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 UNDER
CONSTRUCTION |
| Main Production Diary Q&A Media Page Team Get Involved Guestbook |
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Production Diary Here you can keep up to date with our progress and any developments that occur. Written by Kate Robinson - Director/Producer
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Future Dates for your
Diaries
14-20th July Filming at West Stow - We have our first confirmed shoot dates! We will be at West Stow for this whole week shooting various scenes from the film. This week will be open to the public and you will be able to come along to watch the filming. |
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9-17 Feb 2008 Ring Quest at West Stow - We had a display at West Stow during this time and attended at the weekends. We
had a very successful week promoting the film. We shot some behind
the scenes and some test footage, we dressed up and talked to the public,
we practiced our archery skills and clashed swords in the pig pen and
generally had a good time. A large number of people passed by our
display, many took away our website address and a number of them bought
things and made donations. We raised £106.80 which is not bad at
all, though it will only cover the travel expenses and food with maybe a
few quid left over. Anyway this week was never about raising money
but about spreading the word about the production which we certainly did.
We also made a number of interesting contacts who may get involved in the
production. I hope you like this small collection of photos from the event. We do have some video too so I may put together a Ring Quest featurette for the website at some point.
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22 Jan 2008
I
have deleted a few guestbook entries that I felt were not fitting for this
website. I understand that
many people, quite rightly, have their own opinions about my project but
this guestbook was not intended as a forum for people to debate its
merits. Personally
I have found some of the comments hurtful but I have allowed people to
have their opinion without censorship, however as these comments have
continued and are read by many people including the BoH cast and crew I do
not wish them to continue and from now on will delete any comments I feel
are inappropriate for this website. Please
feel free to find a forum elsewhere on the internet to discuss your
negative comments and I just hope I never stumble across it.
There
are a lot of people working extremely hard of this production for
absolutely no financial reward! There
is no way I am doing this project to make a profit and I’d be pretty
stupid if I thought that making this film would be a great money making
scheme. LOTRs might be a
billion dollar franchise, but that’s for New Line and the big guys not
for us. As our financing is
obviously an issue I will try to set up a page on the site explaining our
budgeting and hopefully this will lay any issues to rest.
I
am sorry again to have to censor the guestbook but with filming arranged
for later in the year and rehearsals underway I do not feel it is very
good for moral amongst the cast and crew if they happen to read this. Thank
you Kate
Madison Actor/Director/Producer |
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22 Jan 2008
Today I went to West Stow and spoke to Lance about Ring Quest. I also donated a number of sheepskins for the new farmers house which is almost finished. They are currently finishing off the thatch and will then be re thatching the Living House. It's all going to look really nice by the time we start filming. |
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19 Jan 08 Another fight training day but this time for Rangers :) I couldn't be there until the end but was told it was a really good session and it was nice because it was the first session that some of the actors could make. Much of the session was filmed ready for the Behind the Scenes Doc. I managed to make it down in time for a drink in the local pub with some of the fight team and a few of the actors. It was nice to see them again as I haven't seen many of the actors since the trailer shoot almost ... 2 years ago!! Wow has it been that long! |
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17 Jan 08 West Stow confirmed our July Shoot Dates! So we now have some dates to aim towards and can now start planning for this shoot. |
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14 Jan 08 I went to two leather companies in Sawston near Cambridge UK who were extremely generous and gave me a large amount of chamois leather off cuts (Hutchings & Harding Ltd) and sheep skin off cuts (Eastern Counties Leather Plc). I also got 20 sheep skins from Eastern Counties Leather Plc which are absolutely brilliant for me. Both companies have said I am welcome to go back at anytime. Isn't it great when one person's waste can be useful to another. So we are being good to the environment by helping to reduce waste. Great! |
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13 Jan 08 Today we had a fight training session for Orcs. This was mostly a session for the orcs in Hunt for Gollum, a fan film many of the BoH team are helping with. |
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6 Jan 08 Today we had a big Production Meeting in London. I met a number of new crew members who will be joining the team. |
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1 Jan 08 HAPPY NEW YEAR!! Oh my!
