Written by new-contact on Jan 3, 2012. Posted in On Location

Peter Jackson offers Hobbit location filming update from New Zealand

Peter Jackson has offered a video diary update on the Hobbit shoot in New Zealand. The initial stage of location filming lasted nearly eight weeks and wrapped in December with a main unit of around 500 crew members, plus around 200 people on the second unit with Andy Serkis as director.

Almost 140 vehicles are being used to transport the production across the length and breadth of New Zealand. It takes around eight hours to have some of the locations ready for filming once the trucks have arrived, with time needed to level the vehicles and rig them for power.

Everybody has to be in the right vehicle at the right time, they have to travel to the right place and they have to have rooms to be able to sleep in.

Peter Jackson

Jackson said: “I can’t begin to imagine the logistics involved with shifting the crew, the cast and the equipment that we have on The Hobbit; it’s pretty mind-blowing. Everybody has to be in the right vehicle at the right time, they have to travel to the right place and they have to have rooms to be able to sleep in.

“We’re having to provide our own electricity, areas to cook food and areas for people to sit down and eat. You’ve got to provide water, the bathrooms and toilets that people need, you have to have weather cover, heat for when it’s cold and you’ve got to provide cooling when it’s hot.”

We’ve moved 7,000 cubic metres of dirt to accommodate everything that goes with making a film of this size with this many people involved. It’s very much a mini city.

Mat Gordon, Location Manager

Mat Gordon is Location Manager on the project and discussed filming at the first location: “We’ve moved 7,000 cubic metres of dirt to accommodate everything that goes with making a film of this size with this many people involved. It’s very much a mini city.”

The hobbit films have a combined production budget of around USD500 million and up until Christmas 2011 had filmed 110 studio days as well. Jackson has chosen to film in 3D and the first film’s scheduled for release in December 2012.