Now I’m going to go into what was, quite possibly, the best day I’ve experienced in New Zealand so far. Yes, I’m talking about the full-day Lord of the Rings Tour all around the Wellington area. Eight brilliant, glorious hours of touring all around the city and checking out the exact locations used for the filming of the trilogy…I was in heaven. A word of warning to those of you who do not consider yourselves “fans” – I’m going to be spazzing out here. Feel free to duck and cover and wear a smoking jacket.
The guy running the entire operation was named “Ted” and was very, very cool. He definitely knew his stuff, but he was also super friendly and laidback – which made him seem less like a tour guide and more like a travel buddy. Since I’m pretty diehard myself, I already had a good idea where some of the scenes were filmed, and I was worried that he would just take us up to Mount Victoria and say, “So this was where they shot the Flight to the Ford. Walk around and take pictures for 20 minutes or so and then we’ll get back in the van.” Instead, he took us to the exact spot where the actors stood and provided photographic evidence in the form of movie stills and a laptop that he carried around with him. When we got to the right location, he would play the appropriate scene from the movie and then point out certain trees or rocks that lined up with the shot. So you knew for sure that it was legit.
First we started off towards the Dry Creek Quarry on the outskirts of town, where they built the sets for Helm’s Deep and – later on – Minas Tirith. The area appealed to them because there was so much natural rock in the area that they didn’t have to worry about manufacturing a lot of the look. They basically just built the set straight up against the mountain and used the cliffs as extra decoration. Then, when they had finished three months of night shoots with Helm’s Deep, they tore down parts of the set and rearranged other pieces to build Minas Tirith in the same place. So the front gate of Helm’s Deep was altered a bit in shape and became the gateway to the second level of Minas Tirith. There’s really nothing there now to show that any of it existed, but it was cool to be there anyway. I guess locals saw it going on for months and knew all about what it was for, but since it was such an unknown thing, no one bothered to take pictures of it because no one had any idea of how popular the movie would be. Then, when the movies came out, everyone rushed over to take pictures, but it had all been torn down by then. Shame.
What's left of the location
Helm's Deep from the movie
It was raining off and on all day, and the first burst came just as we were leaving the quarry. The next stop was the gardens of Isengard, which was a bit of a drive, so Ted kept us entertained with more stories and film clips as the rain continued to come and go. The bonus about the weather was that it created these amazing fog drifts across the hills, so that added an extra dreamy quality to everything.
The majority of Isengard was shot in Harcourt Park, just a ways up into the Hutt Valley. It was basically Ian McKellan and Christopher Lee walking around in costume and then the people at Weta Workshop superimposing the Tower of Orthanc and some mountains into the background. There are some very distinctive trees, however, that you can recognize from the film. The first one is right there in the foreground when Gandalf first rides up to the tower on a horse and Saruman is coming down the stairs. They set up a blue screen just behind the tree and had Ian McKellan (or maybe a stunt rider, not sure) go up to a certain mark to dismount. Then the rest was added in later. You can also faintly see the path that they created out of the grass for the horse to ride along. It’s just slightly different in texture in color along this one strip, so you can literally walk all the way from the bridge to the tower and follow the same path to the tree. The bridge itself was flipped on the screen, so it’s actually a miniature shot backwards to fit in with the rest of the scene.
Harcourt Park with evidence of the foot path
Then there’s another grove of trees just a ways off from that where Gandalf and Saruman walked while discussing the Ring being found. If I remember the featurettes correctly, I think that was Christopher Lee’s first day of shooting as well. It was pretty much just a few little trees and bushes off to the side of the track with a park bench in the front. They covered the bench up with a fake shrub for filming, but the rest of it is pretty distinct as the area they were walking through. That’s also the scene where Saruman pretty much accuses Gandalf of being a stoner on the “Halfing’s Leaf,” so there’s that, too. The cutting down of all the trees was also filmed near this area, but a fake tree was used for the actual shot. It was a hinged tree that could be pulled down and put up again over and over as they filmed the scene, and it’s actually only one tree for all of the ensuing shots. They just changed the angle of the camera and interspersed it with dialogue to make it seem like they were tearing down a lot of different trees. Ah, the magic of film making.
