Watch: Peter Jackson's THE HOBBIT Production Video Diary #2

Peter Jackson has posted the second video diary from the New Zealand set of The Hobbit where filming has now completed on the first block of footage. I gotta say the first thing that struck me about the video... boy does he look exhausted compared to the previous one that was shot at the start of the shoot but it's a testament to the blood, sweat and tears he puts into realising Tolkien's world for the big screen and why the two-part epic is sure to be so spectacular. I just love these production diaries that Jackson puts together. Nobody quite does theem the way he does and you can't help but for a moment forget that you are watching behind a computer screen, you feel like you are there, part of the crew, part of Bilbo's unexpected journey. What we get in this video is a look at Andy Serkis second unit directing, a look at the set design, the costumes, the actors from the movie (Elrond & Bilbo!!), even brief glimpses of footage from the film itself which was a huge delight, and Jackson location scouting what doesn't look like New Zealand but instead Middle Earth. And to think they were nearly forced to shoot these movies elsewhere. You know as much as I love Scotland, it just wouldn't quite be the same. I haven't yet opened my Lord of the Rings: Extended Edition Blu-rays that I pre-ordered weeks ago, I'm kind of just waiting for the right moment to spend my evenings with them. I guess it's been tough with the change from Obsessed With Film to WhatCulture! to find the free time but I'll be damned if sometime this weekend I don't get to watch The Fellowship of the Rings, which is without doubt my favourite of the three. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is my big Christmas present of Dec 2011. What a journey that is in store for us.