Riddle from Del Toro??

[Kennashi]

Apparently, Del Toro left a cryptic message on the onering message boards: http://www.theonering.net/torwp/2008/04/20/28695-del-toro-riddles-torns-message-board/#more-28695
Del Toro Riddles TORN’s Message Board!

April 20th, 2008 by xoanon

Guillermo Del Toro 2The man himself, Guillermo del Toro, who may or may not be directing ‘The Hobbit’, has posted a very curious comment on our own message boards. Del Toro has mentioned recently at a New York convention that an announcement is imminent…decipher what you will from his post!

And be sure to join our message boards for more!

A riddle for you all-

Half familiar, half unknown.

A thing it is, ¨It almost is-¨

This thing all things devours:
Birds, beasts, trees, flowers;
Gnaws iron, bites steel;
Grinds hard stones to meal;
Slays king, ruins town,
And beats high mountain down.

The day of the moon will be
when all is revealed to thee
Questions will cease
Answers will please
We´ll learn of the Shire
and all you desire.

At ten minus Three.
Joining to be
Ten minus Eight
Add to the slate
of the two dozen princes
that die without winces.
And add to each day of
the week. 10-3=7. 7+2=9. 9+24=33. 33 minus the first number, which is ten equals...It all comes back to the number 23...

[The Dread Pirate Roberts]

Looks like the announcement is coming on Monday at 7:33.

[Kennashi]

Elaborate.

[Curufin]

10-3 = 7
Then it says 'joining' with, not 'adding to' (2+24+7) = 33.

So Monday at 7:33, as DPR says.

Rather annoying way to do it, if you ask me.

[Curubethion]

Nah, 'tis in the tradition of The Hobbit. It's a riddle. In the dark...

The first stanza, as we know, translates to "Time". The second stanza must refer to the day of the full moon. But that was Sunday.

[The Dread Pirate Roberts]

It doesn't say "full" moon. It says "the day of the moon" which is Monday.

I can't get the numbers to work out though...unless the periods mean something and we have 7.26.7 which doesn't mean anything to me. Nothing happened on Monday that I know of....

[Kennashi]

http://www.theonering.net/torwp/2008/04/25/28747-guillermo-del-toro-chats-with-torn-about-the-hobbit-films/#more-28747

Guillermo del Toro Chats with TORN About ‘The Hobbit’ Films!

April 25th, 2008 by xoanon | Discuss

Guillermo Del Toro 2In an exclusive interview with TheOneRing.net, Guillermo del Toro talks about Ian McKellen, Andy Serkis, Howard Shore, Animatronics vs CGI, the ‘tone’ of the upcoming ‘Hobbit’ films and much more!

We had the opportunity to chat with Guillermo del Toro this morning from his current HQ in London. He’s hard at work putting the finishing touches on ‘Hellboy II: The Golden Army’ and taking interviews from news outlets about that film, and the recent announcement that he’ll be doing ‘The Hobbit’ and a subsequent Hobbit sequel down the line.

First things first, YES, that is him on our message boards, he told me he intends to post there as often as he humanly can. And yes, he is as cool and approachable as he sounds. Take a look at my interview!

How did this whole process get started?

GDT: I met Peter (Jackson) a long time ago when we were planning on doing ‘Halo’ together, I really love how they have that setup in New Zealand, I call it ‘Hollywood the way God intended it’. New Zealand has all the technical advantages when doing a big movie and you are shooting it in paradise, both in terms of artistic freedom and commitment.

When ‘Halo’ didn’t happen, Peter and I stayed in contact on a regular basis, and last winter I started getting inklings that ‘The Hobbit’ may come this way, mainly from the studio. The first thing I said was that I would only be interested if Peter was involved and the (New Line Lawsuit) problem gets resolved. When that issue was resolved I got a call from Peter and we chatted, and it started from then, it was my Christmas gift!

Fans are all abuzz about ‘The Second Film’, can you tell some of your plans for it?

GDT: You know, I traveled to New Zealand just a little while ago, and one of the main reasons for going was to sit down and talk about the second film. ‘The Hobbit’, the book, is really one self-contained film, so for the second movie we sat down and worked it out. When we did this we got really excited because this second film is not a ‘tag on’, it’s not ‘filler’, it’s an integral part of telling the story of those 50 years of history lost in the narrative. There will be certain things that we will see from the first movie but from a different point of view, but it will feel like a volume, in the 5 volumes of the entire story. It will not feel like a bridge, I’ve been hearing it called ‘a bridge film’, it’s not, it’s an integral chapter of the story, and I think we’re all on the same page.

You will be moving down to New Zealand for 4 years, is that right?

