It’s been several months since director Peter Jackson last delivered a production blog covering the process of making his epic trilogy of Hobbit films, but at long last, a new one has popped up. Last we saw, the gang was putting the finishing touches on the first film just in time for its premiere in New Zealand. For this new blog, we find the cast and crew together again to shoot what are called “pick-ups,” which are shots that are done to make sure all of the existing footage fits together well.
The blog starts off with another bit of news, and that’s the unfortunate announcement that The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug will not be at Comic Con this year. Jackson’s reasons for this include a very busy shooting schedule and the fact that anything he that he would end up sending to Comic Con (i.e. a sizzle reel) he would want to be as awesome as possible. However, any time spent working on such a reel would only take away from the time spent trying to make the movies as great as possible.
The behind the scenes footage is quite extraordinary, showing the crew coming back together, going through the thousands and thousands of different props, costumes, and makeups that had been stored away after principal photography had wrapped. We also get a little sneak peek at the actors undergoing training for the upcoming Battle of Five Armies, the climactic battle of the third film which they obviously can’t show us any of yet (but you can be sure that it will be all kinds of epic). The last shot of the blog is particularly amazing too, giving us a wide shot of Lake Town in all its beauty.
Jackson promises another blog once the pick-ups are done, so for now, enjoy this fascinating look behind the scenes of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and check out the film when it hits theaters on December 13th, 2013.
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