LORD OF THE RINGS exhibit.

June 8, 2006. Wellington, New Zealand.

Me: WOW. WOW. THIS IS SO COOL!!!!!

We managed to work our schedule to allow us to stay a full day in Wellington, the capital of New Zealand. There's really nothing to do there, except to visit museums. But being the diligent little tourists, I skimmed through all the tourist brochures we had and learned that there was a LoTR exhibition at the Te Anau museums. (Which is a HUGE and very interactive museum. It was really cool!) So, of course, we went.

Me: WOW. No shit! Is this how they did that?!? This is WICKED!!!

As you might know, I like museums. I like visiting them. But I typically lack the patience to spend a lot of time on any given exhibit, painting, whatever. Let me just say that I checked my watch when I went in. And checked it again when I came out. 3.5 hours had gone by. It felt like 1. And I read every one of those little notation thingys in front of the exhibit, watched every video they had there and looked at all the costumes in detail. It was AMAZING. I can't even tell you how amazing it was.

So really, all I can do is give you some of my favorite parts.

Most of the major battle scenes in the movie were created by computer programs, as expected. What you probably didn't know is the program used in this movie is something different from before. Instead of programming 1 bunch of solders and then multiplying them throughout the scene, LoTR used this name computer program (stupid me can't remember the name.) What the program does is allow the programmer to create various armies and teach them fighting styles and all the options they have in the battlefield. Then the programmer can teach them to respond to the environment - both landscape and other people to a point that when they see a rock, they can learn to jump over it. Lastly, they are taught to have some self-preservation skills such that they will respond more like a real person and won't continue hacking away when they are injured. After this "education", the armies are set on the battlefield and start fighting at the push of a button. Each soldier will fight on their own and differently from the rest of their pals - making it look like a real battle with individual brains behind the bodies. INTERESTING FACT: when they first test-trialed the program, half the soldiers turned and ran off! Apparently, a bit too much self-preservation!! lol

Typically, chain mails in movies are weaved from yarn and thread and then painted to look like metals. Peter Jackson, of course, didn't want that. He wanted something more authentic. So 2 guys were hired to make hundreds of chain mails for the movie. If you don't know, chain mails take a VERY VERY long time to make by hand. INTERESTING FACT: By the end, the 2 guys who made them had all of their fingerprints rubbed off their fingers. (I wonder what they do with them on police reports and stuff..)

In the book, Tolkien described King Theoden's town (can't remember the name) in extreme details -- it's location on a hill with the backdrop of the mountains, etc. Instead of creating this on the computer, Peter Jackson sent out a team to look for it in New Zealand.

Creating Hobbiton took a year. PJ's site surveyor found a set of rolling hills and then the artists sat down and created hobbiton on paper. Just like that. Why did it take an entire to actually build the place? Because they had the grow all the shrubbery. hahaaaa

This was so cool. I just wish I could show you the entire exhibit online!