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News from Bree
spymaster@theonering.net
Mar 3 2011, 12:38pm
Post #1 of 29
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James Nesbitt Talks Dwarf-training, Horse-riding
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 Irish actor James Nesbitt, cast in the role of the Dwarf Bofur, spoke with the Christian O'Connell Breakfast Show on Absolute Radio this morning about the time he's spent so far in New Zealand, reports BeeHiveCity and ContactMusic.com.
From BeeHiveCity:
"We've been here for training, because I'm going to be here for a year so the amount of work and the work we'll be getting up to means we all have to be fit, you know, and a few of us are getting on a bit, so we've been training and horse-riding and doing stunts and all that kind of thing, and then we start."
From ContactMusic.com:
"We haven't started filming, we got here mid-January and we were supposed to rehearse, doing lots of horse-riding and framing and stunts and all that, but then Peter got ill, he had a perforated ulcer, so filming was delayed for a few weeks. Filming starts in about three weeks and I start in a month, but it's been great, so I've had lots of time off. A typical day will be little bit of training, doing a bit of that, trying to get strong, and then doing lots of stunt fights and movement, then going out and horse-riding. I mean, it's basically playing is what we're doing."
(This post was edited by Silverlode on Mar 3 2011, 9:00pm)
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Ataahua
Forum Admin
/ Moderator
Mar 3 2011, 6:10pm
Post #2 of 29
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>>I mean, it's basically playing is what we're doing.
Reminds me of a comment from one of The Hobbits after filming was completed, when he described working on LOTR as a Boy's Own adventure. :)
Celebrimbor: "Pretty rings..."
Dwarves: "Pretty rings..."
Men: "Pretty rings..."
Sauron: "Mine's better."
"Ah, how ironic, the addictive qualities of Sauron’s master weapon led to its own destruction. Which just goes to show, kids - if you want two small and noble souls to succeed on a mission of dire importance... send an evil-minded b*****d with them too." - Gandalf's Diaries, final par, by Ufthak.
Ataahua's stories
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maut
Ossiriand
Mar 3 2011, 6:47pm
Post #3 of 29
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definetely ride horses oê rather ponies, and that's great. 
Far over the misty mountains cold
To dungeons deep and caverns old
We must away ere break of day
To seek the pale enchanted gold.
__________________________________
...and the sound of the kettle on his hearth was ever after more musical than it had been even in the quiet days before the Unexpected Party
________________________________
Welcome back to Middle-Earth!!!
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rings7
Nargothrond
Mar 3 2011, 7:24pm
Post #4 of 29
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that sounds like a lot of fun, love it! You can tell not all will be done by stunt doubles or CGI but themselves. The dwarfs have a lot of action on this story.
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Maddie
Lindon
Mar 3 2011, 7:35pm
Post #5 of 29
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It does sound like they are having fun.....I just wish we could get 1 little picture of the boys playing!!!
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chrism628
Nevrast
Mar 3 2011, 8:00pm
Post #6 of 29
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I don't understand this whole horse riding training for dwarfs? Since when do dwarfs ride horses? Gimili in LOTR couldn't even ride a horse without falling off. I was under the impression that dwarfs strictly travel by foot.
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N.E. Brigand
Gondolin
Mar 3 2011, 8:07pm
Post #8 of 29
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The term "Boy's Own" was used as a criticism of LOTR.
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When the book appeared, it was written off by some with that phrase.
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rings7
Nargothrond
Mar 3 2011, 8:14pm
Post #9 of 29
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Maybe that's what he meant. Maybe they're making them "practice" on horses but when filming they'll ride ponnies. I don't know.
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chrism628
Nevrast
Mar 3 2011, 8:15pm
Post #10 of 29
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I should read The Hobbit book again for a refresher. Had totally forgot they rode ponies in the book. That explains horse training since pony training probably is more difficult to come by.
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Silverlode
Forum Admin
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Mar 3 2011, 9:10pm
Post #11 of 29
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They ride ponies which they lose to the goblins in the Misty Mountains, and then Beorn lends them ponies to get them as far as Mirkwood. Bilbo also rides a pony on his way home.
Also, riding a pony would be much easier for a dwarf than riding a horse because of the size. In riding, you grip with your knees to keep your seat, so it's very hard to stay on if your legs are too short to give you any hold.
