The Real Middle Earth

This documentary explores the diversity of down to earth Kiwi characters and occupations that were involved in the making of Lord of the Rings together with the way Peter Jackson used the beauty and diversity of New Zealand's landscape to produce The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

The presenter of The Real Middle Earth is Jim Hickey.  Jim travels the length and breadth of the country; from Matamata in The North Island where he meets the farmer whose farm was used for the setting of the Hobbit village to Glenorchy in The South Island - the setting for the dramatic Isengard scenes in the trilogy..

Along the way Jim is joined by Ian Brodie, the author of one of New Zealand's best selling books - The Lord of the Rings Location Guidebook.  Jim meets the down to earth characters that helped make the film possible.  For example, the jeweller from Nelson who made the One Ring itself, the Brewer from Richmond who brewed a special brew for filming the Prancing Pony Pub scenes (just 1% proof as there were many retakes!) and the sheep farmers who keep the rare Gotland sheep that provided the wool for the magic Elvin cloaks in the films.   Jim heads further south in his quest to find more Real Middle Earth folk and he comes across the wranglers who trained the horses for the dramatic horse chase scenes then Jim joins a tour bus showing folks Lord of the Rings locations around Central Otago.  While on the bus he discovers he is in the company of Orcs as the local guides were all extras in the film.  How did they get the parts?  Were looks important?(!)  Jim discovers that foot size was the first test to pass to stardom in the film!  And, as with any workforce, they need feeding and watering.  The Lord of the Rings crew and cast were no exception.  Jims quest takes him to the chef who had to cook 5,000 eggs for the production and Jim meets Alfie Speight, the helicopter pilot responsible for the dramatic aerial photography through the South island.

The documentary is illustrated with clips from the three movies and includes some candid behind the scenes footage.  The beauty and diversity of New Zealand's landscape is shown to the full with careful use of aerial photography and dramatic landscape scenes shot from advantageous positions.

 

The documentary has been shot wide screen on high quality digital beta tape.

R/T 43.30; 5 parts, 4 commercial breaks

Producer/ Director:  Dave Mason  

Researchers: Catherine Jurgens / Ian Brodie

Presenter: Jim Hickey

Script Consultant:  Jim Mora

Cameraman:  Stephen Moody

Sound: Graham Wallace

Video Editor: Adam Baines

Post Production Sound: Simon Shazell

Graphics: Mark Coomey