Saruman and Gandalf walking through Isengard
We stopped at Isengard for just a bit longer, and then we moved on to one of my favorite locations – the river where Aragorn washed ashore after the Warg fight. Now, that’s not exactly a huge, memorable scene as far as the trilogy goes, but I have personal reasons for being psyched about it because, well, it’s Aragorn. I’m allowed to fangirl a bit. The actual cliff that he fell off of is right across the water from Queenstown, and the river that he floats down is also in the South Island, but the beach that he washes up on is just on the edge of the Hutt River. They brought in some sand for Viggo to lie down on and roughed him up a bit in makeup, and then they had him lie there and look half-dead. Then the horse that played Brego did his thing of kneeling down next to him and helping him up. Naturally, I had to do the same thing. I couldn’t be in the same spot and not lie down for a quick photo. In the movie stills, you can see the same rock wall in the background when he’s lying there. Awesome.
Playing dead
Aragorn getting picked up by Brego. Notice the rock wall in the background.
Next, we were off to lunch and Rivendell. There’s a place called Kaitoke Regional Park about 12km north of Upper Hutt that’s home to some nice rainforest walks and flowing rivers. The rain was picking up again at that point, so we took shelter in a picnic area just down the road. I was absolutely starving after not having anything to eat for breakfast, so I devoured my lunch of Subway sandwiches, cookies, and juice. Luckily, everyone else was full after only two portions and I was able to get away with taking some more without feeling too greedy. Hey, they were going to throw it out anyways! Okay, so we hung out there for a while and chatted a bit about all sorts of various subjects, and then we got back in the van to drive further into the forest.
The actual location of Rivendell is signposted pretty well with all sorts of arrows pointing the way. I think it’s one of the best-known locations in New Zealand. Just as we were heading onto the path for “Rivendell,” Ted unloaded the van and pulled out what looked suspiciously like a bow and arrow. Hmm… What could that be for...? More on that later. While I was pondering that, we crossed a bridge and looked out over the river. It was harder to figure out specific markers used for the movie there, but walking around definitely reminded me of Rivendell in general. It was a good thing that we had Ted with us, because I would have had no idea where to look if I was there by myself. There’s a little sign in the wood with a plaque about the set, but there aren’t really any pictures to use as a reference. Then Ted busted out a humongous portfolio of movie stills and went BAM – evidence. See that little bush there? That’s that little bush over there. He’s kind of awesome like that. And the thing that we all got out of that particular visit was that Rivendell was frickin’ tiny as a set. You think of this huge, sprawling complex in the forest, but in actuality, it was just this gazebo and a few statues in the real world. A lot of the interior parts – like the famous Council of Elrond scene – were done on sets back in the studio, and the only a few bits were shot out in the elements. The best known one was the part where the Fellowship was getting ready to depart Rivendell in the Ring Goes South. In the film, you see Legolas prancing down the stairs to go get ready and then everyone gathered around their horses. I was able to find the tree used for the shot, just to Legolas’ right. He passed right next to it going down the artificial staircase. Then, as the Fellowship is leaving, Frodo mumbles to Gandalf, “One more time, Gandalf, is it left or right?” for comedic effect, but in reality, he had to go left because the right pathway goes straight into a river. There’s literally nothing there. So Frodo’s kind of an idiot.
The tree
The clearing...apparently
Okay, but I was even more of an idiot for doing what happened next. Remember that bow and arrow? Yeah, turns out that it had a purpose after all. Some of you might remember a certain promotional shot of Legolas that was on calendars and posters all over the country when the movies first came out. It’s basically him looking all prissy and elegant in front of a tree with his bow at the ready, yet it was never used in the actual films. Well, we found that tree. There’s really no question about it – it’s definitely the same frickin’ tree. And, oh, would any of us like to pose under it with a bow and arrow? Why, sure, that would be just dandy, thanks! Come to think of it, would you also like a cloak to wrap around your shoulders and some fake elf ears to make it more authentic? Cool! Even better! So there I was, nerd extraordinaire, standing in full fake-elf get-up with five cameras pointed at me and getting commands like, “Now, just give us a little pout. Make it sexy!” Which I utterly failed at. I held the face for about half a second before bursting out laughing. So nearly every photo is unusable. Oh well. I looked slightly better than the Austrian guy, at least.
