And especially I want to thank Brad Dourif and Karl Urban. As soon as Brad agreed to appear at the convention I knew we would have a highly successful track (this was before TheOneRing.Net put together their convention package). When I heard we could get Karl Urban, too, I knew we couldn't blow it no matter what happened (and surely this weekend has tried a lot of people's patience). Brad and Karl have great charisma and are fantastic guests. Dragoncon has worked them both to the bone and they deserve a lot of thanks from all the fans,

We have had numerous standing-room-only sessions with Brad, Karl, and the guys from TheOneRing.Net. I've already asked for a larger room for the Tolkien and Middle-earth track at next year's convention, and I'll continue to remind the senior directors of our turnout to be sure we stand a good chance of getting it. We had tons of people spilling out into the hallways.

We have made several more last-minute schedule changes this year than I anticipated (this is my third year directing a track for Dragoncon, although this is the first year for Tolkien and Middle-earth). All the people who have worked on staff (especially Jincey Chambless, who was loaned to me by TheOneRing.Net) have been completely flexible and supportive, and they have been great folks to work with.

Of course, that's not what you folks want to read. You want to know what Brad Dourif and Karl Urban have to say about the movies. :)

And you want to know what the secrets behind "The Lord of the Rings" movies are that TheOneRing.Net has been wowing people with at these conventions.

I will tell you some of the things Brad and Karl have said (although they have said virtually nothing about the movie production -- so, please, don't expect any earth-shattering revelations to come from them). I'll have to leave it to the OneRing.Net people to determine what details they want revealed on their own Web site.

Karl was our first guest speaker, and he came in on Thursday evening, very tired after a long flight. He was nonetheless enthused about being at Dragoncon (where he was involved in not only the Tolkien track but also the Hercules and Xena track, and was promoting his upcoming television series, THE PRIVATEERS).

Although he could not discuss details about his character (Eomer) or movie plots or location details, Karl confessed that he is totally enthused about being in the movies and would gladly have taken the role of "third spear holder on the left". He also believes dedicated Tolkien fans will be impressed with what they see in the movies despite the changes which have been revealed in the storyline. He had read the books when he was younger and jumped at the opportunity to be in the films.

Speaking only in general terms, and drawing on his experience on both HERCULES and XENA as well, Karl did talk about the aspects of being involved in an action film, including the pitfalls for the stunt people and stunt actors who take the majority of the bruising and beating that occurs in performing take after take, but he did share at least one anecdote where he and another actor came away after a week of filming (on a movie called "Amazon Nation", a never-released pilot for a television series) with many bruises.

Working with Bob Anderson, the legendary swordmaster who has trained so many actors for numerous films over the past 50 years, was a big thrill for Karl, and he said he was amazed when someone pointed out that Anderson had actually performed in the early "Star Wars" fight sequences as Darth Vader. Karl had only positive things to say about his fellow cast and crew. The movie production is massive, and the 400 or so people involved in the project are so hyped and so positive they are all bursting with good, solid feelings about the progress which has been made and the directions which are being followed.

Brad Dourif was obviously containing his enthusiasm, he so badly wished to be able to speak freely about certain aspects of the production, but he was always careful to decline to answer questions which asked for details or veered too close to the fine line he dared not cross. He did say it was a great pleasure to work with Christopher Lee, who has read the book every year for at least 25 years and knows the details well enough to occasionally correct some of the experts who have been working on the films.

When asked if he could visit parts of the production where Grima doesn't appear, Dourif mentioned he had visited one set which simply blew him away. A few members of the audience, in the back of the room, became concerned that Grima might appear in scenes where he obviously has no place in the book, but Brad hurried to assure them he was only a visitor to the set. He did not name any scenes which had been filmed, but indicated that the filming sequence was not the same as that which would be used in the movies (a fairly standard practice in the film industry).

Brad was asked if he had seen any of the advance promotional screenings and he answered that he had seen one shown to the cast and crew. When pressed for a description of the screening all he would say in reply was, "Beautiful". The audience realized the line had been reached once again as Brad agonized over how to explain that word without revealing anything, and the session moved on.

Both actors mentioned that up to four filming units operate at the same time. Peter Jackson directs the project utilizing a bank of television monitors which show him what is going on. He radios instructions to each unit as required in a very seasoned but rapid-fire process. Karl said he got to sit behind Peter and watch one day and was absolutely amazed at how smoothly Jackson was able to work with several teams in action.

One of the actors was asked if the sets have to deal with intrusions. He said there weren't many problems, but occasional flybys had occurred. There is a certain intensity in the production which seems to engender great loyalty for the project in most of the crew.

