Saturday, September 19, 2009

The Hunt for Gollum

The Hunt for Gollum

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The Hunt for Gollum
Directed by Chris Bouchard
Produced by Chris Bouchard
Co-producers:
Brian Lavery
Gladys San Juan
Julianne Honey-Mennal
Spencer Duru
Written by Screenplay:
Chris Bouchard
Novel:
J. R. R. Tolkien
Starring Adrian Webster
Arin Alldridge
Patrick O'Connor
Rita Ramnani
Gareth Brough
Max Bracey
Music by Adam Langston
Andrew Skrabutenas
Chris Bouchard
(uncredited)
Cinematography Mike Ritchie
Stein Stie
John Paul Frazer
Neill Phillips
Chris Child
Editing by Lewis Albrow
Studio Rickety Shack Films
Distributed by Independent Online Cinema[1]
Release date(s) 3 May 2009
Running time 38 minutes
Country United Kingdom
Language English
Budget less than GBP£3,000[2]
(less than USD$5,000)
Gross revenue £0 (distributed free)

The Hunt for Gollum is a 2009 fantasy adventure fan film directed, produced and written by Chris Bouchard that is based on the appendices of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings.[3][4] The film centres on the fictional lands of Middle-earth, where wizard Gandalf the Grey (Patrick O'Connor) sends ranger Aragorn (Adrian Webster) on a quest to find Gollum, who he fears may reveal information about the One Ring to necromancer Sauron.

Filming took place in North Wales, Epping Forest, and Hampstead Heath. The film was shot in high definition video, with a budget of GBP£3,000 (USD$5,000).[2][4] The production is completely unofficial and unauthorized, though Bouchard said he had "reached an understanding" with Tolkien Enterprises in 2009.

The Hunt for Gollum debuted at the Sci-Fi-London film festival and on the Internet, free to view, on 3 May 2009.[3]

Contents

[hide]

Plot

The film is set during the timespan of The Fellowship of the Ring. It takes place seventeen years after Bilbo Baggins's 111th birthday party and just prior to Frodo Baggins leaving the Shire for Rivendell. The wizard Gandalf fears that Gollum may reveal information about the One Ring to the Dark Lord Sauron, and sends the Ranger Aragorn on a quest to find him.

The story opens with a brief prologue about the ring's disappearance before cutting to Aragorn and Gandalf at an inn (presumably the Prancing Pony) in Bree. Gandalf explains his concerns about Gollum's knowledge of the Ring falling into enemy hands, and asks Aragorn to find the creature by way of his ranger tracking skills. After initially having little luck, Aragorn crosses paths with a fellow ranger and distant kinsman named Arithir, who claims to have heard rumours about a creature that has been stealing fish from local villagers. A brief scene of Gollum's hand reaching into a woman's kitchen window to steal a fish is then shown.

Aragorn and Arithir part ways, and Aragorn encounters and kills a pair of orc scouts in the forest. He soon locates Gollum by a fish pond afterwards and captures the creature in a snare trap. Having secured the whining and protesting Gollum inside a sack, Aragorn sets out for Mirkwood. He briefly spots a Nazgûl in the woods but is able to avoid it. Later that same day, the ranger is attacked by the rest of the orc army and is poisoned by a Morgul blade. He collapses beside a patch of Athelas flowers and has a dreamlike vision of Arwen in Rivendell.

Aragorn regains consciousness at dusk and discovers that Gollum has escaped from the sack. His search for the creature lasts well into the night, but Aragorn eventually finds him hiding up in a tree. Gollum fearfully explains that a Nazgûl is coming, and Aragorn is immediately attacked by it. After a short duel, the Nazgûl flees from a bright light created by the elves of Mirkwood, who recapture Gollum and guide Aragorn back to their fortress.

The scene cuts to Gandalf emerging from Mirkwood's dungeons after interrogating Gollum. The wizard tells Aragorn that Gollum knows of Bilbo Baggins and the Shire, and explains that he must now go there to warn Frodo. Aragorn suggests sending the hobbit to meet him in Bree, and Gandalf readily agrees. The film ends with Gollum speaking to himself in the dungeon, where he vows to kill "Bagginses" and reclaim his Preci

Cast

  • Adrian Webster as Aragorn, Heir of Isildur. Media coverage of The Hunt for Gollum has noted Webster's resemblance to Viggo Mortensen, who played Aragorn in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings films.[3][4][5]
  • Arin Alldridge as Arithir, a Ranger of the North
  • Patrick O'Connor as Gandalf the Grey. As with Webster and Mortensen, critics have noted O'Connor's resemblance to Ian McKellen, who played Gandalf in Jackson's films.[4][5]
  • Rita Ramnani as Arwen.
  • Gareth Brough and Jason Perino as the voice of Gollum.
  • Mathew Cunningham, Christopher Dingli and Francesco San Juan as Gollum.
  • Gareth Brough as Goblok, an orc chieftain.
  • Max Bracey as an elf of Mirkwood
  • Dan Styles as Dabgash.
  • Joshua Kennedy as a disgruntled orc.
  • Ross Morrisson and Emma Hunt as one of the ringwrath.
  • Lisa Rost-Welling as an angry villager.

