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Kerewyn
Rohan
Jul 19 2014, 7:07am
Post #1 of 12
(2099 views)
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Dean O'Gorman at Melbourne Comic Con
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While being amongst the largest cons in Australia, Melbourne Comic Con is not a patch on the large US conventions in many ways. It can’t attract the major stars and key industry players, though I’m sure it’s had a jolly good try, and as its role is more nostalgic, you won’t get teasers, trailers, and panels promoting upcoming releases. The benefits however!. At a relatively small entry fee, you can stroll up on the day, and queue for maybe 45 minutes for entry. The crowds look quite substantial – yet for entrance to popular panels, queue-time is counted in minutes, not hours. Or if you don’t mind hanging near the back, just wander right on in once the thing is underway. The ‘minor stars’ are so lovely and accessible and interesting. One of the highlights of my day was quality time listening to Game of Thrones’ Daniel Portman and Kristian Nairn (Podrick / Hodor). And the other was, of course, my main reason for being there: Approx 20 worthwhile minutes queuing to see Dean O'Gorman scored me a seat in the second row – though there was a polite scramble of fangirls, elbows flying and leaping over fold-up chairs, to get there. I had an unencumbered view, as the seat in front of me, reserved for a premium-pass holder, was never filled. This mysterious red ninja never spoke or moved a muscle, and Dean later declared him, with a laugh, to be a trifle unnerving. Clutching a coffee, Dean was very chatty and down to earth in a ‘Kiwi guy’ way that is very familiar to me. He dived straight in to answer questions and tell stories of life on the TH shoot, and these are some of the things I remember: There was a lot of camaraderie on set, and cast often pranking each other. Such as taking the backs out of each other’s chairs in the chill out zone, and stealing each other’s props. There’s a scene where the cameras started rolling and William Kircher suddenly realized his hammer had been uplifted, so he improvised, and in the background of the scene, you can see him making hammering actions yet holding nothing! (wish I could remember what scene Dean mentioned – also think that Bifur would be the one who could get away with it!) Martin was often naughty and doing silly things to distract the dwarves while the cameras were on them. Dean said it was hard to keep a straight face, but he didn’t want to be that person who stuffed up the shot and got the ‘note from PJ’ over the speakers (as he often might be directing remotely). Aiden however never got caught, and there were some shots where he is grinning straight to camera, amused by Martin’s off-camera antics. It was very hot and uncomfortable in the dwarf suits. During the Mirkwood scene where Legolas is disarming Gloin in the forest and looking at his wife & son pictures, poor Peter Hambleton threw up into his beard, right in front of Orlando. Speaking of beards, those wearing fake beards (and also the fake hands) simply could not feel if they had food in their beards during the meal breaks. And food was constantly in them – the makeup staff would use chopsticks to pick the morsels out. Aiden and Richard had their own facial hair of course, and were the envy of the others. Dean was worried about fainting while in the harness during the troll fight scene (as, he said, he has a ‘tendency towards fainting’) Thankfully he didn’t, but he was nervous about performing the physical stuff well, especially after a very awkward landing while on his second day on set, and his inability to land properly on a spider’s back. He and Aiden did 47 takes of the scene at Bilbo’s door. The eagle riding scene was filmed (as you may know from the EE appendices) with him and Aiden riding a giant green-screen beanbag. It was hilarious, yet as soon as ‘action’ was called, Aiden would pull a great ‘Blue Steel’. Fili and Kili have some fun action sequences coming up in BotFA. Dean said he wouldn’t mind doing a buddy movie with Aiden. He realized after the AUJ premiere how popular the movies were, when he went from having three Twitter followers to seven. At – I think the London premiere – he got to meet Prince William. (Mark Hadlow was tremendously excited as he is a big royalty fan, and had his naval uniform on) Dean told of how meeting Prince William was actually quite an awkward moment. PW said to him “Have you been the studios?” Dean did not know what studios he meant – surely he couldn’t be speaking of Wellington because of COURSE he’d been there, for months on end. So he thought PW must be referring to something in London and said “no I haven’t, your highness.” Then PW looked at him funny and said “I’ve been there, it’s is terrific – you really should see it.” Then they stood looking at each other in a second or two of completely awkward realization of incomprehension. Then PW went to move off, and Dean said “Great to meet you, mate”, then nearly died of embarrassment of his use of casual Kiwi vernacular to royalty. And that’s not even half of what he talked about - the 50 minutes were up too quickly!
'People don't know where I begin and latex ends, which has always been an ambition for me.' (Martin Freeman)
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Kim
Valinor
Jul 19 2014, 7:15pm
Post #2 of 12
(1979 views)
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Lots of fun tidbits, I love this aspect of attending smaller panels.
"Jagatud rõõm on topelt rõõm - a shared joy is a double joy". ~Estonian saying “As such, you will address His Majesty as His Majesty, the Lord of Silver Fountains, the King of Carven Stone, the King Beneath the Mountain, the Lion of Erebor, the High King of the Dwarves, the True Treasure of Erebor, the Face that Launched 10,000 Sighs, or Thorin the Majestic..." http://newboards.theonering.net/...forum_view_collapsed
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Ataahua
Forum Admin
/ Moderator
Jul 19 2014, 10:22pm
Post #3 of 12
(1979 views)
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I know PJ's a perfectionist but that's insane. Thanks for typing up these notes - its sounds like a highly entertaining talk. :) Did you figure out what it was that Prince William was talking about?
