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DISCLAIMER: This transcript is provided on an "as is" best efforts basis and is based on a MiniDisc recording made where speech was not always legible because of noise in the room. Any errors made in transcribing what was actually said are mine, and not those of the speakers quoted, and may include spelling mistakes, incorrect names and other minor typo's. Readers should also bear in mind that statements read in cold print can often convey a completely different meaning from that intended by the speaker and perceived by the original audience. Unfortunately, in my rush to get pictures I forgot to turn on the minidisc recorder until about half way through the first panel and so we join the panel as Sean Astin is answering a question about the books and the movies....
		Sean Astin: Tolkien invested a whole life's worth of energy into the creation of this mythical world, with such passion and detail. Peter has invested his life's work as a film-maker, building an infrastructure of a studio, of a special effects company, of a lab and refining his own sense of film history, his passion. All those things come together, everybody else is powerless. The films are a result of thousands of people: hard work, passion and talent. Question: This is a question for the cast. Did you get the opportunity to take souvenirs and if so which posessions do you hold dear? Elijah Wood: I got The Ring. And I got Sting as well, which is quite cool. Sean Astin: At the end of the film Peter presented members of the cast with certain items and I was asked what that would be for my character and I went 'Sam's bag'. I carried that stupid bag for... Elijah Wood: It was your favourite part of the day, wasn't it? Sean Astin: It wasn't an ergonomically designed bag so .. it was an old-fashioned bag and they wanted it to look heavy so they put rocks and... so yeah, I have that and probably.. the sword and a pair of hobbit feet which.. Also my daughter gets to have a really small moment at the end of the trilogy and so her costume - I thought that was the most special thing that Peter and Fran did. She'll treasure that forever. I hurt my foot in Mavora Lake so Peter presented me the next day on set with a walking stick cane, a traditional Maori walking stick, on behalf of the crew because I had stitches or whatever. Question: Can I ask about the challenges of acting with a spider that wasn't there? Sean Astin: It wasn't so much a challenge when we were making the movie 'cos Alan Lee and John Howe had such incredible illustrations that we could look at and study, so it was sort of a fun exercise of imagination in being able to picture the spider and when you're in such a fight sequence the adrenaline's going, you're screaming, you're waving your sword, you're rolling around in the ground - it's not that hard really. But then we came back to do pickups something happened, I sort of lost my ability to see the spider. Peter wanted to do an additional shot of the spider, I looked over and I couldn't see it any more. 'That's it. I've ruined it. I've let Peter down! I 've let the movie down. I can't see the spider'. But I've seen the movie and yeah (indecipherable). Question (me!): Lawrence Makaore last weekend confirmed he was shooting pickups for the extended DVD next year and the internet's been rife with rumours that you guys are coming back for yet more reshoots for the extended DVD. Can you, once and for all, confirm or deny those rumours? Elijah Wood: I've only just heard that they're filming pickups for the DVD Sean Astin: I don't think so Mark Ordesky: Just to be clear ... Elijah Wood: I'd like to come back though! Mark Ordesky: ... you can come back, but let's not... just to be clear all sorts of shooting goes on without the principal cast including miniatures shooting and visual effects plates and elements, so that part of shooting could and probably will to a certain degree, but filming the principal cast for the extended DVD - there's nothing that I'm aware of! None whatsoever! Barrie Osborne: To finish the DVD there will be an additional 400 effects shots, Howard Shore has to score something like 20 to 30 minutes of new music and there will be a continuation of miniature photography. Question: Demay Roberts of Public Radio International. There are thousands and thousands of people who have made pilgramages to come here for the premiere. When you started this whole process did you ever think that there would be such adoration, such obsession in some cases, from fans and from people who are just so taken and so moved and .. you've changed lives. Did you ever think this was possible at the beginning of this process? Orlando Bloom: There was a lot of love put into this project. There was a lot of care and attention to everything to do with the project. It was thought at the time that hopefully people would respond but you can never really tell at the