Production

"Bringing Gollum himself to life has been a major challenge, I really didn’t want to cop out and knew that seeing Gollum would be an important part of the film. We have used just about every trick in the book to portray Gollum on screen without the full power of Weta Digital behind us!"
—Chris Bouchard on Gollum's production[6]

The Hunt for Gollum had a shooting budget of less than £3,000.[2] Location filming took place in North Wales, Epping Forest and Hampstead Heath.[3] 160 people volunteered as crew members for the production.[3] The production design was based on Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings films. Director Chris Bouchard said, "Peter Jackson's individual look was a big inspiration, it's been an adventure for us to play in that world that he created."[3] The film's most difficult production aspect was the title character.

[edit] Audio

The sound mix was completed at the Futureworks studio in Manchester.[7] The composers for The Hunt for Gollum were Adam Langston, Andrew Skrabutenas and Chris Bouchard. The soundtrack has never been released on CD. The soundtrack was released for free music download.

[edit] Reception

[edit] Critical

The trailer for the film was well received online. A blogger for Entertainment Weekly said that based on the trailer, the film "looks awesome", and added that the filmmakers "seem to have nailed a passable low-budget version of Peter Jackson's best-epic-movie-ever visuals."[5] Similarly, a blogger for Wired News said that "The Hunt for Gollum looks pretty stunning for a film made 'by fans for fans.'"[8] On National Public Radio's All Things Considered, reporter Laura Sydell said, "The Hunt for Gollum looks just like the Hollywood version. I was fooled the first time I saw it. ... the special effects in the trailer are flawless."[4] A writer for the film website Rotten Tomatoes said, "the trailers suggest it'll be better than Eragon ... or Krull.[9]

[edit] Controversies

[edit] Legal response

The lengthy disclaimer at the start of the film
"We got in touch with Tolkien Enterprises and reached an understanding with them that as long as we are completely non-profit then we're okay. We have to be careful not to disrespect their ownership of the intellectual property. They are supportive of the way fans wish to express their enthusiasm."
—Chris Bouchard[3]

It is unclear whether the production violates the rights held by the Tolkien Estate and New Line films.[4] Fred von Lohmann, director of the Electronic Freedom Foundation, told NPR that the high quality of the film and its global reach via the internet could potentially create legal issues.

[edit] References

  1. ^ "The Hunt for Gollum". Sci-Fi-London. http://www.sci-fi-london.com/festival/2009/programme/feature/the-hunt-for-gollum.php. Retrieved 1 May 2009.
  2. ^ a b c McInerney, Steven. "The Hunt for Gollum: Behind the Scenes". http://thehuntforgollum.s3.amazonaws.com/player_makingof.html. Retrieved 8 May 2009.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Masters, Tim (30 April 2009). "Making Middle-earth on a shoestring". BBC News (BBC). http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8022623.stm. Retrieved 1 May 2009.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Sydell, Laura (30 April 2009). "High-Def 'Hunt For Gollum' New Lord Of The Fanvids". All Things Considered (National Public Radio). http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103673352. Retrieved 1 May 2009.
  5. ^ a b c Vozick-Levinson, Simon (24 April 2009). "'The Hunt for Gollum': How awesome is the new trailer?". Entertainment Weekly (Popwatch blog). http://popwatch.ew.com/popwatch/2009/04/hunt-gollum.html. Retrieved 1 May 2009.
  6. ^ Hartinger, Brent (27 April 2009). "Will The Hunt for Gollum Be as Cool as It Looks?". The Torch Online. http://thetorchonline.com/2009/04/27/will-the-hunt-for-gollum-fan-project-be-as-cool-as-it-looks/. Retrieved 4 May 2009.
  7. ^ "Lord of the Rings prequel, The Hunt for Gollum, hits Futureworks". How-Do. 30 April 2009. http://www.how-do.co.uk/north-west-media-news/north-west-broadcasting/lord-of-the-rings-prequel,-the-hunt-for-gollum,-hits-futureworks-200904305273/. Retrieved 1 May 2009.
  8. ^ Wallace, Lewis (24 April 2009). "Middle-Earth Looks Stunning in Hunt for Gollum". Wired News (Underwired blog). http://www.wired.com/underwire/2009/04/middle-earth-lo/. Retrieved 1 May 2009.
  9. ^ "RT's Top 5 Fan Films". Rotten Tomatoes. 15 April 2009. http://uk.rottentomatoes.com/news/1811402/rts_top_5_fan_films. Retrieved 1 May 2009.

[edit] External links

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