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 beggar with them too." - Gandalf's Diaries, final par, by Ufthak. Ataahua's stories
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Kim
Valinor
Jul 20 2014, 6:21am
Post #4 of 12
(1955 views)
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One more for...er, 46 more for luck!
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You do kind of have to wonder, after the first dozen or so takes, how many more ways could the scene be played? And how many takes did they have to do for more complicated scenes? Boggles the mind.
"Jagatud rõõm on topelt rõõm - a shared joy is a double joy". ~Estonian saying “As such, you will address His Majesty as His Majesty, the Lord of Silver Fountains, the King of Carven Stone, the King Beneath the Mountain, the Lion of Erebor, the High King of the Dwarves, the True Treasure of Erebor, the Face that Launched 10,000 Sighs, or Thorin the Majestic..." http://newboards.theonering.net/...forum_view_collapsed
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Kerewyn
Rohan
Jul 20 2014, 6:39am
Post #5 of 12
(1956 views)
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I know, it's hardly a complicated scene! Maybe they couldn't get the "at your service" line perfectly in sync, then it all started to slide and it took quite a few takes to come back into line. (just thinking about the radio ad recordings at my job. Sometimes the harder the talent tries, the more forced it becomes - in the end, the best takes were when they were 'fresh'. But it's always "just one more, ok?")
'People don't know where I begin and latex ends, which has always been an ambition for me.' (Martin Freeman)
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Kerewyn
Rohan
Jul 20 2014, 6:44am
Post #6 of 12
(1967 views)
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No prob, it's a pleasure to share :)
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Straight after his talk, I sat down with a notebook to record as much as I could remember! The Prince William thing... Dean said he couldn't quite figure it out. Apparently Will must have been talking about the Stone Street studios, because he and Kate had toured them when in NZ, didn't they? But it was just so obvious that Dean would have been there. Apparently he gave Dean an odd look when D said no he hadn't. I think it's probably a case of forced small-talk gone wrong. They were probably equally embarrassed.
'People don't know where I begin and latex ends, which has always been an ambition for me.' (Martin Freeman)
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Lurker in the Mirk
Valinor
Jul 20 2014, 7:03am
Post #7 of 12
(1951 views)
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thanks for the report, Kerewyn! I guess there's no mention of it, but I would love to hear about the day when the Company was on-set for their meet and greet with the Elvenking. That must have been like trying to herd cats with the mischief quotient on high with the cast, even for PJ with his extensive experience.
Fan of both books and movies; it seems I have severely misnamed myself... for the moment. Appreciating Thranduil, thread by thread: I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII (Tis true! More appreciation threads for Thranduil exist than ME movies) Thrall Wars!: What business do Elves, Dwarves or Men(?) have with drooling thralls, yea, with smartphones in tow, unto the slopes of Erebor? ... oh, yes, the Hobbit's lingering in some shadows, ever ready to swoop to the hairy rescue. Take cover if you dare! Teh partsies: Prologue (aka the 'tater-mash of whatever came before), Two, Three, Four new! posted 16 Jul "BoFA"= The Battle || "BotFA"/"tBofTA" = The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies ======= Middle-earth dispatches out of the lurkmirk
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Elanor of Rohan
Lorien
Jul 20 2014, 7:56am
Post #8 of 12
(1958 views)
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It's always a pleasure to read reports from people who have been to panels, especially for me because I live where these events never happen. Do you know if anyone was filming ? I have seen some of Dean's panels and he has always been charming and witty (the Prince William incident speaks volumes about Kiwiness but that was quite a dumb question ) By the way, I think that Dean's number of fans started increasing when he began to attend this kind of conventions. I have read that he spoke about his future projects, do you remember anything about it?
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Bombadil
Half-elven
Jul 20 2014, 8:52pm
Post #9 of 12
(1951 views)
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The "Heir to the Throne of Erebor" Meets
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The Heir to the Throne of Great Britain...? Now, THATZZZ something you don't see everyday? Bomby DOES remember that Premier Handshaking, Line-UP Video , BUT? DUMBOBomby jus' now...got it ?
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silvereyed
The Shire
Jul 21 2014, 6:14am
Post #10 of 12
(1937 views)
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I've heard dean and aidan mention this before
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they said ( at wellington armageddon expo 2013) the reason it took so many takes was that it took that many takes to get perfectly in sync + introduce themselves with the right name haha
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Kerewyn
Rohan
Jul 21 2014, 12:40pm
Post #11 of 12
(1929 views)
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I'm afraid I can't remember if he said anything about future projects. If he did, it was very quick and not dwelt on - no details. Sorry I can't be more specific!
'People don't know where I begin and latex ends, which has always been an ambition for me.' (Martin Freeman)
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