SDCC '12: THE HOBBIT Panel and Footage Description
Fans of The Hobbit had camped out since last night. They got more than they were expecting this morning with Ian Mckellan dropping by, waking up fans to thank them, and spend time with them. He spent over an hour signing hats and taking pictures. A packed panel, a behind the scenes featurette, and over 12 1/2 minutes of footage from the film left everyone good and satisfied.
The opening footage featured the cast and crew of The Hobbit through the last 5 days of principal photography on the second of The Hobbit films. In the footage we were taken behind the scenes, with all the dwarves in the film explaining how amazing it was to get to work with Ian McKellan. "Ian walks on set, and I just think in my head, 'Oh my gosh, that's Gandalf!'"
The big things fans of the original trilogy would be interested in geeking out over, is Cate Blanchett as Galadriel, which "gave everyone on set goosebumps." We also see Andy Serkis performing double duty as second-unit director. He wraps up second-unit production by shooting Orlando Bloom as Legolas. Other cool things we saw were Lee Pace learning to move like an Elf, and the cast and crew on the last day of principal photography. If you're sad that you didn't get to see this exclusive Comic-Con footage, fear not, because they have begun post production on video production blogs that will be released in the near future.
After Peter Jackson and Phillipa Boyens were introduced, they went right into the footage. There's been a lot of drama leading up to this panel. We were originally supposed to get a chance to see it in the much talked about 48 frames per second format that it was shot in. It had received an initial negative reaction from previous screenings of the footage. After a rumored effort to make the new format look more "traditional" for Comic-Con audiences, Jackson decided to show the footage in the standard 24 frames, and in 2D.
In the footage shown we saw:
- Bilbo being picked by Gandalf as the 14th memeber of the dwarves, reading his contract and fainting.
- Gandalf, on why he chose Bilbo.
- Bilbo in the goblin caves with Gollum, playing riddles.
- Bilbo telling Gandalf that he found his courage, as he keeps the ring a secret.
- Tons of shots of Legolas kicking some ass.
All the footage looked amazing. We weren't treated to any big action sequences until the very end with the Legolas footage, which was very quick.
We'll be posting the entire panel for The Hobbit soon, but here are some highlights, or info that you might find interesting from the Q&A portion of the panel.
The panel included: Peter Jackson, Boyens, Martin Freeman, Ian McKellan, Richard Armitage, Andy Serkis, and Elijah Wood.
- Jackson will film his cameo for the film next week.
- Boyens: She said they felt the weight of a mostly male cast, and they created a female character that was not from the Tolkien source material. The chracter si name Tauriel, who is played by Evangeline Lilly. Boyens explained that she brings in that femenine energy, but that they didn't want it to feel like a ploy.
-Freeman: When he had a hard day, he would look at the other actors working though the prosthetics, and think to himself that he doesn't have it that bad.
-Peter Jackson: Can't do a Silmarillion, because the character is owned by the Tolkien estate, and not by Warner Bros.
-Wood: Went to New Zealand for a month to shoot his portion as Frodo for the film.
-Jackson: They'd love to release extended cuts of the film.
-Serkis: He was only supposed to shoot for two weeks as Gollum. But a week or so before leaving, he received a call from Fran Walsh, asking, "Would you like coming down for a year and a half instead of two [weeks]?" Bilbo/Gollum scene was the first scene shot for the movie. This allowed Freeman to really find the character of Bilbo.
-Freeman: "We all have fear, we all have reservations. I have to be the eyes and ears of the audience."
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey hits theaters December 14th.
Synopsis:
The adventure follows the journey of title character Bilbo Baggins, who is swept into an epic quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor from the fearsome dragon Smaug. Approached out of the blue by the wizard Gandalf the Grey, Bilbo finds himself joining a company of thirteen dwarves led by the legendary warrior, Thorin Oakenshield. Their journey will take them into the Wild; through treacherous lands swarming with Goblins and Orcs, deadly Wargs and Giant Spiders, Shapeshifters and Sorcerers.
Although their goal lies to the East and the wastelands of the Lonely Mountain first they must escape the goblin tunnels, where Bilbo meets the creature that will change his life forever…Gollum.
Here, alone with Gollum, on the shores of an underground lake, the unassuming Bilbo Baggins not only discovers depths of guile and courage that surprise even him, he also gains possession of Gollum’s “precious” ring that holds unexpected and useful qualities … A simple, gold ring that is tied to the fate of all Middle-earth in ways Bilbo cannot begin to know.