#philippa jackson

[gallifreywhere]

(In the TARDIS)

Flip: Doctor? Doctor! I...I feel weird.

Six: What? No... Flip! You're... You're fading out!

Flip: What's happening to me? Doctor I'm sorry...

Six: She's gone. One morning and then she's vanished already. That's a record, even for me.

(The Fourth Wall, by John Dorney)

[yoda-fucks]

I never knew I needed something this much

[ithrilyann]

Thorin saving Bilbo ♡

“We created this scene with Bilbo in jeopardy and endangering Thorin because we wanted to build up the relationship between Bilbo and Thorin”.

“He’s heroic, Thorin. He’s naturally heroic”.

“He finds Bilbo an incredibly irksome burden and yet he doesn't hesitate, when necessary, to jump down a cliff and pull him to safety. That's just who Thorin is. It's innate”.

- Peter Jackson and Philippa Boyens ('An Unexpected Journey’ audio-commentary) (x)

[lin-archive]

[newsatsix1986]

The Newsreader to end with Season Three, and Season Three's release postponed until 2025

Well that is a heartbreaking sentence to write. A double whammy of sadness. A sentence that I knew I one day will have to write, but it still doesn't make it any easier.

I'm sure you've all seen this article by now. As sad as I am to see this, all good things must unfortunately come to an end. Even the show I've dedicated myself to so fiercely for nearly three years.

What the entire team behind the show has managed to achieve in such a relatively short time is incredible. It feels like we've spent longer with these electric characters and that gripping storyline, but in reality it's only been for twelve episodes, and we are very lucky to still have six more to go.

It has been an immense joy getting to spend time with The Newsreader, and I'm so extremely proud of each and every one of the people involved. They're really my telly family now. You can count on me to bring you all the Newsreader joy from all characters' and creators' perspectives for the remainder of 2024, and into 2025 with Season Three 💖

https://tvtonight.com.au/2024/06/emotional-conclusion-the-newsreader-s3-the-end-for-news-at-six-team.html?mc_cid=0da5e6b173&mc_eid=9029ca579f

[novelmonger]

Continuing to watch through the Writer/Director commentary of LotR (with Peter Jackson, Philippa Boyens, and Fran Walsh) and jotting down any new-to-me information I come across. Here's what I gleaned from TTT:

When they got the New Line logo to put on the movies, it was very old and scratched, so PJ gave it to Weta to touch it up. They joked about how they should bill New Line for it XD

Originally, the studio wanted TTT to start off with a prologue too, with Cate Blanchett narrating what sounds like it was basically going to be a "Previously on..." spiel, even though they didn't like the idea of the prologue in the first one. Thankfully, these three ignored the studio's advice both times XD

The Uruk who says "Manflesh" is also the guy in Sauron's armor in the prologue!

In the scene where the Rohirrim find Theodred, it's not actually raining! They used rain towers for the close-ups, but any wide shots just have CG rain. I would never have guessed!

Andy Serkis did the voices for the Uruk-Hai who says the "maggoty bread" line, and the orc who says, "Yeah, why can't we have some meat?" (The actor in the suit for the latter is, of course, Jed Brophy, who went on to play Nori in the Hobbit movies.)

Somehow it never registered for me that Orlando Bloom has brown eyes, and so he had to wear blue contacts when he played Legolas ^^' But sometimes he wasn't able to wear the contacts (or forgot), so there are some scenes where they had to fix it in post.

PJ called the Treebeard from the animated Bakshi movie "a walking carrot" XD He also said that Treebeard is his favorite character!

The scene with Smeagol killing Deagol was originally going to be a flashback right after Frodo says his name, and then the Nazgul shriek would pull the audience out of the flashback. They decided not to do that for pacing reasons and because we haven't spent much time with Gollum yet, so that's why they put it at the beginning of RotK instead.

Bernard Hill had his son with him on the shoot and would play with him in his downtime on the Edoras set. Puts things into perspective when you hear that he was the one who came up with the line "No parent should have to bury their child."

They were originally looking at Bernard Hill for Gandalf! (I feel like I've probably heard this before, but anyway.)