Another year passes but we are still here! I am so excited because
this is the year! I’m really looking forward to a fantastic and
productive 2008 as we will be finally getting down to
shooting the film. New
cast and crew will be joining us, meetings held, costumes made, locations
confirmed and generally we are gonna be getting this show on the road!
Yeah! |
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24 Dec 07
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20 Dec 07 I've answered a couple more questions in the Q&A section so go have a look. Nearly Christmas! |
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13 Dec 07 Today was my birthday! Ugh. Another year older but ho hum. No I'm not saying how old, I tell that truth too often and need to start lying. |
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7 Dec 07 I hope you all noticed the fantastic new quote on the front page :) I met Daniel Falconer at Ring*Con in Germany in Oct and we are still in touch. He's a great guy and keen to keep an eye on our progress. It's great to have his support. |
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5 Dec 07 Donation problems! I just wanted to thank you all for your generous donations to BoH and to sincerely apologise for the fact that some of you may have had your donations returned to you recently. This was not intentional. The email address linked to the donations button has had problems and was disconnected from the Paypal account. I do not know how long this has been a problem as I have only just found out. It turns out that some donations have been bouncing back because they couldn't get through to the paypal account. It would be extremely rude of me to ask you to donate again but please know that if you did donate but it bounced back please know that I should have now fixed the problem and therefore donations should not be rejected again! All donations are extremely welcome and essential to making this a wonderful film. I now worry about how many donations have actually bounced. Thank you all for supporting this project! Kate Madison Actor/Director/Producer - Born of Hope |
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7 Nov 07 |
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4 Nov 07
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Oct 07 ‘Born of Hope’ LOTR Fan Film ImpressesRinger Elentariel sends us this report from RingCon 2007: I just returned from RingCon 2007 in Fulda, Germany where I found out about this incredible new British made LOTR fan film, which is still in the works. It tells the story of Aragorn’s parents and his childhood, which might be worth checking out. The website contains several trailers and info about the film.
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18 Oct 07 MORE TO COME.. |
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16 Oct 07 MORE TO COME.. |
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14 Oct 07 The first presentation today was Daniel Falconer and I tried to relax and enjoy it but I was getting nervous about my talk as I was next up. So I headed round to back stage until Daniel finished. MORE TO COME.. |
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13 Oct 07 MORE TO COME.. |
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12 Oct 07 After enjoying the panels and presentations on the main stage and wandering around feeling a bit out of it and alone I spotted a friendly face. I have met Marcel Buelles last year at the Gathering of the Fellowship in Toronto and we had a lot of fun. Unfortunately this brief hug and hello was the only contact with Marcel I had this time round but it was still nice to see him again. I found my way up to the 6th floor bar which was the place to be of an evening. I must have spent an hour or more just sitting in the corner or wandering around with a drink trying to get the courage to actually talk to someone. |
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11 Oct 07 Getting the cheap Ryanair flight turned out fine and I managed to catch the bus and the train without any problems though it took more time. When I finally got to the Altstadthotel Arte there were "no rooms at the inn" so I had to be moved down the road to the Holiday Inn and move back in the morning which was a bit annoying. |
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7 Oct 07 |
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13 Sept 07 |
| Back from Snowdonia, and being Wales we did get a decent amount of rain during filming. When the film crew left, Camilo and I stayed to Location Scout, and guess what, the sun came out. |
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3 July 2007 Just wanted to let you all know that the first draft of the final script is finished and we are just perfecting it now. I'm getting quite excited but I have loads of work to do before we are anywhere near ready to shoot. As you can see I've added a Ring*Con banner because I'm going to be at this convention in October and Born of Hope will also hopefully be represented in the programming. I don't know how just yet but the organisers are interested. Obviously it's highly unlikely we would have started shooting anything by then but I might let you in on a few secrets and could possibly show some of the trailer shoot footage that you still haven't seen as well as the trailer you all know and love. Fingers crossed that next year I can go again and take the finished film!
