Ahoy, squirts! Quint here. In my months spent tagging along with those crazy Hobbit film people I was once again blown away by the generous, friendly and familial atmosphere that for some reason just permeates the air in New Zealand.
Wherever that group of crazy Kiwis, audacious Ausies, badass Brits and amazing Americans went, be it a soundstage in the Wellington suburb of Miramar or up on a mountain somewhere in the wilds of the South Island of New Zealand, everybody was always calm, cool and collected.
Of course, a film set is a stressful place, especially when filming on location as the crew is at the mercy of the elements, but in my time there I never experienced a negative vibe that I have on dozens of other sets.
The reason for the long preamble is that a set of behind the scenes images popped up on imgur each featuring Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins showing just how much love he had inside during the making of these films. It was obviously so strong an emotion that he had to give it a kind of physical trademark during the filming.
I saw this in person a few times, thankfully never aimed in my direction. These stills come from all three Hobbit movies, but I don't think there's much in the way of spoilers. Enjoy!
That was indeed a tradition. Nine times out of ten if Freeman spotted himself being filmed by the behind the scenes camera crew or shot by the onset photographer he'd extend the finger.
He wasn't mean about it... in fact, he took his job probably the most seriously of all the cast, but that doesn't mean he was without humor... clearly.
I don't know for sure, but I'm guessing those images came from some of the documentary footage that will be on The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Extended Edition, which I am dying to see. I've talked to a fellow over at Empire that has seen the EE and verified my excised cameo makes the cut. That's exciting for me, but honestly I think I'm more psyched to see the epic making-of documentaries.
Anyway, there's a little feel of what it's like watching Martin Freeman work. Heh.
-Eric Vespe
”Quint”
quint@aintitcool.com
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