Elf Fantasy Fair 2009 - Lecture

On sunday, the Elf Fantasy Fair's second day, Mark had a so called lecture where fans could ask him questions and he could talk about his work Lord of the Rings and other things. Starry was wonderful enough to make a transcript of this - which must have taken hours!

Mark: "We're ready... is it better with mic or not the mic? Two one one one, that's better. I'll use the microphone? Yep? Hi, everybody! How're you doing? Well, it's great to have you here. Um, I need to get a photo of you guys later (points towards some brilliantly dressed people in the audience) I've taken one yesterday? Oh good. Um, welcome to my talk though I've really no idea what I'm gonna talk about today, because we've only got about twenty minutes. If you've got any questions, please fire away and I can start by giving a broad over view of my involvement in the film. You all remember my fabulous performance in the film. No, you don't, hah! (laughs) That's nice of you to say so! I filmed in the first plot in the prologue and I shot for two months in and around Mount Doom which in New Zealand is Mount Ruapehu which is a volcano and every couple of years it erupts. (more people walk in) Please, come in, please, please! We were just filling time until you got here. (laughs)

Um, and basically in the original... I don't know how many of you know the Silmarillion back stories of Gil-galad, obviously the king of the elves, you know. In the film, it looks a little different, it looks like Hugo Weaving, who I went to drama school with, and he is my herald, all [...] who saw those opening battle scenes, Gil-galad is the king, okay? It is HIS army, all of those elves belong to Gil-galad, he's the it guy. Elrond, he is basically my herald, I don't know whether the word would be "my secretary", he goes and makes the coffee, does all of that for me, but um, it doesn't quite appear like that. Now that reason for that, now there's a little, some industry gossip, is that New Line Cinema wanted the whole prologue gone, they wanted the trilogy to start with the birthday party, Bilbo Baggins' birthday party. That's what they wanted to start with. Peter wanted the whole prologue, which ran, in and up to all of it, ran in for about ten or twelve minutes, because he really wanted to give you the back story that this whole epic history had a start that was well before the actual opening of the trilogy. There was a little heated discussion between the two groups and what they ended up with was a compromise which unfortunately basically got rid of me. So I had to sacrifice myself in the same way that Gil-galad sacrificed himself in the battle, which is where he goes in the battle with Sauron and umm... I don't win. Sauron actually wins. But it's through the battle with Gil-galad that Sauron is distracted and the finger is chopped off. And because - I don't know if you know a lot about elves?

Elves in battle, it's basically the only way they can die. They are immortal beings unless they die in battle. And this is something that didn't quite come up through the film, is that, especially when the elves come back returning to fight at Helm's Deep for the humans, it is an ENORMOUS sacrifice that they make, to go into battle for humans, because if they die in battle they lose their immortality. So, that wasn't quite featured in the film, it's an enormous decision for those elves to make, to actually go into battle on behalf of someone else. And in the original script there was many many scenes of Elrond and Haldir discussing it and "why should we fight for these people" who they don't particularly like or think were particularly bright and Elrond [...] "it is now their time, they are moving forward and we are passing" and so on and so forth.

So, filming was... now this is [...], shhh... you can't tell anyone, absolute chaos. When you actually see the finished product, when we were actually filming it, it is almost unbelievable that it looks as good as it does. Because when we were filming it, umm... I don't know how much you know about, Peter was filming multiple locations at the same time with a fleet of other directors, with a fleet of crews working at very different locations. He would sit in one place - and this is absolutely true - and have up to six monitors in front of him, while he's directing one scene, all these other monitors are being fed through to him of all the other locations. Ha! And that is how he directed a lot of the trilogy. And we were all there going "Oh my god, this cannot work! How is he possibly going to be putting this together." And then of course, there were all of the disruptions of the set. When we were filming in Queenstown, Queenstown had a once-in-two-hundred-years flood, entire locations, entire sets, half of Queenstown was submerged under water. In fact, the major bridge - there's only one bridge that goes into town - washed away! The local government said it's going to take us two months to rebuild the bridge and open it up again. The production couldn't do that so production, they brought in all their builders and rebuilt the bridge of Queenstown, just so that they could keep up filming.

