** "Offbeat hilarious!" ** "RA tingles & laughs" ** "True to the characters! " ** "The fiction is great. Keep it up!" **

Friday, August 17, 2012

August Is Hot: Keeper Of The Sword


"I´m Thorin Oakenshield, keeper of the sword Orcrist"

AUGUST IS HOT
Theme: Should We Know You?

Read the official version of the third Hobbit film as requested by RA fans here!
It´s called The Hobbit: Keeper Of The Sword.
The producers will talk you through the film.
Please don't read if you're a die-hard Hobbit fan.

First we'll see the intro...

Officially we'll have to introduce that story mentioned in the top 100 best read children's books to you. So.. Thorin Oakenshield is a grumpy warrior leader of Dwarves. He was asked by wizard Gandalf to escort a certain hungry Hobbit to the end of the book, but he fails by prematurely dying. His life lacks a bit of womanly dwarfhood and that´s kind of refreshing. No sensual excercises. Instead healthy, safe, childfriendly fantasy storytelling to which we all can relate to, if have you been in dark woods before and catched some spiders.. or worse if they catch you...! But you know all that, if you watched The Hobbit 1 and 2 by then. So number 3 is finally starting, like now!

The main story...

The story focuses on why Thorin Oakenshield is so grumpy. Is it the story of a warrior, following his bloodline back to ancestors who had their battles to fight? We'll see some of that.. Amidst there is this hint of an emerging love story with this Dwarf woman, which fails because.. she has a beard! Tragic, tragic, dear fans, but we swiftly move on to another love interest, or is it? Thorin's love story gets larded with awkward misunderstandings, silent conversations, revealing blushings.... "In The Hobbit?!", you asked us online. We feared no-one except geeks would watch this movie.

On his trips to strange lands Thorin Oakenshield encountered a creature, so sublime, no words were needed. We'll see the ray of golden sunshine surrounding her smiling face with her hair moving in slow motion and she doesn´t have to say anything, because we all know she is special. She is called The Keeper of the Kiss. Well, in the script anyway.

It happened on a path through dense woodworks. Thorin Oakenshield was very tired and sad. He was contemplating about all the things that happened to him. Here, we'll insert some flashbacks from The Hobbit movies 1 and 2. We still have to decide which ones. Then, suddenly, he didn't notice, there's someone coming towards him. When he looks up, the innocent looking creature is cheerful and eyes at him. He invites her with a head tilt. We'll see a close up of her feet. First, her left foot stepping forward, then her right foot, then we see his left foot stepping in. She moves her face from the ground up and sees that he has to tilt his head back a bit, because she is fairly tall and coming way too close. He doesn't give in. Neither does she (!). He moves his face into her, ready for a kiss. She finds herself looking at his upper lip next to his nose and doesn't know if the intention is to kiss him on the cheek or on the upper lip, which is way to informal. We'll see a close-up of their faces. Panning out with a blurring background, creating the feel of being in the centre of the universe. We have to ask for extra budget how to film that in 3D with a camera whisking around them. Their silence fades all notions of time. She looks up, teasingly into his eyes, then resumes to her original position. She repeats this a couple of times. He finds himself caught looking away, initially whispering "Shit!". You´ll hear that word in the outtakes on the DVD extra´s. We will have to find a replacement for that word.. We hope that you as viewer will sense that if it really was a first kiss to a potential boyfriend, their noses had to move a little bit closer. She gasps. He gasps too, but it sounds like he is copying her more than it´s for real. She then starts humming. She full well knows he patiently waits to be kissed, but his attempt looks like a dutyful kissing offer, so it could use a bit of sparkle... We know you'll still be with us on this scene, so we've decided to prolong this moment and let her step back a bit while dropping her eyelashes on him. We'll see it from his view. Her face, so effortlessly in thoughts.. What goes on behind her eyes, we can only guess... She, still with her eyes closed, exhales, because, let's face it, it's quite the greeting! She then waits... He can only step aside, thinking what to do next, not to be that entangled in emotions. He exhales too, which she can't see but hear too well... What a beautiful kissing offer! She opens her eyes and catches her breath. She pretends that she is very surprised, even shocked by his reaction. She ends it with a couple of flirty winks. He then lifts his chin, smiles and blushes. He gives her a good look, takes some steps, then looks over his shoulder to give her another good look. Then, the Dwarfleader who fought Orcs, walks away!! So, that is one exclusive scene we can give you!

The ending..

