We’ve been getting a few video blogs from the set of The Hobbit over recent months, but we have yet to see a trailer. There’s still a whole year before An Unexpected Journey hits in December 2012, but Gollum and Second Unit Director Andy Serkis told IGN that the first trailer is “just around the corner”.

“There will be a trailer fairly soon, actually. Around Christmas time, I believe.”

Warner Bros. has Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows opening on December 16th so the studio could attach The Hobbit teaser trailer to that. They could also attach it to Steven Spielberg’s The Adventures of Tintin, which is produced by Peter Jackson, stars Serkis himself, and opens a few days later on the 21st in the US.

Serkis said he was “having a ball” as Second Unit Director, and said they’re shooting “on the road at the moment, at various different locations on South Island in New Zealand. There are some truly remarkable landscapes that we’re filming in. It’s just stunning.”

The Hobbit follows the journey of title character Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman), who is swept into an epic quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor, which was long ago conquered by the dragon Smaug. Approached out of the blue by the wizard Gandalf the Grey (Ian McKellen), Bilbo finds himself joining a company of thirteen dwarves led by the legendary warrior, Thorin Oakensheild (Richard Armitage). Their journey will take them into the Wild; through treacherous lands swarming with Goblins and Orcs, deadly Wargs and Giant Spiders, Shapeshifters and Sorcerers.

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The fourth Peter Jackson video blog from the set of The Hobbit focuses on the 3D, specifically the way they use the RED cameras, shooting in 5k, how much of a difference the 48 frames per second will make for the viewers and probably for the first time in the making of a movie, 3D artwork. So grab your red-cyan glasses and watch this awesome video blog right after the break.

This 10 minutes and 46 second video blog goes very in depth on the 3D and shows probably the most we’ve seen from The Hobbit yet. Peter Jackson talks about the original Lord of the Rings and how he would have filmed it in 3D if he had the possibility back then. Instead he made a lot of 3D pictures on the set of the trilogy so look forward to those in some fancy The Hobbit: The Unexpected Journey 3D Blu-ray.

Because they use such big lens, getting the right separation with the RED cameras was definitely a challenge and we see how they solved that with special rigs that can actually adjust the convergence point of the 3D on the fly. We also see how challenging working in 3D is for the makeup and wardrobe team and how the sets had to be painted in very bright colors so that it looks right when shown in the darkening 3D.

48 RED cameras and 17 3D rigs are used to shoot The Hobbit and instead of giving the cameras numbers, they named them after family members or friends. At the end of the video they show how they made 3D artwork by having two artists, one working in red, the other in blue, side by side. To really appreciate their work you need a pair of red-cyan glasses.

The Hobbit: The Unexpected Journey is directed by Peter Jackson and stars Martin Freeman, Luke Evans, Hugo Weaving, Evangeline Lily, Orlando Bloom, Elijah Wood, Cate Blanchett, Andy Serkis, Christopher Lee, Ian McKellen, Stephen Fry and Ian Holm among others. The film follows the story of Bilbo Baggins and his journey to the Lonely Mountain accompanied by 13 dwarfs, to reclaim a treasure stolen from them by the dragon Smaug. It is set to open December 14th 2012 and will be followed a year later by The Hobbit: There and Back Again on December 13th 2013.

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Nobody expected Rise of the Planet of the Apes to A) Be good, or B) Make $450 million worldwide, but that’s what happened and 20th Century Fox have now taken their first steps towards making a sequel.

According to Deadline “the studio just closed what I’m told is a healthy seven-figure deal for Andy Serkis to reprise his role as lead ape Caesar”. 20th Century Fox are also intending to mount an Oscar campaign for Serkis’ performance in the film, which earned much praise from critics in August.

James Franco and Freida Pinto have yet to sign, which suggests Serkis and his performance capture abilities are top priority. Depending on the direction of the sequel James Franco and Freida Pinto may not be required, as the ending of the first film left things open.

Director Rupert Wyatt’s is already locked following the deal he made for the first film, and screenwriters Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver have signed to return. Earlier this year director Rupert Wyatt spoke about his ideas for a potential sequel, and said it could take place several years after the events of the first film with humans potentially living underground and apes taking over cities.

Are you interested in a sequel to Rise of the Planet of the Apes?

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WETA Digital, the VFX team behind films such as Avatar, King Kong and The Lord of the Rings trilogy, were given the task by 20th Century Fox of creating living and breathing apes in roughly a year for Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

The visual effects in recent trailers and TV spots have been quite impressive, and in this new featurette the team show us how they did it.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes is an origins story set in present-day San Francisco. The film is a reality-based cautionary tale, where man’s own experiments with genetic engineering lead to the development of intelligence in apes and the onset of a war for supremacy. One hyper-intelligent chimp called Caesar (motion captured by Andy Serkis) incites a worldwide ape revolution and causes the downfall of humankind.

James Franco plays a young, driven scientist who becomes a crucial figure in the war between humans and apes, with Slumdog Millionaire actress Freida Pinto playing a primatologist. The movie also stars John Lithgow, Brian Cox, Tom Felton, David Oyelowo and Andy Serkis as Caesar, and will be released August 5, 2011.

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The majority of the trailers we’ve seen for Rise of The Planet of the Apes so far have focused on Caesar, a small chimp who starts showing signs of human-level intelligence, and the touching interactions he has with humans (mainly James Franco).

