It's been a while...

It's been a while since my last update - time sure is going quickly and I have little to show for it. Activity on the boards has been slow these last few months. Only now does something appear to be happening. Recent updates include the somewhat credible rumour that Martin Freeman may play Bilbo, that Sylvester McCoy is up for the role of 'one of two wizards', possibly Radagast the Brown, and that Ian McKellan believes that filming is now set to commence in January 2011. Now that my laptop is working again, I will be updating this blog a lot more regularly. I'll discuss each of the above stories in more detail, specifically with regards to how fans are talking about them. I am also set to join the Hobbit community myself (watch out soon-to-be-fellow TORN members!) and I will write a post about this exciting new stage of my research very soon.

The Hunt for Gollum

I finally got around to watching "The Hunt for Gollum", a fan-film appearing on Youtube. And I have to say I was very impressed. It was a very creative and convincing piece of fan fiction - the actors playing Aragorn and Gandalf were very similar to their Lord of the Rings counterparts, the settings, costumes and music were very true to Jackson's films, and overall contributed to a very authentic 'Middle Earth feel'. Any fan of the Lord of the Rings should definately check it out! Now I can't wait to view the follow up film, by the same crew, called "Born of Hope". Also, now that I have decided to include other forms of social media in my research (see previous post), I believe this will make for an interesting section of my thesis.

New Approach?

As I was brainstorming last night, I had the idea of expanding my research to include other kinds of social networking sites in addition to the message boards. This way I can look at sites like facebook, myspace, twitter, and youtube and look at how they function for fans and the studios in the lead up to The Hobbit. All of these sites will develop to feature more content relating to the movies as it draws nearer, and obviously there will be more to discuss with some than others, but this way I can provide a wider outline of how new media functions alongside the development of a major motion picture, both in terms of its fans, as well as its producers. There may even be new kinds of social networking sites that will appear in the time before the films come out that I can explore. Let me know what you guys think...

EXCLUSIVE: The Official Hobbit Press Release!

The following post on theonering.net got me all excited - until I remembered what day it was made on.... happy april fools :-(

EXCLUSIVE: The Official Hobbit Press Release!

The post has received 76 replies (as of Friday, 2 April 2010)
Response from members was varied, but largely negative. Normally, I've noticed members are fairly tolerant with people poking fun at The Hobbit, but as one poster says in reply to the april fools - "This isn't the sort of thing to joke about", I guess posting fake news reports concerning the film's production is crossing the line.

This is a great post I found on Theonering.net. It summarises all the major discussion points taking place on the forums right now in a very creative way (in the form of one of the songs sung by the dwarves in Tolkien's novel)


O! What are you doing,
And where are you going?
Auditions need viewing!
M-G-M is owing!
O! tra-la-la lally
There's no time to dally!

O! The fans are all freaking,
Why the length it is taking?
No info is leaking,
To know what you're making!
O! tril-lil-lil-lolly
3-D? by golly,
ha! ha!

O! Where are you going
With interviews all a-nagging?
No knowing, no knowing
Who'll be Mister Baggins,
Or Balin and Dwalin
still no time to dally
I croon
ha! ha!

O! Will you be saying,
or will you be shying?
No interest is straying!
The rumors are flying!
To shy would be folly,
To say would be jolly
So listen and hark
It is time to embark
please film soon
ha! ha.

posted by Pipe Dream on March 7, 2010 at 2:22pm

Hobbiton Construction Photos!

It's not all doom and gloom (see previous post). Check out this story, posted today on theonering.net.
It's the strongest indication yet that the movie is going to be made!

Hobbiton Construction Photos!

Source says the MGM situation of ‘great importance’ to two potential ‘Hobbit’ films

So, I have spent the last two months surveying the fan sites. Up to now I have been focussing on three sites - theonering.net (which demonstrated a healthy relationship between fans and studio during The Lord of the Rings), ‘The Hobbit Movie Forum’, and the official ‘Hobbit Movie Blog‘.
Hot topics of the moment include news that the Hobbit may be filmed in 3D, ongoing casting rumours and speculation (just who will be playing Bilbo?!), and MGM’s ongoing financial troubles leaving fans agitated over whether the movie will go ahead:

Source says the MGM situation of ‘great importance’ to two potential ‘Hobbit’ films

Of course, this is also of some concern to me, as my project basically depends upon the film being made…