(three note intro)

Hi, I'm Mike Seymour from fxguide for Wired.

One of the great action sequences

of the new Hobbit film, The Desolation of Smaug,

is also one of the director's

favorite chapters from the book.

Basically, young Bilbo assists the Dwarves

in sneaking out of Thranduil's realm,

the woodland realm with the use of empty wine barrels.

What follows is an action-packed sequence.

But, just how hard is it to film a scene like that?

Well, the entire finished sequence

is seven minutes long.

And normally films have a shooting ratio,

which is the ratio between the footage that's shot

and the footage that makes the edit,

of ten to one, or twenty to one.

Perhaps the highest level might be documentary,

it might be a hundred to one.

So on the new Hobbit film, the sheer complexity

of the amazing sequence required

a much higher shooting ratio.

How much higher?

Well the film started by shooting over four days

on three separate rivers in New Zealand.

This was combined with some 11 hours of aerial footage.

But that was just the start.

The production had planned the sequence out very carefully

and had done a total of 1091 previous shots.

This base, water and aerial locations work

was combined with 35 hours of

dry set, green screen footage.

Which went to digital, then added digital water

and some complex digital environments.

The team did, of course, locations work.

They also built some practical water rapids.

It almost looks like theme park rides.

But in the end they still had to put in

a large amount of digital water simulations.

Each of these complex simulations averaged

over 600 million particles, all simulated

down to about one centimeter resolution.

Plus, all of this water still had to be surrounded

by some 40 different CG environments or landscapes.

When the work was done, an amazing 98 hours of footage

had to be edited down to the final,

stunning seven minutes in the film.

And the shooting ratio?

Well, by my calculations it's 843 to one.

Oh, in case you're wondering,

yes they did, in fact, lose some barrels

while filming in the white water rapids

of New Zealand's epic landscape.

They're still out there, somewhere,

if you're looking for a nice piece

of Hobbit memorabilia.

Well, don't forget to subscribe

for more behind-the-scenes action.

I'm Mike Seymour, for Wired.