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26 May 2007 Well the story has now been decided and the script is in the States being written. I have contacted the old cast and crew and told them that the project is re starting which everyone is excited about. I am currently putting together my Art Department and can then start the designing and making of more costumes needed for the film. Anyone interested in joining the Art Department as a volunteer for example as a concept artist or costumer or prop maker etc please do get in touch via the Get Involved page where you can send an introductory email. Please note that these are not paid jobs, sorry. Even though the script is not finished I am still able to do pre production and there is a lot to do over the next few months. Stay tuned... |
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25 May 2007 Just thought I'd let you all know that there is a new online interview with me about the project at http://www.comicbookbin.com/katerobinson0507.html
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4 March 2007 I'm sorry for the HUGE down time on this site. Various reasons including broken computer, working on other people's films, mini panic attack about what I'm trying to do, work, life....all those little things that get in the way of the things you really want to do. Not much went on in the way of "pursuing my acting career" either, ah well there's still time.... Anyway, yes I'm back, I've recovered from my panic about the project and now I'm desperate to get this show back on the road. I'm trying to give the site a bit of a blitz to get it up to date and add extra detail and info. So far I have added another featurette on the Media Page called "It's all about Aragorn" which I hope you all enjoy. I have also changed the Get Involved page and added a "Have your say". I think this could be a very interesting and exciting experiment and I'm looking forward to reading all the ideas that get thrown into the pot! Emily and I are off to California again on Friday for a week. We'll visit Sharmila again, she never did come back, she fell in love and got married so she's still in LA. I love how I can scroll down this page and read a little about the last trip. This Production Diary is the longest I've ever kept writing a diary...ever. It's a great way for me to remember what I've done. OK I'm gonna go work on the other pages... |
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5 November 2006 A whole month? Crikey where did it go? Well I did promise to write more often so here's the latest. I've been off in London working on a new feature film, no not mine, I wish. It's called Dangerous Parking and it's by Peter Howitt who brought us Sliding Doors and Johnny English. I am working as the 'stand in' for the actresses. Not really acting I know but great to be part of this professional cast and crew. I have had a great time, I have learnt loads and I've even managed to be in shot as a extra a couple of times. Anyway enough of that, you want to here about Born of Hope. Well the latest is that the Trailer and Journey so Far video have been sent off to Florida for MegaCon so I hope it gets there in time. These videos have also been sent all the way to Argentina for a Fan Films Festival. It's great to be able to show this film, al be it just the trailer, all over the place and to show people what can be accomplished if you set your mind to it. Other news is that I have been approached by a audio video company in Spain who will hopefully be helping me with the post production aspects of this project. You see, even when you guys may think nothing is happening the website is still fuelling interest and giving the project more time means that more people may discover the site and offer assistance. I am always so chuffed that people are so willing to help. Thank you all. More later.. |
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5 October 2006 The honest truth... a message I sent out to the mailing list members the other day. I’m sorry I’ve been out of touch. To be honest I kind of lost it for a while regarding Born of Hope. After my trip to Canada the issues of copyright had been brought to the forefront and the story was also going through various changes and after months of work and stress well basically it all got too much and my protective little bubble burst leaving me wondering what the hell I was trying to do. I spent the next few months unwilling to deal with the ‘problem’ that was Born of Hope. I focused my efforts on other things like the short films “The Horsemen”, shot in July and “One Little Step” currently in production. The closest I went to BoH was trying to edit together the test shoot footage so I can actually get it out to the cast and crew. For some reason I am finding the editing really hard. I think this is due to a lack of self-confidence and the need to live up to my own and everyone else’s expectations. Now that I have had some time to gather my thoughts properly I have basically decided that I need to slow the whole project down or