Friday, November 20, 2015
The Hobbit movies were awful, and now we know why
The Verge: Like a lot of people, I loved Peter Jackson's original Lord of the Rings trilogy (although we can all admit Return of the King didn't quite know when to leave the party). So I was pretty surprised when Jackson took over from Guillermo del Toro to make the Hobbit trilogy, and the first film turned out to be such a boring mess. Even more so when The Desolation of Smaug rolled around, and the problems somehow seemed to get even worse. In what can only be described as the most honest promotional video of all time, we find out why: the movies were made completely on the fly, without a script or nearly any advanced planning.
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Well this feels like how a lot of us go into our directing class. We cast, have a vague idea, and then roll with it because we do not have enough time to actually plan out our pieces. Having no plan as a director is the hardest thing that you can do. Everyone is depending on you to tell them what to do and so you kind of just stand there and look confused and spout random crap which turns out terribly.
From my directing class I have realized how many little decisions a director has to make and how obnoxiously annoying it is. I don’t care exactly what hand movement an actor makes, but the audience will talk about it non-stop to analyze why exactly their hand was closed or open.
From this article and the reviews I’ve heard, they might as well never have made the Hobbit movies.
I think that this video and article really shed light on an area most people don’t get to see too often; when a movie production does not run smoothly. I thought that it was really interesting both how the problems arose, and how the crew and creative teams dealt with them. Not everything can go right all of the time. I really liked how the video captured some of the flurried design process that was taking place during the shooting of the movie. I understand the issues that came about, but I think (as probably many of the producers, cast, and crew now think) that there were many ways to avoid the issues that came up throughout the production process. Most notably would be to give the director adequate pre-production time. This would have allowed a solid plan and design to take hold on the movie. Whatever the issues were, I hope that all involved has learned to help future pieces of work.
Usually you figure most movies are well thought out and prepared, but sometimes it is in the script that doesn’t make a movie good. A movie being good or alright can depend on a number of different categories, each of which can affect a film in their own respect. Unfortunately the Hobbit movies had more than just one aspect wrong. There were multiple. When you don’t have a solidified plan as to what direction you are wanting to go in, and start o0ming up with the days, if not hours before you aren’t going to achieve the best product you are hoping to accomplish. The Lord of the Rings trilogy was able to accomplish what the Hobbit could not. Watching the films, you could definitely feel a different vibe transpiring. When even though you have the same director, you aren’t always in control of how a film will end up turning out.
Wow, it is crazy to hear that even at the highest levels, things can still be so disorganized and jammed up. I can't even imagine what it must be like to be in a production meeting with some of the most talented people in the world in that industry and still be discussing what a hot mess the production has become. It would be interesting to hear from industry veterans what percentage of films are closer to fly by night operations rather than highly planned out affairs. I guess I understand that delays happen and that unexpected events occur. It just still blows me away that even when so much money is on the line and every second wasted is a literal tens of thousands of dollars down the drain, that this kind of screw up can still be allowed to occur. I guess in the case of The Hobbit it was rather unavoidable due to the change in director, but still unfortunate that there was no way to postpone the shooting schedule.
Every time I think about the Hobbit I die a little on the inside because of how horrendously awful everything was. What the video is focusing on is how they shot themselves in the foot by allowing for everything to get behind. Every department they talked too were overwhelmed by how much they had to do in such a short time. This is the first sign that a movie is going to be bad, especially since so many of the people had been on Lord of the Rings and so remembered how far in advance everything had been. But they got behind because the original director left left everything to Peter Jackson who had a different vision.
What I just cannot wrap my head around is why they didn't step back and give themselves the time to recreate the vision. I guess it built up slowly until the third movie was happening and it got too overwhelming. But it’s really not like movie release dates have never changed. What I want to know is what was the real decision behind not stepping back and replacing everything- was it that it would then cost to much money to hire these people for an extra year and a half? Because I have a hard time believing that considering their massive budget. Looking at the script, it didn't suck because it wasn't finished, it sucked because it had so completely changed from the book that it was supposedly being based on. It honestly felt like no one on the team had read past the first movie break and was literally making everything up, not because they weren't ready, but because they hadn't bothered to read the book. Had they taken the time to read the book and evaluate how the changes would change the world of the story, the movie would have been so much better.
