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TheHutt
Mithlond
Jan 30 2013, 9:02am
Post #1 of 25
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Hobbit BluRay cover design analysis
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I thought it's time to give this cover some thought.
First of all, the reason why I believe it's in fact legit (and not fake, as TORN supposes) is that we never have seen this design yet. Fake covers don't come from nowhere: they use stuff already published. This one wasn't. Also, Blu-ray.com never uses fan art, only the real stuff it gets from the distributors (it might be TBA like the other two Hobbit covers with Beorn - but they got them from WB nevertheless).
But as for the other aspects of the cover, it's rather interesting.
Instead of featuring some conventional tower-of-heads, it contains a complete scene. And while the TORN editor thinks it "isn’t a powerful 'buy me' image from the movie" I think it's rather effective in its being a "scene" instead of just "some character" or "a pile of heads". Come on, Bilbo-with-Sting ain't DVD cover stuff. It is hardly theatrical poster stuff, for that matter. But this image, in a kind, buys it for me. It has drama, it has movement and it does not look fake.
The scene, while not present anywhere in the course of the movie, is a symbol for the journey East (movement from left to right), towards some danger. All of the characters are standing on a ledge, which would symbolize the look eastwards at the end of AUJ from the Carrock but has been obviously shifted to Misty Mountains for symbolic and design purposes (also, note the mist in the mountains as a hint to location). Also, it's obviously not after "Under Hill", as Bilbo has all his buttons yet. Anyway, Bilbo as the hero has just the right amount of space on this image, with the other two characters, Thorin and Gandalf close behind. Gandalf is even put somewhat in the center of the image, but manages not to "steal the show" from Bilbo: both his stature and his placement show that he's the character in the background.
Thorin is also featured prominently, however, I think his compositing is somewhat sub-optimal in terms of lighting - he looks like he's entirely elsewhere.
Of the other 12 dwarves, only 5 have been selected for the cover. Obviously, Kili as the Sexy Dwarf™ who is just behind Gandalf and in front of everybody else. Then, we have Dwalin who's the rather masculine end of the bunch. Then, a little head of Fili (the other young dwarf), then, strangely, Nori (who isn't prominent in the film at all - my congrats to Jed Brophy for making it on the DVD cover!) and, finally, Ori. These two, I think, represent the more "weird" aspect of the dwarves' design. Also, we might say that 3 of the featured dwarves are rather young - so they were chosen for their appeal to the audiences. No fat or old dwarves made it to the cover. :)
The basic color tone of the motive is muted, with gray, blue and brown hues, really reminding of the muted tones familiar from LOTR. However, while the sky is a bit clouded, it also has some light to it, which somehow makes the dramatic impact of the poster more light-hearted and easy.
The only issue I have with this artwork is that the inscription "FROM THE DIRECTOR..." is written in a far too small font size. It would look good on a theatrical poster but for a DVD artwork, it's rather tiny. The "An Unexpected Journey" subtitles, for instance, has been resized to match for cover design purposes (it was enlarged and letter kerning was reduced as compared to the theatrical poster).
What do you think?
Russian LotR/Hobbit Site:
Henneth-annun.ru - the Russian LOTR site
(This post was edited by TheHutt on Jan 30 2013, 9:06am)
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dormouse
Gondolin
Jan 30 2013, 9:43am
Post #2 of 25
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I haven't a clue whether it's official or not.....
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.. but I do like it as a design. It has drama, light and shade. I think - so hard to say this for sure when you do know the film - but I think this design would draw my eye even if it weren't the DVD I'm waiting for most at the moment. It's a 'buy me' for me, whether genuine or fake.
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Súlimë
Ossiriand
Jan 30 2013, 10:15am
Post #3 of 25
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a lot! It's got the right 'journey' feel 
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jimmyfenn
Nargothrond
Jan 30 2013, 1:47pm
Post #4 of 25
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i think it does look quite real, icould imagine this being a theatrical version of the hobbit , i dont particularly like it though, unless we can find a break down of the images somewhere else. i hope the EE will be a bit more inventive like the original lotr EE dvds.
what was with the lord bluray release, it was crapola compared to the old EE dvds. anyway....
unless this is just a holding image or sorts, a pre release image.