We were on Mount Doom, which, if you remember Mount Doom, it's very brown... that is the entire look of it. We woke up one day... it was all white! Because it had snowed. It is a mountain, after all. And suddenly everybody came out and this was the lunch tent, something that is like this (indicating the tent we sat in), much bigger, it sat about six hundred people... and we came out there, the lunch tent had collapsed, it was completely flat and covered in two feet of snow. (laughs) So, that was like, that directing this location "we can't exactly blow dry all the snow out of the way"... and then it was finished. "The rest we'll do when spring is breaking." And umm... it was just like that the whole time and you're thinking: "How is this going to happen?"

There's also another little secret. When um... and everybody remembers, the shooting, Peter was given a budget for the three films and he was gonna shoot them all at the same time. We all know that story. As it went on, the production schedule was getting further and further behind, as they were shooting they were coming up to the release of the first film. Also, he is needing more money, basically. What he does - which I just think was genius and so so much courage - he takes the budget basically for the second and third films, puts it all into the first film and then they release the first film. The first film of course, luckily for Peter, is a huge success, it makes a billion dollars, he then goes back to New Line cinema and says: "We just need to do a few re-shoots on the second and third film." Re-shoots! There were ENTIRE sequences that hadn't been filmed! Which he didn't have the budget for. And that would have only get filmed, if the first movie was a success! By that stage New Line got the check book out: "Anything you want, Peter, here you go!" And there hadn't even anything been storyboarded yet. And we as the actors, and it's a lot of the actors, it's quite hysterical, there would be various times, I think, Paul Norell, the king of the dead, arrived on set, maybe twelve times, only to be told... he was not required, because they hadn't gotten up to shooting his bit yet. He had to come back twelve times till eventually his part was actually done.

Umm... if you have any questions? Yes?

Question: What's your biggest blooper?

Mark: "The bloop... haha! The bloopers, there were quite a lot of bloopers. Umm... there are some other quite famous ones, I'll tell you about mine in a second, but umm... they used to show at wrap parties and things for various milestones, they mixed the blooper reels together for the cast and crew. And there's quite a famous one of Orlando... um... with his quiver. And of course, it looks like he's a very good archer, you know, in a lot of his battle scenes he seems... (makes shooting noises and quick succession)... if you get to see the real footage... (impersonates how Orlando is trying in vain to reach behind and pull an arrow from the quiver, either not being able to grab it, or grab it and drop it while pulling it to the front and so on, all in a very "San Francisco"-manner) ... like that. He could NEVER get it together. When you see him going (quick shooting noises again) ... all of those arrows of his are CGI. (Laughter on and off stage) There was NOT ONE real arrow that he shoots, because he could not get it out of the quiver and actually fire it. Umm... sorry. True story! But I do love him.

The other one which I like was umm... I talked to a guy who was on the set. He had spent eighteen months making Liv Tyler's armour and weaponry. Armour? Weaponry? Do we all remember her great battle scenes?

Audience: "No?"

Mark: No! Ha! He spent eighteen months making the most BEAUTIFUL filigree steel, I mean, with her crest and everything, it was absolutely magnificent. Course as turns up to do and shoot those battle scenes.. Liv Tyler! (Impersonates how she weakly tries to lift the sword and fails) Silly female voice while straining to lift the sword: "I just... I just... can't" (shaking his head) She couldn't do it. At all. So they just cut it, she walked away from it and ... this guy... eighteen months of his life ... and it never got used in the movie! (Laughter) And I remember having a drink with him and he was like... (sobs).

My ones were of course... the biggest problem... this wasn't just me, it was a general elf problem. Umm... general elf problem! How often do you get to say that! Often, especially in the battle scenes, the elves walk in a very very smooth way, so it's almost like you're on a conveyer belt, you know, effortlessly moving forward and all of that. The problem with that we were shooting that on location on the side of a volcano. And there is no, you know, it's not in the studio with a perfectly beautiful smooth floor. And I don't know if you know much about volcanoes but they tend to be covered in rocks. Alright? As a volcano goes off it goes (erupting noises) and a lot of rocks fall out and cover the volcano. That's how volcanoes are. And so there were rocks EVERYWHERE and trying to walk and also hold your focus when you're approaching on film and you got rocks everywhere, it's not very helpful. So there was a lot of elven army walking forward and people just went "Oh!" (impersonates stumbling elf)... you know, blond hair flying everywhere, cursing NOT in elvish!

