The Hobbit

[GeneChing]

Age of the Hobbits Trailer (2012)
WTF? Is that Bai Ling?

[SimonM]

Generally WTF about that whole trailer.

And, according to the producer's website, yes, that is Bai Ling. Surprisingly IMDB doesn't include it in here list of credits - almost like she was embarrassed to be in a piece of WTF like this.

[RickMatz]

The movie is in big trouble if the orcs have been studying dwarf tossing.

[GeneChing]

An Unexpected Briefing #airnzhobbit

[doug maverick]

Generally WTF about that whole trailer.

And, according to the producer's website, yes, that is Bai Ling. Surprisingly IMDB doesn't include it in here list of credits - almost like she was embarrassed to be in a piece of WTF like this.

well she was promoting the film on her facebook so idk if she is ashamed or not...i know she got her passport stolen while filming there.

[Scott R. Brown]

It looks more like, "The Magnificent Four" or "The 4 Samurai" to me!

[GeneChing]

Film 'The Hobbit': Flight of fantasy
By Lu Qianwen (Global Times)
11:14, November 30, 2012

Fantasy movie-goers really have something to be excited about this holiday season as the prequel to The Lord of the Rings series will premiere globally December 14th. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is the first installment of yet another trilogy of films directed by Peter Jackson based upon the writings of British author J.R.R. Tolkein (1892-1973).

In China, however, audiences will not only be lucky enough to watch the movie, but fans can also read a new Chinese version of the book. Shanghai based Wenjing Book Company has announced that its translation of The Hobbit will meet the public early next month.

Together with The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit is considered a signature work by Tolkien.

Now not just those books, but others including Letters from Father Christmas will be published, as well as related works studying Tolkien's writing like The Art of the Hobbit and The Map of Middle Earth.

Introducing a master

"A total of over 20 books by Tolkien or related [to Tolkien] will be introduced in China in the next five to seven years," said Wang Lei, vice general manager of Wenjing Book Co. "We are planning to rebuild Tolkien's position as a great master of modern literature in China instead of a writer of children's books," she told the Global Times.

Indeed, although he gained wide recognition for his writing of the imaginative and neatly-designed Middle-earth world presented in the movies, the image of Tolkien as a master in the field of literature is relatively unclear in the country.

"Most of his books that were introduced by domestic publishers before were [taken as children's] literature, as we can see from their cover designs and translations," said Wang.

Unprofessional translations were common in previous versions. For example, when The Lord of the Rings movies hit the market between 2001 and 2003, Yilin Publishing House in Nanjiang of eastern Jiangsu Province introduced The Silmarillion, an extensive depiction of Middle-earth that was written (but not published) by Tolkien after the success of The Hobbit and before publication of The Lord of the Rings. But during the book's translation and editing, the genealogy of the Hobbit and map of the Middle-earth in the appendix were all deleted.

Later Yilin apologized on its website and said it would publish the complete version.

To obtain publishing rights, Wang said they had to get authorization from two foreign institutions. "One is the Tolkien Estate... and the other is Warner Brothers Entertainment, which authorized us some screen images that we use for our cover designs and illustrations," she said.

Translation challenges

The Hobbit was originally meant to be a book of fireside stories that Tolkien wrote to his children. Since being published for the first time in 1937, it has been translated into 64 languages and has sold more than 100 million copies. It is now considered one of the classics of 20th century literature.

Readers of Tolkien's works were amazed at the massive and mysterious world he created, where exotic languages are spoken by various groups, such as Elves who speak Quenya and Sindarin.

Actually there are a total of 15 different languages used in The Lord of the Rings. From the vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation, Tolkien's languages all obey strict and systemic rules of language composition.

Tolkien himself showed a great talent for languages when he was young. He learned ancient English, Germanic languages, Welsh and Gothic language when he was studying at Cambridge University.

"Translation of Tolkien's works is a great challenge and places high demand on the translators' knowledge of the fantastic world Tolkien created, as well as those ancient and exotic languages," said Wang. "To avoid inconsistent translation of certain names and sayings, we have one translator responsible for one whole book," she added.

Fantasy's future

As mentioned above, when Tolkien's works were first introduced in China, many publishers took them wrongly as an adult version of fairy tales or even just entertaining children's literature. But in later years, as its influence gradually began to show in other fantasy works like Forgotten Realms by R.A. Salvatore, Dragonlance Chronicle trilogy by Tracy Hickman and Margret Weis, and the hot Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling, not to mention the supreme popularity of the eponymous movies in the early 2000s, Tolkien and his works became re-identified and re-introduced.

Like science fiction, a genre of literature that has long been dominated by the West, fantasy literature was not introduced to China until the recent decade. During the 10-year-long familiarization and nurturing process, Chinese readers have not only become loyal fans, but a few have become fantasy writers themselves.

However, unlike Chinese science fiction, which has its own genetic roots in the country and has begun to exert its influence abroad with new translations of works like the Three Body trilogy by leading domestic writer Liu Cixin, writing fantasy literature is in its infancy.

"Most of them are online writers, and there are actually quite a large number of them. We have published some of their works before like the Tianlu Fengyun (turmoil in Tianlu) by Fei Ling," said Wang, adding "Fantasy writing is a significant literature genre in the West and its introduction to China has influenced a group of readers and writers."

In fact, according to Wang, fantasy writing was the earliest style to appear on the Internet when online reading and writing was just becoming popular. "The current popular styles like time travel literature developed later," she noted.

Many consider Western fantasy stories similar to Chinese wuxia (martial arts) novels. In fact, the two do have their commonalities like depicting a troubled time during which a hero must save the world, and many of them draw inspiration from different eras of history.