risk throwing the towel in all together. For most of this year it felt like I did nothing but Born of Hope. I spent nine solid months working very hard on the project and basically I have decided that it can’t continue like that. I love Born of Hope and think it could be an amazing project but I don’t think it should take over my life completely. I have decided that the rest of this year at least should be used to focus on other things including my acting goals and to gain more experience as a filmmaker. After all Born of Hope is a huge project to try to do as only my third film as a director. My other major issue is that I cannot forget the risks we are taking in trying to cheat copyright. The idea of getting to the last day of filming, having spent loads of money and worked hard for months or years and then receive a cease and desist letter is something that haunts me and shutting down the website (this was considered) and keeping quiet will not necessarily stop it from happening. As some of you may know we had started to develop the story into more of a feature film structure and therefore length however, and it pains me to say it, considering all of the above I don’t think I can now pursue making it the feature film we had thought about. I just don’t think I am prepared to spend the money and take that risk. Don’t quote me on that. After a few months more of thinking things may change again, however, though I love the ideas we have been coming up with for the feature I’m starting to think that it would be nicer to make an original feature film along similar themes but keep the fan film smaller and therefore more likely to be completed. I hope you aren’t too disappointed. Please don’t think that Born of Hope is dead, I am not saying that but I do need to take a break from it. I will just work on it at a slower pace. I wish to thank you all again for your on going enthusiasm for this project and especially those who have offered up your skills. I apologise to those I have not got back to, I am slowly working my way back through countless flagged emails but if you still do not hear please do write again to pester me for a response. I do not mean to be rude and not reply. Ok I think I will sign off now and although things have slowed down I will try to keep the production diary updated better from now on. Thank you Kate Robinson Producer/Director – Born of Hope |
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31 July 2006 Sorry folks. It's been a while I know. Did you all think I'd run away to the woods and decided to stay there? It was tempting I can tell you:) I had a great time anyway and should tell you all about it really, it's very fitting learning all about woodlore and bushcraft while trying to make a film about the Rangers of the North. Anyway, for now I just wanted to tell you that to make up for the fact that I haven't kept you very up to date lately, I have added a new video to the media page. It is just a fun little featurette showing me and my core team having a laugh and acting out some of the scenes on a trip to west stow back on the 18th March 06. It was a test shoot for the test shoot really. Enjoy. |
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9 July 2006 I'm off again for a week. I'm heading into the wilderness... of Sussex UK to do a course in Fundamental Bushcraft with Ray Mear's company Woodlore. Had to book it over a year ago cos it's so popular. It should be fun and also good research for the Dúnedain way of life :) See you all in a week. |
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8 July 2006 A call to fellow filmmakers. I am interested to hear from anyone who has made or attempted to make a fan film. It doesn't have to be a LOTRs one. I would like to hear of people's experiences regarding copyright, permissions and cease and desist demands. Please email me and tell me your story. The more information we have the better prepared we are. Thank you. |
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8 July 2006 On the Get Involved page you can now sign up to get on our mailing list. |
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6 July 2006 Well I'm back from Toronto. I return to over 160 emails, most of them junk, a huge 'to do' list and copyright issues being discussed on various message boards with facts wrong too. Why does it have to be so hard! Soon I'm gonna wish I'd just made a damn Star Wars fan film like everyone else. They at least are embraced and welcomed with open arms while I feel I'm being led out to the firing squad or will be soon. Anyway, I only got home today so I haven't really looked into all the discussions but I do have to correct one thing. It has been said that we are planning to make Born of Hope for release in theatres. THIS IS NOT TRUE! Yes, the script is developing into something feature length but this does not mean that we are planning to release it. THIS IS AND WAS ALWAYS INTENDED TO BE A FAN FILM. Made for fun not profit. This will not change unless we talk with the copyright owners and obtain permission and the rights.
