Another week has come and gone

without a single post from yours truly. Sorry about that. There has not really been much activity from my end at all for the past few weeks. I'll try to work up something interesting soon, but for now, you will have to content yourself with an overview of this past week's events. 

A fan made video of the Riddles in the Dark

Starring a very scared Bilbo and a very hungry Gollum. Here is a clever and interesting little video of the scene Riddles in the Dark made using Lego stop motion. I hope you enjoy!

The Dwarves, the White Council, Wizards, Trolls, and more!

The other day I came across a slough of new videos on a Japanese website. They are the most interesting videos I have seen since the last official trailer, so be sure to watch at least a few of them. These videos contain exclusive behind-the-scenes info and interviews, so they are well worth the watch, even though they do have Japanese subtitles. 

An interview with Joe Letteri, who reveals the secrets behind the visual effects of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey 

Stuff recently posted on their website an interview with Joe Letteri, the VFX supervisor of Middle-earth. He tells us about the benefits of the new technology that has developed since The Lord of the Rings, and the challenges of filming in 3D and 48fps. We also get some interesting info on Smaug. To read the full article, go here. 

I mentioned in an earlier post that Simon Clutterbuck, James Jacobs and Dr. Richard Dorling won the Scientific and Engineering Oscar for developing a technique which makes computer-generated characters more life-like than ever before. Here is a video from Weta Digital explaining how they were able to do it.

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

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey has received an early Oscar. Simon Clutterbuck, Richard Dorling, and James Jacobs of Weta Digital were recognized on Saturday night for their outstanding performance in the creation of Andy Serkis' character, Gollum. As a reward for the excellent and very hard work of Weta Digital, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey has received an early Oscar for technology and science. 

Hobbits are a very ancient people, yet much younger than men, elves, or dwarves. They did not enter Middle Earth until the Third Age. Indeed, there is not any mention of them until year 1050, when the Harfoots entered Eriador. What follows is a timeline of important events and persons in the history of hobbits.

1050: The Harfoots enter Eriador
1150: The Fallohides enter Eriador; The Stoors enter Dunland through the Redhorn Pass
1300: The Fallohides migrate westward and come to Bree
1601 (SR 1): The Fallohide brothers Marcho and Blanco are the first to cross the Brandywine River and enter the Shire; Shire Reckoning begins
1630 (SR 30): The Stoors migrate from Dunland to the Shire
1636 (SR 36): The Great Plague devastates the hobbits in the Shire
1979 (SR 379): Bucca of the Marish becomes the first Thain of the Shire
2340 (SR 740): Isumbras I becomes the thirteenth Thain of the Shire and starts the Took line; The Oldbucks populate Buckland
2463 (SR 863): Deagol the Stoor finds the One Ring, but is murdered by Smeagol, who takes it for himself
2470 (SR 870): Smeagol, having become Gollum, resides withing the Misty Mountains
2670 (SR 1070): Tobold Hornblower (Old Toby) of Longbottom in the Southfarthing grows the first pipe-weed
2683 (SR 1083): Isengrim II becomes the tenth Thain of the Shire: The excavation of the Great Smials begins
2747 (SR 1147): Bandobras Took slays Golfimbul and wins the Battle of the Greenfields in the Northfarthing
2758 (SR 1158): The Long Winter oppresses the Shire; Gandalf comes to the Shire for the first time
2790 (SR 1190): Gerontius Took, later known as the Old Took, is born
2890 (SR 1290): Bilbo Baggins is born
2911 (SR 1311): White Wolves from the north cross the frozen Brandywine River during the Fell Winter
2920 (SR 1320): The Old Took dies
2941-42 (SR 1341-42): The events that are recorded in The Hobbit take place
2949 (SR 1349): Bilbo is visited by his friend Gandalf and Balin
2953 (SR 1353): The spies of Saruman enter the Shire
2968 (SR 1368): Frodo Baggins is born
2983 (SR 1383): Samwise Gamgee is born
3001-21 (SR 1401-21): The events that are recorded in The Lord of the Rings take place
3021 (SR 1401): The Third Age Ends; Elanor Gamgee, daughter of Samwise and Rose, is born
SR 1422: The Fourth Age begins
SR 1427:  Will Whitfoot, Mayor of the Shire, resigns; Samwise takes his place; Peregrin Took marries Diamond of Long Cleeve
SR 1430: Faramir Took, son of Peregrin Took, is born
SR 1431: Goldilocks Gamgee, daughter of Samwise Gamgee, is born
SR 1432: Meriadoc Brandybuck (the Magnificent) becomes Master of Buckland
SR 1434: Peregrin Took becomes the Took and the Thain of the Shire; Samwise is re-elected as Mayor
SR 1436: King Elessar visits Frodo, Merry, Pippin, and Sam at the Brandywine Bridge
SR 1441: Samwise becomes Mayor of the Shire for a third time
SR 1442: Master Samwise, his wife Rose, and daughter Elanor visit Gondor; Master Tolman Cotton acts as deputy Mayor
SR 1448: Master Samwise becomes Mayor for a fourth time
SR 1451: Elanor the Fair marries Fastred of Greenholm on the Far Downs
SR 1452: The Westmarch is added to the Shire
SR 1454: Elfstan Fairbairn, son of Fastred and Elanor, is born
SR 1455: Master Samwise becomes Mayor for a fifth time; The Thain makes Fastred Warden of Westmarch; Fastred and Elanor make their home at Undertowers on the Tower Hills; Their descendents, Fairbairns of the Towers, dwell there many generations
SR 1462: Master Samwise becomes Mayor for a sixth time
SR 1463: Faramir Took marries Goldilocks Gamgee
SR 1469: Master Samwise becomes Mayor for a seventh and final time
SR 1482: Mistress Rose, wife of Samwise, dies on Mid Year's Day; Samwise goes to the Grey Havens and passes over the Sea
SR 1484: Master Meriadoc visits Eomer in Rohan; Meriadoc and Peregrin visit Gondor and are buried there