We'll see Thorin sitting with Bilbo at the fire place in one of the lodges, telling him this wonderful tale and smiling mysteriously. Bilbo says he doesn´t believe Thorin, because he is never without his group of Dwarves! Besides, Bilbo has more important tales to tell, and is getting hungry! Thorin gets angry and tosses his sword on the floor. We'll see that the rest of the film is stuffed with one exciting Bilbo tale, which will be revealed in the upcoming Hobbit Teaser Trailers!!!

The explanation of the title..

We know that Thorin Oakenshield is keeper of the sword Orcrist, so why did he left his sword at the fire place? Oops, spoilers! Not only did he and Bilbo had to chase through Middle Earth, there was Gollum again who exchanged it for one of the Elven's crossbows. Finally, Thorin finds his sword, promising Gandalf to bring Orcrist home in one piece.

Thorin Oakenshield: "I cannot guarantee his safety."
Gandalf: "Understood."
Thorin Oakenshield: "Nor will I be responsible for it´s fate."


Disclaimer:
Uh, okay, I never intented a love story for The Hobbit. That would make it totally ridiculous.
Expect a new Hobbit trailer in September.

Picture: from The Hobbit Movie promotion with a magic touch by TFB

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

August Is Hot: Should We Know You?

"Yeah, I play Thorin Oakenshield in The Hobbit 1, 2 and 3. Want an autograph?"

AUGUST IS HOT
Theme: Should We Know You?

Is it really important what I say about Richard Armitage?
Well, I have this August Is Hot themed series running each year and so far, I was never silenced by my impressions of his entertaining acting, the dynamic man himself, or even by his massive beard. 
OK, I was, am, and suppose will be, but not in this way.

I'm so stuck in a barrel about The Hobbit presentation at Comic Con, 14th July 2012.
First, coming from me, it's a big compliment, it's the "Now I really get it, you're in The Hobbit!"
So why do I feel as follower and blogger to be expected to become a vessel for The Hobbit aka Peter Jackson to be endorsing The Hobbit? Willing to negotiate, call my agent...
Furthermore, the friendly but controlled introduction of Mr. A to the world, felt like a postponement of the eventual brutal unleashing to the masses and papparazzi, by the time of the premiere tour.
What do I have to contribute to the world with these hesitant sentiments?


"You're the burglar blogger. Go on and... burgle blog something!" 
 -
Thorin Oakenshield
Richard Armitage's fan base


In that case, I'll put on my 3D glasses!

BTW, I'm Violet, hilarious blogbabe, so rubbing shoulders with famous RA bloggers.
Am so boiling the ocean in a 'so-me/so-you'-way, according to my agent B. Arbie.
She's is such a doll!

Guess you sensed the humbug alert?
Maybe I should oil the PR-machine!



Monday, April 23, 2012

Can't Say Anything New

"The Hobbit cast and crew are trying hard to make this film in 3D!"


There is no news. If there is, I can't say it. So quote others. My news is off the record.

News from Me
For the first time in my life I got the question: "How's your film career?" (!). Well, the day after The Hobbit Teaser Trailer got launched online, I found myself on a set again. It's a pilot for a tv series, werein I was an extra. The leads were former musical actors and there was a surprise set visit by an iconic actress, so that was nice. I am awaiting the viewing, although recently received an request to confirm my name for a mention in the end credits (!). Fingers crossed! :)

Got the chance to do a bit part in 'Merchant of Venice' in a special one day co-operation of amateur theatre companies (4 hrs practise, 2hrs rehearsal, 50 actors of 11 companies, devided in 6 teams, one time performance). Fantastic part of that was the coaching by theatre professionals who found our dedication to give our best, very inspiring. Personally I crossed some boundaries, so that was cool.

Since August last year I knocked my from insecurity driven need to be funny all the time at the weekly improv training evenings. Learned to focus more on the input of others and so helping the others look good on stage. This is true the other way around. My input gets picked up best by advanced improv members, so in learning I'm going full circle, constantly.

For the rest, I can't say anything new. Okay, one thing. Battleship movie, mindless thrill, great graphics (esp. chart of the planets at the beginning, me space nerd), toute clichés, free heart massage.

News from Richard
"This is how I relax after filming. I found a gnome who will show it as I'm under contract.
Can I say I groom my beard since block 2?"

News from the Gnomes
"Hanging out at the local 'Weta Shop', then off to '100 Days 'Till Garden Grooming Olympics 2012'."