FINALLY I have put the videos shown at the Gathering up on the media page. You can finally watch the trailer!! I'd download it if I were you, if we get shut down you may never get to see it again :( |
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4 July 2006 Today was the marathon session of all three extended edition LOTRs films but as I've done that before some of us headed out for a late breakfast and ended up staying out all day. We had a blast! We went to the little fair ground on the island, got high on candy and played around on loads of the rides. Had water fights on the log ride, beat each other up on the bumper cars and won tat in the mini arcade...it was great. Got back to the hotel for the end of Return of the King. Quite a good end to the event really. |
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3 July 2006 Second presentation today and no Jessie and Anthony today as they had other programming commitments. So it was just me and Graham but we did fine. We did the same format as before but opened to questions from the audience quicker. Again we had a good turn out and everyone seemed to enjoy the footage and were interested in the project. One person didn't like the idea of our women wielding swords but you're never going to please everyone. Many people asked me to sign posters and flyers, which was fun. I went to the Ancanar talk which I loved. It was really great to learn so much more about the project than I'd been able to get from the website. We were able to see the various trailers and presentations that they have made over the years and it was great to see the progress and learn more about the story and characters. The afternoon then turned into a Bruce and Craig fest which please all the 'fan girls'. They spoke about LOTRs and acting and made everyone laugh which is always good. I got some of it on camera so will show you some clips. I couldn't resist joining in and bidding at the Kevin Smith Trust auction and ended up getting three random press packs and the frighteners trailer on 35ml film. Both a bit pointless but had to be done :) |
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2 July 2006 Today was my first presentation. 9am-10am and we had a decent turn out. I showed the Journey so Far video, see the media page. Then Jessie and Anthony of the North East Tolkien Society asked questions and spoke to me about the project. We then showed the trailer and opened up to questions from the audience. After the presentation I watched the Oscar winning documentary about Thoth and then watched him perform again. Lots of us then headed to the Prince of Wales theatre to watch the Lord of the Rings Musical. There were mixed opinions afterwards but although some bits could do with a change over all I really enjoyed it. It is a real visual spectacle and I am still singing and humming many of the hobbit songs :) Back from the musical I was straight onto another panel about Fan Fiction. I didn't feel I was much of an authority on the subject but I was sitting next to Craig Parker so we had a laugh and I think I did actually manage to say some intelligent stuff at some point. That evening was the VIP Reception and an award ceremony in which Bruce and Craig hammed it up much to everyone's amusement. |
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1 July 2006 Got down to the convention at 8:30am to discover that because Cliff Broadway was unable to get a flight from LA I was now narrating the opening Ceremony! The one day I thought I could relax I now had to read out the creation stuff from the Silmarillion and try to pronounce the names correctly in front of scholars and the like. Scary but it went well. We had the readings, a slideshow and the music of Thoth and Lingalad. I will put together a video of highlights from the Gathering at some point soon. That evening, like most evenings, we sat in 'Traders' drinking with some of the other guests and presenters. |
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27 June 2006 Panic time. I fly out to Toronto tomorrow morning and am trying to figure out if I have done everything I needed to do. I have the trailer and a video presentation to premiere at the Gathering. If you are not going to be at the Gathering, fear not, the trailer will FINALLY be put up on the media page once I return in about a week. I hope you think it's worth the wait.
We are currently trying to get a small presence at Comic Con too. I am not able to attend but hopefully we will have some posters and flyers going around.
Thinking about it, if anyone is going to ELF in New Jersey and wants to help promote us by leaving some flyers around there too, please contact me and we'll see what we can do. |
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23 June 2006 Script Update. We have been working on the script heavily for the last few months and it has grown and changed quite a lots from the version we used for the trailer shoot. It is currently being looked at by a professional script editor in the US! |
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20 June 2006 Well I fly off to Toronto a week tomorrow and I'm feeling quite nervous and desperately trying to get everything ready for the trip.
A couple of people have asked questions regarding the costumes and would like more info posted about them. I am not ignoring that request but I am putting it off until I'm back from Toronto. I will try to get a costume page up on the site ASAP for all you guys who are interested. |
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10 June 2006 The Gathering of the Fellowship needs our help! Compared to most conventions the Gathering is run by a non profit group manned by volunteers. Apparently ticket sales are currently a lot lower than predicted and they are seriously worried about the future of this event. One thing they are asking is that if you are planning to attend but were going to buy your ticket on the door PLEASE buy it now. They are also encouraging people worried about the cost of accommodation to use the Gathering Friend Finder.
"We also understand that many potential attendees may be shying away due to the hotel expenses. If you know someone who wants to attend, but cannot afford the hotel, let us know. We have a good number of folks sharing hotel rooms. The Gathering Friend Finder is a great resource to help would-be room-buddies get in touch and save on expenses. Call your friends, cash in any favors, ask mom to come." "we cannot stress enough how much we need your help!"
The Gathering has a fantastic line up of Guests and a huge selection of panels and presentations in it's programme. So if you are thinking about coming along, to support Born of Hope if nothing else :) please go and buy your tickets now and help keep this wonderful event going.
http://gatheringofthefellowship.org
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9 June 2006 There is now the opportunity to become a concept artist/designer for Born of Hope. Visit the Get Involved page for more information. |
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28th May 2006 So here's the exciting news. I'm off to The Gathering in Toronto to make a presentation of Born of Hope and our journey so far!