Part I
Part II: Concerning Etymology
Part III: Shire Reckoning
Part IV: Concerning Appearance

Sources:
Tolkein, J.R.R. The Hobbit UK: George Allen & Unwin, 1937
Tolkein, J.R.R. The Lord of the Rings UK: George Allen & Unwin, 1954-1955

Now here is an little interesting video about the special effects for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. It must be admitted that the movie's special effects were fantastic. This is about all the hard work put into creating amazing works of art like this. One of the examples from the video are the three trolls: Bert, Tom, and William. They are completely CGI, but three actors and motion-capture was used. The other subjects the video addressed were Gollum and the goblins, but you don't need me to tell you about it! Watch the video for yourselves!

This Japanese trailer for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey contains at least 20 seconds of new footage, including the troll scene, in the goblin caves, Gollum's lair, and much more. The only downside is the Japanese subtitles

Comicbookmovie.com scanned a few behind the scenes photos of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey from Brian Sibley's tie-in book The Official Movie Guide. They include Cate Blanchett as Galadriel, Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins, a group of goblins, Nori and Bofur, Andy Serkis in his motion-capture attire, Richard Armitage as Thorin Oakenshield, and a group photo of all the dwarves draped in spider-webs, obviously from their entanglement in Mirkwood. I fully acknowledge that these are scans of a book that were on another website, but I will post them nonetheless, but beware, they contain spoilers.

Here is TV Spot #3 for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey! There are several new clips, from more footage of Gollum to what appears to be a huge stone giant.

There are actually seventeen new posters for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. For some odd reason, the web browser was only showing fourteen posters, so I only posted fourteen. This post now will show the right amount, but they will still be beyond the break, on account of their size and number.

Just yesterday Empire Magazine's The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey issue hit the shelves. The edition comes in five different 3D lenticular covers, featuring Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman), Gandalf (Ian McKellen), Gollum (Andy Serkis), Galadriel (Cate Blanchett), and Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage), which you can see below. Along with this came an approximation of the running length of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, which is about two hours and forty minutes, surprisingly the shortest Tolkien film yet.

Here is yet another post devoted to Legos. While many of you no longer care about these little plastic pieces, it is still a popular toy and a great promotional material. The third The Hobbit Lego set has finally been revealed. Item #79000 is called The Riddles of the Ring, featuring, as you can probably tell, Gollum and Bilbo Baggins. Look at the great photo below!

This video is a little old, but that doesn't dim its hilarity any! BrotherhoodWorkshop made this video about a month ago. It features the Lego Gollum in his cave. That particular scene takes place in The Hobbit, so that is why I posted it. These guys just added a new twist to the story. I hope you enjoy it!

After you have watched this video, I have another one for you. It is by the same guys and shows the exact same footage except that this time, it is really Gollum's voice, singing with slightly changed lyrics. 

Now here is a man who can really produce an awesome voice. No wonder he was chosen to play the character of Gollum. Below you can watch a short clip from ITN.co.uk in which Andy Serkis reads an excerpt from The Hobbit and discusses the challenges of once again getting ready to play the character of Gollum.

Here are six new photos from The Hobbit via USA Today! They, need I say, are great, but the picture of Radagast is also rather humorous. 

Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman)

Here are even more new stills from Entertainment Weekly, featuring, Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman), Gandalf (Ian McKellen), Gollum (Andy Serkis), and more! Enjoy!

Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman)

Fili (Dean O'Gorman), Kili (Aidan Turner), Dori (Mark Hadlow), and Nori (Jed Brophy)

Golloum in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Perhaps the most anticipated character in the upcoming Hobbit movies is Gollum (played by Andy Serkis), the most recognized character from The Lord of the Rings.

Gollum in The Lord of the Rings

With all the new CGI (Computer-Generated Imagery) technology, Gollum should and will look more life-like and real than ever before. The visual effect artists of The Hobbit even made Gollum look younger than he was in The Lord of the Rings. Compare the two images and see for yourself. Above and below are two images of Gollum just recently released. 

Martin Freeman and Andy Serkis