<B>Very Clean, Very Green</B><P>As several others have pointed out that the production did <B>not</B> <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR> scourge the shire <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>I don't think a slap on the wrist is really necessary. However, as a student studying a Masters of Environmental Engineering at Massey University in Aotearoa (New Zealand) I have to defend the production of these movies. No large production has ever in my opinion been coordinated with such a small impact on the environment. <P>The Department of Conservation, helped by legislation such as the Resource Management Act (an all-embodying type of legislation apparently unique to our country) watched the production like a hawk, especially given the sensitive nature of many locations. The river running through Rivendell was constructed just outside Wellington. DOC stipulated that no water was to be taken from an already existing river, and no additional water was to be diverted into it. So PJ and Co built an entirely self-contained river that had no impact on the local environment. <P>The scenes for the battle on Dagorlad were shot on Army land next to Tongariro National Park. Likewise Hobbiton was private land. So if you have a problem with what was done there, I suggest you take it up with the Army or the farmer at Okoroire. But I can tell you with 100% certainty that both those parties would have caused more damage to the New Zealand environment than Peter Jackson. I can only hope that every other film crew that comes to our shores treads as lightly as this one did. <P><BR><B>Marketing</B><P>Absolutely right, it's sickening. Light-up evenstar has got to be one of the worst. Whenever I see cheesy Star Wars merchandise, I console myself with the fact that most of the money Lucas makes goes into personally financing the next film (also I love my Darth Maul pencil case). However, New Line have made so much profit from the movies alone that the amount earned from crappy plastic Tolkien merchandise just makes me nauseous. <P>Quality items such as swords are a little different, I think. A lot of people are very interested in having a piece of memorabilia such as these. As long as it's the quality stuff I think that there is nothing wrong with that. After all, some people were dressing up as elves long before the movies were even thought of. It all depends on whether it's a <B>rip-off</B> or a <B>homage</B> in my opinion.
__________________
But Gwindor answered: 'The doom lies in yourself, not in your name'.
|