THE HOBBIT, Production Diary 5

the orbs on ships say everyone thinks they're sailors, so welcome to our new blog, which is all about the logistics of filming on location. We've been traveling far and wide to The Hobbit filming locations in New Zealand. It has been fantastic to be able to get them. Outside, it's been fantastic to bring that texture of Middle Earth into the film, after many weeks of shooting in the studio, we established our characters, we established our story and finally it was time to hit the road and establish the landscapes. of Middle-earth we like to call it the largest logistical movement in the history of cinema just because in addition to the fleet of 240 vehicles, as you can see, we are moving around a huge area.

Thank you owners, secretly scared but quietly excited, the main reason to continue. The location in the project is to capture the scenic beauty of New Zealand. Peter's used to say that one of the things that fans of the Law of the Ring series valued most were the incredible views of Phoenix because they were so magnificent that people are really excited to see them. outside and taking this on the trip these are our changes from Maine unicrone so that's how big we are actually probably over 500 everyone has to be in the right vehicle at the right time they have to travel in the right place they have to We have rooms for sleeping.

I can't even imagine the logistics involved with changing crews, the cast, the crew we have on The Hobbit, it's pretty mind-blowing, you have to carry everything with you to produce the films we have. provide our own electrical barriers to cook food, areas with people to sit and eat, we have to provide water, the bathrooms and toilets that people need, we have to cover the weather, heat when it's cold and we have to provide cooling. when it's hot and the discouraging aspect of that is that everything will be loaded onto the trucks, everything will be on wheels and everything will be ready to roll, trying to fit all this and all that, most of these volleys, most of the trucks.

These people, but not that scissor lift, lift outer space. I can't get on some of these trucks. These guys here are going to get on these trucks. One of our biggest challenges in

production

is shooting all the locations at once for both of us. the main unit and the second unit and you can just start here. We'll be gone for about seven and a half weeks if the weather holds up, so we're basically praying that every place in the country we go is sunny and beautiful. The first location is the metadata. a phenomenon / - we are training in a food place for victory, manage your rounds, which is a fantastic job and very exciting and right here at 4 o'clock in the morning and as you can see, we are totally under control.

I have to take this to some of the more remote places in New Zealand and if there's one thing the grips can't live without it's soy lattes which are getting ready to disappear and so far we haven't packed anything and tomorrow is ours last day the first shot is doing a big scene again screen speed on for

hobbit

on this is what louis

hobbit

i have something so we need a bigger team because we also have to try to pack and they are going to say what did you pack your sound it I need where is that? wig, did you save it, no, we have to put this head on now and we will all be here until midnight trying to load the buses because they leave at 4 in the morning, make sure you fix the scotch tequila wine. and beer the bunch of plants 3 razor blades 60 kilos of toilet paper some artificial trees we got and some Jagermeister the last thing I wanted since everything needs to move the truck stopped coming to take L 49 mixed ages 15 chickens 9 goats 5 stairs from pheasants to musk ducks, they also have Michael Jackson's moonwalk chicken leading the way.

We will only guide you to get the lunch pack from your contracts to take with you on a trip, so follow me. The keys are there. It has GPS units. We instill the tone of the trucks early so we can see what happens as they move across the country. If you don't arrive, we can't shoot. The last trucks should leave here in half an hour and then Hobson, damn it, just remember the reason. You're on this plane because you're so valuable to

production

that one main unit had over a hundred units on wheels traveling to the first location, which was like a feat in itself, just having that many drivers on the road once. time we arrive. and between and it's a time of about eight hours from when the first tractor appears with the functional basic action unit to film, they have to level these trucks working, they have more power and they have to get them. everything works so fast prosthetics makeup locker room catering it is not just a case of a small team going to very remote places we are literally occupying the space of a football field I think they are actually two public fields that we have moved seven thousand cubic meters deep to accommodate and then you make a movie of that size, but there are a lot of people involved, it's very much a mini city to everyone's amazement, you know, they went home on Friday night and well, and they came out to work here on Monday morning and everything is here, lively, with an order, looking good and working well, today is a difficult day at the office, so after one hundred and ten days in the studio we finally go out into the sunlight, but I tell you Hobbiton looks fantastic.

The art department and the garden department have been working on it for almost two years. The grass has grown and the flowers have come out. Even plastic ones have flourished. It's strange when you return to a place you literally thought you'd never see again. Standing there with Elijah in costume photos was the closest I think I'll ever get into a time machine. In fact, it's the first time I've set foot in Hobbiton. I'll never forget that feeling of coming to Hobbiton for the first time I spent so much time in this universe, you know, with these characters and I keep referencing the fact that I turned 19 when I first came to Hobbiton 11 years ago, I'm 30 now there's so many feelings of nostalgia and history.

We would be searching almost the entire country for this rolling, green countryside. We were happier exploring and we found this place called Buckland Road and we found Roundtree, the hill, the lake that it was all meant to be, of course. then it was a matter of talking to the owners of the land giving them permission to film here and build here I was there one afternoon during a major he is at a rugby match so he came and knocked on my father's door and said they wanted to make a movie and my dad actually said a lot about what and I think I quietly kicked him under the table and that's how it all started this time, they actually built it so before all these Hobbit holes were built out of Styrofoam. when filming finished they tore it all down even though it was available for tours and we know people would see it, we didn't have any of the Hobbit houses here making the Hobbit, now it gave us the chance to rebuild Hobbiton in permanent materials the materials aren't going to deteriorate we care about showing people what goes into making a movie behind the scenes everything is bad that's real rock stone it's pretty amazing Poppleton will stay exactly like this today which is fantastic there's real wood there's stone real real bricks and hopefully it will be here for decades to come, yes it is prime real estate.

Have a good day. How do those feet treat you when you're a Hobbiton? You forget you're in a movie. Sid sees it like this. mobile village was just extraordinary and you totally believe that this place exists and that's because maybe I smoked too much of this now it's a real village it's a hundred percent 360 degree view wherever you want a small hobbit village can you imagine being a hobbit in this environment and get up and have a cup of tea on the doorstep? Listen to the birds and frogs. The children running around. You're not actually designing a movie set.

You're trying to put yourself in that mindset. of a hobbit and figure out where you would like your house to be there were 44 personalized hobbit holes in each hobbit hole it has different little details depending on the location that's kind of surprising the doors actually open hello they must be on the market so what? How did you get involved in your daughter's auditions and everyone missed it, oh my god, so I wasn't a popular fat girl, I don't like having my hair done properly to be in the movie, so we just finished our first week of vacation?

I just wish I could move to one of these public lands. I mean, this would be an absolutely identical celebrity. It really would be. This is the kind of place I retired to very happily tonight. The next day we could retire here. I hope you enjoyed it. The first part of our location blog, the second part will be very early in the new year and in the meantime, we just filmed the last shot of The Hobbit in 2011, so there is only one last thing left to do: wish you. everyone a merry christmas