Red Book of Westmarch

Patrick B made this great rendition of the (via BrickNerd).

Moria

Michael Herbolt built this great dwarf mine based on Moria.

16x16 scenes

Ivan Storm built a number of great Middle Earth scenes, intentionally limiting himself to a 16x16 footprint.

Watcher in the Water

Sergeant Chipmunk built the Watcher in the Water.

Farewell, Christopher Lee

Farewell, Sir Christopher Lee, Dracula, Count Dooku, and of course Saruman. 1922-2015.

MELO Round 3 Orthanc bracket

Continuing on with round 3 of the MELO. Here are the four pairings for the Orthanc bracket - again, with creations themed on characters from the Fellowship of the Ring.

Pieter Dennison faced off against Joseph Olson to build MOCs based on Aragorn. Joseph Olson advanced to round 4.



Andrew JN faced off against Professor B to build MOCs based on Frodo. Professor B defaulted, so Andrew JN automatically advanced to round 4, but given the quality of this build he probably would have gone on anyway.

ForlonEmpire faced off against Bane of Seagulls to build MOCs based on Gimli. Bane of Seaguls advanced to round 4.



Vladimir van Hoek faced off against Trevor Turco to build MOCs based on Merry. Vladimir van Hoek advanced to round 4. I cannot find Trevor's entry, but I don't think he defaulted.

MELO round 3 - Barad Dur bracket

In round 3 of the MELO, each pair had to build MOCs based on characters from the Fellowship of the Ring. Here are the four pairs from the Barad Dur bracket.

Captain Nemo faced off against Graeme Straughn to build creations based on Boromir. Captain Nemo advanced to round 4.



Finn Tegotash faced off against Tim W to build creations based on Sam. Tim W advanced to round 4.



Dunedain98 faced off against Dodge to build creations based on Legolas. Dunedain98 advanced to round 4.



Mark McPeek faced off against Graham Gidman to build creations based on Pippin. Graham Gidman advanced to round 4.

MELO Round 2 - Barad Dur bracket part 2

Here's the second half of the Barad Dur bracket round 2 of the MELO - head-to-head match-ups based on characters from the Hobbit.

Zoltan paired up against Graham Gidman to build MOCs based on Fili. Graham Gidman advanced. Zoltan's entry seems to have been deleted from MOCpages.


Dodge paired up against Micah the Fire-breathing Hobbit to build MOCs based on Beorn. Dodge advanced.



Kevin Moyer paired up against Tim W to build MOCs based on Bofur. Tim W advanced.



Graeme Steaughn paired up against Mate Paton to build MOCs based on Ori. Graeme Straughn advanced.

MELO Round 2 - Barad Dur bracket part 1

Round 2 of the MELO started the head-to-head match-ups. The 32 builders were broken into two brackets, the Barad Dur and Orthanc brackets, in a single elimination tournament. Each pair had to build something with an assigned theme. In round 2, challenges were based on characters from the Hobbit. Here are the first four pairs and their results.

Captain Nemo faced off with Ian Diller on the theme Bilbo. Captain Nemo advanced to the next round.



J-rod Smith faced off with Finn Tegotash on the theme Smaug. Finn Tegotash advanced to the next round.



The Dunedain98 faced off with Thomas on the theme Thorin. Dunedain98 advanced to the next round.



Mark McPeek faced off with John Smith on the theme Balin. Mark McPeek advanced to the next round.

MELO Round 1 - The Last Goodbye

The Last Goodbye was another popular one, inspiring several MOCs.

Jacob Pennington showed Bilbo on his trip out of the Shire after his eleventy-first birthday party. He advanced.


Jared depicted Boromir's death. I'm surprised, but he just missed advancing to round 2.


Forlorn Empire advanced with Thorin's death scene from the movie.


As did John Smith.


Micah the Fire Breathing Hobbit did not go directly to a book or movie scene, but instead gave us an unnamed warrior and his fallen comrades after an orc-raid. He advanced.

MELO Round 1 - Edge of Night

The next song to inspire round 1 entries of MELO 2014-2015 was Edge of Night. This is a really interesting song, where context and melody really shape the tone. The original poem from Fellowship is all about going out for a walk before coming home to a nice warm fire. In the film, the lines about home and hearth have been removed, but still if you just read the lyrics, there is a lot of hope:

Home is behind, the world ahead
And there are many paths to tread
Through shadow to the edge of night
Until the stars are all alight
Mist and shadow cloud and shade
All shall fade, all shall fade

A straight-forward reading says that, yes, night is falling, but the stars are coming out, and night shall fade away come morning. But in the film this is sung with that haunting tune by Pippin while we see scenes of Faramir's forces being slaughtered, intercut with an uncaring Denethor, so the tone is completely different. Watching it on screen you get the feeling that everything is falling into darkness, and all that is good and noble in the world will fade away in the coming triumph of Sauron. It's that feeling of despair that drove most of the MELO entries. Here are a few of my favorites.

Mate Paton thought of the siege and near-fall of Minas Tirith and advanced to the next round.


Dominik the Builder also went to the RotK context, illustrating the charge of Faramir - a nice scene though it did not advance.


J-rod Smith went to a different context altogether, seeing Lake-town as being on the edge of disaster. His was the third-highest score of the round 1 entries and easily advanced.


Ian Diller left Tolkien's world altogether, simply keying off the song's tone of imminent disaster with his Last Stand in the Badlands. He advanced.


A few of the entries looked more at the lyrics, suggesting setting out from home on an adventure. Saequis still stuck to movie inspiration, showing Pippin singing to Denethor, but he illustrated the line "Home is behind, the world ahead", but he did not advance, so faded from the MELO.


Jake Andrews took this line as reason to justify Bilbo setting out on his adventure, illustrating different scenes from the Hobbit. He advanced.


Kevin Moyer did much the same with Frodo's journey. He also advanced.


Graham Gidman also advanced with an unnamed figure leaving home to set off on adventures.