What it's supposed to look like
The main feature of the second half of the day was Mt. Victoria – also known as the place where they filmed A Shortcut to Mushrooms, “Get Off the Road,” the Flight to the Ford, and a few snippet scenes of Aragorn and King Theoden at Dunharrow. That was the one place in the Wellington area that I knew, 100%, involved filming, but I’m so glad I didn’t try to go on my own. For one thing, it’s really, really far uphill and a good fifteen minute drive outside of the city center. On the map, it looks right next to my hostel, but that doesn’t take into account how high up the road has to curve around the hills. It would’ve taken me all day to get up there. And, secondly, once you get over the initial feeling of, “Yeah, those trees look familiar,” and, “I could picture some Nazgul chasing some hobbits through here,” it’s really difficult to place exactly which trees were used for the shots. They all look the same after a while. Luckily, Ted was prepared. First, he explained that the trees were actually very, very old pine trees that had become warped and jagged from all the wind blowing through that area. Perfect for that kind of suspenseful feeling of being chased. Then he explained about how the place was used for the very first day of shooting. I remembered that little tidbit from an interview on the DVD, but it was nice to be reminded. Before they did anything else, they loaded up Elijah, Sean, Dom, and Billy into the back of car, drove them over to a park right outside Wellington, and filmed a lot of those preliminary scenes with the city just on the other side of the trees. So that was a cool, inexpensive way to do it.
Arriving at Mt. Victoria and Ted doing his thing
First, though, he led is just to the edge of this cliff so that we were looking out over a small clearing with a rock wall behind it. Apparently Viggo and Bernard Hill stood right at the edge of the clearing, where there’s a slight rise looking down the mountain, to look down at the army of Rohan that had amassed at Dunharrow. In actuality, they were just standing there in front of a blue screen, looking down at downtown Wellington. But okay, sure, armies of Rohan. That’s why they’re professional actors, I guess. That rock wall behind them can be briefly seen in the shot as well, just where some of the tents have been set up.
Looking down at Dunharrow...or Wellington
Next, it was time for some hobbit action. I thought he was going to take us to the Hobbits Hideaway area because there was a sign for it pointing up the hill, but he led us down a little deer path instead, in the completely opposite direction. Then, just through the leaves and branches, he pointed at this one particularly big pine tree with a low-hanging, V-shaped branch just at ground level. That was the scene where Frodo was hanging out and smoking his pipe in the tree while Samwise did all of the work of cooking dinner just below. So it was time for some more dress up and role playing. Ted whipped out a couple of long-stemmed pipes and a frying pan with some plastic sausages glued to it, and people volunteered to be Sam or Frodo. Naturally, I had to be Frodo. No cooking ability whatsoever. We stayed there for a while – mostly because we had a much larger group for after lunch, and everyone wanted to play dress up for all of the role playing opportunities. I’ll just say one thing that I learned from that location: Elijah Woods is tiny. Like hobbit-sized. I was up in that tree and just barely fit, and I’m 5’5”. Very fitting role for him.
Being a hobbit
Just picture a giant fake tree above us
Like that
We stayed there for a while longer, and Ted explained a camera trick that Peter Jackson used for the wooded road when Frodo shouts, “Get off the road!” If you’ve seen the movie, the screen does this trippy thing where it zooms in and out at the same time to indicate something is coming. This was first used by Alfred Hitchcock in his movie Vertigo and then again in the movie Jaws, with the cop guy (I forget his name) sitting on the beach and seeing a shark attack. It’s great for adding drama and suspense. What they do is put the camera on a track at ground level and slowly pull it backwards from the shot while simultaneously zooming in. It results in a pretty cool thing called the Hitchcock Effect.
