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Preimeres at Books of Wonder, NYC October 22nd 2005 written by Jessica Burke Photos by Anthony Burdge
October 22nd 2004, dawned dreary, cold, and damp. It was a truly horrid rainy, Saturday as I dozed blearily on the Staten Island Ferry, making my way, along with my co-chairman Mr. Anthony Burdge, to Books of Wonder. Alan Lee was to give his second appearance at what has to be one of the finest bookstores in Manhattan owned by author Peter Glassman. We arrived later than expected, around 11:30, only to find the store almost devoid of Tolkien fans. There were less than a dozen familiar faces, members of The North East Tolkien Society, attendees from past Lord of the Rings events here in NYC, and the like milling around the newly renovated children's bookstore, with quite a few grabbing a snack at the newly added Cupcake Cafe. I was concerned, recalling last year's event--a rather cold December morning--which boasted standing-room-only by 10:30am. I began to think that either the LotR public at large was either a) out of town, b)put off by the weather, or the dreaded c)tired of LotR. Not possible, I told myself. They'd come.
 North East Tolkien Cochair and members discussing Tolkien ---------->
Anthony and I met up with several of our members, some new friends, and still the store seemed rather empty. About 15 minutes after we arrived, our friends at Houghton Mifflin arrived with Mr. Lee. As if on cue, the fans started to arrive. Mr. Lee and several assorted Tolkien fans, store employees, our friends at Houghton, along with Mr. Glassman began the arduous task of setting up the sound system, screen, and a new-fangled image projector. What had hitherto seemed a spacious area off the main selling floor--a space set aside for special presentations, readings, and the like, rimmed with shelves of rare and unusual editions of many children's classics in addition to the many superb posters, book-covers, and pieces of art signed by the various illustrators or authors--now seemed an awfully tight space. Having nothing else to sit on, we squeezed onto the carpet, which after a few moments became a precious commodity.
Mr. Lee announced that this would be the first public appearance of his new-fangled slide projector--sleekly encased in a laptop computer. Mr. Glassman entertained the audience with some LotR discussion, and some inquiries as to whether we all "bought the book." The book, of course, is the magnificent Lord of the Rings Sketchbook. The Sketchbook contains a mere 10% of the sketches and illustrations Mr. Lee did for his work on the Peter Jackson films. Many of which were presented during the 2002 "New York is Book Country" event, and last year's Books of Wonder presentation. Mr. Glassman also brought our attention to the publication of the first of a series of mythology books, retold by Rosemary Sutcliff and illustrated by Mr. Lee: Black Ships Before Troy: The Story of The Iliad and The Wanderings of Odysseus: The Story of the Odessy. Mr. Glassman also invites anyone present who would be unable to stay for the book signing, to approach Mr. Lee for an autograph at that time. I took the opportunity to ask Mr. Glassman to sign my copy of My Working Mom--his wonderfully witty tale of an overzealous career mom who happens to be a full-time witch.
A little after 12, Mr. Lee began his presentation. We were taken on a visual journey into the beautiful, rugged, pristine world of New Zealand as Middle-earth. Mr. Lee shared an insight into the progression of the LotR films from concept to sketch to set to finished film. Mr. Lee spoke of helicopters dropping carefully into unstained landscapes in search of prospective locations, photographers using these self-same helicopters as literal camera stands to take panoramic shots of the incredible views, and the final shots--which consisted of dozens of image composites. Mr. Lee never ceased to amaze and impress us all with his skill--from the singular detail of the meticulously worked sketches to full color matte paintings, the statuary he designed (many of which were actually sculpted by his daughter)--just as he said he was never ceased to be amazed and impressed with the very process of bringing LotR to life. Mr. Lee shared many images hitherto not released to the public, from photos he took himself of the 'bigatures' which were 3D representations of the innumerable sketches he created, to series of images which show the progression from what was actually shot (we were even privy an image of John Noble and a cat looking over the ramparts of Gondor onto what should have been the Pelennor Fields, but was actually a parking lot in the center of Wellington?) to the final product.
After the presentation, Mr. Lee stayed for autographs, and didn't leave until every last person had an autograph and a brief chat. Both Anthony & I would like to thank Mr. Lee for his candidness in the presentation, for giving us all a remarkable insight into both his skills as a craftsman, and the work that went into making these films, and for taking the time to speak to each and every one of us. I look forward to seeing Mr. Lee's future projects--which I hope we're all able to get our hands on here in the US!--and I look forward to future presentations at Books of Wonder.
To hear about the event from Mr. Lee himself, and to see more photos click here take a look at his new 'blog' on TheOneRing.Net.
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