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	LOTR News Update February 8, 2000 Lord of the Rings news comes to us this update courtesy of The Weekender in New Zealand which reported the following: Filming of outdoors scenes in the Matamata region of New Zealand's' North Island has concluded as production now moves back onto the sound stages in Wellington. As the filming of the panoramic rural scenes around Matamata comes to an end, locals are left pondering just which of the "extras" were getting paid. With a cast of not just humanoid creatures, questions arose as to just how much the assorted goats, sheep, chickens and horses used in some scenes were getting paid. Said LOR publicist Claire Raskin with tongue firmly in cheek, "of course they were getting paid, "They all had their own umbrellas, "It was very Hollywood!" The introductory scenes to all three movies are now being shot indoors, with this filming set to continue until April when, as winter approaches, expect to see some winter scenes starting to be shot. Other news comes to us by way of two interviews, of sorts. The first is from Sir Ian McKellan who is keeping something of a journal online at his official website. Here are his latest observations: What a congenial country New Zealand is for visitors from what used to be called "the home country." So far from home but the language is the same and you can buy Marmite and Cadbury's chocolate. The Queen is on the banknotes (although they are made of a non-creasable, washable, transparent plastic) and there is scandal about Prince Edward in "Women's Weekly" which would be considered too racy for even the UK tabloids. It all seems half-familiar with a style of friendliness that is a change from English reserve. I feel very much at home. I am staying for a few days in Cambridge in the centre of the North Island - close to the thermal jollity of geysers and sulphurous springs and within easy reach of Coromandel peninsula where I paddled in the South Pacific last weekend. The string of Bali Hai's across the green ocean couldn't entice me from my reason for being here, which is to film Gandalf's arrival in Hobbiton at the opening of Peter Jackson's film The Lord of the Rings. We are on location an hour's flight north of the Three Foot Six studios in Wellington. The village has weathered nicely since it was built a year back. The flowers have had a chance to settle in and bloom. Nasturtians, sunflowers, daisies and a fieldful of allotments where communal gardening has produced rows of vegetables and fruit. Hobbiton looks itself, settled-in and cosy. It has been tucked in and around the curving farmland, surrounded by green low peaks and gentle valleys. The lone poplars on the horizon look as if placed by the art department but I'm told were not. You can never be sure. The smoke rising from the domesticated holes where the hobbits live is provided by a oil-burning machine. The front door of Bag End itself where Gandalf knocked last week opens onto a space no larger than a film camera needs. The interiors are set up, awaiting our return next week. The produce on sale by the Green Dragon, just across the bridge from the mill with its electrically run wheel is real enough. Between each take I watched the billy goat snatch from a stall a real cabbage to chew in the hot sunshine. I was sheltering under the marquee "Video City" where Peter Jackson examines each shot with Victoria Sullivan supervising the script, continuity and accuracy of the text. On film I am spending my opening days shooting on board the cart laden with fireworks for Bilbo's "long expected party." The novel's title for the first chapter has been slipped into Gandalf's chat with Frodo, who has jumped up beside him. Fun as it is guiding the friendly brown 13-hand high Clyde and bantering with Elijah Wood, most of the time I am nowhere near the camera. David Brunette (recent graduate in computer design) collects me before dawn and drives me the 30 minutes to the set. By the time the sun is up Rick Findlater (from the Gold Coast in Australia) is half way through my 3-hour makeup, which was designed by Peter Owen. This took three screen tests to perfect. Peter Jackson has ensured that Tolkien rules the enterprise. So, in working out Gandalf's appearance we went back to the few terse descriptions in the novel. We agreed that the cover illustration of Gandalf on the HarperCollins complete edition of "The Lord of the Rings" had captured too much of our collective imaginings to be ignored. John Howe painted it and he has for 18 months been crucial to the "conceptual art" of the movie, along with that other formidably imaginative illustrator, Alan Lee. At the first screen test the beard was too long and cumbersome for Gandalf the man of action - he is forever tramping and riding and on the move. I didn't want a beard which hampered me with a life of its own once the winds blew. Alien visages stared back at me from the mirror - hirsute offbeats like Fagin and Ben Gunn. Even Rasputin for a moment. For the second test, the beard was care-freely slashed by Peter Owen, who hadn't had much confidence in it nor in the whiskers that hid my cheeks. Once he had trimmed it all back, I saw a glimmer of the old wizard's sternness. I smiled and tried a Gandalf twinkle, the friend of the Hobbits who admires their spirit and sociability. Peter Jackson suggested a droopier moustache. I suddenly looked like a double for the Beatles' Maharishi. So the eyebrows, over-faithful to Tolkien's description, were plucked thinner and shorter. The old guru was still there but you couldn't put a name to