The Battle for Middle-Earth

…is soon coming to a town near you.

I always get my priorities right. Really, what would you do: Stay at home and polish an essay that’s due in the next day, or spend 3 hours outside, surrounded by like-minded people, supporting a cause that means the world to you? OK, so maybe that was a little biased, but hey, I have to do something to make myself feel better for once again downgrading the importance of getting this essay right. (I think that’s a lost cause, though; that’s why I’ve stopped trying. Now I just want to hand it in.) At least I’m fully prepared for an all-nighter if need be (and I’m sure it’ll be necessary).

But that’s not the main issue today. I want to say something about the rallies that were arranged today to support filming of The Hobbit in New Zealand. I arrived in Civic Square about an hour early to secure a good spot, watching the people from Weta set up loudspeakers and TV screens etc. I had fun trying to recognise people, however it wasn’t until Gino Acevedo turned up that my heart skipped a beat; he works for Weta as a prosthetics supervisor and did a lot of the special effects on the LotR trilogy, and even got a cameo in The Return of the King as a pirate (on the right in the photo below). It was exhilarating seeing him in real life, after seeing him so many times on the behind-the-scenes footage from the extended versions of the LotR trilogy.

The second arrow points to Sir Richard Taylor; he runs Weta Workshop with his wife Tanya and is the creative supervisor. The biggest moment for me today was seeing him, as he talked to the crowd several times, reading a statement from Peter Jackson himself, as well as sharing some anecdotes from the production of The Lord of the Rings, making everyone laugh. Man, I love these people. Liz Mullane, the casting director on the Rings trilogy also spoke to the crowd, and shared a few of her own stories from behind the scenes, to highlight the way NZ pulled together to get the LotR trilogy made, and how they sometimes hit a few bumps along the way…

My heart swelled with pride and affection at seeing how much people in NZ care about their film industry. It was something special to hear stories from the making of the LotR from the people who were involved in it, even though it happened almost 10 years ago. It still means so much to them, and judging by the response their stories received, it still means just as much to everyone else.

After the last person had said their piece (there were several speakers, including the mayor of Wellington, several Weta workers and a couple of filmmakers), people released colourful balloons that had been handed out by the people who arranged the rally, and everyone was in a really cheerful mood. I very much wanted to say something to Richard Taylor, but didn’t know what, so I just went over to where he was standing, and snapped a couple of photos before I left…

For more photos from the rally, go to http://picasaweb.google.com/randikleppe90/HobbitRallyInWellington25101002?feat=directlink

Only bummer of the day was that I brought my video camera, thinking that it was fully charged, only to discover as I began filming that I had less than 10 minutes of battery life left… So I got about half of the mayor’s speech, and none of Taylor’s, Mullane’s and Acevedo’s anecdotes from the Rings days. Sad face. But at least I got to hear it in person, and to me, that beats nearly everything. Almost as good as being there myself (the filming of the LotR, that is).

Now I really need to finish the essay. All of a sudden it’s nearly 6pm. And I still don’t feel a panic attack coming on. How weird.

Opting out

 

A couple of days ago I was asked by the editor of the local newspaper in my home town back in Norway to participate as a blogger on their new website due to be launched in a couple of weeks’ time, and I’m absolutely thrilled to say that I agreed to do it. I’m not yet sure exactly what it involves, all I know is that I’ll be sharing the task with 7 other people, each posting once every 8 weeks. Another blog to maintain, excellent. That ought to get my creative juices flowing.

Speaking of, I have a theory that Facebook kills my creativity. Lately I’ve been trying to study for my exams, so naturally I have spent a good 18 hours every day procrastinating on Facebook. And in less than two weeks my exams will be over, so I’ll go back to spending on average 8-10 hours a day on Facebook again. This has got to stop. So today I made an executive decision to deactivate my Facebook account for an uncertain period of time – all I know is that I will not activate it again until after my exams are over. If I’m past the sweaty palms and fevered dreams stage due to my abstinence from Facebook at this point, I will consider extending my absence indefinitely, to see if this will increase my attention to various creative projects I have started but not made any progress on lately.

This desire to be creative (and thus, to do something to make it happen) has been greatly spurred on over the last few days by the drama surrounding the production of The Hobbit, with the latest reports saying that Warner Brothers have decided to move the production offshore. Apparently they want to shoot it in a studio in England, where they shot Harry Potter. I am simply outraged by this development. Ever since I first heard that The Hobbit was going to be made into a film I’ve had mixed feelings about it, because ever since I first read the book, I’ve wanted to be involved in the making of the film version (preferably I would be the one making it). So at first I was against Sir Peter Jackson directing it. Then they announced that Guillermo del Toro would be the director, and I decided that I’d rather have PJ direct to keep things consistent with the mood and feeling of the LotR trilogy. Then GDT dropped out, and the whole thing was stuck in limbo for a while. It hadn’t been greenlit, the studio was bankrupt, there was no director – the problems seemed to be neverending, and the film destined not to be made. Then, just as we heard words of progress, some Australian douchebag union decided to royally fuck things up. There was a boycott of the film, demonstrations, marches, secret meetings, press statements, verbal abuse, anxiety, still no green light – and all of a sudden came the press release from the studios that the film had been greenlit, PJ would direct, and shooting would commence in February 2011. But wait… There was nothing about where it would be shot.

The fight instantly on between a handful of countries all wanting not just a slice of the cake but the whole goddamn thing, The Hobbit seemed set to be pried from the shores of Aotearoa. Tax breaks, cheap labour, no Australian unions – England, Scotland, Canada and several Eastern European countries all put their offers on the table, and Warner Brothers took the bait. According to the newspapers today, representatives are coming down to New Zealand next week to arrange the moving of the production offshore. After all this time, New Zealand is set to lose one of the bound to be biggest franchises of the next decade.

One of the main reasons I decided to study in Wellington was that The Hobbit was supposed to be made in Wellington during my stay here (originally there were reports that shooting would commence in March this year, but we all know that never happened), and now that is no longer the case, and the long-term effects of this move is likely to more or less shut down the smaller film industry in Wellington, I see no future for me here. Maybe I should transfer to London? I hear they make some films over there…