beginning of a film how an audience or how the public is going to respond to the product, but it was made with a lot of the right energy and so thankfully people seem to be responding. Elijah Wood: In some way that energy which we made has been conceived to the public as well. They seem to feel that sense of family and fellowship that we all felt making it. It's really a part of the fibre of these movies and I think that people really respond to those themes and to the reality of what we experienced. In a way I think the fans have created their own sense of family and fellowship as an extension of what we experienced. It's something you can't ever expect to happen or anticipate happening but it's become a really beautiful thing for everyone watching the movies. Question: Neil ? of ITN. Sir Ian, out of all the roles you've played which is the one that you most want to be remembered for when you hang up your acting boots? Sir Ian McKellen: I don't think I've got any choice in the matter. And I really don't mind. I think if I were to stop acting today and never work again, when I died there'd be some newspaper somewhere saying 'Gandalf died', but of course Gandalf doesn't die - he's immortal! Question: Naz from 'Rip It Up' magazine. Billy I want to ask you about your song. I believe it was a late addition! Can you talk about it please? Billy Boyd: Yes it was. You know the songs and poetry are very important in the books and I think Pete wanted to put a song, a hobbit singing a song in this world of men that he doesn't really belong in, and yeah he came up to us in Denethor's court and he asked me if I'd like to do it and I said 'Yeah, that's a great idea'. I think someone else was supposed to write it - whether it was Howard Shore, I don't actually know. But the schedule changed and we were filming it in about four days and he said 'Do you want to write something?' and I said 'Yeah, I'll have a go'. So I wrote about three melodies and Phillipa Boyens came over and I sang them to her and she liked one of them in particular and then they'd go to Pete and Fran's and they talked about it and they all agreed on the one melody. And then went over and I sang it and it's in the movie - that's how it happened. I just wanted the idea that it wasn't a song that Pippin would normally sing - you know, it's not a pub song, it's not a drinking song. It's kind of like a song that you might have heard his grandfather sing about a time when hobbits weren't in The Shire and wanted a hole and wanted a base and he remembers that. Sir Ian McKellen: Are the royalties coming through yet? Billy Boyd: I've not received a thing yet, but I'm looking forward... Question: (indecipherable) magazine. Did you expect such a welcome? Sir Ian McKellen: I went down last night, about one o'clock, and joined the crowd of people who were already in Courtenay Place. I don't think they were going to get much sleep last night - they seemed to be far too excited! They've come from all over the world, just to be close. They won't be able to see the film but they just want to be close to the action! Some of us went down to meet 700 members of OneRing.net - they give the best parties ever! When we were all over for the oscars two years ago that was the first party we went to, to meet the real fans - all the oscars stood there on the table in the oval where there were people dressed as Elrond, as elves... an awful lot of girls dressed up as Legolas and a lot of really old men dressed up as Gandalf. I'm absolutely overwhelmed by the sweetness of the fans, and the way they don't want to get in your way, nor do they, and they have very modest requests.. just to have a photograph of their favourite characters. I've never known anything like it and I don't really want this day to ever end. Question: ? from Taiwan. This is a great movie and this is a great trilogy but I want to ask a question that the fans around the world will be asking for the next two years: Will there ever be a movie about 'The Hobbit'? Mark Ordesky: There could be a movie about 'The Hobbit'. 'Nuff said! Question: Hi. I'm ? I'm working for ? TV in Japan. I was really moved by the friendship, between especially Sam and Frodo. I was especially so moved by Sam's unconditional love to Frodo. So Elijah, do you have a friend like Sam in your personal life? Elijah Wood: Sean and I are Frodo and Sam to a certain degree, you know. We experienced all of those things together. We spent over a year... ups and downs and the experience of working on the movies and we relied on each other, just as Frodo and Sam rely on each other. There's a massive amount of unconditional love between us. It's the truth! Question: Thanks for your time this morning. A question for Richard Taylor. What is the most satisfying effect for you in this film? Richard Taylor: With the scope of the work it's hard to really pinpoint the most satisfying individual effect but I must say from reflecting over seven years working on the project, really the most satisfying thing for myself and my partner is the fact that we've had the opportunity to take what was a very young group of New Zealanders on this incredible journey with our work at Weta. Empowering them, the self-belief that we could go on this journey with Peter and the rest of the crew and that we could ultimately reach the heights of quality and artistry that they have reached. Over 120 of our crew had never worked on a television show or film before, when they started on 'Lord of the Rings'. To invest that level of self-belief in them was a really wonderful thing. Looking back now, that's really the highlight of the loast seven years for me. Question: (indecipherable). Welcome back to New Zealand. There are reports that you've bought land in New Zealand. My question is for Barrie: What in particular made you decide to take New Zealand citizenship? Barrie Osborne: I really value the lifestyle here and enjoy being in New Zealand. I have a lot of friends, both here and in Australia and I've really enjoyed the journey and making this film with the technicians here in New Zealand. Question: How many of you have bought land here? Elijah Wood: I don't think any of us have bought land here yet, but eventually... John Rhys-Davies: Dwarves tend to take their investments very seriously! I confess I've got into a terrible panic at the end of the last pick-up shots the other day. I thought 'Good God, I may never come back to New Zealand after the premiere, so I went out and I bought a little field. At the moment I'm going to grow olives on South Island so I have to come back and worry about them. I'm delighted to report that the frost that bit two days ago only wiped out 20% of them, but it's early days yet! Sir Ian McKellen: I would love to buy something in New Zealand, but unlike John I'm not on that sort of salary. Sean Astin: The first day we were filming some Maori elders came to the set to bless the production and there's one compliment that one of the men made about how.. he sort of invoked this prayer and said how he hoped the land would take care of us while we were working and that we would take care of the land while we were here. He made a point about how the land was here long before we were and that it would be here long after we left so the idea that.. clearly New Zealand is a growth place and anybody who invests in the real estate of New Zealand will make money, but to me the idea of actually having ownership of the land in some way is sort of besides the point. (indecipherable) Billy Boyd: On that point, some of the actors have got together with an organisation called Future Forests and in the new year you'll be able to go round to Virgin Megastores I think and be able to buy a tree. We will have a forest, firstly in Tibet but hopefully in New Zealand (indecipherable). So you'll be able to buy a tree for the Fellowship. There's also a t-shirt here (FX: points at his t-shirt) I think trees are a big point that Tolkien tried to make, that we're cutting them down and we're not planting them and we thought this would be a good time to try and put something back. Question: Tell us what it was like riding around in a tree.. Billy Boyd: For a long time. And they were quite uncomfortable. John Rhys-Davies: And let me tell you, he's no lightweight to carry. Question: My name is Hilary Cindy (indecipherable). I'm the contest winner of New York state. My question is for... Billy. Billy, if you had played a different character, who would it be, and why? Billy Boyd: I think, even though it would be hard work I think, probably because I think it's the hardest character to play, I think a challenge as an actor, I think Gollum would be a great character to play. The two sides of him. Andy along with the guys at Weta were breaking new ground.Every day they made this character more and more real. I think that was an exciting character to play. Sean Astin: (to contest winner) Congratulations! Question: (indecipherable) Grady from Star TV Network. Question for any one of the cast about how do you work with Peter Jackson, seeing so much of his country and then so many of his people, do you think Kiwi's are a little bit different? Sean Astin: We know they are! Elijah Wood: I've certainly never met or worked with a crew of people - thousands of people on this movie - that weren't devoted to their craft and to their work and to the ultimate passion of Peter Jackson and everyone involved. During the most difficult moments of our schedule the crew never lost focus and never gave up. They gave everything of themselves to see the ultimate goal. I've worked on a few movies and I've never ever seen that... that kind of devotion, that kind of passion - undying. Really extraordinary and constantly inspiring. Sir Ian McKellen: When you work in existing film industries with a long history, wherever they are in the world, there can often