Just so you know, there is nothing to tell! See?
Okay, I heard some noise at 1:25 -1:36 of someone saying:
"Thus I can't say anything new".
Take it for what it's worth.
100 Days Till London 2012 Olympic Games

The Gnomes were hanging out at www.robspropshop.com
and made a commercial too.

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Good Girl, My Blog Is Two Years Old

"She deserves to do my smuggling!" he thought, while he puts packs of illegal substances in her car.
(Moving On)

If that sounds a bit sarcastic to you, that´s true. I don´t know how to handle my blogging celebration.
Two years! Two years of ´creative blogtherapy´ with RA in the frame. That really makes me ´tragic´.
Time for me to look at the stats of my blog. You can snoop too. Really, why hide them?

My All Time Top 10's


All Time Posts
(1) (3) The Hobbit, Exiting And Dynamic Casting Wasn´t there a movie in the making? No noise.
(2) (1) Lucas North, Pretending To Be Dating Search Richard Armitage+dating and one finds this post
(3) (7) Lucas North And His Fans There must be ´countries´ who get to watch Spooks (not in NL!)
(4) (nw) Letter To Thorin Many fans will send their fanletters to dwarf Thorin, so gnomes mess with me.
(5) (5) Guy Of Gisborne Syndrome One Year On Constant factor in naughty fans´ minds. Beg! Fetch!
(6) (9) Willmore The Rover, Name Another Rake Consoling ourselves with a rake of a question.
(7) (nw) Quiet Dwarves, Hobbit Fans: Take 2, Position 1 Hobbit drought? RA drought is bad enough!
(8) (nw) Getting A Whole Lot Of Guy Exposure for Little Guy win, exaggerated account of encounter!
(9) (2) SCOOP Unseen Promo Pics Of Lucas Spooks Every new pic of RA gives fans joy for days.
(10) (4) Bedroom Billboard Or Pin Up Calender? Oh, My, G*d, We, Like, That, Posterboy, Eh, Actor!

All Time Audience (pageviews by countries)
(1) (2) United States 10,979
(2) (1) Poland 6,920
(3) (3) United Kindom 5,864
(4) (4) Netherlands 3,976
(5) (6) Germany 3,575
(6) (5) Australia 2,909
(7) (7) Canada 1,432
(8) (8) France 778
(9) (9) Russia 637
(10) (?) Slovenia 478

All Time Referring URL's
http://www.armitagefanblog.blogspot.com/ 1,292
http://www.meandrichard.wordpress.com/ 758
http://www.twitter.com/ 328
http://www.thesquee.co.uk/ 264
http://www.domar.ru/ 145
http://www.spooks.fanblog.com/ 116
http://www.yimum.blogspot.com/ 116
http://www.rafrenzy.com/ 114
http://www.ralfiesm.blogspot.com/ 94
www.google.com/search 93

All Time Referring Sites
http://www.google.com/ 3,920
http://www.google.co.uk/ 2,588
http://www.armitagefanblog.blogspot.com/ 1,358
http://www.meandrichard.wordpress.com/ 1,198
http://www.thesquee.co.uk/ 851
http://www.google.de/ 534
http://www.avalon-medieval.blogspot.com/ 422
http://www.twitter.com/ 401
http://www.google.ca/ 351
http://www.google.com.au/ 335

All Time Search Keywords
thorin oakenshield 711
hobbit 438
lucas north 331
the hobbit 2012  331
thorin 328
richard armitage dating 135
richard armitage spooks 68
guy of gisborne 56
the hobbit movie 2012  50
dwarf beard 45

All Time Pageviews
Total pageviews 47,225
Best month January 2012  3,566
Second best month June 2011  3,496
Lowest month second year September 2011  1,374

Disclaimer:
Blogspot gives only top ten´s, so it´s not possible for me to notice or even analyse all visitors.
Then I would have to make this a paid for blog or website.
And who is this Thorin Oakenshield dude?

To compare stats (now regretting it: without figures) read last year´s posts
My Blog Is One Year Old And That Tells Me...

Sunday, March 18, 2012

Driving For Fanstra 3







We followers love to be in a car with RA, a very comforting driver... Driving For Fanstra 3

This look was meant for me... I guess... Thank you!

I keep playing this music (hope no negative meaning hidden in this song)

Find the many contributors of Fanstra:

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Not Quite An Interview With A Dwarfleader

A smiling Dwarfleader promoting Captain America after filming block 1 of The Hobbit.

The Framework Blog caught up with Mr. A on an imaginary level in cyberspace to hook up answers for those much plagued questions RA followers' minds are mucked with.

