"The Hunt For Gollum" Free Fan Film Premieres Online
By bohus
The Hunt for Gollum is a 40 minute fan film inspired by Tolkien's appendices to the classic Lord of the Rings books. The Peter Jackson films brought Tolkien's Middle Earth to life, culminating many years of searching for someone to capture the sweep of these stories on celluloid (not forgetting the 70's animated versions, of course). It's a few years since the last installment of the official film series, and we have to wait until 2011 for Peter Jackson's new project based on The Hobbit, so in the meantime here is an excellent fan-made film.
This film fits between the events of The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, and is an ambitious take on one of the world's most beloved fictional worlds. The film shares visual sensibilities with Peter Jackson's style. It's a credit to these fan filmmakers that they have created a project that so closely fits in with the existing film series. It's also a credit to Jackson that his take on Middle Earth wasn't entirely reliant on expensive special effects. Most of Middle Earth's visual signature comes from good filmmaking techniques and art direction, aspects that a fan film can emulate.
The Hunt for Gollum continues to raise the bar on the kind of film that determined fans are capable of producing (the project had 160 volunteers!). Recent years have seen fans create their own polished takes on Batman and the Star Wars universe thank to advances in HD video and computer FX. While a fan film of this caliber can be inspiring, I'm always concerned that nervous movie studios will quickly pull the plug. Director Chris Bouchard contacted the Tolkien estate about the project. As long as the film remains strictly non-profit, the copyright holders are enthusiastic to see fans express their love for these timeless characters.
Good thing too. When something as magical as the Lord of the Rings touches so many lives for so many decades, we should all have the power to give a little magic back.
Full version of "The Hunt For Gollum"
Pick up the special edition extended versions of the trilogy on Ebay
related:
"Homemade Hollywood" book on fan films
"Raiders of the Lost Ark: The Adaptation" classic film by 12 year olds
