4. “
“”
If you don’t like my
burglar then please
don’t damage him.
Return him to me.
5.
6.
7. The Hobbit Trilogy
• An Unexpected Journey
• The Desolation of Smaug
• The Battle of the Five Armies
8. Director + Book
• The Hobbit, directed by Peter Jackson, is a
prequel to the Lord of the Rings trilogy, both
originally written as books by J. R. R Tolkien,
both set in Middle Earth.
9. The Story Line
• The Hobbit” describes a story of Bilbo Baggins (young
father-to-be of Frodo Baggins) being approached by
Gandalf the Grey in his front yard one morning to
notify him of the adventure to reclaim the Lonely
Mountain (named by the dwarfs as Erebor), the
original settlement on the Dwarfs, which was stolen by
the dragon Smaug after desolating the village of Dale
which laid just outside its entrance.
• Bilbo was quick to refuse but, as he later finds out, is
not listened to. Gandalf gives him a contact to sign.
10. • That night, Bilbo begins getting knocks at the
door with a total of 13 dwarfs entering. They
eat him out of house and home and continue
without him. The next morning Bilbo chases
after them with the signed contract. They
make their way to the lonely mountain over
around 6 months. However, throughout their
journey, Sauron, the main antagonist, sends
Orks (including Azog the Defiler and Bolg) to
kill the dwarfs as he wants the mountain for
its extreme wealth and strategic power for
war.
11. • The Desolation of Smaug begins at this 6-month
mark and opens with the introduction of a
temporary character called “Bayon” who the
dwarfs believe to be under “some dark spell”.
Gandalf quickly reassures them that he is a Skin-
changer and can become man or bear on
demand. They learn that the forest they must go
through has been taken over by a dark force and
is now unsafe. They take the dangerous but safer
Elvin Road. Bayon aids them with a meal and
ponies to get to the forest.
• In the forest they begin to hallucinate and leave
the path. Bilbo, during his intoxication, fiddles
with a web. This resonates deep into the forest.
12. They then ask a Bargeman of Laketown (a town of
ordinary men and women) to smuggle them through
the town as going around the lake would allow for the
Orks to run them down and kill them. He agrees but not
willingly. They are caught trying to steal real weapons
from the town armoury but after explaining their cause
and confirming the “prophecy” of the return of the
mountain king the townsfolk talk of, they are released
and aided greatly. However, some do not go as one is ill,
an other refuses to go without him, the medical dwarf
remains with the ill dwarf and an other wakes up too
late due to the drunken party they all had the night
before with the master of the town.
13. They enter the mountain and remind Bilbo of his
contractual obligation to enter the mountain alone and
retrieve the Arkenstone. They need this jewel as the
other dwarf kingdoms swore an oath to the barer of the
jewel that they would use as much force as possible to
protect the mountain. However, Bilbo awakens the
dragon. (Clip one)
The dragon proceeds to attempt to put doubt in Bilbo’s
mind and ultimately tries to kill him.
14. Smaug proceeds to attempt to kill the dwarfs but does
not succeed. He instead desolates Laketown as he knows
it will cause Bilbo more pain and hurt than killing him and
the dwarfs. The bargeman then kills him with the last
remaining black arrow in the third movie.
In the third movie, the Dwarfs, the Elves, Iron Foot
(defenders of the mountain), the remaining people of
Laketown and the Orks begin to fight (Dwarfs + Ironfoot +
Elves + Laketown vs Orks) and Thorin dies.
After peace is restored, Bilbo return to the Shire to find
his belongings being auctioned as they assumed he was
dead. He has to prove his identity and uses his contract
to do this. The trilogy ends.
16. Clip One:
Bilbo removes a golden pot which begins a cascade of
coins. They reveal Smaug’s eye. Bilbo hides which also
creates tension. The dragon then puffs through its nose
to show that he is waking up and probably trying to
smell if someone’s there. Bilbo instantly recognises this
and begins to walk away, but we see a long shot of the
dragons tail which can be seen in the far distance. He
then sizes himself up agains the dragon which can be
seen in full. Bilbo anticipates that the dragon will try to
spot him and jumps just out of site. Smaug knows he’s
there. The music turns sinister as Smaug awakens and
goes quiet.
