Ever wish you could visit Peter Jackson’s Middle-earth? Hey, everyone wanted to get into the action.
Well, Johnny Fraser-Allen actually got to do just that. And not long ago he dropped us a line to tell us his story. We’re pleased to be able to share Johnny’s experience with online Tolkien fandom. Some minor spoilage may be gleaned from Johnny’s account.
My name is Johnny Fraser-Allen, and I am a huge Tolkien fan. I have had the J.R.R. Tolkien logo tattoed on my shoulder since I was fourteen. I am a great fan of your web site and have written to tell you some news about the Lord of the Rings movie related things that I have experienced first hand.
First of all, when I first heard that they were filming the Lord of the Rings in my home country New Zealand, I promptly started sending e-mails to Peter Jackson and drawings of mine. About 1 and a bit years later I recieved an e-mail back. This e-mail stated that I was personaly invited by Peter Jackson’s personal publisher to visit the ‘Edoras, capital of Rohan’ set in lake Clearwater near Methven in Canterbury, as that was as close as they were going to get to my town, Christchurch.
There we had to sign an agreement and contract that we would not take any photos and such the like. After security we got the tour of the upper set (the upper being the city and the lower being the gate). I’m sure you’ve seen photos of the set, everything, including the large stone step up to the greate hall and the huge wood carved pillers, were made of polystyrene.
On the second released preview of the trilogy (the one without Peter Jackson talking), when Bernard Hill playing Theoden is knighting Pippin, they are standing exactly were I stood overlooking a completly real-life built town. it was so windy there that they had to sew Gandalf and Theoden’s cape and beard to their costumes, and the insides of the town’s buildings were used for the cast and crew (as the inside shots are probably done in sound studios).
For example, the great hall was a food hall, the blacksmith’s was where the cast hung out in between shots and had coffee, and a small villager’s house was Peter Jackson’s own private thinking room. This consisted of a comfy chair and a white board, that was at that time covered by a story board draft that I did not have enough time to make out, as this room was obviously out of bounds — because I was led out of this hut almost straight away by the publicist.
While I was there I got to try on a helmet, spear, and sheild (of the Rohan Legion). I also saw, but did not meet, Bernard Hill as Theoden. I also came close to meeting Sir Ian McKellan, but he was going to the upper set as I was going down. In fact, the closest I got to any celebrities, apart from the actors’ trailers, was when I sat in the actors’ director-style chairs. The humorous thing about this was that the chairs, as well as the caravans, didn’t have the actors’ name on them, like “Viggo” or “Orlando”; they had “Aragorn” and “Legolas”, as well as “Pippin”, “Grima”, “Theoden”, “Arwen” and “Gimli”.
While I was on the set, though they did not answer many of my questions, they told me an interesting story about Viggo Mortenson. In a battle scene he actually chipped his tooth, but kept on acting, only at the end claiming that Aragorn himself would have fought on. It was also told to us that Viggo was the only cast member to use a real (steel) sword, and carried his own full weight armour around sets. All other armour and weapons were made out of a lightweight plastic-like substance. This all partook on the 23rd of September 2000 (my own Birthday and consequently the day after Frodo and Bilbo’s birthday).
As well as this event, on Easter day 2001, knowing the Peter Jackson would be at the Omaka (Blenheim) airshow, as he buys and restores WW1 fighter planes, I went up with my father — who had VIP tickets because his business was sponsoring it. And through a great deal of luck, as I have no real interest in planes, my father’s tent was exactly where Peter Jackson was viewing the planes (remembering that it was a VIP spot), and I ended up sitting next to him the whole 1st day of the airshow!
Along with this letter I have attached photos of me at the airshow thanking Peter Jackson for the invitation to the set back in 2000 (i hope you enjoy them).