The actors were also occasionally asked about other projects they had coming up or had just recently worked on. Karl has completed a movie in New Zealand with fellow Hercules/Xena actress Danielle Cormack (titled "The Price of Milk", if I recall correctly). Karl and Danielle play dairy farmers with some complex issues to resolve. Brad will be starting work on Myst 3 in a few days (he loves the game, he says) and later this year will be working on a film titled "Route 66" which is set in the desert and is a horror flick with ghouls in the desert.

I had a far better turnout for my first "Reconstructing Middle-earth" session than I anticipated -- a full room, although it was not standing-room-only. I was quite flattered, and I did talk about some things I have not previously revealed on the Internet concerning my involvement with various Tolkien-related projects. You can listen to the full session at Tolkien Online.

The first "Tolkien on the Web" session had a low turnout, which was to be expected since Dragoncon has a full track devoted to electronic media and issues. Nonetheless, we had an interesting discussion and I learned that no one else seems to be getting any richer at this stuff than me (which is to say, no one is getting rich off of these Tolkien Web sites -- we are all doing this for the love of Tolkien). From a technical viewpoint, the discussion about message boards was revealing. We all share similar challenges, but Xenite.Org (my domain) definitely needs new software (and I'm working on it). TolkienOnline recently switched to a Cold Fusion-based system and they are, so far, quite happy with the performance. TheOneRing.Net is pretty satisfied with the power and flexibility of the highly customizable software they use. But we all agreed (when asked by a member of the audience) that message board design is vital for any new site that expects to see a lot of traffic, and you cannot go with the lower-powered freebie software on the Net.

People were simply blown away by TheOneRing.Net's presentation. I was late to the convention Friday morning due to a stomache virus that was going around the convention so I had to sit out in the hallway with several other people, listening to the music but generally not seeing anything. I managed to be available for the Saturday session quite by accident.

In fact, Toy Vault had to pull out of the convention just a few days before Dragoncon began, and I had to fill in one of their sessions with an impromptu Q and A session. The audience was understanding and warmed to the change in plans. Because Main Programming had taken up our idea for a Brad Dourif/Karl Urban panel on Saturday, I decided to cancel one session and move the second trivia game into the second Toy Vault slot.

I decided to play fast and loose with the first Toy Vault session and I pretended to interview Peter Jackson's evil twin (he refused to reveal any details about the movies and instead of sounding like a New Zealander he came across with a very bad Australian accent). The audience nonetheless got a kick out of the interview. And I also talked a little bit about the work I have done for Toy Vault and discussed as much as I could safely say about the upcoming FARSCAPE line of action figures. Ben Browder may owe me a favor. :)

But then a snafu developed and Karl Urban was inadvertently allowed to continue signing autographs well into the middle of his scheduled session. He apologized through a spokesperson for the confusion (which was not his fault) and I agreed to just let him drop the session since we would see him again on Sunday in another panel with Brad Dourif. Karl felt very badly about letting the fans down, but the mishap wasn't his fault.

Nonetheless, Jincey sent me into the room after twenty minutes to chat with the growing audience. I decided to open up another Q and A session, but we ended up talking about some things I hadn't had time to mention in my "Reconstructing Middle-earth" session. This change in subject actually helped to bring more people in, and by the time the OneRing.Net guys showed up to start their setup for the next panel, the room was filled with an attentive audience. Most of the people stayed in the room while the setup proceeded, so Calisuri asked me to keep talking. To be honest, I was so pumped I can hardly remember what I said, but we took a few questions from the audience and answered them as best we could.

Rhetta Amateratsu, one of our staff members, put together a very nice presentation on Tolkien's use of Nordic mythology as a source. I missed her first presentation (track directors often find themselves running around the convention taking care of errands while their staff look after the presentation rooms) but sat in on the second. I was impressed with Rhetta's research, and I only brought up one anecdote of my own (about Queen Beruthiel, whose story was derived from the story about the giantess Skadi and the sea god Njord).

Jincey ran the trivia contest. She had some good contestants in both sessions, although I only caught part of the first session. I have to admit, I was impressed (as were Brad and Karl) with the knowledge of my fellow Tolkien fans. They were able to answer questions I could not have answered without consulting the books (and I've had to admit to being wrong three times so far this weekend). The respect accorded to me by the audiences I've spoken with is therefore that much more meaningful to me, and I hope no one came away with the impression that I was trying to talk down to them.