It's so true. I knew there was something, just something missing in the Hobbit movies that I couldn't really put my finger upon. I think when movies fail, it has to have something to do with the director's involvement in the project, and how well they know what they're doing with every single second of every single shot of film. As a director, you have to be prepared to answer any and all questions about the universe you're creating -- something I find terrifying, as most of the time I have the answers to nothing at all. And it seems like Jackson just didn't have any of his own creative juices on this project, so when he was asked to fill in the world he hadn't created himself (as del Toro had) he just...fell to pieces. There is an artificiality to the Hobbit movies that makes me sad when I watch them, because my favorite part of the Lord of the Rings trilogy was the behind the scenes costuming and make-up of all the orcs and other creatures. Having most of the Hobbit movies be CGI really took all of the magic out of the film, to be honest.
It all makes sense now. I always knew there was something wrong with the Hobbit, because in comparison to Lord of the Rings there is no comparison at all. Both used the same director and relatively similar art style, and yet one became an immensely popularized icon of a film, and the other a film that was just interesting enough to get by. What the video has really shown me is just how much the drive and pressure to get a project done, like a studio pressuring the hobbit, can inhibit the work of the production as a whole. I personally find it amazing that Peter Jackson was able to work 21 hour days, and shoot footage for the first two movies without any storyboards and virtually no planning, and yet still manage to turn out two even half decent films. In my mind there is no arguing that the last Hobbit film was a complete joke, and that the whole series could of significantly benefitted from some more planning and thought. I guess it only goes to show you the necessary role of a good managerial/planning team, and the value of creative distance to reproach a project and arrive at the best solution.
It's so sad to hear the lack of preparation and effort that was put into making a trilogy that has such a huge fanbase. They had everything going for them in terms of consumer interest, so all they had to do was deliver. I can't understand why Peter Jackson wasn't willing to just let his ego take a break and stick to the original plan. Although I'm not really into Lord of the Rings movies, I'm close with a lot of people who are. My boyfriend forced me to watch the last Hobbit movie with him and after we left he complained about the lack of plot the entire way home. I didn't really know what was going, but the one thing that I noticed was that there seemed to be a lot of useless fighting. Now that I've seen that they were just shooting meaningless footage to incorporate into the movie this makes a lot more sense to me. Jackson had the opportunity to create something really great, but instead all he did was disappoint a huge amount of his fans.
It is really admirable that Peter Jackson is owning up to the things that went wrong. The Hobbit movies were a weary mess. The charm in the originals was how real the world felt. When the world was idyllic, you could practically smell the grass. When people were jumping over a fiery chasm, it felt like there was actual danger if they fell. The level of detail and work mirrored the obsessive hand J.R.R. Tolkien used in creating this world. I remember watching videos of set decorators touching up the set of Rivendell by hand, and seeing chainmail with individually forged links. The world of the Hobbit lacked all substance. The over use of CGI and lackadaisical storytelling felt transient and impermanent. The Lord of the Rings world felt like it had been there forever and would be there forever. The world of the Hobbit had no anchor, and now it is easy to see why. It's a shame to see Peter Jackman's dedication to the books be swayed by the unstoppable forces of money and time. This is a cautionary tale for all artists. If it can't be done right, it is important to consider whether it is really worth doing.
So, the real story behind this sad clip and revelation about Jackson and The Hobbit's lack of preparedness is the studio that sat back and decided that it would be easy to Jackson into making 3 more movies in place of Guillermo, not considering that Jackson is an artist with a vision and would not simply move forward with Guillermo's design. I state this as the problem because if it were not, there would be no reason for Jackson not to say that they need to take as much time as they clearly didn't have by watching this clip. Obviously, things like contracts were involved with all of the employees, and it would certainly cost that studio a large sum of money if that were done. The return, however, on both quality and in the monetary sense would have been so much greater, to the point where they likely would have made that money back. Instead, they were conservative with funds, Jackson stuck true to his necessity for vision, -where he could have gone with Guillermo's vision- and the movies became pretty worthless. It is, as always, a shame that money ruins art and artistic expression. I truly wish that studios, producers, and anyone else in control of the time and money for artists would acknowledge the long-term benefits of allowing their artists to create what they actually would like to create, and imposing helpful and necessary limitations, that do not seek to save the most money for themselves. This is also why the not for profit theatre world is the better world to work in. Any money taken in is money to be spent on people on production.
