Earlier today, director Peter Jackson and a good chunk of his The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug cast took part in a worldwide Q&A with fans that was simulcast across the globe.  Those in attendance included Orlando Bloom, Evangeline Lilly, Luke Evans, Richard Armitage, Lee Pace, and Andy Serkis, who not only reprised his role as Gollum in the first film but acted as the second unit director of the entire trilogy.  The discussion covered a variety of Hobbit-related subjects, including the 10 weeks of additional shooting this summer, what classic fiction character inspired Lilly’s performance, when we’ll see The Lord of the Rings trilogy blooper reels, and more.  Additionally, a new trailer was unveiled that has now been released online.

Hit the jump for a recap of the highlights from the event, a video of the event itself, and the new Laketown-heavy trailer.  The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug opens in 2D, 3D, and HFR 3D on December 13th.

Watch the trailer below, followed by video of the event (it kicks in around the 10:10 mark) and a recap of the highlights.

Here’s a recap of the highlights gleaned from the Q&A event.

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    Jackson confirmed that filming is completed, noting, “We’re not filming The Hobbit anymore, believe it or not.”  Of course that’s not to say there won’t be any pickups next year for the final entry, There and Back Again.
  • Jackson said the additional filming this summer was “the most intense 10 weeks of my life.” He said it was 10 weeks of “pretty intense stuff,” as they filmed the Battle of Five Armies for the third film as well as some footage for Desolation of Smaug.  Some of this documented in the latest production blog, which should be released online very soon.
  • Christian Rivers—a longtime collaborator of Jackson’s—directed the second unit portion of the additional filming from this summer, since Serkis was busy with Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.
  • Lilly said that when she was preparing for the role, she intentionally didn’t go back and watch The Lord of the Rings for fear of subconsciously copying the performances of Liv Tyler and Cate Blanchett.  Instead, one of her influences for Tauriel was Tinkerbell, saying “she’s tiny and she’s cute but she is fierce.  You do not wanna get on the wrong side of Tink.”
  • On playing a 60 years younger version of Legolas, Bloom said that time span is the blink of an eye in the life of an elf.
  • Armitage said there were many times that they were asked to improvise, despite having a script that he loved.  His favorite line from the films is “If this is to end in fire, then we will all burn together.”
  • To those saying Luke Evans holds the bow the wrong way, he explained that in order to shoot the longer arrows, he holds his hand the other way so he can bring it back behind his head.
  • On The Hobbit production finally coming to a close, Jackson said he kept himself busy on the last day of filming by keeping a running liveblog of the day’s events.  Jackson also said there was a sense of relief because he could finally start on the post-production and editing of The Desolation of Smaug.
  • Jackson said there was a decision made on The Lord of the Rings not to include bloopers, but he says they are very funny and there are a lot of them, so at some point he hopes to release them on the eventual Middle Earth Blu-ray box set.

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