The Hobbit behind-the-scenes video blog #2 is online

 

Peter Jackson and the crew have posted their second video blog detailing the shooting of the two Hobbit films, An Unexpected Journey and There and Back Again. I must say, the whole production feels very close to the behind-the-scenes vibe of the three Lord of the Rings films. What does this mean? Well, it could mean that The Hobbit is somewhat on track to be a worthy prequel to the original trilogy and not the next Star Wars prequels. Despite advances in technology, Jackson appears to be keeping the authentic look of the originals and using a good amount of sets and diverse special effect types. 

It's also interesting how production is being split into 50-day chunks, where the crew films for 50 days straight, then gets a break. Meanwhile, Jackson spends the month or so off working with his editing crew and doing pre-production for the next big chunk of filming. This seems like a good way to break up the 300+ day shoot into more manageable portions, but I hope the crew doesn't lose their sense of comraderie and familiarity with such long and frequent breaks.

Two weeks back, we posted a few shots of Gandalf and Bilbo in costume. The first Hobbit film, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, is set for release in Dec. 2012.