"You Tolkien to me?!" - Hobbit de Niro
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RaoulJ
Ossiriand
Jan 30 2013, 2:12pm
Post #5 of 25
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It is just 'meh', no striking image, no real composition.
I'd rather have a 'Journey' dvdcover. Some faraway shot of the new fellowship in the grand landscape of Middle Earth.
Or just the picture of Bilbo exiting Bagend. I still think they will choose that one.
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jimmyfenn
Nargothrond
Jan 30 2013, 2:18pm
Post #6 of 25
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id rather have this!
"You Tolkien to me?!" - Hobbit de Niro
(This post was edited by jimmyfenn on Jan 30 2013, 2:19pm)
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RaoulJ
Ossiriand
Jan 30 2013, 2:35pm
Post #7 of 25
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Maybe it is better for DoS, hehe.
I would like something like this:
(This post was edited by RaoulJ on Jan 30 2013, 2:36pm)
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LordotRings93
Nargothrond
Jan 30 2013, 4:28pm
Post #8 of 25
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We've never seen these character poses (Bilbo most of all), and the cover looks too professional to be fanmade. I've seen enough fanmade DVD covers to know that this is the real deal, and Blu-ray.com even says WB has sent out the press for it with this image in it.
Lover of Medieval Fantasy
"I know what I must do. It's just... I'm afraid to do it."
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Rostron2
Mithlond
Jan 30 2013, 4:30pm
Post #9 of 25
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It looks assembled from pieces
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It looks as if it was cobbled together from multiple scenes, and the background doesn't look right. Doesn't matter to me, if it's real, we'll see it. If it's fake, it not like the faker gets any money, just a small ego-trip.
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imin
Doriath
Jan 30 2013, 4:34pm
Post #10 of 25
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What is the point of a combo pack?
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Also what is the ultraviolet thing?
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bborchar
Nargothrond
Jan 30 2013, 5:04pm
Post #11 of 25
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UV is the digital copy of the movie...
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The point of a combo pack is so that you can play it on various devices. I always get the combo pack because even though I have a blu-ray player, we have a dvd player for the car on long trips for the kids. And while I don't use the digital version of the movies very often, I occasionally load one up on my iphone if I know I'm going to be bored at an office visit or something.
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imin
Doriath
Jan 30 2013, 5:18pm
Post #12 of 25
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i would have thought it just say digital copy but fair enough, lol.
I only have a dvd player so the combo packs to me seem like overkill but in cases like yours they work well i imagine.
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sauget.diblosio
Dor-Lomin
Jan 30 2013, 5:36pm
Post #13 of 25
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Your points as to it's validity are solid,
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bit it's a terrible design. It looks like a D&D module cover. Or, at best, a movie tie-in book cover, or maybe a Denny's cardboard display.
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FrogmortonJustice65
Menegroth
Jan 30 2013, 7:01pm
Post #14 of 25
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Bilbo and Gandalf look very nice, but Thorin should be a bit more prominent IMO.
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Kassandros
Nargothrond
Jan 30 2013, 7:14pm
Post #15 of 25
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If these messageboards are any indication...
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If they want to sell the most copies, Bilbo and Gandalf shouldn't be on the cover at all. Just put a massive close-up of Thorin's hair. Maybe one of those images that looks different from different angles, showing an animation of Thorin tossing his hair.
all we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us...
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hutch
Nargothrond
Jan 30 2013, 8:35pm
Post #16 of 25
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cut and pasted, airbrushed photoshopped heads looks like poo in my opinion.
Why would this be the cover for AUJ? I don't recall a scene familiar to that. Looks more like something from one of the other two movies.
Airbrushing a being that's 7,000 years old is silly as is airbrushing 20 year Beatles. Booo. Give me hand drawn artwork.