We did have one loose moment in the first trivia contest. One of the contestants asked for "a hard question". So Jincey turned to the back of the book and said, "Are you SURE? Because I've got some really, really tough ones." These were questions she had asked me to provide. The task was not easy, as Jincey had tole me she already had several hundred questions. So I came up with stuff I don't normally talk about, and I couldn't recall any of the questions I had supplied her.

As soon as the contestant assurred Jincey he wanted the "really, really tough" questions, she gave him one. He guessed at the answer and got it right, which impressed all of us no end, and when it came his turn again he tried a second "really, really tough question".

"From whom did Bungo Baggins inherit the headship of the Baggins family?" Jincey asked accordingly. Nearly everyone in the room went, "Whoa!" (incuding me, because I couldn't remember the answer.) After a moment of silence on the contestant's part I felt I might have encouraged him a little too much to try a hard question, so I asked Jincey to give him another one, and the audience quickly added their support.

"Who was Terence Tiller?" Jincey asked.

The audience immediately cracked up (and I have to admit I was laughing, too

not at the poor contestant, but at the absolute obscurity of the questions). We got him to ask for a less demanding question, but I guess he was shaken up by the first two as I think he got the answer wrong anyway.

(BTW

without checking the book, I think the answer to the Baggins headship question is Laura Chubb-Baggins, who took over as head of the family when her husband, Bungo's father died. Jincey read the answer to the audience. And Terence Tiller wrote and produced the first BBC radio production of "The Lord of the Rings" in 1956.)

Someone asked me where I got these questions, and I told him that since Jincey had specifically asked for hard questions, I took all the books, laid them out, and went to sections I rarely perused when answering questions for people on the Internet. So these were topics I don't know very well myself (and don't think I know very well, either).

There have been some neat moments at the convention. Unfortunately, the schedule changes have forced me to miss most of the convention. Corvar of TheOneRing.Net and I handled the "Ancanar" preview presentation, but unfortunately technical difficulties prevented that from going off smoothly. We still plan to be involved in the online reporting and promotion of "Ancanar". I regret that we weren't able to work out all the details in advance of the convention, but I gave it my best shot and hope Elemental Films is not disappointed.

Glass Hammer showed up and they brought their much-anticipated "Arwen" video with them. They are intent upon completing it (the video was originally filmed six years ago for a song from the "Journey of the Dunadan" CD) and making it available to (Glass Hammer and Tolkien) fans everywhere. The audience was quite impressed with the video, which was filmed by a professional video producer. Glass Hammer has just released a new CD (a concept album about a music fan who gets involved in concept albums) and they are working on two new projects, including a new Middle-earth album tentatively called, "Glass Hammer, Live from Middle-earth". The songs will be presented as if they were recorded in various inns and pubs around Middle-earth, and the band is inviting fans to help provide background sounds for the various cuts. They'll post details on their Web site.

Of course, the highlight of the convention for Tolkien and Middle-earth fans so far has been getting to meet with Brad Dourif and Karl Urban. They are both real troupers, and I want to thank them as publicly as possible for taking up the mantle of "Lord of the Rings" movie actor in front of the fans. I think we are a little intimidating, but I was greatly encouraged by Brad's response to a question I posed to him in his Saturday session (and, btw, he stayed an extra 12 minutes to keep talking to the fans, who were interested in his other movies as well -- he's a great guest and if you run a convention and have an opportunity to bring him in, DO IT!)

What was my question to Brad? I asked him if the actors and crew felt intimidated by the prospect of releasing movies which are obviously directed toward an audience with high expectations and which seemed likely to say they were wrong no matter what they did. Brad was ready for the challenge. He immediately asked the audience if any of them would feel that way about the movies. NO one raised their hands. No one. I was very, very impressed.

All through the weekend I, the panelists, and our guests have tried to emphasize just how important it is to accept that a story can be told by more than one person, and that the movies are not a threat to the books in any way. We may not be able to convince everyone on the Internet, but based on what I've seen at DragonCon, all the people who have met the actors and seen our presentations have only been heartened and encouraged. That is not to say that people have lost their disappointment about some issues, or that they have dropped all their objections.

Rather, they all seem to agree that it's now Peter Jackson's turn to tell a great story, and maybe one day someone else will get a chance to retell the same story, too. And why can't that person be any one of us? After all, we're fans, too.

Michael Martinez is the author of Visualizing Middle-earth, which may be purchased directly from Xlibris Corp. or through any online bookstore. You may also special order it from your local bookstore. The ISBN is 0-7388-3408-4.

And be sure to download your free copy of Parma Endorion: Essays on Middle-earth, 3rd edition at Free-eBooks.Net!