Oscars, Oscars, Oscars!

Camino Frances Day 38

“In life, winning and losing will both happen. What is never acceptable is quitting.” – Magic Johnson

“Butterflies are banging around inside my stomach as I sit motionless in my tuxedo amongst the hushed audience of 3,000 stars, directors, producers, nominees and glitterati. I’m waiting breathless, with my heart pounding away, for John Travolta to make his presentation.”

In 2003, Peter (Jackson) brought his cast and crew back together for the third and final lot of pickups for RETURN OF THE KING.

We filmed those pickups for an incredible 10 weeks. Normally, you can shoot a whole feature film in 10 weeks, so we were rather spoilt having all that extra time to ‘fine tune’ this the final LOTR chapter.

‘Bad Boys’: Richard Taylor (Wētā Workshop), Peter Jackson, Gino Acevedo (Prosthetics Supervisor, Wētā Workshop)

Obviously, after the success of the first two films, New Line wanted to maximise bums on seats and thus their profits once this final instalment of the LOTR Trilogy hit the screens.

As soon as we finished each cast member’s little bit of extra shooting, we had to let them go because they had other filming commitments around the world. So, on each actor’s last day, Peter would always gather the cast and crew together at the end of that shooting day and make a thank you speech for that departing cast member. Pete would give them a gift, usually their favourite weapon from THE LORD OF THE RINGS. The actor would thank Pete and us crew, and then we would watch a short video clip cut together by the editorial department that highlighting some of that actor’s most poignant performance moments in the Trilogy, followed by a few funny moments… a few sorts of Christmas reel gag moments.

I remember when we finished our final filming with Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn).

At the end of that day Peter thanked Viggo for all his fine work and presented him with his (Aragorn’s) sword as a permanent keepsake.

Viggo responded with a heartfelt, almost shy thankyou speech.

Then the core stunt team of about 30 pumped guys did something very special to honour Viggo.

The whole stunt team, which included a lot of Māoris and Pacific Islanders, all simultaneously ripped off their tops down to their bare chests and performed this amazing, resounding Māori haka for him.

The Māori haka is a bit like a ceremonial war dance that is used in various ways including welcoming guests, expressing pride, celebrating achievements, and before battles to inspire warriors to feats of bravery and to feistily challenge their opponents. Our world-famous national New Zealand rugby team, the All Blacks, perform a haka before every international rugby match as a challenge to their opposition team.

Sometimes at the funeral of somebody important, the family members, relatives and friends will perform a rousing haka as a sign of high regard for that person.

During the Olympics whenever New Zealand athletes win medals the whole New Zealand Olympic team do an enthusiastic haka as a demonstration of honour for that medal winner.

Viggo was left dumbstruck, he didn’t know how to react to that electrifying haka display at all. He managed to say just a few words of thanks then the 30 stunt guys all lined up to each in turn ‘hongi’ Viggo.

A ‘hongi’ is a Māori greeting. When you’re meeting someone, instead of just shaking their hand, you touch foreheads and you touch noses. You shake their hand with your right hand, and you put your left hand up on their shoulder. And all that has meaning. When you touch foreheads, you’re feeling the spirit of the other person. When you touch noses, you’re breathing in their essence. And when you shake their hand and put your other hand on their shoulder it means that you come empty handed, you come in peace, you don’t come to do battle.

So Viggo touched foreheads with the first stunt guy, touched foreheads with the second one… then with the third one. By the time he got to about number six, he gave that stunt guy a little bump with his forehead. And this ‘bump’ then sort of got bigger, firmer and harder with each successive person. So, by the time he got to the 30th stunt guy, Viggo was almost head butting them… in a totally respectful way of course. Thus, he ended up with this huge bright red bruise on his forehead. It was quite a stunning moment.

Bernard Hill (King Theoden), Yours Truly, Viggo and Corrin Ellingford (Boom Operator)

We watched short video clips of Vigo’s classic moments during the filming… and then that was it! He was finished… and he was gone the very next day.

So eventually we got to the very last day of the very last scene… the very last shot… the very last take. Peter called ‘ACTION’ for the last time and finally ‘CUT… And that’s a wrap.’

And it was.

There were some tearful, emotional speeches on that final day because we were celebrating the end of a long journey that for me had stretched over five years.

With DP Andrew Lesnie (Director of Photograhy… a wonderful Aussie who sadly passed away at far too young an age)

So, it was very emotional for all of us involved. Rather sadly I realised that I would probably never be involved in such a mammoth life-changing cinema project ever again. Honestly, I felt both glad and sad that my LOTR roller-coaster of an adventure was finally over.

Then a couple of days later about 1500 cast, crew and guests turned out to celebrate our huge wrap party in Wellington. Peter proceeded to put the final touches to RETURN OF THE KING, and it was ready for release.

As part of the celebrations at that time some of us LOTR folk were hosted at parliament in Wellington by our Prime Minister Helen Clark.