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25th May 2006 I apologise to those of you who have contacted me and have yet to hear anything. I am getting there. Everyone will get a reply from me. I also have some exciting news but you'll have to wait a few more days for it. Also the site will be moving to a new location in the next few days. A dedicated site with unlimited traffic etc www.bornofhope.com It's not up and running yet but it will be soon. |
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22nd May 2006 This site is looking to exceed it's traffic quota again and therefore looks likely to shut down until the start of June. To try to prevent this I have removed some photos and the video file for now. I am endeavouring to sort this out ASAP. If we disappear we will be back! |
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18th May 2006 WOW what a response! The One Ring notice did the trick. The site has been hit about two thousand times in the last few days and I had to increase my traffic quota to stop the site from crashing. I'm glad to say that so far everyone is being really positive too. Thank you everyone for making us all feel warm and fuzzy. Of course we are also now feeling under pressure to deliver a trailer quickly and get working on the final film which you are all so desperate for. I am off to the editor's tonight to work on the trailer more. I'm desperate to get something online but also very conscious of putting out the best we can. Really want to show off what we've been up to. |
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16th May 2006 Well despite not having a trailer up on the site yet, last night, at stupid o'clock in the morning, I sent an email to www.theOneRing.net to see if they would help to advertise Born of Hope. Well I'm pleased to say they have put a notice on the news page. Wow, I'm both excited and scared. I really hope people are interested in this project. Time is ticking but I'd love to get some footage shown at the summer conventions and gatherings so once I know fans are really keen to see what we have been up to I guess the next step is to contact the organisers. |
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14th May 2006 This year really is flying by. Well I'm back from the States and getting my self back into Born of Hope. The media page is mostly back up and running now. The trailer I promised is on it's way but has taken longer than predicted. That's always the way when everyone is working around normal job and life responsibilities. I have also been playing around with some of the footage and editing some of the scenes together that we shot last month.
I have just added a new page to the website, a Q&A section so that you guys have a better opportunity to ask us questions about the project and therefore learn more about the process of trying to make this ambitious idea a reality. |
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23rd April 2006 Blimey where did April go? Sorry I haven't updated this for a while I've been distracted by other things like acting on the London fringe, oooh exciting. So what has happened lately? Well I have captured the 7 hours of HDV footage onto my computer, the footage is looking great, if I do say so myself and I have had a little play with some teaser trailer ideas already. I am also hoping to get the footage to a friend who's a professional editor. He is bound to be able to do a better job than me with it. I hope to get something up on the Media Page before the weekend, even if it is just a short teaser. The slightly tight deadline is because the Sci Fi Festival is happening in London this week from the 26th-30th April and I'd like to go along on Friday or Saturday and hand out some fliers to start properly advertising the project. Once we have a video I will also be contacting TheOneRing.net in the hope that they will support us and help promote the project to LOTRs fans. I think this will be the turning point where the project either takes off and gathers a large following or falls flat. I'm hoping for the first, though it could be quite scary. Another reason for the weekend deadline is that I am flying out to LA on Sunday 30th for a week and a half to meet up with some friends. My house mate and Co Producer of Born of Hope Emily Blickem and Sharmila Maharaj who we have worked with on other films including Into the Darkness. Sharmila is currently studying Special FX make-up out in LA and I hope that if she does decide to come back to the UK she will join the team for Born of Hope. |
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7th April 2006 The Fifth and final day of the trailer shoot at West Stow. Sorry I will write more soon... |
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4th April 2006 I've updated the site and added some photos to the media page and started a cast list on the team page. |
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3rd April 2006 I've added some photos to the main page and explained a little more about the story and the fact that we are currently shooting the trailer material. |