"There have been some Chinese fantasy works introduced abroad like Zhu Xian (Jade Dynasty) by Xiao Ding, which were translated into Korean," said Wang, "but compared to science fiction, some of which gets introduced abroad from time to time, fantasy literature still lags behind."

Based on readers' enthusiasm for this new genre and the large group of online Chinese writers, Wang believes eventually some domestic fantasy works will stand out.

I barely got through the Silmarillion in English. Imagine how cumbersome that must have been in Chinese.

[rett]

哈比人 hābǐrén

or

霍比特人 huòbǐtèrén

(my google-fu is strong)

[GeneChing]

Okay then, what do you call hobbit vomit?

There are a lot of photos with this article, but I didn't bother cut&pastin them.

'Hobbit film wizardry left us feeling sick’: Cinema-goers complain camera speeds and 3D effects caused headaches and queasiness
By Becky Evans
PUBLISHED: 05:27 EST, 2 December 2012 | UPDATED: 11:33 EST, 2 December 2012

Cinema-goers have complained of feeling sick and dizzy after watching early screenings of The Hobbit.

Peter Jackson's eagerly awaited new film is the first to be shot using high-speed 3D cameras that capture twice the normal number of frames per second.

But some viewers said the filming techniques made them feel nauseous and even caused migraines.

The Sunday Times reported one 'avid Middle Earth fan', who had flown to New Zealand from Australia for the premiere, said: 'My eyes cannot take everything in, it's dizzying, now I have a migraine.'

Another fan tweeted: 'It works for the big snowy mountains, but in close-ups the pictures strobes. I left loving the movie but feeling sick.'

The Sunday Times said one fan described having motion sickness similar to being on a rollercoaster.

They said: 'You have to hold your stomach down and let your eyes pop at first to adjust. This is not for wimps.'

However, others praised the way the film - starring Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins - had been shot.

Hollywood director Bryan Singer wrote on Twitter after the world premiere of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey on Wednesday: 'Having some serious frame rate envy. Amazing and involving. Loved it!'

The 3D company that worked with Jackson on the shoot said the new technology should actually stop people feeling ill.

Matt Cowan, chief scientist at RealD, told stuff.co.nz: 'What you will experience is smoother motion.

'The effect you get for things like explosions is much more real.

'It is a great experiment and kudos to Peter Jackson for doing it.'

The movie - the first in a trilogy - is shot at a camera speed of 48 frames per second - double that normally used.

Critics did not react warmly to an unfinished version of the film describing it as looking like a 'made for television BBC movie - so uncompromisingly real, slightly sped up, that it looked fake. It was jarring.'

The movie came under fire earlier this year after critics who had seen ten minutes of the unfinished film compared it to a made-for-television film.

Ian McKellen, who reprises his role as Gandalf in the film, defended it as 'more exciting' and said the 3D brings fans into Middle Earth.

Thousands of people crowded into central Wellington, New Zealand, for the chance to see some of the films stars including Elijah Wood, Cate Blanchett and Andy Serkis, who plays Gollum.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is due to be released in the UK on December 14.

The second film The Desolation of Smaug will be be released in 2013 with There and Back Again released the following year.

SUPERFAST FILMS OF THE FUTURE: WHAT 48 'FRAMES PER SECOND' MEANS

Movies have been filmed in 24 frame per second (fps) shots since 1927.

It means each second of picture contains 24 still images that create the illusion of movement when put in sequence.

American film director Doug Trumbull invented and promoted a 60 frame per second process called ShowScan 30 years ago but it was not widely used.

The new technology means every second of shot will contain 48 still images - and The Hobbit is the first major studio film to be shot at the higher rate.

The resulting movie should be clearer with images that look more details, 'sharp', and less blurred.

However, some critics have argued that the sharper image makes the film look too similar to television - which is shot at 50fpm - and ruins the cinema experience.

Director Peter Jackson hopes more than 10,000 cinemas will be able to project the film at the higher frame rate.

But the vast majority of cinemas are currently only able to show the standard 24fpm.

Therefore the film is being released in six different versions - 2D, 3D and 3D IMAX, all in both 24fps and 48fps.

Jackson said the high speed of frames gives a 'hugely enhanced clarity and smoothness' and also claims it cuts down eye strain from watching 3D.

Director James Cameron has said he wants to film the two sequels to his film Avatar at a higher frame rate than 24 frames per second, in order to add a heightened sense of reality.

[GeneChing]

48 fps rocks.

I'll have more on this for y'all on Friday.

[Hebrew Hammer]

I got tickets for the Midnight showing on Thursday at these new Arclight theaters for the snobby and well to do. They have Margarita pizzas and a full beer and wine bar. You can actually purchase your specific seats online, like a sporting event.

https://www.arclightcinemas.com/loca...rigin=la-jolla

Coincidentally I'm going with my friend Danimal who could pass for a Hobbit. There you have it, an Orc and Hobbits living together...it is another sign of the apocalypse.

[MightyB]

Coincidentally I'm going with my friend Danimal who could pass for a Hobbit. There you have it, an Orc and Hobbits living together...it is another sign of the apocalypse.

Got tickets for 3D IMAX on Saturday. Hope it's worth it.

[MasterKiller]

I have absolutely no interest in watching 3 more of these dreadfully boring films.

[Hebrew Hammer]

I have absolutely no interest in watching 3 more of these dreadfully boring films.

You obviously have no appreciation of Dwarven hiking adventures.

[sanjuro_ronin]

I'll wait for the Porn Parody.