Happy Yule everyone, and best wishes for the Yuletide! I hope yer all have some relaxing days, filled with as much good cheer as possible. To help yer get in the right mood, here is this year’s Yule video from the Shire hobbits on Laurelin.
Enjoy! And if this isn’t enough, be sure to check out the hobbity Yule calendar! Or attend one of the many hobbit yule events!
The 2024 Yule video
Every year since 2012, I have made Yule videos where the hobbit players on Laurelin are invited to take part. And they do! Lots attend the video shoots, send in screenshots and offer ideas for scenes. Many thanks to all who helped this year! As always, yer assistance and good cheer was absolutely vital for the making of this video! I really hope I didn’t forget to add any of the pictures yer sent in…If you think this all looks fun, please join us! There are lots of things happening in the Shire, which yer can read about in my own hobbit calendar or in the Bramblebury Gazette, the local hobbit newspaper.
So here it is: The 2024 Laurelin hobbit Yule video. Full-screen and high-definition very much recommended! More on the making-of it below.
The Charge of the Oinkhirrim
If yer watched last year's Yule video, Oinklins, you may remember a teaser for an upcoming show in the Frostbluff theatre: The Charge of the Oinkhirrim. Naturally, I had to deliver on that promise in this year's video. Somehow.The Oinkhirrim idea was inspired by the spectacular Rohirrim charge at the Pelennor Fields in Lord of the Rings, both the books and the movies. It didn't hurt that the movie The War of the Rohirrim this was in the works either (side note: I was not a huge fan. It was OK, but the story was unremarkable, and there were lots of issues with the animation). However, as usual is in the Shire, pigs (or oinkers) tend to take the center stage. Both in roleplaying stories, and also in Yule videos.
There was only so much I figured I could do with the Oinkhirrim idea. To allow for more stories, I set the video to the premiere night of Oinkhirrim in the Frostbluff theatre. Before the main show starts, there are two "teaser trailers" to be previewed (or prevued).
What stories to tell in the teasers, though? I had no idea this year. So I asked Pycella. In two minutes, she had two suggestions: 1) Use A Charlie Brown Christmas for inspiration, and 2) tell a story about someone who absolutely loathes certain Yule tunes. The latter is a common thing in the Shire community. Especially one tune...
This led to the madness yer see in this video. The first segment, Tree's Company, is rather calm, with a sad hobbit who doesn't quite manage to grow a fine Yule tree. After first laughing themselves silly, the rest of the community rallies and helps unleash the full potential of the puny Yule bush. Many festive scenes in the snow follow, much helped by ambient environments yer can use in premium LOTRO houses to control outdoors light and weather. The night scenes in Tree's Company used the Wildermore - Balewood environment.
While the first segment was rather simple, the second one took on a life of its own. Jingle Half the Way was also planned as a simple story, about a lass whose last-minute Yule shopping is regularly interrupted by the Yule tune she hates most. Leading to fits of rage.
That made me ponder, though. Wouldn't it be fun if the anger turned really explosive? Hence a merry chase between lass and musicians around the Hobbiton area (side note: Having someone chase musicians and dancers is a not too subtle dig towards some of the grumpier roleplayers around, who regularly fantasize about tossing music bands out of busy areas). The segment ends with another recurring topic for our hobbit roleplayers: The Yule bath. Naturally I had to add all the screenshots sent in by other players too
As ambitions grew, all sense of sanity went out the window. Since the scenes were filmed in Bywater, just outside the Green Dragon, shouldn't the lass turn into a monster, even a... yes, she should. And how about filming some "live coverage" of the Oinkhirrim stars arriving at premiere night in Frostbluff? By all means, let us. Although that meant a last-minute extra shoot just two days before the release of this video. Happily, many hobbits showed up at short notice!
Adding all the new stuff meant that the length of the video grew. What was originally to be a short video of between 6-7 minutes, turned into a whopping 12-minute behemoth, by far the longest Yule video I have made. It could be trimmed a bit here and there, but really... I had too much fun making it once I got going.
As for the Oinkhirrim show itself? Well, you just have to watch the video to see how it turns out. Now roll on Oinkhirrim 2! Or the Extended Cut?
Happy hobbity Yule everyone! And thanks again to all who helped make the video possible!