him. At last Ngila Dickson placed her pointed, blue/grey Wizard's hat on top. Out of the blue, I remembered the silver scarf that he wears in the book. Somehow it had been overlooked or decided against. Until I looked the part I hadn't missed it either. And there's a thing to ponder - what does a man with an umbrella for a hat and a warm cloak need with a scarf? The book starts in autumn. We are filming in summertime. Weather conditions aside I thought he might have the silver scarf much as he has the pointy hat - to disguise himself. The Gandalf who visits his old friends Bilbo and Frodo has lots of props. Already I have had to cope with his staff, his toffees, his pipe, as well as Clyde - why not a scarf to do some magic with? Only when Peter Jackson was certain that Fran (co-screenwriter Frances Walsh), Philippa (co-screenwriter Philippa Boyens), Alan Lee, Peter Owen, and I liked what peered back at us through the various applications, did he give his own approval. He's a director who likes to share decision making. It's a large crew and cast but we are all encouraged to contribute. It's very impressive how New Line supports such an eccentric enterprise. I haven't been here long enough to judge whether Peter is a national hero but he should be up there with Sir Edmund Hillary for his enterprise. Apart from the artistic audacity, he is bringing employment and international attention to his country. He says of his Everest that it's the biggest film ever made technically and logistically. He is not so foolhardy as to think he could ever make these three films by himself. We are all on his team. They had been filming without me for three months and I felt like the new boy at school as they re-grouped two weeks into the year. Term started with a rough cut of the action so far - those that didn't need major special effects added. A videotape was projected onto the screen of the cinema near the WETA workshops where the dailies are viewed. The soundtrack was uneven. The music was from other movies. And so the audience began by cheering their hard work like a home movie until the story took over and through the silence they watched Boromir die and the hobbits weep as they lose Gandalf to the Balrog. Peter had provided beer and wine but I'm off the alcohol and had two candy floss (cotton candy) and popcorn. Then a party at the house of Barrie Osborne (Producer) and his partner Carol Kim (Production Manager.) At the end of the evening Billy Boyd ("Pippin") persuaded me to follow him down the fireman's pole that falls twenty feet to the hall. And I wasn't even drunk. Two more days in Hobbiton - the forecast is for sunshine which will sparkle on my silver scarf. And finally, we offer this interview as conducted by E! Online: Frodo Speaks: An Exclusive Q&A with Elijah Wood by John Forde February 1, 2000 Frodo is relieved. Elijah Wood, the 19-year-old star who plays Frodo Baggins--the primary character in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings saga--has been dying for a chance to talk about this hush-hush project. Now he can. Relaxing between takes on the Hobbiton set, in his first interview since filming began, Wood opens up about Frodo, his costars, the technical demands of this massive trilogy--and big furry feet and little pointy ears. Frodo goes on an enormous physical and spiritual journey--what part of that journey are you most interested in exploring? I think he has a sense of strength, that he's able to take on this quest and take it to the end, which is very interesting to me. And what happens to him on the way interests me as an actor--you know, the fact the Ring starts to take hold and he starts to go mad and loses himself. It's an incredible arc, to watch that happen over time. Many of Tolkien's main characters have a moment of confrontation with their dark side--they have to choose between taking on the evil power of the Ring or resisting it. What's it like to explore the dark side of Frodo? We haven't dealt with it a lot yet, because we're still in film one, which is probably the least dark of the three. But I certainly did explore it a bit when we did some scenes from film three, and it's very interesting. It's quite a dark side...so dark it's not really Frodo anymore, y'know--it's kinda the Ring speaking. And the obsessive nature inspired by the Ring is so interesting. "No one can have the Ring, it's mine, so stay away." It's almost subconscious. So, you see Frodo as being possessed by evil, rather than making a conscious choice to engage the Ring's power? Oh, definitely. There was a conscious decision to take on the Ring, to destroy the Ring, for the better of Middle Earth and the Shire, but he doesn't ever make a conscious decision to go to the dark side. It's simply over a period of time he is beaten down, and his soul is beaten ragged, and he gets to a point where he can't handle it anymore, where he can't hold out against it. What do you admire about Frodo... or not admire? I admire the fact he's inquisitive and curious and wants to experience the outside world. He learns so much from Gandalf, he's learning Elvish, and he tries to be a worldly person. I also admire that by the time he makes the decision to take the Ring, it's selfless--it's for the better of Middle Earth and the Shire. And he wants to take this journey whether he may die or not. That's an incredibly courageous and honorable decision. He's just got a spirit, you know? That's what I love about him...he's very alive and very lively. You don't get to see a lot of that--only in the beginning of the first film--but his spirit, the light that's in