GDT: Approximately, my whole family, but the first stages of design and R&D will be done with me going back and fourth from LA and New Zealand because there are a lot of things I need to put to bed before I finally move to New Zealand. I’m going much sooner than my relatives would like!

We will officially be doing a lot of prep on ‘The Hobbit’ this summer, there is so much to do, its amazing. Just the reforestation of The Shire, re planting all those trees and plants will take months, and we’re going to be as exact as possible.

Films like ‘Pan’s Labyrinth’ used a few studio sets to simulate outdoors, will you be doing the same for ‘The Hobbit’ or will you be making use of New Zealand’s wilderness like Peter did?

GDT: I think green screen photography is exactly like CGI, it is a tool, I don’t think it should be overused. Things like ‘Pan’s Labyrinth’ and ‘The Devil’s Backbone’ are incredibly dependent on location, we shot on location for more than half the time. Those locations can be enhanced by technology however, both digital and physical. What I would like to avoid is the recreation of the natural environments in CG, I don’t like doing that. The movie is essentially a journey movie, I think you need to use locations as much as possible.

You’ll be using WETA Digital for the effects?

GDT: Yes, the essential elements for keeping continuity are on track, in the last few weeks I’ve been chatting with a ton of people via email, phone, and in person from the previous films. People like Andy Serkis, Sir Ian McKellen, Howard Shore, John Howe, Gino Acevedo, Richard Taylor next week I’m meeting Alan Lee. I’m doing this to ensure that whatever we do we keep continuity with the other films, yes it’s a world that is slightly more golden at the beginning, a very innocent environment.

What I’m trying to do is keep the elements in place but allow you to feel a progression from ‘The Hobbit’ until ‘The Return of the King’. I believe ‘The Hobbit’ is a very crucial volume in The Lord of the Rings, it is a narrative that starts out very much in an innocent and golden way. It is permeated from England going through World War One, so there is a loss of innocence and a darker tone as the book and the film progresses. We’ll be doing that in the first film, taking you from a time of more purity to a darker reality throughout the film, but I think that is in the spirit of the book. All these guys, Alan Lee, John Howe, these guys are integral for us to map out that progress in the two movies, and allow you to completely blend in to the universe that is already in place. But this will be a progression, it should not feel at the start of the film that this is the same time (as the beginning of ‘Fellowship’). 50 years in Shire time, is not the same as 50 years in human time, if you think about how our world has changed in only 7 or 8 years, you can think of it as decades of turmoil, those 50 years in Middle-earth.

Do you have any roles cast?

GDT: Well, I had the most charming meeting with Sir Ian, and all bureaucracy pending, he’s on board, as is Andy Serkis. We will continue giving you progress reports as the occur. It is our intention that we will not lose any of the key elements.

What will differ from your films versus Peter’s?

The only thing I will be pushing for more in these films that the other three are full animatronics and animatronic creatures enhanced with CGI, as opposed to CGI creatures themselves. We really want to take the state-of-the-art animatronics and take a leap ten years into the future with the technology we will develop for the creatures in the movie. We have every intention to do for animatronics and special effects what the other films did for virtual reality.

Another thing people will notice, at the beginning of the film will be the palette, that will be slightly different, the world will be the same but it will be a more ‘golden’ world, a more wide-eyed world. But by no means will we depart from the canon, we will take the three previous films as canon. When I become part of a world that I love, such as this, I really come with a lot of enthusiasm and hard work, and we know we are recreating and creating a world that is part of the mythos of millions of people and we will approach it as passionately and respectfully as it needs to be taken.
Discuss.

[Earniel]

But by no means will we depart from the canon, we will take the three previous films as canon.
Not the right answer for some of us Tolkien purists, mr. del Toro. :p The statement to consider the three other movies as canon above, you know, the book, fills me with a bit of misgivings.

[Gordis]

OWW :rolleyes::eek: -
Thank you for sharing the article, Kennashi.

[Acalewia]

I never would have thought GDT would climb on board to do The Hobbit? The man is going to run himself ragged one of these days

Thanks for the article, Kennashi

[The Dread Pirate Roberts]

Not the right answer for some of us Tolkien purists, mr. del Toro. :p The statement to consider the three other movies as canon above, you know, the book, fills me with a bit of misgivings.

I agree wholeheartedly.

And I have a question regarding the following statement:
Just the reforestation of The Shire, re planting all those trees and plants will take months, and we’re going to be as exact as possible.
I don't know what this means. . . When did they DEforest the Shire and why?

[The last sane person]

maybe they are going to use the same location as before for the shire, and when they packed up last time, they took their trees and plants with them?