Silverlode
"Of all faces those of our familiares are the ones both most difficult to play fantastic tricks with, and most difficult really to see with fresh attention. They have become like the things which once attracted us by their glitter, or their colour, or their shape, and we laid hands on them, and then locked them in our hoard, acquired them, and acquiring ceased to look at them.
Creative fantasy, because it is mainly trying to do something else [make something new], may open your hoard and let all the locked things fly away like cage-birds. The gems all turn into flowers or flames, and you will be warned that all you had (or knew) was dangerous and potent, not really effectively chained, free and wild; no more yours than they were you." -On Fairy Stories
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Silverlode
Forum Admin
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Mar 3 2011, 9:11pm
Post #12 of 29
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These actors are not actually dwarves, so yes, naturally they will be
riding horses which are proportionally the same size to them as ponies
would be to actual dwarves.
Silverlode
"Of all faces those of our familiares are the ones both most difficult to play fantastic tricks with, and most difficult really to see with fresh attention. They have become like the things which once attracted us by their glitter, or their colour, or their shape, and we laid hands on them, and then locked them in our hoard, acquired them, and acquiring ceased to look at them.
Creative fantasy, because it is mainly trying to do something else [make something new], may open your hoard and let all the locked things fly away like cage-birds. The gems all turn into flowers or flames, and you will be warned that all you had (or knew) was dangerous and potent, not really effectively chained, free and wild; no more yours than they were you." -On Fairy Stories
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Kangi Ska
Gondolin
Mar 3 2011, 9:45pm
Post #13 of 29
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Think about the scale thing. Dwarves are all above 6 ft in real life, )The actors, that is)//
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Kangi Ska Resident Trickster & Wicked White Crebain
Life is an adventure, not a contest.
At night you can not tell if crows are black or white.
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Garfeimao
Nargothrond
Mar 4 2011, 12:28am
Post #14 of 29
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Dwarves ride ponies because they are short
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Shorter than Men, at least. Hence, they rider shorter animals to meet their needs.
The actors are Men, and not that short, so they ride Horses because the scale is correct. But if PJ and crew are really clever, they may actually have horses of varying sizes so that when Gandalf or Beorn or someone is nearby, the horses are played by ponies and therefore look shorter in comparison, then have a larger horse for when the Dwarf actors are nearby.
Ya'll gotta stop thinking literal here.
Peace, Love and Rock & Roll,
Garfeimao
The orange stripey One
Cruise to Middle-earth
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grammaboodawg
Elvenhome
Mar 4 2011, 1:20am
Post #15 of 29
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Cripes, that sounds like the perfect way to get into shape! PLUS you get to eat 3 times a day because of the calories that are not just burning... but FLAMING!!
Those lucky dogs! :D
 
I really need these new films to take me back to, and not re-introduce me to, that magical world.
TORn's Observations Lists
Unused Scenes
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silneldor
Gondolin
Mar 4 2011, 3:34am
Post #16 of 29
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Yes i would be the impossible task
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of finding horses that look like ponies. The horses would have to be rather stocky but not like the Cyldedales. Good luck.
''Sam put his ragged orc-cloak under his master's head, and covered them both with the grey robe of Lorien; and as he did so his thoughts went out to that fair land, and to the Elves, and he hoped that the cloth woven by their hands might have some virtue to keep them hidden beyond all hope in this wilderness of fear...But their luck held, and for the rest of that day they met no living or moving thing; and when night fell they vanished into the darkess of Mordor.'' - - -rotk, chapter III
May the grace of Manwë let us soar with eagle's wings!
In the air, among the clouds in the sky
Here is where the birds of Manwe fly
Looking at the land, and the water that flows
The true beauty of earth shows
With the stars of Varda lighting my way
In all the realms this is where I stay
In the realm of Manwë Súlimo
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rings7
Nargothrond
Mar 4 2011, 5:14am
Post #17 of 29
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You're absolutely right! as well as Kangi. I forgot about that particular detail. Now i feel dumb by assuming they'd be riding ponies considering their real heights lol.
