Who is Peter Jackson ? Part 2

Peter married Fran Walsh. They met in the mid 80's and have been working together on Peter's movie scripts ever since. Fran wrote for television shows and they wrote the script to Heavenly Creatures  (1994) They both got Oscar nomination's for the screenplay. The co-wrote allot of scripts but it wasn't until they were ready to start the screen play for The Lord of The rings that Philippa Boyens would be added to the team and form a power trio.

They would go on to write together for King Kong, The Lovely Bones, and now the Hobbit.

Peter is possibly breaking some rules and making history with the Hobbit trilogy. First he is using RED camera's and filming at 5K and 48FPS (frames per second) which is not common.
The human eye can see at 62FPS so this would make the 3D experience all that much more "real"like.

Peter, in one of the hobbit blogs goes on to say that some people said it was like having the screen cut out, and what lied beyond was real.

There has been so much negative responses to this in the media and plenty of Internet trolls making stupid remarks. But PJ knows what he's doing. The blu ray's will look amazing playing at 1080p and the increase frame rate can only help make it that much more visually stunning.

What must be noted here is that Peter is trying to help out the movie industry. He made comments on several interviews that the times are changing and Hollywood is trying to figure out how to make it work for them. The age of downloading and people getting lazy and not attending theatre box offices as much as they once did. The introduction of Netflix and rogers on demand and Home theatres being of great quality, Hollywood is hurting. Movies cost as much and pay less.

My hat's off to anyone who step up and says something.

Originally Guillermo Del Toro was set to direct the hobbit. But to to legality's and the amount of time it took to clear, he had to step down. The fan's had mixed feelings about having someone else take on Tolkien's Middle Earth. But this blogger believes Del Toro would of done a great job.
Jackson, Walsh, Boyens and Del Toro worked on the original script. His name might still be on the credits at the end of the films.

Because Del Toro back down, fan's were wondering if Jackson would resume the roll of Director for the Hobbit. It was announced that he would.

The films have been 11 years in the making. Many road blocks along the way. When all was green lit and the word Go had been given, the unexpected happened (pun intended) an actors strike in New Zealand. This was a great stress amongst the film makers and producers. Some serious thought had been given to shoot the movies in another country. Canada was considered ! yay Canada (it is rather a Tolkien Country)

But politics and New Zealand pulled together and the strike was lifted and allowed the actors to work.

Though the movies are now 2 months away from being released there is still another year of post production to do on films 2 and 3.

I've never met PJ, but I can honestly say that he's been one of my role models for the last 12 years. If you read this blog and enjoyed it, please leave me a comment.

                                                           There and back again......
 

Trailer #2

New trailer (#2( has been out for a while now but I wanted to take some time before I blogged about it. Since everyone world wide has seen it, and if they haven't they clearly aren't Tolkien fans.

Anyhow I must of watched this close to 20 times now. My first thought was that there's just too much in this trailer for me to focus. I had to rewatch it to know all the scenes that were being showed.
The kitchen scene is great, in the books though (as well as in John Howes art) they are in a bigger room. The visuals look great and I'm sure the 48fps will be breath taking in 3d. Now that I'm excited about!

Showing Bilbo running to catch up to the company, Rivendel and the white council and not to mention RADAGAST! Im not going to lie to you...I almost hugged my computer.

Great Troll Shaw scenes, and Wargs, Goblins and Gollum in the caves and the riddles in the dark.

There is allot of humour in these films. When you go to the official www.thehobbit.com website you can see different endings. All of which have a funny ending.

Only 2 months away from the release of part 1, An Unexpected Journey, and I can't wait to claimed I've watched the film at least 5 tines in theatres.

Not to mention the blu ray extended edition! oh come on you know what I'm talking about.

Who is Peter Jackson ? (Part 1 of 2)

Surprisingly enough, I've never done a blog on PJ Before. But after due care and attention to my thought process on how I was going to approach a certain blog I had in mind. I realised that I've neglected to blog about the man (now legend) that is Peter Jackson.

