Some of you might know a new up-and-coming director by the name of Peter Jackson. He's a guy with a lot of potential, and he's directing this new independent film called The Hobbit (I know, not very funny, I tried). Kidding aside, if you've been following our site for awhile, you may have already seen the other production diary videos that Jackson and Co. have been making for the new Hobbit two-parter. The crew for these videos is probably as big as some low-budget films -- which just makes the entire process even more impressive.


Unbelievably, the film has shot the equivalent of 22 million feet of film. That's an absolutely incredible number when you consider that some of the largest productions ever have only used a few million feet of actual film. 22 million is just staggering, and for anyone who is considering shooting RED EPIC in 3D at 48fps like this film, the amount of data is quadruple what it would be shooting 2D EPIC at 24fps. I've written previously about the data that RAW can consume, but thanks to RED's compression, it's not nearly as bad as it might have been. Either way, they've got to be creating their own data center for this massive amount of footage -- because the 22 million feet number doesn't include the backups that they are surely making.

These production diary videos give a great sense of the community that has been created within the crew working on the movie. I've found that I don't have to be best friends with everyone working on a set I am in charge of, but it's important to treat every single crew member like they are the most important person on set. In my experience, if someone makes a mistake, they know they made it, so there's no reason to berate them or call them out in front of crew members. If it is significant enough, they probably already feel worse than anyone. Fostering this sense of trust between crew members can help get the best final product possible, and it's clear that even through the long hours, the people working on The Hobbit genuinely enjoy waking up each day and getting to be on set.

[via IndieWire]