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Yes! It is that time of year again to write another RingCon report. As long of a task this is, it is always my pleasure to share my experience and photos with everyone. However, I'm no Ian Smith, so bear with
me.
RingCon this year definitely topped last year. The guests were fantastic, the costumes were extraordinary, and the good times to be had were unforgettable. To my friends, new and old, you will always have a place in my heart. This year was twice what RingCon was last
year. It was fantastic. There seemed to be twice
as many people, twice as many vendors, and twice as many guests. And
there was twice as much Middle Earth in the atmosphere. The booths
were decorated wonderfully and more people came in costume. Also,
the fact that the con is officially licensed makes things much
happier.
The con started for me at the press conference
(unless you want to count the bar from the night before – haha.)
Everyone except John Rhys-Davies attended. John did not get in until
late that night. The conference was brief and informative. The
excellent Michael Bratsch was the moderator, and he started things off
with Craig Parker. To summarize, Craig said that the last con scared
him a lot, but he had a fantastic time. Currently, he is finishing
his TV series and visiting Europe. He also called the Uruk-hai a
bunch of weak girls. At some point I think the questions started
from the audience. Sala Baker was asked what he did to get into the role
of Sauron. He said that as soon as you get into the costume, you
start to feel, walk and talk differently. Then he joked around
stating that he gave everyone a job because he took on the role as the
central character Sauron. Bruce Hopkins was asked what
was next in his plans. He stated that family and Christmas were in
his future. He will also go to more cons and do a live show. I
believe he was the one that mentioned attending the TorN Oscar Party next
year. Nathaniel Lees will be doing some theatre and spending some
time with family. John Leigh is doing a TV series called Serial
Killers. Serial Killers is about a writer who writes for soap
operas. Lawrence Makoare may be doing pick ups next year for Return
of the King. He mentioned The Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe and King
Kong, but I’m not sure what he said about that (sorry about that folks -
jetlag is hell). He will be doing more cons and meeting up with Sean
Astin in Milwaukee. Craig said that he is working with The Lion,
Witch, and the Wardrobe. He is living in London and doing some
drinking. Sala is residing in Los Angeles and auditioning.
Mark Ferguson will be doing some conventions, spending time in Italy and
working with his production company. Jorn Benzon will be attending
more cons and attending the premier in Copenhagen. (Ian Smith has a
great transcription here.
Just make sure you come back to me.
Jorn’s panel was the first to kick off the convention. He mentioned that the best thing about LotR was Helms Deep and he has fond memories of being there. At one point he can be seen standing behind Legolas at Helms Deep. At 3 in the morning the bunch of them got wet there. He said it was really cold, but if you stood in the middle of the group, you would be much warmer than standing on the outside. The uniform at Helms Deep was tight and hard to sit in because of the uniform and skirt. He mentioned that a friend of his at Helms Deep was dressed as a Uruk-Hai. His friend really had to go to the toilet but couldn’t make it. Because of the way the uniforms were, he had a bad accident. Eew. And Rumil was not at Helms Deep. He can be seen in other roles other than Rumil. Jorn was asked what it was like to change from role to role. He said it was easy thanks to the costume. Wearing an elf or an orc costume would change his demeanor and personality. As an elf he would glide. As an Uruk-hai, he would have big arms and a big chest. When dressed as an orc, he would bend his knees, pump his chest, and always want to kill. Although when he played a Gondorian, the amour gave him a sore butt. Jorn was also asked if he endured any injuries while on set. He suffered from a twisted ankle, a punch in a nose and hurt his knee. He was also hit in the back with the butt of a sword so hard that his arm dropped and it seemed that it was dead. Currently, Jorn is still in contact with the actors and extras through email. He has been in Denmark for the last 3 months. The Lord of the Rings was his first film and will be working on music videos. He was a fan of the books before the movie (good boy) and is a SciFi/Fantasy fan (good boy). His favorite character is Gandalf because he is a wizard and he likes wizards. He feels that Ian McKellan did the most marvelous job. Jorn was asked if he knew about his Decipher card. He said that he didn’t know about it until his brother was surfing the net one night and called him at 1 in the morning. He was the elf that held the arrow to Gimli’s face at the scene in Lothlorien. Jorn held a number of jobs before acting. He was a short order cook, farmer, milked cows, waiter and bartender. He says that he won’t go to acting school because it’s a waste of time. If he could play another character, he would play Haldir. He had recently bought Laurel and Hardy on DVD and also owns Labyrinth, Princess Bride and Krull. Jorn said that he feels that Peter Jackson is an unbelievable man. Nobody else could do better. His favorite scene in the film is when Gandalf told the Balrog that he could not pass. That scene sent chills down his spine. Sala Baker was next up on the stage. It was great to see him again! He was so humorous as he addressed the crowd. While wearing the Sauron costume, he said he felt like R2D2. When asked about his favorite bad guy, Sala said it was the character that Michael Clark Duncan played in the Green Mile, although he wasn’t truly a bad guy. The Green Mile made him cry (1-2-3 Aaaaw!). Sala said that he was the one that killed Haldir and he liked it. He mentioned that he will be attending the TorN Oscar Party. He also said that he wouldn’t kill a dwarf, but he would toss them. Following that statement, he started singing “Fly Me to the Moon”. Sala had the crowd in stitches. He was great. I’m sorry I don’t have more to add about Sala’s panel, but when you’re laughing most of the time, it is really hard to take notes. Another set of characters were up next. John Leigh and Bruce Hopkins took the stage. These guys were fun to watch on stage. They were very animated. John was asked how he prepared for the role. He said that he researched history and Celtic things. Bruce mentioned that Edoras was the most beautiful scene. Working with Bernard Hill was amazing. In the scene where Bruce is putting the armor onto Bernard, he said that his sons can be seen dressed as refugees behind them by the door. There was one scene that was not shown in the movie. While battling at Helms Deep, Bruce heads down to the caves and tells the women to evacuate. Eowyn is helping a woman give birth. And although Gamling has been out battling with blood and guts spewing everywhere, he could not bare to watch the woman give birth. He said it was the “Let’s make Gamling look like a dork” scene. For the fight scenes, neither John nor Bruce had any sword training. They were asked if they could get one thing from the movie what would it be. One of them said Peter Jackson’s paycheck. John said a helmet and a horse. Bruce said armor or a helmet or Miranda Otto.
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Also, yes, you will probably find mistakes in the
report. They will be corrected ...... eventually.
They even had a minivan! The minivan looked
great. It had the silhouettes of the Fellowship along with the
signatures of all the guests from last year. 
)