him, is what holds him together. What about the physical aspects of the production--the prosthetics, the makeup... Yeah! Every morning, I start with about two and a half hours of makeup, which means some very early mornings. We're usually picked up around 5 a.m. I come to the set, and I get into my feet, which takes about an hour. They look comfortable. They actually are very comfortable, thank God, but it does take a while to put them on. Initially, that was so exciting. Got the feet, got the wig and the ears. And then it was like, Ooooo-kay...I could do without this in the morning! Then I put on my wig--it's the first time I've worn a wig in a film, so that's exciting--and the [prosthetic] ears, which fit on very well, so it's cool. You feel like a hobbit. We really transform in the morning, which is neat. Hobbits are similar to humans, but they're not human. How do you develop a character who isn't human? I haven't really thought of it in terms of what could I do that would be hobbit-like. I've more approached it like, what are the elements of my character? How am I going to portray them. Because my character is less hobbit-like than any of them, really. He's not an outcast, but he's on his way. His uncle [Bilbo] is a bit of a strange fellow here in Hobbiton, and everyone looks at him like he's a bit of a freak because he's got all these stories and he's been to all these places and he's a bit mad. And I'm on sort of that route, because I'm very interested in the route Bilbo took in his travels and the things he'd seen and the people he'd met. Which doesn't make me a typical hobbit. What kind of journey are you on as an actor? There are so many elements which are different and new for me as an actor. The sheer length of the project, the fact that I've got three films to develop a character, to hold that character and have him change and grow. Normally, you've got a couple of months to shoot a movie and develop the character, and it's not normally done in sequence. Here, we've got three films, being filmed mostly in sequence, so I get to experience the character's changes and live with the character over a long period of time, which I really enjoy. How do you maintain your character amid all the technical demands? It's easy to keep hold of the character. Peter Jackson is always in the moment, and he knows what's going on, and I try to keep myself focused on the scene. What's it like working with Peter? [Lets out an orgasmic gasp.] Absolutely wonderful! I've been a fan for a long time. I remember when I saw Heavenly Creatures. I absolutely fell in love with that movie, and I really wanted to work with him. I'd heard about Lord of the Rings about a year before I was approached to read for it, and the idea of putting Tolkien to screen was really interesting. When I heard it was attached to Peter, that did it for me. Peter seems to encourage a lot of collaboration. One of the best things about working on the project is that Jackson and Fran [Walsh, Jackson's screenwriting partner] are so open to suggestions. We have open meetings where we talk about scenes and where our characters are going. It's kinda everyone's film in a way. They certainly have their vision, but their openness makes our experience as actors so much more comfortable. Our opinions can be heard, and we feel just as much a part of it as they do. You seem to have a good working relationship with your Hobbit costars. Tell me about that. We had six weeks of prep before the film, so we really got very close very quickly, which is just wonderful. And I've made friends for life, truly beautiful people, and they're perfectly cast. The first month, we were just doing Hobbit material, so it kinda felt like the Hobbit movie for a while! We were the four Hobbits, always together. But now they're breaking us up, and we're doing different parts of the film, so it's a bit weird, you know, because we spent so much time together initially. Were you a Tolkien fan before you joined the project? Yeah! Well, honestly, I actually had not read the book before I started. I'd read The Hobbit, and when I finished it, I bought LOTR right away. I just never got around to reading it. So, when I started this, I started reading it, just to get into it. And it's interesting, because I read the three scripts when I started, and then went back to the book. What are the differences between the novel and the scripts? Well, obviously the level of descriptive detail [in the novel] is amazing. I found it really helpful for filling in more of the characters' internal processes and getting a sense of the whole quest. You've been filming in New Zealand for about four months now. Yeah, and this is the first interview I've had. I haven't been able, really, to talk with anyone from the press about it, so this is cool now that I'm right into the project. I've been looking forward to this! Has it been frustrating to maintain such strict confidentiality? Not so much. I've talked about the movie to friends, but I don't really reveal a whole lot. Is it difficult being so far away from your friends and family? I don't feel that far from home. I know I am, but I'm so at home here. I feel like Wellington is my home away from home. I just got a house--I had an apartment for a while--so I'm totally settling in, and I've got a second family here as well, with Dom and Billy and Sean and the other actors and the crew and everyone. I feel so comfortable. And New Zealand's just a great place to work, it's a really relaxed and constantly beautiful atmosphere, so it's a lot of fun. E! 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