 

PJ was October 31, 1961 in Pukerua Bay, North Island, New Zealand. What is known about him that set him apart from other kids in 1961, he loved taking pictures. A friend of the family gave them a 8mm camera. Jackson didn't waste any time and started making back yard movies. Staring himself and his friends. He started playing around with low budget special effects, usually home made.

 

At the age of 22, a movie which Jackson started as a joke actually ended up making a name for itself. The movie 'Bad Taste" was shot very low budget with a second hand camera and was filmed,Acted, directed and produced by Jackson. The project took over 4 years to do. A friend of his who was currently working in the film industry managed to get 'Bad Taste' shown at Cannes film festival.

It is now a cult classic.

 

He was on the map as an upcoming director. He quit his job, and took directing seriously. He went on to direct low budget (but well made) horror movies like ' Brain Dead'

 

It wasn't until Heavenly creatures that PJ was really looked upon as a really good director. The film stared Kate Winslet and made quite an impression on the film industry.

 

The Frighteners was the next movie to really wow it's audience. The visual effects, the shooting style, script, and the boldness of that film really got attention. I had never heard of PJ until then. But the Frighteners is now one of my all time favourites.

 

Although he had done really well up to this point, Jackson wasn't a household name yet. When he finished the Frighteners he set his sights on making a epic movie.A fantasy In the style of Tolkiens Lord of the Rings. After working on the script and always referring to the Lord of the Rings as his inspiration. Jackson inquired as to who actually owned the rights to the film. Surprisingly, he got it.

 

This is the legend  that is now told,and it was the start of what would be Jackson's life's work. When he was given the go ahead to film all three films, fan's across the world were saying "Peter who?"

 

The Fellowship of the Ring officially placed Jackson amongst the likes of George Lucas, Stephen Spielberg, Micheal Bay and Stanley Kubrick as a household name.

 

Winning 11 Oscars for the Return Of The King, Not only has PJ been placed in the spotlight. But the entire country of New Zealand. Weta Workshop. And most important of all...New Zealand film making. These movies have shown the world that New Zealand is the Hollywood of the southern hemisphere.

 

As you are all very much aware, PJ is finishing the Hobbit as we speak. A few more weeks of shooting and then it's on to post production. From a small boy playing in his back yard, filming his friends and making movies...to being a well know name across the world and forever tied in with the name of Tolkien. I'd say that Peter Jackson is an inspiration to all wannabe film makers.

Finding new surprises

The other week I ended up at our favorite book store ( The Book Man) in Chilliwack B,C and I was going to buy a few chess books, when I mentioned to the clerk that " I can't ever find any new Tolkien here" I said jokingly.

She said "Tolkien? oh you need to ask (I forgot her name now) she's obsessed with him" so I was introduce to this clerk, whose name escapes me now. She quickly ran about and located all the new arrivals that were not on the shelves. She can back with a hard cover of Roverandom and Tolkien and the Silmarillion. I realise now that asking a clerk should always be my first priority since the books are not always in the same location.

Besides that the new Lego Lord of The Rings are out. They look amazing. I don't think I'm going to buy them for some time, but I will get my hands on the upcoming video game for xbox 360. I find it rather boring that all games based on Tolkien's Middle Earth all follow the movie designs.

Battle For middle Earth I-II, Lord of the Rings Conquest, War in the North all seem to follow the trilogy so close that I am almost wondering if any one's ever going to design their own versions anymore?

Once a beloved book is on the screen it seems people get lazy and just accepts what the film makers came up with. If every troll looks like a cave troll from the films then I don't think game designers are doing their jobs. I on the other hand say, there's more than one way to skin a cat. -bad expression.

Anyways that's my rant for the day. I'm working on maybe starting a video blog to post here soon, maybe by summer or fall.