You will have noticed I don't dedicate this weblog to posting the latest gossip and guesswork from Hollywood. No point, there are gazillions of websites doing that already.
But today is an exception because today a matter of great consequence happened with regard to a film that isn't out yet: Peter Jackson posted the first 'vlog' from the set of The Hobbit.
So, apart from my own considerable excitememt about this film, why is this worthy of note? Well, because of the incredible level of access Jackson granted us - the wide wired world - during his last big movie, King Kong (2005). |
| Peter Jackson, barely half the man he was ten years ago, making Lord of the Rings ... |
The website Kong is King posted 'Production Diaries', sometimes several a week throughout the entire production process from pre to post. There was no aspect of the film that these Diaries did not delve into, no job on the movie set that they did not spotlight. These Diaries were - and remain - an unprecedented education in how big-budget movies get made.
They weren't just hand-held goofing-about slapped on the net as though by accident; they had proper production values and stand as mini documentaries, produced to a very professional standard.
The post-production diaries are still available on-line, here, for you to watch for free. Meanwhile, the shooting diaries were packaged up and sold as a DVD seperately from the film and, if you have any aspirations to work in the film industry or just have an interest in knowing what it really takes to make a movie - they are a must see!
But, here's the problem: Those documentarians had such unrestricted access that no aspect of the production went unreported ... Which meant that the film had no surprises left by the time it was released.
So, the video below is a wonderful appetite-whetter, you get to see Martin Freeman, James Nesbitt, Ken Stott and a very-different-looking Aidan Turner blocking out a scene. You get to see the production being blessed by a haka - after all, The Hobbit is crucially important to New Zealand's economy, so no wonder the locals are glad to see production getting under way.
But, as I watched the video ... Part of me was thinking "Don't show me too much". I love learning how films are made, but only after I've had chance to see the finished product and let it weave its magic spell over me.
I'm not sure if I'll watch more of these videos as they appear. I might save them up and watch them at the end ... But that's gonna be three years away so ... I dunno.
Anyway, it is viewable on his Facebook page which is here, so make your own mind up.
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