HOBBIT: DESOLATION OF SMAUG LIVE EVENT

Hey all, Tim here with some thoughts on what I got to see today from THE HOBBIT: DESOLATION OF SMAUG Live Event Preview that happened at 3 PM EST. The Live Event was hosted by Peter Jackson for about an hour, and it included some a sneak peek of the film plus some behind the scenes. For those of you who were unable to catch the event it will was recorded and will be rebroadcast for you to watch at your own leisure starting March 27^th and will be available until May 24^th as the fine text says "Content may not be available after 5/24/13."

What did we see? Well in case there are those of you out there who want to remain spoiler free I will put the spoilerish stuff up in a block that you'll have to highlight in order to read. However, for the non-spoilerish stuff here are my thoughts and some interesting information divulged in during the event:
It started with Peter Jackson and James Nesbitt giving a tour of their post-production facility, including the mo-cap room, editing rooms, and the concept art on the walls. Jackson took questions sent in ahead of time via Twitter, with some video questions that were required to be submitted by March 19^th, and answered some live questions coming off Twitter. A lot of Behind the Scenes footage was shown from the film, and with that some incomplete shots right out of the editing room. These shots gave us our first looks at some new characters in the film including Luke Evans (Bard), Evangeline Lilly (Tauriel), Stephen Fry (Master of Laketown), and the returning character Legolas played by Orlando Bloom. There was also a special guest appearance by Stephen Colbert, who asked Peter a question regarding the movie. Peter in return had a question for him. Jackson showed a bit of the editing process by showing multiple takes of Martin Freeman (Bilbo) delivering a line. He showed which takes they chose in an edited sequence, which included a neat intro to Bard.
Now for the spoiler stuff. Highlight the white block below to read:

SPOILERS... There was a full scene shown between Gandalf (Ian McKellan) and Radagast (Sylvester McCoy) where they investigate the tombs of Dol Godur. It starts with Gandalf investigating by himself and then jumping at the appearance of Radagast. They converse for a bit as we see the expense of the tombs. This would have been a scene in the first movie before it was moved to the second with the decision to have three movies.

Some of the BTS footage that showed possible spoiler stuff was exchanges between Legolas and his father Thanduil (Lee Pace), Tauriel and Legolas fighting orcs, the barrel riding scenes, Bard running around Laketown, etc. There was a lot of footage that went by fast and require a second watching. However, Laketown and the Elven Kingdom of Mirkwood should be great sets. We also saw a small bit of Bilbo in the Lonely Mountain wading through mounds of gold... but no Smaug.

END SPOILERS. Breath easy, and relax. Jackson revealed that we can expect a trailer in the Summer. I know that seems so far away, but it's so that they can complete effects shots.

And that was the special live event preview held by Jackson and team. If you didn't get a chance to see it, and aren't afraid of spoilers, I suggest you check it out when it hits the public web on the 27^th. THE HOBBIT: DESOLATION OF SMAUG hits theaters December 13, 2013!