Why is WoT under such apparent radio silence for info?

[Guest redgiant]

Why is there such ... I guess I'd call it 'radio silence' around WoT where there don't seem to be any fan spy reports, photos of sets, shots of props/weapons/costumes at all?

 

I am also surprised to still not know all of the actors, whose identities are still dribbling out even well into apparent filming!

 

When LOTR was in development, it was the polar opposite; lots of fevered activity reported on almost every day, cast announcements well before they ever set foot in NZ or shot anything, background on WETA Workshop and Digital, lots of concept art, designs, weapon mockups, a couple internet teasers even before and during filming began. Anyone who frequented sites like TheOneRing.net back in the day (and I'm sure there are a lot of you here also interested in WoT) know what I mean.

 

This series is already a known quantity in terms of fame of the books, so it isn't like it is taking anyone by surprise.

 

Are there any spy reports or people who regularly are trying to look at the filming or production activities in any capacity?

 

It just seems ... odd to me that there is such silence around everything given the stage it is at.

 

Or am I just not looking in the right places for this info?

[mistborn82]

I don't know if there's stuff somewhere else but I'm just as glad as people on here have been, let's just say, less than open-minded.

[SinisterDeath]

There's only so many characters they can really introduce in the first season that are major players. 
We're likely to see other characters who become major players later, potentially recast.

Combine this with generating hype.
If they do a batch-release of actors and roles. The hypes done.
Same with set photos. 

We're still at least basically a year out before the release of the first episode. Gotta keep that hype train going.

Edited December 5, 2019 by SinisterDeath

[Guest redgiant]

2 hours ago, SinisterDeath said:

There's only so many characters they can really introduce in the first season that are major players. 
We're likely to see other characters who become major players later, potentially recast.

Combine this with generating hype.
If they do a batch-release of actors and roles. The hypes done.
Same with set photos. 

We're still at least basically a year out before the release of the first episode. Gotta keep that hype train going.

 

I completely agree...from the POV of the production folks themselves calculating when and what to release.

 

But I am referring to the rabid fanbase types, who you would think there at least a few of who try to infiltrate sets, and glean bits of info about the sorts of things I mentioned as soon as they possibly can.

 

Is the location in EU part of the issue? I mean, does anyone even know where exactly the CGI/digital post is being actually performed, or where literally the costumes and props are being manufactured and stored?

 

I find it hard to believe that it is simply that the WoT crew is perfect at stiffling all these efforts better than LOTR, GoT, etc ever were. I don't even know how to gauge the relative size of the crews compared to those other productions, since I know all about those LOTR and GoT crews in all facets, but I don't know more than a handful of WoT folks (and only from their own info releases I might add).

 

UPDATE: To be fair about LOTR, it was a once in a lifetime confluence of many things: 3 movies filmed at once, NZ economics and newness to the game, utter devotion on a crazy level of faithfulness to realism (like planting Hobbiton a full year before filming, so the plant life and trimming all looked as real as possible), and a quite long public design news period about John Howe, Alan Lee and WETA prior to filming. Not to mention being the most famous and sweeping of all fantasy series, that WoT and others drew great inspiration from.

 

There were spies flying down to NZ that didn't even live there (from US, EU) who would post info and photos and such they could gather. So I guess I am measuring WoT against a lofty goal.

 

But still ...

Edited December 5, 2019 by redgiant

[agreddon]

On 12/5/2019 at 9:55 AM, redgiant said:

 

 

 

I find it hard to believe that it is simply that the WoT crew is perfect at stiffling all these efforts better than LOTR, GoT, etc ever were.

I would actually disagree with that point given the dailytrolloc, various leaks.  It may not be on a formal basis, but we're finding out about a lot more directors than we think.

[Guest redgiant]

I am referring more to foot-soldier reporting like: costume pics, on-set photos or shots of actors in-character while lounging between takes, weapons, etc. And I don't necessarily mean unsanctioned content; I'd think the production team would like to get some of this PR out there as some "responsible spying".

 

The sorts of things that give a more visceral image of what the world is shaping up to look and feel like.

 

It is REALLY hard to believe that none of this exists, no one has been able to get any of this, and we are already hearing about them scripting season 2??

 

You would think the production itself would leak some of this to amp up attention from fans.

 

Remember LOTR, when we got stories, interviews, photos, etc about things like: the 2 armor guys whose sole job was to make and assemble ring mail from 100k's of rings manually put together? Or extensive info and WETA tours about the weapons and armor of all the good and evil races involved, and why they crafted the hero swords the way they did vs the non-closeup ones. Even interviewing gardeners hired to tend the growing of grasses, bushes and flowers for the Shire over a year before any filming began.

 

For example, I would like to see a treatise on Loial's size, and how they are going to do forced perspective or whatever in rendering him 10 feet tall compared to the humans.

 

LOTR defined what it meant to have an embedded documentary to everything being done, which pays off hugely in fan-base attention, later historical "how they did it" DVDs, and a general feeling that the level of detail and professionalism paid to the world-building simply wouldn't allow those movies to be anything but excellent, well before we saw footage of anything.

 

So while I do have faith in what I know so far, I guess I am forever tainted by the bar raising that was done in terms of fan communication by Peter Jackson/WETA for LOTR, so I was hoping for that here (and also for Amazon's LOTR TV series about the Second Age, where even less is known than for WoT).

 

I should add that a huge reason why I harp on this so much, admittedly, is that I still feel a need to wash away the taint I got watching that Red Eagle b.s. way back when in their desperate bid to keep the rights alive (the one with Billy Zane). That was beyond embarassing. So while I was fist-pumping like everyone else when I heard that Wot finally got a "Real Deal", this production began with a bit of a deficit with the Red Eagle legacy, even though I am fairly sure that Red Eagle is along for the ride as a "producer credit" in name only I hope. It seemed for the longest time that without Harriet's insistence and perseverance, the wheels would have come off multiple times and we are lucky it got to the mainstream point it now is and deserves. I'd just like to see some reassuring content and signs because of those earlier scares.

 

On 12/11/2019 at 5:58 AM, agreddon said:

I would actually disagree with that point given the dailytrolloc, various leaks.  It may not be on a formal basis, but we're finding out about a lot more directors than we think. 

 

Btw, Narg doesn't do The Daily Trolloc any more, and hasn't for some time correct?

Edited December 17, 2019 by redgiant

[agreddon]

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