Peter Jackson

Peter Jackson is seen filming The Hobbit last week in New Zealand. The screengrab was taken from a 10-minute video blog the director uploaded to his Facebook page. It's a must watch. There's some cool shots of the cast, costumes, special effects, and sets (including Bag End and Rivendell which were in The Lord of the Rings). Check it out below:

Peter Jackson

Hey all, here's some pics director Peter Jackson posted to his Facebook yesterday from the set of The Hobbit. He also posted a pretty technical explanation of why he's shooting The Hobbit at a higher than normal frame rate of 48 fps. Here's a snippet:

"We are indeed shooting at the higher frame rate. The key thing to understand is that this process requires both shooting and projecting at 48 fps, rather than the usual 24 fps (films have been shot at 24 frames per second since the late 1920's). So the result looks like normal speed, but the image has hugely enhanced clarity and smoothness. Looking at 24 frames every second may seem ok--and we've all seen thousands of films like this over the last 90 years--but there is often quite a lot of blur in each frame, during fast movements, and if the camera is moving around quickly, the image can judder or strobe.

"Warner Bros. have been very supportive, and allowed us to start shooting THE HOBBIT at 48 fps, despite there never having been a wide release feature film filmed at this higher frame rate. We are hopeful that there will be enough theaters capable of projecting 48 fps by the time The Hobbit comes out where we can seriously explore that possibility with Warner Bros. However, while it's predicted that there may be over 10,000 screens capable of projecting THE HOBBIT at 48 fps by our release date in Dec, 2012, we don’t yet know what the reality will be. It is a situation we will all be monitoring carefully. I see it as a way of future-proofing THE HOBBIT. Take it from me--if we do release in 48 fps, those are the cinemas you should watch the movie in. It will look terrific!"

Check out his full post here and learn a little something about filmmaking!

Peter Jackson

In these pictures released on the official blog, director Peter Jackson is seen on the set of The Hobbit in New Zealand. Here's what Warner Brothers said in the official press release:

"Wellington, NZ, March 21, 2011—Production has commenced in Wellington, New Zealand, on The Hobbit, filmmaker Peter Jackson's two film adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s widely read masterpiece.

"The Hobbit is set in Middle-earth 60 years before Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, which Jackson and his filmmaking team brought to the big screen in the blockbuster trilogy that culminated with the Oscar-winning The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

"The two films, with screenplays by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Guillermo del Toro and Peter Jackson, will be shot consecutively in digital 3D using the latest camera and stereo technology. Filming will take place at Stone Street Studios, Wellington, and on location around New Zealand.

"The Hobbit follows the journey of title character Bilbo Baggins, who is swept into an epic quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor, which was long ago conquered by the dragon Smaug. Approached out of the blue by the wizard Gandalf the Grey, Bilbo finds himself joining a company of thirteen dwarves led by the legendary warrior, Thorin Oakensheild. Their journey will take them into the Wild; through treacherous lands swarming with Goblins and Orcs, deadly Wargs and Giant Spiders, Shapeshifters and Sorcerers."

Expect to see the first Hobbit film in late 2012 and the final one in late 2013. Can't wait!

*4 Peter Jackson pictures total in the gallery: