A non war-gaming post today, and I apologise to those who follow my blog, and are not really in to such things - but its clearly going to be inspiring for my forth coming hobby output...
28th November, 2012 - The Premiere day of the The Hobbit movie in Wellington New Zealand!
My wife and I managed to get the day off work together and took the kids out of school for the day, so they were rapt!
We took the train down to avoid traffic and parking hassles and got into to the city at about 11am, and took our time through the city, enjoying a 'second breakfast', before rambling along the waterfront to the Hobbit Artisan market...
 |
| The 'Beehive', NZ parliament building. |
 |
| Becky outside the Law college, a lovely victorian era building and good inspiration for my Empire of the Dead buildings |
 |
| Chris at same |
 |
| The entrance to the Artisan Market |
|
|
Lots to see here of various craft activities related to Hobbit movie props and such like. Also a very cool Air New Zealand free photo booth:
Inside Te Papa museum - I picked up the The Hobbit visual companion book here, useful painting inspiration, and was tempted to buy the LOTR card game..., but its an age 13+, so I'd end up just playing solo... and be better off spending the time painting.
Grabbed lunch then strolled through to the red carpet area at about 3pm... Managed a nice shot of the entrance way statues...
After this we couldn't get near the barriers, these had been staked out long before, but we managed to secure a small seat out side the Reading cinema mall, upon which we could stand to see over the heads in front of us... Interestingly, just behind me was the local GW store. I couldn't help but think if GW had thought about it and launched their Hobbit game release for this day, they might have picked up some impulse purchases for the crowds of people... a chance missed indeed I think!
 |
| The big screen... |
And then the Stars started coming down the Red Carpet, some were great and interacted well with the crowd, stopping to sign autographs for those lucky enough to be close... others walked through with out stopping...
 |
| Martin Freeman - Bilbo |
The difficulty I had is that a lot of the dwarfs, to be fair, are not 'mega-names', as yet, and were tricky to recognise without all their makeup, plus the red carpet area was so full of assorted security and 'hangers-on' that it got a little tricky spotting who was who...!
 |
| Richard Armitage - Thorin |
 |
| Aidan Turner - Kili |
 |
| Stephen Hunter - Bombur, James Nesbitt - Bofur, Graham McTavish - Dwalin |
At this point my camera battery died, and I had to resort to my son's Iphone...
Peter Jackson, fine fellow - took his time with the crowd...
 |
| Richard - head of Weta |
 |
| Dean O'Gorman - Fili |
 |
| Jed Brophy - Nori |
 |
| Andy Serkis - Gollum |
Andy 'motored' through at a great pace and I just caught the back of his head as he raced through...
 |
| Adam Brown - Ori |
As the sun began to lower it started to affect the Iphone's photographic abilities...
 |
| Sylvester McCoy - Radagast |
 |
| William Kircher - Bifur |
 |
| Barry Humphries - Goblin King |
 |
| Hugo Weaving - Elrond |
 |
| James Cameron, enjoying the Red Carpet day out too! |
Director James Cameron, recently moved to NZ and I believe owns a large estate in the Waiarapa...
 |
| The PM - John Key |
 |
| Cate Blanchett - Galadriel |
The lovely Cate Blanchett, made a delightful female change, to the majority male cast...
 |
| Me - knackered! | |
|
A great day out, and a first for me to experience a Red Carpet movie show. The atmosphere in the city was great and I am pleased I was able to make it.
Must admit I was knackered by the end of it, standing with a hefty 9yr old kid on your shoulders so he can see, takes it out of you!
So please forgive my snooze on train on the way home... ;-)
So Scott, humorous those of us that have to wait until 12/14
ReplyDelete*where* in the original story does the first film end??
Sadly I didn't get to see the movie!
DeleteThough looking through the visual companion book, I have a feeling events may end after they pass the Misty Mountains and Goblin Town... though don't quote me, that's just a guess at this stage!
Lucky man! Looked like a great day out and your pics were excellent!
ReplyDeleteI'm going to be in London on Friday so may go into Games Workshop...just to buy White Dwarf of course!
Thanks :-)
DeleteOf course! ;-)
I'm jealous! A friend and I are looking at doing a Middle Earth Tour in NZ that includes the premiere of the final movie in this trilogy. Having the year and change to save up will help! I'd certainly love to head back. My last trp, two weeks, wasn't nearly long enough.
ReplyDeleteA couple of friends were there in line, and said Andy Serkis actually ran up and down the line high fiving people in the crowd. It might explain why he seemed to zoom by so fast!
I have to, once again, register my jealousy that you live in NZ. I love the area, Wellington was particularly great.
Its certainly a nice place on the whole to live. Not perfect, no where is, but certainly a positive change for my family and I.
DeleteWe holidayed here (before kids) in 2002, and after that, having enjoyed it so much, we emigrated!
Careful, you might be tempted too!
I went down earlier at lunch time, so missed the stars. I kind of would have liked to stay around looking at thos pics.
ReplyDeleteShame you couldn't stay longer!
DeleteScott, you're a lucky man !!!!!
ReplyDeleteeven if I don't like too much to be in the Middle of the crowd, even to see some "Stars" !! (I prefer to see stars alone in The Middle of the Shire!)
So you didn't find the new GW figures? I'm not sure that they are very so good, but, they are very expensive!
Thanks, it was certainly an exciting day.
DeleteYeah I know what you mean about the price of the models, see my earlier blog rant!
Lucky man, having to wait until Dec 14th. Still looking forward to it and your pictures help in feeling part of it even though not there.
ReplyDeleteCheers
Ross
You're welcome Ross, thanks.
DeleteNice one Scott, never been to one myself, I've been to a film award show though in Ireland.
ReplyDeleteThanks Fran, it was certainly quite and experience!
DeleteVery cool Scott. Looks like a lot of fun. Glad you got to enjoy it with your whole family.
ReplyDeleteThank you Sir! :-)
DeleteYou're phone took great pics Scott and I am of course, jealous. To have been there would have been grand indeed. Your family is lovely and I really enjoyed seeing pictures of them. Nice to get to "know" you a little better. GW is most likely basing their releases on the American market for the film.
ReplyDeleteAnd to be honest, after I see the movie I probably will pick up some figs as the book meant so much to my childhood.
Thank you, you are very kind.
DeleteI wonder if you right regrding the releases for US?
I hope so, I'd like to see how you do with them.
I was wondering if you were going to be there for the festivities. I have to admit that I'm quite jealous. I watched everything on the live feed on the internet until late in the evening here but by no means does it compare to actually being there. Hope you and the family enjoyed yourselves.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the post!
Thanks Blackie, yes , we had a great time :-)
DeleteNo worries!
Looks like a great family day out. Chris was still buzzing at school this morning. He gave a very funny and enthusiastic report to the morning assembly :)
ReplyDeleteLol! Thanks Paul, I think he'll be buzzing for some time to come yet! ;-)
DeleteVery nice pictures and a good report. Actually I can't wait to see the movie...
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing!
Cheers
Monty
No worries , thanks Monty :-)
DeleteAwesome post. I enjoyed it all. What a great day out. Dame Edna is the goblin king! Hilarious. I did not know that.
ReplyDeleteCheers
LOL, yeah I cant wait to see how it goes in the movie!
DeleteGreat stuff! Thanks for sharing the pics, and I'm glad you got got to enjoy such a day with your family.
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Jason
Thanks Jason :-) Happy to please.
Delete