Sir Peter Jackson releases video of Hobbit studio (includes Billy Connolly)

Sir Peter Jackson has released the latest in a series of Hobbit behind the scenes video blogs.

In this, the seventh video of its kind, Sir Peter kicks off a tour around the Stone Street Studio based in Miramar.

"It used to be a paint factory, we got hold of it just before Lord of the Rings," Sir Peter explains.

He then hands the tour over and the cameras are taken swiftly through the production office where actor Billy Connolly, who portrays Dain, is hanging out.

From there the blog follows the trail of some urgent script revisions that need to go out, which are hand-delivered in this case to the trailer of James Nesbitt aka Bofur.

"I've decorated my trailer with things that remind me of home," says Nesbitt, pointing to flags and pictures of the Irish seaside adorning the campervan.

The video then takes a tour with Luke Evans, or Bard.

Evans takes a walk through the trailers the actors have been living in for the last seven-and-a-half years, knocking on doors to get the other actors to come out in various stages of costume.

It then follows actor Peter Hambleton to the prosthetics lab, where he is radically transformed into the epically bearded Gloin.

After that the cameras go for a stroll through the assistant-director's Portacom and the stunts department where an all-out brawl ensues, then it's off to the Hair and Make Up Department and the Costume Department.

Sir Peter pops back up again to show stages A and B, as well as the studio's biggest soundstage, K.

"K being named after King Kong," said Jackson.

The K studio has recently housed monumental set-pieces including Milk Wood Forest.

Fans also get a peek at F and G stages, which were built specifically for The Hobbit, and are housing some fiery scenes at the time of the blog shooting.

Following that, the video heads to the art department, most of which is fuzzed out for secrecy, but the team show off some of the intricate models put together for Sir Peter.

There are also some shots of the onset action, a look at the tremendous green screen, and a peek in the weapons shed.

The video then heads over to Sir Richard Taylor's Weta Workshop were the team are insanely busy making all the props needed for the film, including prosthetics for a team of "scale doubles", a set of dwarves who double for the lead actors.

The video then wraps with tiny Bilbo double Kiran Shah, revealing the surprising "behind the scenes team" filming the blog.

Sir Peter says the team will put out another blog shortly after shooting has wrapped in a few weeks time.

Source (with video): TVNZ

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey stars Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage, Andy Serkis, Benedict Cumberbatch, Graham McTavish, Ken Stott, Hugo Weaving, James Nesbitt, Aidan Turner, Luke Evans, Stephen Fry, Billy Connolly, Evangeline Lilly, Christopher Lee, Cate Blanchett, Ian Holm, Elijah Wood and Orlando Bloom

[Note : I can’t view the video here in the UK, but hopefully you’ll be able to see it!]