Director Peter Jackson has released a new production video that takes viewers behind the scenes of The Hobbit trilogy, this time focusing on this summer’s additional shooting for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and The Hobbit: There and Back Again.  The video actually premiered during last night’s live fan Q&A event (read a recap here), and it delves into the “pickups” that took place over the course of 10 weeks during May, June, and July of this year.  Andy Serkis served as the second unit director on principal photography of The Hobbit (back when it was two films), but he was busy with Dawn of the Planet of the Apes this summer so Jackson’s longtime collaborator Christian Rivers stepped in to take over the second unit on the pickups.  The video features a nice peek behind the curtain, which includes some great outtakes by a clearly frustrated Ian McKellen.

Hit the jump to watch the production video.  The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug opens in 2D, 3D, and HFR 3D on December 13th.

Here’s the official synopsis for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug:

The second in a trilogy of films adapting the enduringly popular masterpiece The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug continues the adventure of the title character Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) as he journeys with the Wizard Gandalf (Ian McKellen) and thirteen Dwarves, led by Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage) on an epic quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor.

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