Mike Hedges (Sound Re-recording Mixer) & his wife Jo, Belinda, Renata (my much better half) & me at Parliament House

The official worldwide premiere of THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING was held on 1st December 2003 in Wellington, New Zealand on a beautiful, sunny afternoon. This premiere was seen around the world and was like no other before it.

It still holds the title as the largest world premiere in history with over 100,000 filling the streets, balconies and roof tops to catch a glimpse of the 421m of red carpet and its star-studded lineup.

Barrie Osborne (LOTR Producer), Helen Clark (NZ Prime Minister) and Kerry Prendergast (Wellington Mayor)

I walked proudly down red-carpeted Courtney Place with beautiful Renata on my arm, heading towards the Embassy Theatre, revamped at a cost of $7.5m for this momentous premiere event.

With Mike Hedges

My soul-mate Renata and Jo Hedges (Mike’s wife… who hails from Gore!) outside the Embassy Theatre

Inside the Embassy Theatre where our gallant son Ferand was one of the LOTR ‘guards’

Boom Operator and great mate Corrin

Embassy Theatre all aglow

With Liv Tyler (Arwen) enjoying the Premiere ‘After Party’

It was a truly fantastic occasion.

Going into worldwide release on 17 December THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING eventually earned US $1.1 billion worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing film of 2003.

Earlier the following year it was nominated for 11 Academy Awards, again including Sound Mixing.

So, a third trip back to LA, thank you New Line… First Class! A limo was waiting for Renata and I at LAX, then back to the Four Seasons Beverly Wilshire hotel. Three nights of pre-parties and pre-events.

LOTR:ROTK Sound Mixing nominees: Christopher Boyes, Michael Semanick, Hammond Peek & Mike Hedges

Then a stretched limo… off to the Oscars on the Sunday.

Renata & Jo

Renata looked gorgeous in her 3^rd dress created by her talented brother Roderick.

I walked the red carpet enjoying all the razzmatazz, glitz and glam… got into the show, feeling really nervous that third time. I knew this was it. This was our last chance in our Sound Mixing category to try and score one of those lovely gold fellas.

When they finally came to our Sound Mixing category they showed clips of the five nominated movies, including: PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL, SEABISCUIT, THE LAST SAMURAI and MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD.

And then what they do is they don’t read out the title of the winning movie, they read out the names of the winning team, which normally wouldn’t be an issue, except in our team of four mixers, we had myself and Mike Hedges from New Zealand, and two American mixers: Christopher Boyes and Michael Semannic, who both work out of San Francisco. Those two American mixers are constantly busy throughout the year working on many big blockbuster movies.

One of each Sound Mixing team is always nominated as what’s called the Lead Mixer. And that person’s name is always read out first. In our case it was Christopher Boyes. Now Chris had been frantically busy year that year, and he was actually nominated for Sound Mixing for two movies, our own THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING and also PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL.

So, I was sitting there in my flash tuxedo feeling really nervous… with my heart thumping away in my chest… holding my breath for what seemed like an impossibly long time… just waiting for John Travolta and Sandra Bullock to make their Sound Mixing announcement…

When John Travolta ripped open the envelope and said, ‘And the Oscar goes to - Christopher Boyes…’ I was sitting there on the edge of my seat thinking Yeah, yeah but what’s the next name?

Then they read out our names. It was like someone just stabbed me in the heart with pure adrenaline. I felt about 25 feet tall as I floated up onto that stage, gave Sandra Bullock a wee peck on her cheek as I got my Oscar from her. We all got to say thank you.

It was a fantastic feeling and a huge emotional buzz being up there on stage in front of those 3,000 film folk in that gorgeous venue and simultaneously being watched by millions of viewers worldwide. It just felt just so tremendous, so unbelievable.

And I can now totally understand why sometimes quite thin actresses who win Oscars get up there on stage and wave those Oscars high, making those awards appear almost weightless. Adrenalin! Those gorgeous Oscar trophies each weigh 8.5 lbs (3.9 kg)… really heavy suckers!

As we walked backstage John Travolta came with us. You walk along a corridor and get into a lift, go up about five levels, and then you walk down a corridor. You get champagne thrust into your hands and posters to sign. Then you end up in this huge space with about 100 reporters, all sitting at computers, punching out stories, as the show goes out live in the States. They fired a few questions at us.

Finally, we ended up in another big space with about 100 stills photographers who took endless photos of the 4 of us Sound Mixing winners with John Travolta.

Those photos go out to all the various wire services, magazines and publications that come out after the Academy Awards.

Christopher Boyes, Michael Semanick, Mike Hedges & Hammond Peek… man was I excited!

At that point the presenting star left us, and we made our way back into the Kodak theatre. I got back to my seat about 20 minutes after having walked up on stage. Back to my beaming wife Renata.

We ended up winning 11 Oscars out of 11 nominations that night. We scooped the pool!

Only two other films in history have equalled that feat. Do you know what the titles of those two films are? A lot of people say GONE WITH THE WIND but no, that wasn’t one.

