Say what you will about the merits of high frame rate, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey has provided some amazing visual and sound effects achievements. Now, two new featurettes have been released that take you behind the scenes of Peter Jackson's epic adventure film and show you how much effort went in to those creations. Whether it's the practical costumes and make-up of the Hobbit, Dwarf, Elf or Wizard characters, or the purely digital creations of Trolls, Orcs and Gobilns, the visual effects continue to exist on the leading edge of technology. And while Adam Chitwood, Matt Goldberg and I disagreed on the effectiveness of some of the visuals in The Hobbit, each of us was on board with the score, musical cues and sound effects in the film. Hit the jump to check out two featurettes that delve into these arts (presuming you've seen the film already). Check out the visual effects featurette for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey below (via Movieweb), followed by the sound effects featurette (via The Playlist/SoundWorks):Here’s the synopsis for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey:

“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” follows title character Bilbo Baggins, who is swept into an epic quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor, which was long ago conquered by the dragon Smaug. Approached out of the blue by the wizard Gandalf the Grey, Bilbo finds himself joining a company of thirteen dwarves led by the legendary warrior Thorin Oakenshield. Their journey will take them into the Wild; through treacherous lands swarming with Goblins and Orcs, deadly Wargs and Giant Spiders, Shapeshifters and Sorcerers. Although their goal lies to the East and the wastelands of the Lonely Mountain, first they must escape the goblin tunnels, where Bilbo meets the creature that will change his life forever… Gollum. Here, alone with Gollum, on the shores of an underground lake, the unassuming Bilbo Baggins not only discovers depths of guile and courage that surprise even him, he also gains possession of Gollum’s “precious” ring that holds unexpected and useful qualities… A simple, gold ring that is tied to the fate of all Middle-earth in ways Bilbo cannot begin to know.