Andy Serkis on being second unit director

Way back when we were talking about how LOTR cast could be involved in TH (wow do I feel lazy just now) the idea that Viggo could be brought in as crew of some sort was floated. At the time he was saying he wanted a break from acting, wanted to try his hand at directing perhaps... just thought of this, don't mind me.

Anyhoo, Andy has worked closely with PJ for many years now. Some say it was Gollum/Andy that made The Two Towers the success that it was. He seems a perfect choice and, well, kind of deserves a bigger piece of the pie as it were, all things considered.
 
PETE&ANDY probably are so totally insinc, after so long....Perfect Match!
Didn't amaze me at all, to read last year that Andy was gunna be Ceasar....Who better to hire than, KingKong, himself?

I honestly believe there is Telepathic-connection between them.

"Cool-Coll-able-Letters? are conspire-ing to Thrill all of us, TWICE Again.." xoxoxOB
 
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It will be really interesting to see his style. I thought he was just 2nd unit for the first film, or for action scenes...but this is the real deal? I am concerned a little, b/c if they are "in sync" that much, how will Andy handle directing longer scenes of dialogue and emotion? Peter
s specialty was/is action scenes. (At least in LOTR.) All of the really "good" scenes, the most emotional and IMO the most enduring--with the possible exception of the Mount Doom sequence--were directed by Fran, who also along with Philippa handled all the really "deep" stuff. Okay, let me throw Grey Havens in there--Peter directed that too.
I expect that as we transdition from Film 1 to 2, it will evolve into something more serious and LOTR-like as it goes on. Will Andy be given the "Big" stuff, like Throin's or possibly Lilly's character's death? (sorry forgot sp of that name.) I suppose she has to die.)

OTOH, it's a great thing though. I always thought Sean Astin would do on to direct, he wanted to do it...but Spielberg told him to find a great role first. I wonder if he regrets follwing that advice. Astin would have made a great director..it's in his blood you might say.
 
"were directed by Fran, who also along with Philippa handled all the really "deep" stuff"

Were are you getting this from? Although Fran is on IMDB as an uncredited second unit director for FOTR (and only that movie), Phillipa is not credited as second-unit director in any of the films. I feel you are confusing writing/storyboarding/post-production with directing. (which you are right, Fran and Phillippa wrote/envisioned a lot of the more emotional scenes)

The second (and third and fourth, etc) in LotR mostly filmed action scenes, -- most of the main dialogue scenes were filmed by the first unit, at least that is what it seemed from the DVD extras. Based on the production diaries and this interview, this is what he seems to be handling in these movies, too (e.g. filming the non-dialogue scenes in trollshaw was handled by Andy's unit)
 
... PJ will say from time to time, 'Fran directed this', including, if memory serves, some or all of the Weathertop attack scene from FOTR, and quite a lot of the more intense Gollum character stuff.

So, it would seem that Fran Walsh did direct stuff here and there. There was also some mention of Philippa Boyens being given a go at directing early on, but, by her own admission, the role of director wasn't really her thing.
 
but Sunflower makes it sound like she did all the good stuff while PJ was there for the fluff, which can't be further from the truth. I'd also like to point out that directing a scene is only half of it, the other half is editing and scoring, both very important, it can make or break a scene. PJ is a very hands on director, who's heavily involved in pretty much every aspect of filmmaking, every scene bears his imprint.
 
All of the Arwen scenes, or most of them; Sam and Frodo in the boat at the end of FOTR; etc. If you lok on the ATOERN archive there was quite alot of discussion about Fran's directing scenes like this, vs. PEter's specializing in the more "action-y" stuff.
 
The first one that springs to mind is that she just had other dealings. We saw one woodland elf in LOTR, Legolas. Does that mean every woodland elf will die in the Hobbit?
 
There are so many good dramatic reasons why The Warrior/Huntress must die a tragic/heroic death in the Battle of Five Armies that I could write a book...
Think of this character's story arc. Adversary becomes supporter/facilitator in escape from captivity then dies defending subcompact hero with future One Ring of Doom!
Oh and there are so many possible embellishments.[sly]
 
Tauriel is a totally made up character by peter Jackson,created only for the movie adaptations of the Hobbit and mostly likely a replacement of Itaril. Her name or character is never mentioned or existed in hobbit book.
And as for her absence in the Lord of the rings, if she didn't exist in the original storyline of the hobbit then why on earth would she be in the lord of the rings, what possible influence could she have had on the story of the war of the ring? and if so, why would of Tolkien not added her to the story and why would Peter Jackson then kill her off?
 
I don't remember Tauriel being described as a warrior huntress, only as a "true silvan elf",that does not necessary mean she is going to be a warrior queen?
 
But the clues to her character's role are there if you sift through all that has been said. Take that information and match it to the outline the book (We all recall the book) provides and it makes sense. Tauriel will not be window dressing. She will not exist to provide romantic interest. She has been created to help carry the plot along. She is a daughter of the forest and therefore by necessity a skilled hunterss. She may be involved in security and an Elf skilled in the marshal arts. She will not be royalty (They are all a bit stuffy) but a "common" Elf (if such a thing is conceivable). She will probably be involved in the capture of the Dwarves but come to believe their treatment by the King is not reasonable. Someone here has suggested that she might discover that Bilbo is present though invisible and be hunting him. This is a good probability. I think that Bilbo is able to turn her into an ally and she helps Bilbo spring the Dwarves from captivity. In the end her appearance at The Battle of Five Armies makes the same kind of connection that Haldir's presence at Helm's Deep makes. If she dies her existence will not cause problems for the Lord of the Rings in that her absence during the later times will not beg to be explained.
 
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... or as close to right as any of us can be at this stage, with what we have to go on. The only point that leapt out at me is the last sentence. Whether Tauriel lives or dies in the Battle it need cause no problem for Lord of the Rings because Legolas is the only Mirkwood elf who appears in the story. The assumption would be that she was back home defending Mirkwood, like Thranduil and any other elf we see. I've thought all along that they will have to invent some elf characters to bring home the deaths in the battle; as to whether Tauriel will be one of them, who knows? (Well, who other than Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens and so on......)
 
Tauriel's fate is not sealed and Pete could go for the happy ending for her but I fear that would blunt the point. War is bad because people we know, care about and even love die.
 
... because as you say, war is cruel. I think it's likely that she'll die or lose someone, but I'm not confident enough to predict which.
 
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