Davy Jones could've been Bilbo...I mean he was a Brit with a sense for adventure, singing & dancing. And think of the costs it would've save with forced perspective: he was ACTUALLY 5'3. He also hung out with a grumpy tall dude in a hat (Mike Nesmith.) While we're at it let's just have Micky Dolenz and Peter Tork as Merry & Pippin.
(This post was edited by hutch on Jan 30 2013, 8:36pm)
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hutch
Nargothrond
Jan 30 2013, 8:40pm
Post #17 of 25
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what is considered 'professional' these days has actually lowered its standards to what anyone can do on their home pc. All this photoshopping looks so much more fake than drawings or staged photos. I can see the 'fake'.
Davy Jones could've been Bilbo...I mean he was a Brit with a sense for adventure, singing & dancing. And think of the costs it would've save with forced perspective: he was ACTUALLY 5'3. He also hung out with a grumpy tall dude in a hat (Mike Nesmith.) While we're at it let's just have Micky Dolenz and Peter Tork as Merry & Pippin.
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hutch
Nargothrond
Jan 30 2013, 8:43pm
Post #18 of 25
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It would just be Sir Ian and Viggo on the covers (whether he's in the film or not.)  If Thorin was on the cover (in my world) his hair would be photoshopped grey/white.
Davy Jones could've been Bilbo...I mean he was a Brit with a sense for adventure, singing & dancing. And think of the costs it would've save with forced perspective: he was ACTUALLY 5'3. He also hung out with a grumpy tall dude in a hat (Mike Nesmith.) While we're at it let's just have Micky Dolenz and Peter Tork as Merry & Pippin.
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shadow0421
Nevrast
Jan 30 2013, 9:09pm
Post #19 of 25
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Just give me the original artwork poster.
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Rolfina
Ossiriand
Jan 31 2013, 8:36am
Post #20 of 25
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On Amazon they have the 3D Gandalf image as the cover for the 3D BD, although I don't know if it will be the actual cover, or if it is a placeholder. I don't like it used as a cover, I feel for people unfamiliar with the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings (I hear those exist still), they would see this man, and the title "The Hobbit", and deduct that he is the Hobbit. No?
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TheHutt
Mithlond
Jan 31 2013, 8:51am
Post #21 of 25
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They also have it on the French 3D BD
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On Amazon they have the 3D Gandalf image as the cover for the 3D BD, although I don't know if it will be the actual cover, or if it is a placeholder. I don't like it used as a cover, I feel for people unfamiliar with the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings (I hear those exist still), they would see this man, and the title "The Hobbit", and deduct that he is the Hobbit. No? ...so I suppose, the image with 3D lenticular Gandalf is rather fixed.
Also, I doubt they reckon with buyers who haven't heard of "Hobbit" or "Gandalf" and would mistake one for another. PJ took good care of that. Remember, the "Shire" teaser poster for "The Hobbit" featured Gandalf only, and no hobbit at all. :)
Russian LotR/Hobbit Site:
Henneth-annun.ru - the Russian LOTR site
(This post was edited by TheHutt on Jan 31 2013, 8:54am)
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Rolfina
Ossiriand
Jan 31 2013, 9:01am
Post #22 of 25
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Yup, and I had the same trepidations about that poster.
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 But then again, I'm thinking too much into it.
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Xanaseb
Dor-Lomin
Jan 31 2013, 1:21pm
Post #23 of 25
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yep, I don't think much of it either... looks very cobbled IMO. Tbh, I'd prefer this, even if it's more of a poster:
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here
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imin
Doriath
Jan 31 2013, 1:40pm
Post #24 of 25
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Yeah thats the cover they used for the mass market paperback
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I think it looks good, though maybe they didnt feel it would stand out enough on a shelf full of dvds (not that anyone buys the things in a store anymore, its all done online, lol).
I think the real cover looks a little cobbled together but then it might look better in real life - i am waiting for the EE so it isnt something i am bothered about, lol.
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Xanaseb
Dor-Lomin
Jan 31 2013, 11:52pm
Post #25 of 25
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ah, of course, the EE :D :D :D //
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--I'm a victim of Bifurcation--
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Join us over at Barliman's chat all day, any day!
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