I feel very sad to know now that he didn't feel comfortable or as at ease filming the hobbit as he did with lord of the rings. It looked like everyone could barely keep up with the demands of the movies. I thought the hobbit was alright, not great, but alright. there was so much thought put into the lord of the rings because it was a film scale that had not been done before. There were many parallels with the lord of the rings but I think overall you could tell they were made as quickly as possible in order to release to the public faster and to make money ASAP. Watching the video and peter describing his mindset throughout i couldn't help but think that is how i have felt as CMU most of the time. You try to do tasks in advance but there are so many you end up taking too long on one and the rest pile up. then you are turning in/doing projects the day before or the day of. I understand that they wanted to spend as little money as possible on the hobbit but i think they would have made so much more money back because they made a good movie. there would have been kids and adults lining up to buy it, buy T-Shirts, posters etc. Because I don't have any strong connection to the story I don't want to dedicate any of my own time or money towards it. It made its money while it was in the movie theaters but i think in 50 years people will be surprised that it was a series made in addition to one of the best in film history.
this makes total sense to me now... The Hobbit was my favorite book from J.R.R. Tolkien and to see the m
It is very brave of Jackson to come clean and admit that these films failed, and saying why they failed. It is so hard for films to switch directors, and with the massive budget that was bein poured into them its not as if they could just stop production. So now, I understand why they were just not on the same caliber as the Lord of the Rings movies. The Hobbit is filled with bad CGI, and a worse script and just not as much... love and obvious care as the LOTR movies. It was a disappointment.
I understnand why Jackson looks to be in such distress in the video. He like any other director wants to create something artistically beautiful, IE, the Lord of the Rings movies, and not let down all these people who love his work, and yet there was no time, so he gave up. I hope in the future he gets a chance to redeem himself as a director, and be able to feel artistically respposinble for a movie without feeling rushed and meeting a deadline.
This is a powerful illustration of the perils of creating an additional installment in such a popular commercial story and brand. I seems that in their haste to cater to the massive and demanding fan-base, they compromised on the quality of the films, their entire design process, and the attention to detail that made the Lord of the Rings series such a feat of modern entertainment, in addition to achieving an incredible fan base. It seemed The Hobbit - as a series - was also largely reliant on the big names of the cast members brought on to the project. Even after the initial lackluster reviews came out for the various installments, I remember people still wanting to go see the movies to get their "Sherlock fix". Rather, they just wanted to see/hear Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman together on screen in the yawning lull between seasons of Sherlock. I'm sure the series hauled in money, but the fan base definitely suffered.
I'm glad that Peter Jackson can come forward and admit that these movies failed. Seeing this clip and understanding why the movies were such a let down from the incredible trilogy is saddening. I can see how with so little time and such a massive film it is difficult to make without planning and preparation of a vision: swapping directors midway is a big blow to a crew that is working so hard on such a complicated production. I will always be disappointed that the Hobbit movies reflected to little of the magic that is seen in the books, and that so many small adventures (and quite a few big ones, to be honest) were left out in favor of some extra love triangles and strange useless fight scenes with horrible CGI. I don't know how much of that could have been avoided with extra time and planning, but maybe it would have felt like the movie actually had a plot. The first movie actually followed the book almost accurately, and I had such high expectations for the rest...movies made off of a book will always be difficult, of course, but I wonder what they could have been had Jackson taken the time to make the movies what he wanted.
I'm glad the industry is realizing that creating film versions of books and past films are not immediately going to bring you success and revenue. It takes hard work, dedication, and time to make a successful film. I feel that most films now are feeling unplanned and rushed. Technology and media is high in demand, so it seems a lot of companies want to be the first to create a film that relates to what is a part of the "now". My problem with the Hobbit movies were they focused less on the story and more on the CGI in the film. Trying to fantastical scenery and creature elements to wow the audience, but instead it put them to sleep. I really wish these movies were more successful because I was looking forward to the next film, however, if the film was a similar style to what is being produced now, I wouldn't buy a ticket.
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