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Sunflower
Doriath
Mar 4 2011, 5:56am
Post #18 of 29
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Y'know, I never even considered this. If working out scales for Bag End was difficult...yikes. I was just thinking the same thing...a horse that looked like a pony would have to be one of the smaller draft breeds, but still they are huge enough that it would take some considerable strength and stamina to ride them, esp if they are required to run for short distances. I'd imagine even Viggo would have needed a referesher riding course--like a "defensive riding" thing .
They can't ride Shetland ponies!! And even if they could be shrunk digitally, (the figures of Dwarves on horses), they still have to be thickset and stocky. Bill the Pony in FOTR was a small horse, a Quarter horse or something, but he was still a horse. They could get away with that b/c Bill only had a couple of cameos, and was a pack pony only. They can't get away with that here, where we are going to see the Dwarves ride for long scenes.
I used to have an encyclopedic knowledge of horse breeds as a teen. I admit to a falling off of knowledge. :) The two largest breeds are the Percheron and the Belgian, in that order. Doesn't the Percheron stand 16 hands at the shoulder or something. The Cydsdale is actually "middle" in draft horse breed size. Anyone out there who retains this knowlege, and can speculate on what breed of horse the lads are going to be riding?
(This post was edited by Sunflower on Mar 4 2011, 6:00am)
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bookgirl13
Menegroth
Mar 4 2011, 6:33am
Post #19 of 29
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I believe that one of the reasons that Arwen was the rider, with Frodo as a passenger, when they fled from the Black Riders was from exactly this difficulty of scale. It was very easy for Tolkien to write about Frodo sitting on a (to him) huge horse, galloping across the plain pursued by Black Riders, but basically impossible to film. How could you have a large breed of horse so Elijah looked small, but with the proportions of a thoroughbred? And the fact that this horse would have to be a standard size when viewed with the Black Riders.
As the dwarves will be mostly with Bilbo, where proportionally they match - just as John R-D at 6'2" was exactly right against the four hobbits - so horses = ponies when filming. PJ only has to ensure that there are some scale doubles for the horses so that occasionally he can film Ian McKellen in the same shot with them, so they are obviously ponies. Then a judicious use of the actors' scale doubles, with the appropriate horses or ponies, would reinforce the dwarves/ponies combo. My brain hurts here as I tried to work out if Ian McK scale double would appear with ponies or horses, or the small doubles for RA, MF, JN etc
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Kangi Ska
Gondolin
Mar 4 2011, 10:08am
Post #20 of 29
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Weta can whip up some horse prosthetics that will bulk those skinny horses up!
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Of course they will have to shave the horses for the adhesive to stick...H-m-m-m...there might be a job in this. I can see it now...the credits roll and up there in 3-D black and white...Horse Shaving Provided by...
Kangi Ska Resident Trickster & Wicked White Crebain
Life is an adventure, not a contest.
At night you can not tell if crows are black or white.
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AlatarVinyamar
Menegroth
Mar 4 2011, 12:57pm
Post #21 of 29
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Its far more likely that Scale Doubles on Ponies will be used for distance shots and close-ups will be of the rider, not the mount.
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Wraith Buster
Mithlond
Mar 4 2011, 1:24pm
Post #22 of 29
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Fits with the Bofur persona I think//
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Pedich Edhellen? Lau? Hria cuilë.
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Darkstone
Elvenhome
Mar 4 2011, 4:16pm
Post #23 of 29
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Norwegien Fjord horses look pretty much like ponies, as do Icelandic horses. Get large specimens of those breeds and you could have a horse-sized pony.
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Pippin: "When you guys fall in the forest, does it make a sound?"
Bregalad: "Are you kidding? Scott fell last week and he hasn't shut up about it since!"
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FarFromHome
Doriath
Mar 4 2011, 5:03pm
Post #24 of 29
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was played by a horse and a pony, the horse with the hobbit actors and the pony with the scale doubles. I thought they looked kind of different - I'm not even sure the markings matched! But even so I don't think I ever noticed it until I'd watched the movie many times. (Plus there was the panto horse as well, but that's another story...)
They went in, and Sam shut the door.
But even as he did so, he heard suddenly,
deep and unstilled,
the sigh and murmur of the Sea upon the shores of Middle-earth.
From the unpublished Epilogue to the Lord of the Rings
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Starling
Gondolin
Mar 4 2011, 8:55pm
Post #25 of 29
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I found it distracting - they did look very different.
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