[Earniel]

They pretty much destroyed their version of Hobbiton and Bag's End for that one scene in Galadriel's mirror, if I'm not mistaken. So if they want to film new scenes there, they will have to rebuild it just as it was in the previous movies? That's the only explanation I can come up with.

[Jon S.]

But by no means will we depart from the canon, we will take the three previous films as canon.
Smaug: Who is that sneaking around in my lair. I can smell you, thief, even if I can't see you.

Arwen Evenstar: Here I is! :o

[The Dread Pirate Roberts]

If you want him, come and claim him. :rolleyes:

[Curubethion]

Not the right answer for some of us Tolkien purists, mr. del Toro. :p The statement to consider the three other movies as canon above, you know, the book, fills me with a bit of misgivings.
It's just about consistency. These films are obviously meant as prequels to PJ's work. So they should be more consistent with them than with the book, if there is a conflict.

[Kennashi]

More News: http://www.wetanz.com/holics/index.php?itemid=695&catid=2
Here, Del Toro and Jackson answer 20 of the most common questions from the Unexpected Party Chat. Here's some of the interesting questions:AnthonyPearson What are your plans with the casting of Bilbo Baggins? Is Ian Holm still an option?
Guillermo del Toro The fact that Ian Holm is SO memorable means that PJ, Fran and PB did their job right. We will utilize him in some fashion for sure but the difficulty of th erole will be better assesed after we do the script (s).

WetaHost 19 - May i congratulate on your new appointment as director of The Hobbit, Guillermo. My question is to Guillermo, what can we expect from your vision and approach with this picture and I'm guessing there will be alot of dark elements to this film, but how far will you go in terms of horror and violence?
Guillermo del Toro I hope that Mirkwood can be pretty scary but not graphic, I hope Riddles in the dark has an element of fear and suspense and to be deeply atmospheric but still allow the ingenious, engaging contest to take place. And Smaug should be all shock and awe when he unleashes his anger so, it will be pretty intense but not gorey.

Jessalyn When do you expect filming to begin?
Peter Jackson Dear Jesslyn - at this point in time the plan is to write for the rest of this year and start early conceptual designs. 2009 will be dedicated to pre-production on both movies and 2010 will be the year we shoot both films back to back. Post productin follows one film at a time with The Hobbit being released Dec 2011, and F2 release Dec 2012. That is the schedule in about as much detail as we have ourselves at the moment.

Eriol So what age rating are you aiming at?
Peter Jackson Hi Eriol - the rating will be the same as the Trilogy, PG13 on both movies
Guillermo del Toro An intense PG-13...

Peter Jackson I'm really looking forward to developing Film Two. It gives us a freedom that we haven't really had on our Tolkien journey. Some of you may well say that's a good thing of course! The Hobbit is interesting in how Tolkien created a feeling of dangerous events unfolding, which preoccupy Gandalf. There's an awful lot of incident that happens during that 60 year gap. At this stage, we're not imagining a film that literally covers 60 years, like a bio-pic or documentary. We would figure out what happens during that 60 years, and choose one short section of time to drop in and dramatise for the screen. I'm really interested in how it effects The Hobbit - do we show what happens to Gandalg during his trips away? We'll see. We may well have seeds for Film Two that we'll subtly sow during The Hobbit.

WetaHost Considering that you're stretching The Hobbit into 2 movies can we assume that Beorn will be featured and will not be given the Tom Bombadil treatment?
Guillermo del Toro I may be in the minority, but I absolutely LOVE Beorn and I intend to feature him in the films. BTW I also like TB quite a bit…
XDD

[Earniel]

Well, that at least seems to cover the Beorn debate.

[Jon S.]

For now. A lot of water remains to go under the movie bridge before the final product hits the screens.

[tolkienfan]

An intense PG-13? I wouldn't classify The LotR as intense, does this mean The Hobbit will be more adult than LotR? I would prefer a PG Hobbit.

[Earniel]

I suppose the 'intense PG-13' rating may be in connection to the fighting. There's quite a lot of it in the Hobbit. Although I hope they won't make it more adult in general than LoTR. That would IMO be a bit silly too, to make the most fairy-talish of Tolkien's Middle-earth stories the most adult of the movies. :rolleyes:

[Curufin]

Personally, I'd prefer a "G" Hobbit.

It is a kid's story, after all.

[Jon S.]

Any story I read is a mature grown-up's story.

;)

[The Dread Pirate Roberts]

I don't know whether TH will be more adult than LotR, but it will most certainly be more adult than the book. I've said several times (maybe on other boards, can't remember where) that they're aiming for the same audience they hit before and just as they brought LotR down to a teenage level, they'll bring the TH up to that level. The posted chat above seems to confirm that.