be a sense of 'Oh, here we go again. We've done this before and our pride is in our professionalism' and there are long stories about films that were made 30 to 40 years ago that everybody else has forgotten except the people involved in making them. And here that isn't true: all the talk on 'Lord of the Rings' was about the project in hand. Everybody knew, whatever the public or the press would eventually think, that we were having the time of our lives and that unless we worked flat out for Peter the job wouldn't get done. So there was a focus which I think fell outside the ordinary as far as I was concerned. Question: (indecipherable). I was wondering... It's been a very long journey for you all (indecipheable) sadness. But isn't it also a kind of relief? Orlando Bloom: It's kind of like having a really great Christmas gift at the end of each year. We're like family - we just get together and watch a great movie that we've all been a part of. So there's no real sense of relief. There's a sense of, like, completion, you know, that it's coming to an end. But I think even then the movies grow in the hearts and minds of everyone that's watching them and the DVDs .. there are so many people who will be revisiting them (indecipherable). It's something that will be ongoing. I don't feel like we've come to a full stop, you know. Question: (indeciperable) New York. What's surprised you most about working on the film, at the end of it all? What specifically do you love about it? What shocked you? What surprised you the most? What did you go into it thinking and then realise 'My God! This transformed me'? What physically changed the experience? Sir Ian McKellen: We were all immensely affected, those of us who hadn't been before, by the fact of New Zealand: the landscapes, and it was inevitable that the sense of being in the country was tied up with the sense of making the film in its capital city, because during the initial year of shooting 'Lord of the Rings' employed more people than any other industry in the country. Wherever you went you felt people had a personal interest, even a stake in the outcome of the film, and that would be impossible in a larger country than this. To my mind, being in New Zealand and making 'Lord of the Rings' have become two. I hope that's reflected in the number of visitors that audiences have seen for times to come and that they enjoy the landscapes as much as we did. Announcement: We've got time for three more questions! Question: Good morning gentlemen. Thank you for being here, and welcome guests. My names John Smith from (indecipherable)times.com. I have a question for Barrie Osborne. How is it that Peter Jackson earned so much respect from the cast and crew and that respect has transferred through everything he's done? Barrie Osborne: It's very simple: Peter is a great film maker. He brings a passion to his work and he's always a delight to work with. He has a sense of humour that carries you through the darkest moments, always the whole project. So that's how, I think, in the end. Also the work that he's accomplished - that speaks for itself. Question: Morning all. Simon (indecipherable) from TV3 News. I've got a question. 'The Lord of the Rings' has been a huge phenomenon here in New Zealand. How are you going to cope post-'Lord of the Rings' do you think, when everyone has to go 'cold turkey'? Elijah Wood: When New Zealand doesn't have 'Lord of the Rings' any more? Sir Ian McKellen: I hope that eventually the Tolkien Estate relents, and allows New Zealand to have a permanent memorial to these films, in terms of either statuary or, best of all, a living museum about the local craftsmanship that made these films possible. I think that is something that would be appreciated by locals as well as visitors. Barrie Osborne: Also I think that the legacy that this trilogy leaves, in terms of the industry... I know there are a number of well known New Zealand directors: Geoff Murphy who's making a film now, Lee Tamahori who wants to make a film back here, and a number of others. So I think that the film industry here will expand as a consequence. And certainly Peter himself has contributed greatly to building the infrastructure, in Miramar and in New Zealand. Question: (indecipherable). Question for Mark. Does New Line have any other projects in the pipeline for New Zealand or are you eyeing up anything in particular? Mark Ordesky: Not currently but we will be more than thrilled at making movies here some time in the future and I'm sure we will. First panel ends Click here for second panel transcript featuring Peter Jackson, Viggo Mortensen, Liv Tyler, Bernard Hill, Andy Serkis, David Wenham, John Noble, Liv Tyler, Howard Shore, Phillipa Boyens and Mark Ordesky Click here for main New Zealand web logs index page
Don't forget you can check out reports of lots of other Lord of the Rings -themed events in the Web Logs section

Email: ian@iansmith.co.uk