ferguson (who played Gil-galad in The Fellowship of the Ring) will again act as Master of Ceremonies in his inimitable style. Larry D. Curtis, TORn’s own MrCere, will give several talks on The Hobbit and his experiences as an embedded reporter on the film set in New Zealand.

In the Choir Workshop, held in English and German, you can learn the ‘Song of the Lonely Mountain’. A number of talks and workshops on a great variety of topics will be held in German, but several of the workshops will be conducted in both English and German (as indicated by the small letters ‘E’ and ‘D’ in the respective boxes in the schedule).

The film The Hunt for Gollum will be shown at HobbitCon, and the fan fantasy project Myrrdin will be introduced in a panel and a workshop by the film makers. Another screening will be of the Russian film parody The Trouble of the Rings Returns King Size (in Russian with optional English and German subtitles).

The Deutsche Tolkien Gesellschaft (DTG, that is the German Tolkien Society) will have their own rooms and separate activities. Last year, among other things, they offered a Tolkien quiz (and I, with considerable help from Rosie-with-the-ribbons, won a small plastic collectible figurine of Grinnah the Goblin).

On Saturday and Sunday evening there will be parties and a concert; a Costume Contest is scheduled for Sunday evening, and there will be an Art Show featuring Tolkien-related fan artwork. Many sellers will offer merchandise galore, and you can get autographs and be photographed with your favourite actors (or all of them at once in a group photo) — lots of opportunities to spend money!

The programme (subject to changes, however, since Manu ‘Azog’ Bennett had to cancel, alas) as well as ticket information (tickets for the entire weekend or for any one of the three days) can be found at HobbitCon’s website. As the online ticket shop closed on Monday April 7th, those who don’t have tickets yet and spontaneously decide to attend this marvellous event will have to come to the Maritim Hotel to purchase them directly, from Friday afternoon April 18th onward. The organisers have assured me that there will still be convention tickets and hotel rooms available by then. [But you may want to double-check before travelling to Germany!]

Hoping to see many of you there!”

* * * * *

Thanks to kiwifan for sharing her thoughts and excitement! If you’re planning on going, and would like to meet up with other ‘TORnadoes’ whilst you’re there, you can always head on over to the message boards and start a thread to find out who else will be there!

Posted in Adam Brown, Conventions, Crew News, Dean O'Gorman, Events, Graham McTavish, Hobbit Cast News, Hobbit Movie, Jed Brophy, John Callen, Ken Stott, Lord of the Rings, LotR Cast News, LotR Movies, Mark Hadlow, Meet Ups, Other Cast, Peter Hambleton, Richard Taylor, Stephen Hunter, The Hobbit, WETA Workshop, William Kircher on April 7, 2014 by greendragon

Daniel Falconer: Smaug is the grand-daddy of dragons

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The remote server returned an unexpected response: (417) Expectation failed.
April 7, 2014 at 8:53 pm by Demosthenes  - 

SciFiNow spoke to Daniel Falconer, Weta Workshop designer and author of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug: Unleashing the Dragon (order it here if you haven’t already) about the process of creating what he describes as “the grand-daddy” of fantasy dragons.

He also reveals what Benedict Cumberbatch brought to the role, and why he feels Peter Jackson understands exactly what is required from a fantasy epic.

Don’t forget to click the link to read the entire interview.

SciFiNow: Dragons seem to be enjoying a bit of a renaissance these days; what sets Smaug apart?

Falconer: I think Smaug is special because, at least as far as western dragons go, he really is the archetype upon which all modern fantasy dragons are based. It was something everyone at Weta was very mindful of when the first forays into designing him were being made. He had a lot to live up to. There have been many great dragons on our screens over the years, but I personally always felt that many of them owed a lot to what Tolkien imbued in Smaug. Those qualities have influenced the evolution of most western dragons since. Smaug is an object of awe and dread. He is ruthless and cruel, cunning and proud, avaricious and predatory, but his power and savage beauty are also attractive.

I think we are drawn to Dragons because throughout our histories and fantasies we have tended to ascribe great power to them. Something actor Benedict Cumberbatch said when I interviewed him for the book really struck a chord with me when he observed that Smaug’s allure is actually seductive. The sheer power and superiority he exudes over everything else in his world is seductive, but it is also corrupting. So, I think part of Smaug’s specialness and why we were all so looking forward to seeing him on the big screen has to do with several decades’ worth of build-up. We have seen so many wonderful dragons, but this guy is the grand-daddy of western fantasy wyrms.

SciFiNow: What were the pressures of bringing such a popular creature to life?

Falconer: With great expectation comes great pressure. If there was one common factor I found in talking to everyone associated with creating Smaug for the screen, it was an eagerness to live up to the vision conjured by Tolkien’s characterization. This dragon had to be truly jaw-dropping in every way.

That was the artistic pressure at work, the striving for excellence that, on a project involving hundreds of people, is infectious and has a way of yielding something greater than the sum of its parts. But there was also the technical pressure. I’m a writer and designer, so I’m no expert when it comes to technology of special effects, but I learned a lot as I was researching and writing this book, talking to my colleagues at Weta Digital, Weta Workshop and Park Road Post.

Peter Jackson imagined Smaug on a truly colossal scale. If he were a living, physical being he could waddle out to the airport and stretch out his wings to shade a 747 jumbo-jet under each one with room to spare, but the camera also had to be able to get very close to him, zooming in on his bus-sized head or just his eye and still read detail and complexity. That meant sculpting and painting in all that minute detail that makes a digital creature feel real, down to the last tiny scale, on something with a vast surface area. Every scale was created by hand. How much would be texture mapped and how much would be sculpted into the model itself? Was it even possible in the limited time frame of movie production? And would such an information-heavy model be unwieldy to animate and render?

[Read More]

Posted in Benedict Cumberbatch, Daniel Falconer, Hobbit Movie, The Hobbit, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug on April 7, 2014 by Demosthenes
Source: SciFiNow