Forgive me if I am a little slow in coming across things like this, but I found three entirely new images from The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug today. As usual, I warn you of SPOILERS, but this stuff is pretty interesting, so I encourage you to read on.

This one here is very similar to the photo in the post A Photo of Kili (And Bilbo), and appears to depict the house of Beorn. Everything points to a rustic, simple, yet powerful owner, from the ornate wooden carvings to the straw-strewn dirt floor. However, it does not reveal anything new than what has already been pointed out in the aforementioned post, other than giving a larger perspective of Beorn's dwelling. I am unsure if this is a screenshot or merely a picture of the set. The latter seems more likely because of the poorness of picture quality.

The other two photos are more directly related to the title of this post, as they both show orcs. The image to the right shows five orcs, all similarly dressed in animal skins and hides decorated in teeth and claws. They also share the same hooked nose, which points toward them all being of the same tribe, if that was not already clear from their dress. The one second to the left also has some black war-paint, which I have not seen on any orc other than Saruman's Uruk-hai. Their weapons are in very poor condition, even for those of an orc. The edges of the swords are serrated from the corrosion, and there is at least one instrument of war made almost entirely of wood. The orcs, at least two of them, are looking down, indicating that they are standing on the edge of a cliff, and spying out someone or something they are hunting, probably the company of dwarves and Bilbo. The one in the back appears to be running, which means that they have been chasing whatever they are looking at for a good while.

The third and final picture shows orcs arrayed viciously for battle, not unlike many scenes in The Lord of the Rings. They are wearing scale-like armor, not unlike that wore by Guritz (the orc with the skull on top of his helmet). Speaking of helmets, they head gear displayed by these orcs is varied and unusual. Some faces are opened, some are have covered with slits for eyes (like the helmets of the Uruk-hai), and others have full masks. It is possible that these orcs will not appear until The Hobbit: There and Back Again, and therefore fight in the Battle of Five Armies. However, as you already know, all of this is speculation and educated guesses.

If you saw The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, you would have noticed that it had fantastic special effects, all thanks to Weta Digital. They were so good, in fact, that Weta Digital has been nominated for the Visual Effects Oscar. Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton, and R. Christopher White of Weta Digital could be the ones who receive the golden statue this Sunday at the Academy Awards.
Weta Digital has released six showcase videos on YouTube, all concerning their outstanding performance in the creation of the computer-generated imagery for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. I have collected them all in one place, right below these words, so you can observe them at your pleasure!

Visual effects of The Hobbit: Fantastical Creatures; Lands of Epic Beauty; Darkness

Visual effects of The Hobbit: Gollum

Visual effects of The Hobbit: The Goblin Caverns

Visual effects of The Hobbit: Creating Rivendell

Visual effects of The Hobbit: The Goblin King

Visual effects of The Hobbit: Azog

Poster by David Chalmer

Here is the second part to A (Guessed) Preview Into The Desolation of Smaug! Once again, I will give you summaries of the chapters in The Hobbit that I think will be covered in the movie, and then discuss various picturess. I tried to divide the posts equally (so there will be four chapters covered in this one also), but this one may be shorter as there are not very many photos left. However, do not let that discourage you from reading the rest of this post!

If you have gone to see The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, then you heard the name 'Dol Guldur' mentioned several times. You have probably also heard is elsewhere, either in a Tolkien book you read or on a Tolkien website, such as The Blog of the Hobbit. Chances are, you do not know that much about it. The movie gives a brief explanation of its ownership and history, but it is very brief. And, unless you have delved in the more obscure and difficult of Tolkien's books, you have heard just as vague and brief description. So, that is why I am about to tell you all there is to know about this dark fortress and why there is such a big fuss about it in Middle Earth.
Sauron, it happened to be, was not the first inhabitant of this foul castle. Many ages ago, over 4000 years before Bilbo found the ring, Amon Lanc, the Bald Hill, the hill upon which Dol Guldur was built, was populated by elves. Then, Mirkwood was known as the Greenwood the Great, and Amon Lanc was the capital of the Silvan elves of Oropher, who was the father of Thranduil. During the Second Age, however, the elves gradually migrated north to the Emyn Duir, the Black Mountains, later known as the Mountains of Mirkwood. It is sometimes said that they felt the power of Sauron was growing again, and decided to flee. It is also said that they distrusted the strength of the Dwarves of Moria and the meddling of  Galadriel and Celeborn in Lórien. Whatever the reason, Amon Lanc was deserted when Sauron came.

Here is another TV promo, focusing on Thorin. We also get a glimpse Azog, and a few frames of new scenes. Enjoy!

The fourth The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Lego set was revealed just today. It is a recreation of last part of the first Hobbit movie. (Ok, this was just a major spoiler. If you didn't want to know that, then just forget it.) #79002 is called Attack of the Wargs, and includes Thorin Oakenshield (the first minifigure of him, by the way), Bifur, and Yazneg (also a first).

Bolg (Conan Stevens) was first revealed in the Heroes poster for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Now, even more has come up about his character. Tolkiendrim.com, a French Tolkien fan site, has found some very high resolution pictures of Bolg, shown beyond the break. This is now a pretty common warning, but an important one, so that is why from now on it will be displayed in red. Spoilers!

While I'm on a Lego theme here, I will mention several of the awesome new The Hobbit Lego sets. I want to warn you, before you keep reading, that there are some pretty big spoilers here. In an earlier post I told you about the An Unexpected Gathering set. There is now another set, this time really large, featuring the goblin caves and the goblin king. The Goblin King Battle is just the second of a series of six. The others will be released on October 22, October 29, November 5, and finally, November 12. Here are a few pictures of the sets:

Yet another Hobbit poster has been released on the web. Marketing for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey has really picked, and I hope you are all as excited as I am for its release this December. The poster below features Gandalf (Ian McKellen), Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman), several dwarves, and, to add a new twist, six goblins, none of which have been revealed as of yet. The most notable is the one to the left of Gandalf, Bolg, who is played by Conan Stevens. 

A French Tolkien site has laid its hands on some intriguing, but rather gruesome, images of what appears to be a first look at the Great Goblin (Barry Humphries). They seem to be photos from a either some type of trading card or an action-figure box; perhaps it is the new The Hobbit Board Game. Some people from TheOneRing.net cleverly recognized the similarity between those pictures and piece of footage from the first production video of The Hobbit. If you want to see the video, go to the Videos page. If you want to see the pictures, click on the 'read more.' However, I give you a fair warning. There may be spoilers, but if you be of weak resistance, then take note of this: These pictures are not for the squeamish.