17. Smaug immediately knows Bilbo’s intentions and
ensures that Bilbo is aware that Smaug is impossible to
hid from but continues to ‘toy’ with Bilbo by asking
“Where are you?”. Bilbo’s only option is to run.
Smaug continues to toy with Bilbo, showing Bilbo that
he can kill him whenever he wants but doesn’t just yet.
This also shows the audience how manipulative and
cunning the dragon really is. One of my favourite bits is
when Smaug commands Bilbo to “Step into the light.” as
it is said with extreme authority and stuns Bilbo. Smaug
then pretends to not know why Bilbo is different and
forces him to take off the ring.
18. Bilbo then explains, with his very weak voice in
comparison, that he is not there to steal but just wants
to see Smaug. He also tries to flatter Smaug and to
some degree it works and so Smaug lets him know that
flattery will not keep him alive.
Smaug then asks Bilbo for his name, however, Bilbo
knows that you are to never reveal your name to a
dragon, even if it is its last breath. Bilbo spots the jewel
he went in the mountain to find and Smaug, apparently,
doesn’t notice it. Smaug smells Bilbo and asks him to
continue telling Smaug details about him, however,
Bilbo goes to far and instantly knows this when Smaug
hints at this.
19. Smaug’s tail can be seen swaying and flicking at
different points during the clip. This was deliberate and
was used to show that Smaug is playing with Bilbo like a
cat does when it plays.
Bilbo tries to tell Smaug that he has misunderstood
Bilbo but Smaug knows he’s right.
My favourite part of the entire trilogy begins when
Smaug stands on the jewel, sending it deeper into the
mountain. Bilbo is forced to chase it. Smaug chases
Bilbo.
“Did you think I did not know this day would come?
Where a pack of canting dwarfs would come crawling
20. “Did you think I did not know this day would come?
Where a pack of canting dwarfs would come crawling
back to the mountain.”
Bilbo finds temporary safety in a falling pile of coins. The
clip ends with the dwarfs realising the dragon is awake.
21. Clip Two:
This is an ambush the Orks conduct on the place that
the Dwarfs are staying when they follow a Dwarf back
while they were out trying to get a plant to try and bring
down the ill Dwarfs fever.
The Orks enter and begin to try and execute everyone in
the house. They do not succeed.
22. I provided this clip as it demonstrates the clever use of
music in a movie. All of the music and most of the
sounds in the Hobbit trilogy were recorded and created
specifically for the movie, with different characters
having short and specific tunes. This is demonstrated
when Tauriel enters the house (female elf) and is then
matched when Legolas enters too. While Tauriels is
changed slightly to reflect the action and fear of the
situation, Legolas’s is not simply because he is second to
enter.
23. Fun fact: the boy who flips the bench into the Orks
face had one stunt and that was it. However, he
broke his wrist doing this so a stunt double was used
to flip a bench.
24. Clip three:
This is a part of the movie I really enjoy when
listening through a large speaker or headphones
(much like my most favourite bit as mentioned
above). I love audio and enjoy the detailed stone-
crack effects and the bass when the bubble of light
is constructed by Gandalf. This scene is changed,
however, as in the non-extended edition there is no
second, smaller character and is just Gandalf
fighting for his life with light against darkness.
25. Fun fact: the voice of Sauron (and Smaug) is Benedict
Cumberbatch who had to learn the language of middle
earth and how to speak it. However, he decided he
wanted to give the voice of Sauron an unparalleled edge
and so decided to record him saying it backwards for it
to later be rewound to be heard correctly.
Benedict refused to voice-record an anything other than
a woollen mat.
26. I don’t feel that I did the film justice. Watch them for the best experience, obviously.
