Lord of the Rings Exhibit in New Zealand

Today, I yield this entry to my friend R. who had the good fortune of visiting the Lord of the Rings (LOTR) exhibit in New Zealand recently. He sent me e-mail about his visit and I asked for permission if I could share it with viloria readers who may possibly be LOTR fans. Thanks, R.! Here goes:

"Went to the Te Papa (National Museum of NZ) yesterday, to finally see the LOTR exhibit. Wow! It was wonderful. The costumes were there: the elves were ethereal and evoked lightness. The dwarves, heavy and earth-rooted. The wraiths -- sinister. (They had actually a before and after props. For example, there were nine different crowns when they were still kings. Then there were also nine different crowns after they transformed to their spirit state. There were nine rings given to them by Sauron; and these transformed into gnarled pieces when they became spirits. Of course, there were nine swords as well).

The models for the two towers were there. That of Sauron's had rough edges, and lots of imperfection (my guess, this is to highlight the absence of beauty in things connected to Sauron). On the other hand, the tower of Saruman is depicted as a very beautiful piece of structure -- smooth, well proportioned, regal, but dark! (Again, my guess is that this reflects the person of Saruman: wise, noble, but has lost his ideals and maybe, even hope. So the tower is depicted as without light!)

Minas Tirth, the city of Aragorn, was more than two meters tall, and about 1.5 meters wide at the base. And my, the costumes of the armies command respect! These evoke drama and romance! Would have wanted to try one on if it were possible. Ha-ha!

There is a section in the exhibit where they show how they make some people appear smaller (the hobbits mainly) vs. the others. They use two cameras, with the output being fused into one! So the resulting product is actually a product of two cameras! For a small fee, two persons can sit on separate benches with their picture showing a much larger and a much smaller person sitting together! It was really funny watching pictures taken of people! Ha-ha!

After going through the exhibit, I am determined more than ever to get a DVD collection of the three films! I saw one selling at about NZ$90 for all three (extended version all). Not bad, isn't it? (Oh yes, replicas of various swords used in the films are also on sale. Not sure if I would like to buy one -- these are a little bit expensive.)

The exhibit runs till mid-August. And they were saying that this will be the last time that the LOTR will be on exhibit. So there! If you are a LOTR fan, then this is your last chance!"

There you go. So, are you off to New Zealand?