So, my previous post warrants a little explanation. I am a nerd. I have watched all three Lord of the Rings movies several times, and my husband and I actually enjoy watching the special features as much as the actual movies. As my fellow nerds know, the entire trilogy was made in New Zealand. Weta Workshop was in charge of the special effects, the costuming, the weapons, and sound mixing. This company is based in Wellington, New Zealand. I happen to know the names of the guys in charge of all the departments (they get a lot of interviews in the special features), and could probably tell you about every detail that went into filming and producing each movie. See? I'm a nerd. Sometimes I forget that there are people that haven't spend hours and hours watching and discussing Richard Taylor's explanations of the process that went into making the Orc costumes. This is why my head was ready to explode when I watched the Bachelor, and they were standing on the actual site Edoras used to be built, and they flew over the Misty Mountains, and they didn't even bring up Middle Earth. Not in a single moment of any of the three dates. I am such a geek.
But I found something out last night. There are much MUCH bigger geeks out there. We watched a documentary called "Ringers: Lord of the Fans." It followed the popularity of the books and movies, starting in the '50s and ending up at the movie premiere of Return of the King. It was a little creepy, to be honest. Here are some things I learned about the history of the books/movies:
1. The hippie movement in the '60s used the books as a guide to life. (Think long-bottom leaf and hobbits' love of mushrooms.) There was an illegal publishing of the series that had psychedelic pictures on the covers. Tim and I plan to ask the parents about that scene.
2. Led Zepplin's music is full of Lord of the Rings references. They started out playing at a club called Middle Earth. Same with David Bowie.
3. The term "ringers" refers to people that are willing to sell their house to fly to Wellington to be at the "Return of the King" premiere. There was a tour of them that went out to see the movie and tour "Middle Earth" on a big bus. Really. A lady sold her house because she felt she needed to be there.
4. There are a large number of people that are willing to sleep on the pavement for a week to see a movie that will also be showing later on. They call it "fun."
5. A lot of people described the books as "bringing meaning into their life." or "filling a void," or "answering questions they felt needed to be answered." I guess they haven't read the Book of Mormon.
I could go on about the other disturbing facts I learned about many of the super fans that are out there (a lot of which were wearing hobbit and elf costumes while being interviewed, although some were also dressed as Klingons and pirates), but I think you get the picture. I may be able to win at the Lord of the Rings Trivial Pursuit game (which we own), but I don't own a hobbit costume and I have a life outside Middle Earth. But if I go to New Zealand someday, I will still be excited when I see the landmarks that show up in the movies.
But I found something out last night. There are much MUCH bigger geeks out there. We watched a documentary called "Ringers: Lord of the Fans." It followed the popularity of the books and movies, starting in the '50s and ending up at the movie premiere of Return of the King. It was a little creepy, to be honest. Here are some things I learned about the history of the books/movies:
1. The hippie movement in the '60s used the books as a guide to life. (Think long-bottom leaf and hobbits' love of mushrooms.) There was an illegal publishing of the series that had psychedelic pictures on the covers. Tim and I plan to ask the parents about that scene.
2. Led Zepplin's music is full of Lord of the Rings references. They started out playing at a club called Middle Earth. Same with David Bowie.
3. The term "ringers" refers to people that are willing to sell their house to fly to Wellington to be at the "Return of the King" premiere. There was a tour of them that went out to see the movie and tour "Middle Earth" on a big bus. Really. A lady sold her house because she felt she needed to be there.
4. There are a large number of people that are willing to sleep on the pavement for a week to see a movie that will also be showing later on. They call it "fun."
5. A lot of people described the books as "bringing meaning into their life." or "filling a void," or "answering questions they felt needed to be answered." I guess they haven't read the Book of Mormon.
I could go on about the other disturbing facts I learned about many of the super fans that are out there (a lot of which were wearing hobbit and elf costumes while being interviewed, although some were also dressed as Klingons and pirates), but I think you get the picture. I may be able to win at the Lord of the Rings Trivial Pursuit game (which we own), but I don't own a hobbit costume and I have a life outside Middle Earth. But if I go to New Zealand someday, I will still be excited when I see the landmarks that show up in the movies.
10 comments:
You are not alone. Geoff is a LOTR geek too, and has watched all those special features. I even watched some. I started reading the books when we were dating so he would like me, but when we got engaged I gave it up with relief.
Did you know that very little of the movie stuff is still up in New Zealand? I went to Hobbiton (sp?) and the original contract on the farm was that everything had to be taken down with in like 2 days of filming. Then there was a big storm, and by the time they could get the equipment in to finish removing everything, the owners of the farm realized how much money they could make by leaving it up, so they made it into a tour. Yes, I have danced under the party tree and been in a Hobbit hole.
Mike once had a job possibility in New Zealand and all I could think about was seeing Hobbiton. He didn't get the job, but it was fun dreaming.
Mmmm...Viggo.
I wonder if they stage battle reenactments from the movie. Like civil war reenactors. Because that would be the Ultimate Ringer Experience.
Looks like I'm the nerd for having no idea about any of this. Hehe! Maybe I'll have to add the movies to my Netflix list and see what its all about.
Bet you didn't know I followed your blog :) Your posts are funny, probably because I relate to a lot of it. I'm a LOTR geek myself, unfortunately I haven't converted Lara yet. Still working on it after 18 years of marriage. My one goal in life before I die is to visit those sites in New Zealand (but I promised Lara a trip to Italy first for our 20th).
We are there with you! Colby and I will sometimes plan dates where we pull out a mattress in front of the TV and have a LOTR marathon the whole weekend. Snacks and PJs are a must. And we have also watched all of the special features, it's so interesting how much work goes into a movie like that.
We always pull the DVDs out when we have a big project to do. We once watched everything that had been released at that point in one sitting while we worked on homemade Christmas presents. That was before Jacob was born, obviously. Even if you don't make it through the books, the movies are fabulous and full of eye candy. (And I'm not talking about Gimli.)
You know we love LOTR..... :)
....but I think you would kick my trash at LOTR Trivial Persuit. We also have the games, and I have also watched all the special features, but I just don't retain those details. We'll have to play sometime when we live closer.
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