We don't hear a lot from you these days. Maybe it's for the best. Do your research on the Net, Miss.. what's it, again? Violet. Okay, it's my alter ego, and we're in cyberspace so...

How's your beard hanging? "I grew my own beard after the first block because I felt that it was restricting my face. The jaw is so connected to emotion that I wanted to have that free. It made such a huge difference." Why don't you quote me some more? MTV.com, Jan 11, 2012

Are you not too young and too handsome to be a Dwarfleader? Should the cast of The Hobbit Movie include handsome actors? To have them covered in fat suits, prosthetics and heavy beards? Is the cast diverse enough? Is Thorin not too young? Are women Hobbit fans? I'm finding these questions so funny. The extents of these talks... reminds me to focus on my acting.  TheOneRingNet, Dec 8, 2010


The Hobbit set in Nelson, December 2011 (source protected)

How is your typical day on the set? I can't reveal details yet. However, I'm proud to say, my short appearance as Thorin in The Hobbit Teaser is already perceived as 'Aragorn's stand-in', see podcast. Back in the days of LOTR, my predecessor if you like, Viggo Mortensen ran errands, and he got the role because another actor was fired after just one day on the set. Sofar so good for me. A day in the life of the LOTR, ABC News, Dec 4, 2004

Has Peter Jackson seen your showreel? Not during the casting process, but on set he might surprise actors by mentioning he has seen your previous work, of which he doesn't say it was your worst, to put you in place, but he doesn't exactly say it was your best, either. He is also known to have a lot of books, mostly about The Hobbit and LOTR. My stash of books at my bedsite looks meagre in comparison. There And Back Again, excerpt Sean Austin, ABC News, Oct 14, 2004

How is Peter Jackson really treating you? Holy crap, this man eats you alive! Brain Dead, 1992



Top photo Mike Warsland/WireImage, Jul 20, 2011, adjusted by TheFrameworkBlog

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Another Profile The Women Adore


HOLLYWOOD - If you are a man and had the chance to visit Miramar’s Stone Street Studios when "The Hobbit" was being produced you would no doubt have been much more interested in how the picture was being shot, than in the personality of the star.

On the other hand, if you are a woman or a girl, it would be Richard Armitage you would be most interested in seeing.

I must confess that this clash of interest as displayed by the opposite sexes is not from personal observation.

That is what the guides at the studio told me - and they ought to know.

In fact, he so impressed the ladies by his gallantry of manner and courtly charm - two attributes by the way which were his great assets - that they began to pester the officials unmercifully.

Hence a ban on visitors for the rest of the production period.

None of this adulation, however, affected Richard Armitage. He carried on as usual, debonair, charming, always letter-perfect and in his usual high spirits.

However, the women who did manage to meet Richard Armitage in the early stages of the production were clearly pleased by his attention and all of them came away with the impression that he was their favorite actor.

In fact, he flattered them more than they did him.

In this picture he had keen competition - Orlando Bloom, Elijah Wood, Aidan Turner and Benedict Cumberbatch are in the cast - and he worked exceptionally hard to give of his best.

For several days he was trussed to a pony. Nothing about him could move except for his eyes.

Peter Jackson, who directed and produced the film, was finally moved to remark, "Looks as though we've got him where he'll behave at last."

To which the cameraman remarked, "That's what you think. Richard can do more with his eyes than most people, and if you look through the camera you'll see he's pinching the scene."

Film fans have alot of knowledge about starts. Most of his American visitors knew he was born in England and that he joined the circus in his determination become an actor.

Many of the visitors to "The Hobbit" asked when he expected to sing in a picture. He merely said he had no plans for singing on the screen, although he is to portray the life story of Thorin Oakenshield, leader of a group of singing Dwarves, in his upcoming picture.

It was his singing ability, however, which got him back into a singing role, having performed in musical theatre in England.

For several years he appeared on English television in several tv series, Robin Hood, Spooks and Strike Back.

Literally "tall, dark and handsome" Armitage seems to have all it takes to make an idol on the screen. Women talk about him and when they talk to him he has the ability to make every one of them think he has eyes and ears for her alone.

Yet their menfolk don't object for they recognize in his easy-going manner, friendly attitude and ready wit that he is also a "man's man."

**this is a fake article**
A scan of the original article published in Picturegoer, February 17, 1945, can be found on http://www.carygrant.net/articles/profile.htm
The rights of above picture of Richard Armitage are with Recognize Magazine/Daniel Higgins,
in classic Hollywood look photoshopped and cropped by The Framework Blog