August 31, 2000
Creatures and Crew
Emerge For Greasies
Staff Reporter
Rain forced the film crew to abandon their Takaka Hill location for the old Enza packhouse on High St in Motueka on Wednesday.
The crew of the $360 million movie was forced to leave the Mt Olympus site it started filming at on Tuesday due to poor weather, and yesterday had to leave the Takaka Hill site for the same reason.
The old Enza packhouse in High St opposite Fry's Fruitbowl, Toad Hall, became the new home for the Peter Jackson-directed epic, as the Gods once more decided to be uncooperative.
A High St resident said the first she knew about the filming was when a crowd converged on the packhouse suddenly on Wednesday.
The film crew had kept an incredibly low profile, and it was hardly evident they were there apart from trucks and increased traffic.
"It's great for the area, sensational stuff," she said.
A Lord of the Rings crew member said the change had not set them behind as they planned for this kind of eventuality.
Some scenes from the trilogy were able to be set up in an enclosed location with sets and props, he said.
Film publicist Claire Raskind said Friday's shooting would take place in a location somewhere in the Takaka vicinity.
The shooting schedule has been extended to Sunday due to poor weather conditions. It was hoped the rain would clear so shooting could resume on Mt Olympus tomorrow, she said.
All of the scenes at Canaan Downs on the top of Takaka Hill had been shot, she said.
Stars Elijah Wood, Sean Bean and Sean Astin were in the area filming the fellowship crossing middle-earth from the first part of the trilogy.
Motueka's Wheelhouse Takeaways were run off their feet yesterday when they received an order of 40 scoops of chips and 50 fish.
The talk of Motueka was that the town's accommodation signs have been switching to full occupancy due to the filming.
Accommodation providers were keeping quiet today about whether they had any film crew or cast staying with them, saying they had entered into confidentiality agreements.