Nine fantastic behind-the-scenes videos for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug!

These short 1-2 minute videos original appeared on YouKu, though they have since been uploaded to YouTube. They feature all the different aspects of film-making: directing, screenplay, art direction, costume design, makeup hairstyling, cinematography, vfx, sound editing, and much more!

A review of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Here is my initial impression of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. You've had to wait a while, I know! But here it is, at last. If you have not seen the movie yet, beware of SPOILERS!

What has been happening in the world of Tolkien fandom!

I have decided to make this type of post a weekly series, in order to cover all the little things that do not justify a post of their own or that I simply do not have time to write about. Only five more days until we get to see The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug! And lost has been happening in anticipation of this event. 

So hard to keep up! Things are crazy just 10 days before the release of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smuag!

Tons and tons of stuff has happened and most assuredly is happening right now in the world of Tolkien and Peter Jackson fandom! Perhaps most exciting of all was the world premiere of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug in Hollywood last night! Many of the cast and crew were able to attend (full list beyond the break), and I am sure it would have been amazing to attend, but it was also cool to watch it live on YouTube (or Facebook, as the case may be), like I did. To find out more about this and many other things, go beyond the break. 

The Producers Guild of America has chosen Peter Jackson, Joe Letteri, and Weta Digital to receive the 2014 Vanguard Award! 

The awards will be presented on January 19, 2014, at the 25th annual Producers Guild Awards.The ceremony will take place at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. I don't know about you, but I sure think that they deserve it!

"Visual effects are a great tool to inspire the audience’s imagination and encourage them to take that extra step into the story."

- Peter Jackson

Take part in the special global celebration on Monday, November 14!

Recently announced by Peter Jackson, cast and crew of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug will gather in selected cities, conduct Q&A with a live audience and show exclusive footage, and who knows what else! If you do not happen to live in one of the chosen cities, do not worry. There will be a world-wide live-stream on Youtube.com/TheHobbit. 

New production photos of Benedict Cumberbatch, Martin Freeman, Orlando Bloom, Andy Serkis, and, of course, Peter Jackson

Check out these awesome new behind-the-scenes images! Some of them are unsourced, and very well could be from a new production video coming out in a few months? What do think? Leave a comment!

UPDATE: The photos of Benedict Cumberbatch doing motion capture for Smaug comes from this video, apparently from the bonus material from the Extended Edition of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. 

Warner Bros. has finally given free reign to interviews, set visits, and plot spoilers!

This news is a few days old, I know, but life is busy. Anyways, if you have not heard, seen, or read any of the following, here is a list of interviews and set tours that contain many, many spoilers, yet, believe me, they are worth seeing.

Sir Peter Jackson has received New Zealand's highest honor

Last Monday Peter Jackson was awarded with the Order of New Zealand for services to New Zealand. This is the first time the award has been presented to a member of the film industry. Peter Jackson is still a pioneer, from 48fps to being the first movie director to receive the Order of New Zealand!

And he very well might show a clip from The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Long overdue, the 2013 IBC International Honour for Excellence will be presented to Sir Peter Jackson at the IBC Awards Ceremony in Amsterdam on Sunday, September 15, 6:30 Central European Time (12:30 EST). At the ceremony, there is a chance that we might get to see a 48fps 3D clip of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. 

Peter Jackson discusses all things directing with the Director's Guild of America

Here is a link to a fascinating, very in-depth interview with Peter Jackson for the Director's Guild of America's print magazine. He talks about his career and the many movies he has directed over the years, along with his techniques and experimenting with ground-breaking technology that has made his movies so memorable. The complete interview can be found at the DGA website. 

Major spoilers revealed in a German Magazine

The August issue of the German magazine Cinema featured an article on The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. Much of the article is just a repeat of what we already know, but there were a few major spoilers. I will not give any of it away here, so you must proceed beyond the break to find out what is in that article. 

Keep up with live updates from Peter Jackson's Facebook page

Today is the last day of shooting for The Hobbit movies, perhaps the very last for film adaptions of Tolkien's novels ever. Head over to Peter Jackson's Facebook page to follow events as they happen, though, if you live in the USA, you'll have to stay up pretty late, as it is just after 11am in New Zealand right now. 

Why is he pointing his finger in every single one?

A few minutes ago, I was browsing my sources to perhaps find something to post about. One of those sources happens to be Facebook, and I noticed that Peter Jackson had changed his cover photo. In it, he was talking to Lee Pace in character as Thranduil, and Peter was pointing to something out of the bounds of the image. In the previous cover photo, he also was directing his finger at something we couldn't see. In all, there are three photos in which Peter Jackson is pointing his finger. Why?

The complete article on The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug from Empire Magazine!

Full of spoilers, behind the scenes, and interviews with Peter Jackson. Here are scans of the article on The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug from the August issue of Empire Magazine,  which I found on Heirs of Durin. I hope you enjoy!

Peter Jackson tells us what to expect in the Extended Edition of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

In an interview with Empire Magazine, Peter Jackson lets on as to which deleted scenes make it to the extended cut. One involves the dwarves and the elves, where the dwarves are very rude to the elves. (I wonder if this is that scene.) We will also get to see more of Barry Humphries, a.k.a. the Great Goblin. 

What!? Peter Jackson didn't tell us?

Some new footage of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug was revealed at CinemaCon in Las Vegas just a few days ago. Little is known concerning the footage by those who were unable to attend CinemaCon. However, Variety has said the following, which, although very little, is the primary source of this post. 

""The Hobbit" director Peter Jackson also appeared in a video with a few brief clips from the "Desolation of Smaug" with Evangeline Lilly and Orlando Bloom appearing. 
Jackson’s matter-of-fact presentation was in sharp contrast with last year’s CinemaCon event when WB’s presentation — including 10 minutes of "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" — generated a mixed reaction over the pic’s 48 frames-per-second format."

For those of you who missed out, here is a portion of what you missed out on...

A six minute clip of the sneak peek, in which Peter Jackson answers a few questions from fans, and we get to find out more about The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. 

An edited version of the event hosted by Peter Jackson is now accessible

Go to thehobbit.com/sneak to view the archived video. Unfortunately you still need the code from the DVD or Blu-ray of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, and even if you do, you can only access it three times. 

A brief overview and discussion of the sneak peek to The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.

MAJOR SPOILERS! Find out more about Smaug! Do you want to discover more about the mysterious character of Tauriel? What about Bard the Bowman? We have not seen the last of Radagast, nor has Azog finished his role.