Peter (cont.): [Bilbo’s Gifts] Rivendell was a set that was built at Kaitoke, which is a Wellington park, about 25 miles north of Wellington; and we built… Like, this room is actually built inside the Park – that’s a real forest outside we were filming in –, so I wanted Rivendell to have this, very much, indoor-outdoor, kind of, very close to nature.

Fran: And we didn’t mention it earlier, but when we first see Ian Holm here in Rivendell, he has the second stage age make up, which Weta designed. Is it the stipple? The stipple make up?

Peter: It’s the stipple make up, because… Obviously, because Bilbo doesn’t have the Ring any more, his ageing process has accelerated.

Philippa: [Bilbo: “I should very much like to hold it again…”] I think you gave a million people a heart attack with this shot, Pete.

Peter: Yeah… Ian does this so wonderfully well. He’s, you know, he’s just playing a character that hasn’t really been able to finally give up the Ring. And that was done with a rubber puppet that –.We morphed a rubber puppet into Ian’s face for a few frames, so it’s half Ian, half rubber puppet: it’s like a combination of the two.

Fran: It’s absolutely a moment from the book, though, that.

Philippa: Yes, it is. It is, yes.

Peter: It is. Where it says, “a shadow [Philippa: Yeah.] passes across Bilbo’s face” [Philippa: Yeah.] and suddenly Frodo sees something horrible. A grasping –

Fran: [at same time as Peter] A grasping thing.

Peter: – and groping… yeah… yeah, yeah.

Fran: Yes.

Peter: No, definitely inspired by the book. (beat) But I think the scenes between Frodo and Bilbo are very special in the film, as, you know, they are… It is, really, in a sense, it’s…