They filmed a flashback to Aragorn and Arwen's first meeting?! Viggo shaved to make himself look younger, and it was a scene of the two of them "frolicking about the forest." It was originally going to be put in the Lothlorien sequence, but they cut it out in favor of that scene between Aragorn and Boromir, because they decided it was more important to earn Boromir's death scene than to remind the audience of the romance. I agree with that decision, but it would be cool to see that footage! (I say as someone who prefers to skip the TTT Aragorn/Arwen scene entirely XD)

Originally, the warg battle was going to happen at Edoras itself. It was going to be at night, everything was going to be on fire, and ultimately that was going to be the reason everyone evacuated and went to Helm's Deep. Also, a warg was going to be set on fire and end up dragging Aragorn through the streets, and that was going to be how Aragorn would be left for dead. Ultimately, the reason they did it the way they did was because the studio wasn't sure Weta could do a flaming warg (something all three of them laughed about, considering everything Weta did manage to do with flying colors), and because it would have been a nightmare to light the Edoras set at night, because that location was so remote and so windy. Which is why every scene in Edoras takes place in the daytime!

In the scene where Faramir talks about his dream where he saw Boromir in the boat, you can see a sort of pinkish color in the water around Boromir's body. That's because the dye from his shirt (surcoat? idk) was leaking out into the water! XD

When Andy Serkis did ADR for the Forbidden Pool scene, he couldn't manage to sing the song off-key, so they had to use the audio from the motion capture footage XD

They shot some additional footage of Aragorn unconscious on Brego's back, riding past an orc encampment, that they never ended up using.

Theoden was originally going to give a speech to the soldiers in the armory, but Bernard Hill's performance was so inspiring that it defused most of the tension they were trying to build up before the battle, so they took it out. Would love to see that footage!

So the boy Aragorn encourages before the battle ("There is always hope.") was Philippa Boyens' son, who was 13 when they filmed the scene. But by the time they went to do ADR, his voice had broken, so they had to get a different child actor to say his lines.

Aww, the extra who was missing an eye said he always felt self-conscious about his missing eye, so he always wore an eyepatch. But then after they gave him a close-up and the guy saw the movie, he said he felt much better about his appearance! :')

Treebeard's line "I always like going south; it feels like going downhill" was ad-libbed!

When Saruman turns and reacts to all the water pouring in and washing his machinery away, that shot was actually a reaction shot to Wormtongue on top of the tower from the RotK movie that they repurposed for this scene instead, since they hadn't shot any reactions to the flood.

At least at the time of the recording of this audio commentary, the final shot of Gollum, where he's arguing with himself and ultimately decides to lead Frodo and Sam to Shelob, was the longest CG shot in any movie. (I tried to google what the current record is, but couldn't find anything, so if anyone knows, I'd love to hear about it!)

Fran Walsh: "All cinema storytelling, to a degree, is shallow. That's the nature of the medium. You've got two or three hours to present a world and a dense story with a hundred themes and a ton of backstory, in this instance, and 22 characters...so you can only really have the veneer of depth. You really can't have anything that comes close to the depth of the books, or the experience of the books. So I think what we attempted to do was to use the language of the books where we could and to certainly invoke them, the iconic images, where we could, but to keep the storytelling very much...to modernize it, if you like, in terms of cinema language. So we didn't, for example, use the style of storytelling that was in the books between these different after-the-fact storytelling, of Sam and Frodo and then a chunk of the Aragorn story. We completely undercut it. That was a far more immediate and engaging way to connect it to the audience. You can't really hope to satisfy people who adore this book, with the movie. You can only ever give them the sense of what might have been. That's all a film can do. I think, in that sense, films...I mean, they're entertainments. They're just not going to give you the pleasure that a book can give you."

[courseyoulovemeyoudontknowme]

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012, Peter Jackson)

06/07/2024

[damienkarras73]

A Bluesky discussion on the Jackson Lord of the Rings trilogy's departures from the book got me thinking about how Tolkien would react to some of the changes. He might even mail his critiques to Jackson, Walsh and Boyens on typewritten correspondence.

