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The Press Online
November 13, 1999DOC Land Rings to
Film Trilogy
Orcs, horses, and helicopters will start swarming over
Department of Conservation locations deep in the South Island's most spectacular areas as
The Lord of the Rings filming gathers pace.
The Conservation Department has permitted filming in
protected areas, but has imposed 77 conditions in a 40-page document, and slapped on a
$50,000 bond. During the next two months, action sequences in the $360 million trilogy
will be filmed in the Mount Owen area near Murchison, the Wakatipu basin near Queenstown,
around Te Anau, and in Fiordland.
Filming will be based around the hobbits as they trudge
across the Middle World on their mission.
But film company Three Foot Six's access is restricted. It
has to maintain public access to the areas and drive only on the roads. It will also pay
for a DOC officer to monitor how well it protects the environment.
Publicity officer Clair Raskind said 400 people would be in
the shoot starting next week around Queenstown.
Up to 300 horses and riders would be auditioned for one
scene, she said.
"We're doing all the action and the most dramatic
scenes."
However, the set will stay under wraps for now.
Lord of the Rings producer Tim Sanders said it was a relief
the application had been approved.
"Some of New Zealand's most beautiful places will be
showcased internationally through this film trilogy," he said. |