The movies were BEN-HUR and TITANIC. Yes, those two films and THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING are the only three movies that have ever won 11 Academy Awards. So, I felt we were in great company.

After the 3.5-hour Oscar show finished I was feeling rather peckish so luckily, we again went to the Governor’s Ball… $750 US per head… thank you New Line. You get fed, which is great, and you get to mingle with a lot of the Hollywood stars.

Then we headed off in our stretched limos to the various after parties. Peter Jackson told us, ‘Look folks, I want us to go to the One Ring.net Fan Club party first to say thank you to the fans who have followed us on this five-year journey.’

So, we charged off in our limos to this hall that those One Ring.net LOTR fans had hired in another part of Los Angeles. There we found 800 excited, boisterous fans jammed into this tiny venue.

We rocked out on stage, waving our Oscars high… and they went absolutely ballistic.

Thus, for a couple of magic minutes there, I had a little bit of a taste of what it might be like to be a rock star. Pretty neat.

Mike and I with a great New Zealand Māori actor Rāwiri Paratene

Following various other after parties we finally arrived back at our hotel about three in the morning.

And Renata said, ‘Look my feet are killing me. I’m done, so I’m heading off to bed.’

But I was still all pumped up with adrenaline, so I told her, ‘I’m just going to carry on up to Peter’s room and continue celebrating with the rest of our team.’

So, I celebrated with everyone else for several more exciting hours. So there was Peter Jackson, with his jacket off, his shirt tails hanging out and a video camera in his hands. He was walking round and round this coffee table doing a hand-held tracking shot of 22 Oscar statuettes sitting on his coffee table. So cool!

Richard Taylor (Weta Physical) had won two Oscars that night (Costume Design and Makeup). When you get those Oscars on the night, they don’t yet have name plaques on them, but they are individually numbered. So, there is a tiny difference between each golden Oscar. Well Richard didn’t want to forget which two were his. So, he had taken the little wire cap off a couple of bottles of champagne and stuck them on the heads of his two Oscars.

Days later when I finally arrived back home in Christchurch to my family, my youngest son asked me, ‘Oh, will you go back to the Academy Awards again next year?’

‘No, no, it’s a Trilogy. Just three trips. I’ve got my trophy for the mantlepiece so I’m all happy.’

He replied, ‘Oh… I don’t need to bother watching the show next year then.’

Kids!

THE LORD OF THE RINGS Trilogy earned a whisker under US $3 billion at the box office worldwide so New Line’s US $281 million gamble paid off handsomely.

And THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING is currently ranked #27 in the list of highest-grossing films of all time worldwide.

Looking back, I really enjoyed working with our many talented, friendly and brilliant thespians like Elijah, Ian McKellen, Ian Holm, Viggo, Cate Blanchett, Orlando, John Rhys Davies, and bubbly Billy and Dom.

PJ (Peter Jackson) our monumental talented non-swearing kiwi director completely changed the cinema landscape and international opportunities for filmmaking in New Zealand.

Newspaper cartoon showing the interisland ferry entering Wellington harbour, in the NZ city where Peter lives

I thank Corrin my trusty boom operator for his company and wisdom, and ditto for the rest of the amazing sound team.

With Boom Operator Corrin Ellingford and Cable Person/Sound Assistant Eoin Cox

This was a truly life changing experience for me, and such an amazing, exciting roller coaster adventure. I don’t believe I’ll ever have the chance to equal this film-wise ever again. I feel truly blessed to have had this opportunity to work on and contribute to such an iconic, far reaching, impactful cinema experience, that continues to resonate with millions of people around the world today.

New Zealand will always be… the home of Middle Earth!

So, what wonders next lies in store for me?

Day 38 Negreira to Santa Mariña 26 June 2018 20.9 kms (13 miles)

It is my second day of walking after leaving Santiago de Compostela on the last leg of my journey to the sea at Finisterre (Lands’ End).

I leave the misty town of Negreira and walk along a dripping forest path for the first hour.

Another day with this oppressive, smotheringly damp mist.

I don’t think I could live in this part of Galicia... the misty days and lack of seeing the life-giving sun would drive me spare.

I pause for breakfast at the only cafe open on today’s walk.

Later I chat to Renata on messenger as I walk along for about 2 kilometers, catching up on all the latest family goings on back home in New Zealand. It gives me a very welcome distraction from today’s oppressive weather.

I take very few photos today.

It’s a short day as I arrive at my Santa Mariña albergue at 11.30 am.

I wash my sweaty clothes, but I don’t think they have much chance of drying in today’s clammy, damp air.

I eat a huge bocadillo (baguette sandwich) for lunch, along with... yes, you guessed it, yet another cerveza grande! Medical science has proven that beer helps to dissipate lactic acid from tired muscles... so its consumption is justifiably therapeutic!

My learning for today:

I realize that I need to see the sun to feel complete as a human being.

Goodnight, and much love and gratitude from New Zealand.