But I will be realistic: were he still alive in the early 2000s, his Victorian Era-vintage heart would have been sent into immediate arrest at the very sight of Gollum.

[seantealefan]

Two new stills from Doctor Odyssey episode 1x01

[feralboo-the-weirdo]

I think my favorite trope in middle grade books is how firmly the narrator manages to convince themselves they're going to have a "normal" anything. (vacation, walk, school year, etc)

Like it's definitely not healthy in any way, but I admire their total commitment to it. like, bud. did you see the cover of this book? the MC tries so hard to have the major plot point not happen so hard, and they never succeed.

feel free to add if you know of more books/MC's that do this, I made a list in the tags, but it's kinda short.

[maraschinocheri]

It was 20 years ago today :: The lights of my life hit the carpet, stage and press room at the Golden Globe Awards on 25 January, 2004. The Return of the King took home all four of its nominated awards, including Best Motion Picture (Drama); Best Director for Peter Jackson; Best Original Score for Howard Shore; and Best Original Song, for Howard Shore, Fran Walsh, and Annie Lennox. Cate Blanchett and Elijah Wood served as presenters during the awards ceremony, and the film's party also included Dominic Monaghan, John Rhys Davies, screenwriter Philippa Boyens, producer Barrie Osborne, and representing New Line Cinema, Robert Shaye and Michael Lynne.

[ The Wellington premiere of ROTK | Air Frodo from NZ to LA | Los Angeles | Berlin | London | New York (1) | New York (2) | Empire's LOTR Celebration booklet photography | Empire's outtakes | Critics Choice and People's Choice Awards | National Board of Review Awards | Producers Guild Awards | Tokyo (1) | Tokyo (2) ]

[addictivecontradiction]

The Lord of the Rings: the two towers, 2002

[adamwatchesmovies]

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers is the definition of “epic”. The climax is on a scale so massive it’s legendary. You see it and cannot imagine how the series could top itself in the final chapter. It also contains great, quieter character moments, just enough comedy to give you the emotional breaks you need before the action kicks up again and some romance too. The special effects were spectacular for the time and hold up today. Yes, the extended edition is long - you basically have to dedicate an entire evening to it – but it never feels long. As soon as it's over, you'll debate whether you have time to sit down and watch the next chapter.

As Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood) and Samwise Gamgee (Sean Astin) make their way toward Mordor to destroy the Ring of Power, they discover that its previous owner, the creature called Gollum (Andy Serkis) is following them. Though treacherous, Gollum may be the key to fulfilling their quest. Meanwhile, Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen), Legolas (Orlando Bloom) and Gimli (John Rhys-Davies) arrive in the kingdom of Rohan to find its King, Théoden (Bernard Hill), corrupted by the wizard Saruman (Christopher Lee). In the forest near Saruman’s tower, Merry (Dominic Monaghan) and Pippin (Billy Boyd) try to convince Treebeard (voiced by Rhys-Davies) to join the fight against him and his army of Uruk-Hai.

Before we dig in, let me clarify that we’re talking about the Extended Edition of the film, which is 45 minutes longer than the already lengthy 179-minute theatrical version. Yes, that’s a lot of time spent in Middle-Earth. No, it doesn’t feel like too much. The pacing is the key. We begin with one story, see how dire the situation is, get to a turning point and are then whisked away to the next plot, where the cycle repeats itself. As the middle chapter in a trilogy, this film is not contained, but it feels complete. There are character arcs, clear stakes, and a beginning, middle and end within each of the three stories and for the picture as a whole. Even more than before, the action feels like it’s happening in a real place. You can see the history of the fortress of Helm’s Deep, of the people of Rohan, the realms in faraway lands that are choosing to either ally themselves with the great, never-blinking eye of Sauron, or against him and his forces. In the sets, costumes and weapons, you notice details that show how much love and dedication was poured into this project. When there is comedy, it’s not the kind that undercuts the action, it’s the kind that makes what comes next feel even more dramatic, exciting or tragic.