"Get Off the Road!"
There was only one thing left to see at Mount Victoria: the Flight to the Ford. This was the scene where all of the hobbits are running around in the dark, trying to escape the Nazgul and get to Buckleberry Ferry on the way to Bree. Ted led us back up to the place where we first entered the forest and pointed out some trees right next to the path. It looks way different in the middle of the day and from a different angle, but once you know where to stand, it’s pretty easy to picture Frodo and everybody hiding just behind those particular trees. Then he showed us what they’re looking up at. I think a couple of people might remember the particular shot used for the Black Rider up on top of a hill, looking down at the camera with some creepy backlighting behind it. That same shot was used for a number of promotional photos and made it on the cover for a specific edition of the Fellowship of the Ring book. I think Dad may have that version, actually. Anyway, it’s kind of a memorable shot, and what you don’t know is that the Nazgul is pretty much standing in the parking lot where we parked the van and looking down on the path used by bikers and pedestrians during the day. I wasn’t sure how we were going to recreate that shot without a horse, but Ted, as always, knew what he was doing. He asked for volunteers to create a silhouette, and I was glad to be excluded from that one, for once. It involved three people squashing up against each other and holding that pose long enough for a photo at the top of the hill. Surprisingly, it actually looks really convincing on camera. You could almost believe that it’s a horse and rider.
Our interpretation
Flight to the Ford
Then it was time to say goodbye to Mount Victoria. We had spent most of the afternoon up there, so we had to get over to Miramar on the other side of the bay to catch the Weta Cave before closing. I was pretty psyched about that because it meant scoping out actual props used for the movies and scoring some swag from the gift shop. While we were dricing out there, Ted kept us entertained with trivia and small talk. It’s pretty far out there, and most of the buildings in that part of the city look fairly nondescript. I guess the idea is to make the studios and workshops look as unassuming as possible so that no one really knows where they are or when filming is going on there. Apparently Andy Serkis, the guy who played Gollum, did some of his most famous scenes in this drafty little warehouse by the water, and neighbors from that area had no idea that any of it was going on. Ted said that there have been a few times when famous people have been walking along the street or have dropped in to check out the Weta Cave, and no one realizes that it’s them. Ian McKellan got recognized by someone on the tour a while back, and the poor guy got harassed by some crazy fanboy who wanted a job in the business, so Ted usually doesn’t point them out to people. I guess Elijah Wood was standing right next to a group in a goutee and beanie, and no one paid him any attention because they were all enthralled with the exhibits. I made Ted promise me that he would let me know if someone famous was in the building – I would be good, pinky swear. Unfortunately – or fortunately, however you look at it – that didn’t happen, and I wasn’t put in the difficult position of knowing and doing nothing.
One of the last stops was the studio itself. You could tell that everyone was really busy with getting the pre-production stuff together for The Hobbit because the block was packed with cars, and people kept disappearing in an out of the set. I would have loved to have gotten a glimpse inside, but, for obvious reasons, security was tight. No one in or out without a pass, apparently. We still got to watch and crane our necks for any sign of A-list actors. Most of the main cast aren’t really household names – Martin Freeman is playing Bilbo, and he’s mostly just done the British version of The Office – but some people like Orlando Bloom (Why??? His character’s not in the Hobbit!) and Ian McKellan are slotted to reprise their former roles. Also Cate Blanchett, Elijah Woods as a narrator, and a few others. I’m hoping for a shot of a younger Strider helping Gandalf track Gollum to Mordor, but we’ll just have to cross our fingers on that one.
Then it was finally time to head home and say our goodbyes. I made sure to give Ted a big hug and express my gratitude because he was such a trooper for enduring the nerd attack all day. I’m sure he gets that a lot with his kind of business, but it was still very nice of him. He dropped me off at Base, and then it was just a short walk back to Wellywood. Sigh. Such an awesome day.
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