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2nd April 2006 The Fourth day of the trailer shoot at West Stow. More to come... |
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1st April 2006 The Third day of the trailer shoot at West Stow. More to come... |
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31st March 2006 The second day of the trailer shoot at West Stow. Today was always going to be exciting. It was the start of a long weekend of filming involving almost all the characters. Today was great, we were working with our main characters Arathorn (Christopher Dane) and Gilraen (Beth Aynsley) with little 18 month old Luke turning up at 11am to play 2 year old Aragorn, what a cutie. We spent the first part of the day working on one of two important scenes between Arathorn and Gilraen where she tries to convince him that his fathers death should not change their relationship and that she loves him no mater what the danger. More to come.. |
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25th March 2006 The first day of the trailer shoot at West Stow. As we'd told everyone to bring thermals the weather decided to start off as a hot summer day so we were all in t-shirts until lunchtime when the weather started to grey over. It finally rained on us as we filmed the last few shots. I wonder what next weekend will be like? |
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20th March 2006
I met Raphael (Halbaron) and Nikki our
make-up & hair artist at Wig Specialities in London. Joyce and
Penny at Wig Specialities were lovely. We had a bit of a problem
because when you're taking from stock and not getting wigs made, long hair
wigs have to be taken from the ladies stock. Which means our 'Big
Headed' actors :) are trying to fit into small ladies wigs. We did
luckily find something to fit Raphael though it was a bit longer than I
would have liked but I'm sure Nikki will tame it from the rock star look
into a proper Dúnedain ranger :) |
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18th March 2006 Today, Emily (Co-Producer), Carl (Assistant Producer), Neill (Director of Photography) and myself (Director/Co Producer) all went to West Stow. Emily and Neill had never been before so we got to show them around. Neill also brought along his HDV camera and new fancy adapter which creates a very shallow depth of field to give a look that's closer to film than most Digital cameras can get. We spent a good few hours looking at some of the shots we have planned and testing out the new adapter properly. |
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17th March 2006 Went to the Original Re enactors Market near Coventry today. Dished out some fliers and spent a small fortune. |
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16th March 2006 So much to say, so much to say! The film is now cast and I am confident they will all be brilliant! Thank you so much to everyone who applied or auditioned! It was awful having to send out all of the reject emails but I hope everyone got one. I wanted to make sure I emailed everyone who applied so I am very sorry if I have missed you. |
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25th February 2006 My chainmaile materials arrived today! That was quick. I've already been putting the platemaile together and made a start on linking the rings for chainmaile. I have also put another picture on the main page. It is an orc head sculpture ready for making some full head latex masks. |
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24th February 2006 Born of Hope has been mentioned in 'Fan Films Quarterly', an fairly new magazine all about fan films. It is available at www.lulu.com/noble. It just mentions that we are currently casting the film. I might look into getting a feature article or something for the next issue. |
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23rd February 2006 Today I ordered some Aluminium rings from Armchair Armoury to make chainmaile for the orc costumes. Using Aluminium will keep the weight down. Our actors playing orcs will have a hard enough time without costumes that weigh a tone as well. I also ordered some platemaile. |
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22nd February 2006 I've added a couple of examples of Henning's storyboards to the front page. |
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16th February 2006 I went to London today to visit the Wig Specialists and BBC wigs. I had arranged to view some of their stock to get an idea of what is available. It was strange visiting these places, I felt like I was entering some secret domain. At the wig specialists I saw Dumbledore's wig from Harry Potter, how cool is that! Wig Specialists have made and supplied wigs for hundreds of Motion Pictures and West End Shows. I love the fact that even with this small little film we can work with the top people in the industry.
