The Lord of the Rings

1.

Daria Mironova,
Veronika Cheprasova
and Ksyusha Tokmakova.
ISPS-15-23

2.

Hobbiton is a village in New
Zealand, artificially created specifically
for the filming of the trilogy "The Lord
of the Rings" and "The Hobbit" based on
the works of the same name by J.R.
Tolkien. This small settlement is the
habitat of the people invented by the
writer. The scenery includes hobbit
holes, landscape elements and the
Green Dragon Inn. Unlike the standard
cinematic backgrounds, which are
usually created from cardboard and
plywood, the village was rebuilt for real.

3.

Now it is a local attraction, which is visited every day by about 300 tourists who come
to these parts precisely for the sake of Hobbiton. Artfully executed houses, well-kept
gardens, and an abundance of picturesque details allow the traveler to fully immerse
himself in the recognizable atmosphere of his favorite movies from the first step.

4.

New Zealand, in particular, the North Island is famous for its rich and unique
nature: lush vegetation and pastoral landscapes are practically not spoiled by
modern civilization. Famous Hollywood director Peter Jackson was looking for
places to start filming films based on the works of the English writer J.R. Tolkien
more than 15 years ago.

5.

Flying by helicopter over the island, he
noticed a large sheep farm spread out on a
picturesque hilly area, so similar to the
places described in the Lord of the Rings
trilogy and The Hobbit book. The owners
turned out to be three brothers from the
Alexander family, who willingly sold film
studios make up most of the local land.
Already in 1999, the construction of
Hobbiton's capital cinema buildings began.

6.

Building a village
The director did not want to follow the traditional Hollywood path, which
involved the installation of simple plywood and cardboard sets and subsequent
drawing using computer graphics. It was decided to start the real construction of
the Hobbit settlement.
The New Zealand Army took an active part in the Hobbiton project. The
military designed and built a 1.5-kilometer road, a beautiful stone bridge, used
specialized earthmoving equipment to create blanks for round hobbit holes, and
make the landscape even more relief. In total, 37 dugout houses were built, which
were artistically decorated with elements made of plastic and wood.

7.

The surrounding area has been transformed by landscape designers: live barberry
hedges have been planted, small vegetable gardens and gardens near burrows have
been arranged, miniature fences have been installed. To artificially age wooden and
stone parts, a mass of lichen diluted in a nutrient solution was used. It was applied to
the necessary surfaces. Due to the peculiarities of the composition, the lichen, whose
development requires a very long period of time, grew in a matter of months.

8.

According to the original of the work, Bilbo Baggins' burrow was located under an
old spreading oak tree, but there was no large vegetation on the local hills. To reliably
recreate the picture, in a suitable tree was chosen in the nearby forests. Sawn into
pieces, it was taken to Hobbiton, installed and assembled, and the foliage was replaced
with artificial ones. But such a decoration did not last long and was replaced by a
synthetic fiber-optic tree, which still flaunts in this place today. In total, almost a year
of hard work and a huge budget were spent on creating this small village paradise.

9.

The huge popularity of the entire
series of films pushed its creators to
open a tourist attraction here,
constantly maintaining the wellgroomed appearance of Hobbiton.
Today, local farmers mainly work here,
cultivating ornamental gardens and
vegetable gardens that fully serve the
entire infrastructure of the village.
The cost:
is 75 New Zealand dollars +
drinks, food and souvenirs on request.