Director Peter Jackson has a knack for raising the stakes. You know it’s only a matter of time before Gollum betrays Sam and Frodo. You think that’s all the hobbits have to worry about but then they meet the late Boromir’s brother, Faramir (David Wenham). You figure the journey Legolas, Aragorn and Gimli will make to the fortress at Helm’s Deep will be perilous, but then we see what’s brewing in Saruman's lair. The journey there is the least of their problems. There’s a glimmer of hope in the form of Merry, Pippin and Treebeard but the more we learn about tree-like Ents, the less you have faith in them. Those are all part of the big picture but within the individual characters, we have engaging stories too. In the kingdom of the elves, Arwen (Liv Tyler) is told by her father, Elrond (Hugo Weaving), that the elves are abandoning Middle-Earth, and that she would be foolish to stay, particularly for love. Frodo and Sam are at odds when it comes to Gollum, with Frodo sympathizing with the creature and Sam believing they’d be better off without him. In Gollum himself, there is conflict, as the creature’s twisted mind cannot decide whether it should act as a loyal guide to the hobbits or kill them in their sleep.

Whether swords are drawn or sheathed, you’ll be gripped by the picture but what you’ll probably remember best about “The Two Towers” are the big, special-effects-heavy scenes. Most memorable is Gollum, a character created entirely by motion capture. It’s common nowadays, but this is a rare example of a pioneered technique that still holds up. As soon as Gollum enters the frame, you just think of him as a character, never as a trick of the camera. You might even forget there was a person, not a creature on set. Equally capable of knocking you off your feet is the big battle at the end of the film. This gigantic siege, set at night, in the rain, is so well-lit and well-directed that you’re never lost or disoriented. It feels like everything's been building up to this and in some ways it is, but in others, it hasn't. There's still more to come in The Return of the King.

Like its predecessor, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers is a significant achievement in filmmaking. The performances are excellent, the production on a scale we seldom see, the story and plot make you forget there’s a world outside of the movie itself. The only flaw in is that you can't sit down and watch this movie on its own, but it was never meant to be seen that way. (Extended Edition on Blu-ray, April 27, 2023)

[ithrilyann]

One of Bilbo’s treasures ♡

✷

“That map is sitting there in ‘Fellowship of the Ring’, which we had no idea that we needed it there. But then 12-13 years later it provided us a perfect opportunity for a final shot. We couldn’t pick up a better spot for it”.

“Actually, I wrote it in there. Yes, I did! I do remember writing in the map, and you liked the idea”.

“You must’ve known then. Have you got a crystal ball or secret powers?”

- Peter Jackson and Philippa Boyens (‘Battle of the Five Armies’ Audio commentary)

[pippinsqueaks]

I’m not sorry

[newsatsix1986]

The Newsreader Turns Three Years Old! 💖

In the morning, it will have been three years since The Newsreader first aired on the ABC, on the 15th August 2021!

Since that day in 2021, we all found this show at various points along the way, and we have created this beautiful community around it across many platforms. As much as this is a day of celebrating what the cast and crew have put together, it is a day for us too, because we’ve kept The Newsreader’s online conversation going even when the media have stopped covering it. We’ve made it the cult hit it has become.

For me personally, I’ll forever be grateful to this show for coming into my life at the moment it did. From rescuing my sense of boredom during lockdown, to helping me grow into the person I’m meant to become, and for giving me creative opportunities that I could have never dreamed of, the past three years have been an incredible creative ride. The 15th August will always be a special day to me, to celebrate the piece of media that has changed my creative life. I am so grateful for the creative spirits behind it, the people in the fan community surrounding it, for nurturing my brain and helping me find my creative voice. It has meant so much joining the News At Six family.

I thank everyone who has contributed to this digital birthday presentation, for their words which demonstrates how much this show means to its viewers. I was in awe of everyone’s words and thoughts about what makes The Newsreader special to them. I’m proud of us all, and thrilled that we found a show which we feel at home in, especially those of us who feel different. There is a place for us after all, where we can feel loved just the way we are.

Happy Third Newsreader Anniversary, everyone, from News At Six 1986! 💖🌟📺📰