At BBC wigs Philippa let me wonder around myself looking at stuff. She let me take out the wigs and try them on a life casting of Rory Bremner! Once we have the cast in place we need to arrange a day to go back and try different ones out and get them fitted. The main consideration is cast and cost now. |
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4th February 2006 Carl Homer and I went to West Stow today to talk to Alan Baxter the Manager there. It was an extremely successful day! Alan is a big LOTRs fan and is very keen to help us out in anyway he can. We had a good chat about the logistic of the trailer shoot and Alan gave us some aerial plans of the village which will help our concept art and also a useful contact for re enactors to make the village look alive. Carl and I then had another good wonder of the village and filmed some of the ideas for shot angles for the scenes. This was a good day! |
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3rd February 2006 Lately I've been making enquired with various make up and hair specialists in Film and Television. This could be considered rather foolish when the project is still entirely self funded but I am really keen to have the film looking the best it possible can. Today I spoke to the guys at Fangs FX who were lovely and agreed to help me by making teeth for my two main Orcs. As you can imagine this is not going to be cheap, even though they are giving me a generous price. My next task is to find two actors to play the roles, not an easy task considering what these actors will have to endure. |
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29th January 2006 Held more London auditions today. I learnt that I can't do 'quick' auditions. I tried to see too many people with just 15 mins each. I ended up running SO LATE! Felt so bad for everyone who had to wait for sometimes hours! Everyone was so fantastic and kind though. Eventually finished at 9pm after almost 6 hours none stop. I was very tired by the end especially as I'd got up at 6am after about 3 hours sleep and attended my own 3 hour acting class in the morning. All the actors were very good which is great though will make it hard to turn people down. I wish I could cast more of them but I only have a limited number of characters. |
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27th January 2006 Emailed BBC wigs and Wig Specialists to inquire about the cost of hiring wigs or even having some made. Wigs are going to take a huge chunk from the budget but proper wigs will make such a difference to the quality of this film. If I can't afford it for the rangers I at least need them for the sons of Elrond. Apart from various orcs, they are the only non human roles in the film and could therefore be the hardest characters to deal with. They need to be identical twins, have elvish warrior costumes, elvish weapons, and long dark hair like their father Elrond and sister Arwen. |
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25th January 2006 Called West Stow and spoke to Alan Baxter the Manager. He is a big LOTRs fan and it looks like they will help us in any way they can. FANTASTIC! I have a proper meeting with Alan on the 4th Feb to discuss the project fully. |
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8th January 2006 PREVIEW VIDEO now available! Follow this link to download it. |
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25th December 2005 CHRISTMAS DAY! Merry Christmas everyone. |
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14th December 2005 Another audition. |
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13th December 2005 MY BIRTHDAY! YEAH! I also auditioned another actor for the role of Dirhael. |
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27th November 2005 Had a second batch of auditions in London today. It will still be a few weeks before we can be close to casting any of the roles as I still have more auditions to hold but it's all going well so far. |
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22nd November 2005 Had a meeting with Rosalind Evans our Costumer. We discussed ideas, looked through designs and went through the material I have already accumulated. We are both quite excited and Ros is desperate to start making some. |
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18th November 2005 One more audition today. Again it went well. Slowly but surely I'll get through. |
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15th November 2005 Started work on a new website layout. Not easy, I'm no expert but I know it needs a facelift. |
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13th November 2005 Today was the first batch of London auditions. The afternoon went really well but I'm not giving anything away, you'll have to wait and see. |
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12th November 2005 Today Chay and I went to West Stow Anglo-Saxon reconstructed village, our potential location. We took photos of the houses and some video. Chay measured out each house very roughly in feet. We want all this info for our conceptual art work including computer generated images. I haven't yet spoken to West Stow about filming there, at least not since last year but I'm sure they were a bit suspicious of all our cameras etc. I'm planning to wait a little longer so I can go there with a folder of concept art, costume designs and actors info and really pitch the idea to them so they couldn't possibly say no. I hadn't been to the village for quite a while and was disappointed to see that they had lost one of their houses to a fire in Feb 05. It's a danger with wooden houses but it took them 6 years to build it! Such a shame! |
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3rd November 2005 Casting Notice went out on Shooting People. CV's are already arriving. |
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2nd November 2005 Emailed the Casting Notice to Shooting People. There's no turning back now! |
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November 2003 The idea of doing a Lord of the Rings fan film first came to mind. |
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DISCLAIMER
This
Fan Film is for entertainment purposes only and is in no way sponsored or
approved by Tolkien Enterprises, the Tolkien Estate, Peter Jackson, New Line or
any affiliates. The content is for the exclusive use of the downloader and
should not be sold, rented, or used for any commercial enterprise in any way,
shape, or form. We make no claim to
any characters, storylines, prop designs, names, logos, situations that are
trademarked, copyrighted or otherwise protected by federal, state or other
intellectual property law. New Line,
Peter Jackson, Weta, Tolkien Enterprises, the Tolkien Estate or any of their
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herein used by this work. This work
is produced solely for the personal, uncompensated enjoyment of ourselves and
other Tolkien fans. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark
infringement is intended. |
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Pictures are of West Stow Reconstructed Anglo-Saxon Village |