We’ve only seen a small amount of the primate uprising, but with WETA close to finishing the visual effects the trailers can now start showing some of the rebellion, and that’s exactly what this Comic Con trailer does.

Watch below: (big spoilers during the last 20 seconds)

Rise of the Planet of the Apes is an origins story set in present-day San Francisco. The film is a reality-based cautionary tale, where man’s own experiments with genetic engineering lead to the development of intelligence in apes and the onset of a war for supremacy. One hyper-intelligent chimp called Caesar (motion captured by Andy Serkis) incites a worldwide ape revolution and causes the downfall of humankind.

James Franco plays a young, driven scientist who becomes a crucial figure in the war between humans and apes, with Slumdog Millionaire actress Freida Pinto playing a primatologist. The movie also stars John Lithgow, Brian Cox, Tom Felton, David Oyelowo and Andy Serkis as Caesar, and will be released August 5, 2011.

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Peter Jackson and his team have today uploaded a new video blog for The Hobbit, and it’s the longest yet at 13 and a half minutes. We begin with Jackson confused as to where he is (Pinewood Studios, England) and then the cast and crew share their stand out moments from the first 3-4 months of shooting (behind the scenes footage galore).

We see the dwarves in costume and the actors learning the dwarf language. Cate Blanchett and Hugo Weaving shoot scenes at Rivendell, John Rhys-Davies (Gimli) visits the set, and at the end we find out why Jackson is at Pinewood (you won’t be disappointed).

Watch below:

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A new trailer for Steven Spielberg’s The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn has found its way online. It’s not the best quality so it’s hard to get a good look at the faces (the teaser did a good job of hiding them), but the new footage gives us a run-through of the story and we get to see a few new action scenes.

Watch below: (I’ll update with a HD version when it becomes available)

In the film, co-written by Edgar Wright (Scott Pilgrim), Joe Cornish (Attack the Block) and Steven Moffat (Doctor Who), Jamie Bell stars as journalist and adventurer Tintin with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost playing detective twins Thompson and Thomson and Daniel Craig playing villainous pirate Red Rackham. Paramount will release The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn in the US in December, with Sony releasing the film in Europe and overseas in October.

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You may remember Peter Jackson uploaded a video blog back in April titled ‘Start of Production’ in which the director showed us around various sets including Bag End (the home of Bilbo Baggins), Elrond’s Chambers and The Goblin Tunnels.

Now Jackson has uploaded a second video blog, which is again over 10 minutes long, and we catch the Hobbit team as they complete the first block of shooting. We see Andy Serkis (Gollum) in his motion-capture costume and working as Second Unit Director, and we are then taken with Jackson and his team to scout locations in New Zealand.

Watch below:

Earlier this week Jackson also uploaded a new image of the dwarves Dori, Nori and Ori.

JED BROPHY as Nori, ADAM BROWN as Ori and MARK HADLOW as Dori in New Line Cinema’s and MGM’s fantasy adventure THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY, a Warner Bros. Pictures release.

DORI, NORI & ORI
These three brothers, all sons of the same mother, could not be more different from each other. Dori, the oldest, spends much of his time watching out for Ori, the youngest; making sure he’s not caught a chill or got himself killed by Wargs or Goblins. Nobody quite knows what Nori gets up to most of the time, except that it’s guaranteed to be dodgy and quite probably, illegal. Dori, Nori and Ori are intensely loyal to each other – and whilst they are perfectly happy fighting amongst themselves, woe-betide anyone who means harm to one of these brothers.

The second block of shooting will begin in September.

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This new international trailer for 20th Century Fox’s Rise of the Planet of the Apes only lasts a minute in length, but it contains quite a lot of new footage. The majority of the new scenes focus on Caesar, a small chimp who starts showing signs of human-level intelligence, and subsequently suffers the consequences (getting sprayed with water by Draco Malfoy being one).

Rise of the Planet of the Apes is an origins story set in present-day San Francisco. The film is a reality-based cautionary tale, where man’s own experiments with genetic engineering lead to the development of intelligence in apes and the onset of a war for supremacy. One hyper-intelligent chimp called Caesar (motion captured by Andy Serkis) incites a worldwide ape revolution and causes the downfall of humankind.

James Franco plays a young, driven scientist who becomes a crucial figure in the war between humans and apes, with Slumdog Millionaire actress Freida Pinto playing a primatologist. The movie also stars John Lithgow, Brian Cox, Tom Felton, David Oyelowo and Andy Serkis as Caesar, and will be released August 5, 2011.

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As expected, Paramount today released the first official trailer for The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn. The teaser only lasts a minute long so few plot details are explained, however we do get a look at Tintin himself and a few money shots, including a ship (the Unicorn I presume) sailing across a desert.

Watch below:

It’s certainly a visual treat, and reminds me of the cartoon made in the 90s. I’m not sure why they’ve intentionality tried to hide the faces (apart from the shot at the end). Maybe they’ve done it because it’s a ‘teaser’, or it could be the case WETA haven’t completed the visuals yet so they don’t want to sell the movie with incomplete motion capture.

In the film, co-written by Edgar Wright (Scott Pilgrim), Joe Cornish (Attack the Block) and Steven Moffat (Doctor Who), Jamie Bell stars as journalist and adventurer Tintin with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost playing detective twins Thompson and Thomson and Daniel Craig playing villainous pirate Red Rackham. Paramount will release The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn in the US in December, with Sony releasing the film in Europe and overseas in October.

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