And um... the real problem is... when we're filming up there, the orcs, basically this huge battalion of orcs coming towards you are all wearing their heads, the orc heads. They could only stay in those heads for about half an hour. Then they had to... there's this big call that goes off "Heads off" and the orcs have to take their heads off. If they don't take their heads off, basically they die. Because they overheat, there's no... I don't know if anybody's done full body prosthetics, you have to be very careful about how long you stay in there, because everything gets overheated and your brain swells and there are problems. So, last thing you wanna be doing is causing a problem before "heads off", right? So, if you're doing a scene you don't wanna stop the scene because then they have to take this huge break to then start the whole process of setting the scene up again. And that was mine. There was this enormous HUGE set up scene where there's a huge track camera, huge crew, tracking as we are advancing and I'm the lead king, okay, Hugo, Elrond was back there somewhere, being a herald, and we're advancing, trying to be very smooth and the camera is just on my spear, so I keep walking forward, trying not to fall over any of the rocks, we've got five minutes to get the shot before it's "heads off", not only that, but also the light was starting to fail and I've got this ENORMOUS spear which... this is the other thing about the spear, is that in REHEARSAL it was rubber! So, you know, if it's about seven feet tall and I've been doing a lot of fighting with it in very close proximities, there's a lot of (shows imaginary spear routine) as you go, and swinging it. BEFORE the first take on film - and I had been rehearsing with this rubber thing which is very easy sort of throw around - the stand-by props guy comes up to me and is very serious and says: "This is Aeglos. This is your real spear." I pick this thing up: "Thank you." THUMP! (falling noise) It was solid hardwood. Six feet of it with this real steel scythe at the top of it, it practically weighed as much as I do. And this is now what I'm supposed to use in these battles which we'd been rehearsing for like four weeks. I could hardly pick the thing up and the other problem with that is that in rehearsal, of course, you've got stunt people all around in these orcs heads and you're having these battles with them and occasionally you miss, or they come too close or you trip or something and you hit them with your weapons. That is fine when they're rubber! But when suddenly you're in very close proximity and you're doing the whole battle and you miss with this huge piece of hardwood and suddenly "OUCH!" (spear dropping), stunt man just going "UAGH!"... and these stunt guys were amazing. They're just instantly going "No, I'm fine, I'm fine! No no, I'm fine!" and you go "I just hit you as hard as I possibly can with a huge piece of wood, how can you be fine?!" (Laughter)

And there was one guy, who was most extraordinary, I would turn around and as I kill this orc, he drops down behind me, and of course I got these enormous boots on as well and then another wave of orcs is coming in, so I have to swing back (huge stomping noise) like that. (laughter) Straight onto this guy's head. (makes another stomping noise - then muffled voice) "I'm alright, alright!" There was three times I did that. And you know, eventually you're thinking "Just get out of the way!"

So, yes, lots of bloopers. This long tracking thing, all beautiful, all perfect, camera's coming in, it's coming down on the spear which is glinting, pans out, and I wish you could see the shot, a beautiful scene, down into the profile and as they get the light just right on my crown as it's coming through, just got that perfect shot when suddenly "trip - bam!" Straight onto the ground. Shot ruined, everything ruined and a lot of orcs and everybody's going: "tsc" (long suffering sigh - laughter in the audience) "Yeah, yeah, you can't be king, you have a problem!"

>Any other questions? Yep?

Question: What was the costume like, armour and such?

Mark: The costume is extraordinary, I mean, apart from being BEAUTIFUL, it was a BITCH to wear! Haha! And especially trying to fight in it, um, because it's quite enormous and I don't know why they did this but the plates, you know the gold plates look slightly like a lobster, you know around the hips and down they look like a lobster tail, and also the chest plate, they were actually a type of plastic so they weren't too heavy. So that's made out of plastic, but what you can't see, and because you can't see it I don't know quite why it's there, I have a full chain mail, real chain mail, an entire full coat of it, long sleeved, down to about here, underneath that. And I don't know if that's just wardrobe doing that to actors or whatever, but that weighed a TON. An ABSOLUTE TON. Um... and then there's all the heavy draping, which again led to a lot of bloopers, cause you got this huge staff that you're fighting with and you sort of like have to "Swing!" (quickly) the costume is completely... you can't get that around... and you just got caught in your lovely cape again. Haha!

But um, the interesting thing which again hasn't been seen which is... I don't know if some other fans of the books and the previous books had some issues with as well, is that Peter wanted Gil Galad to be, cause all the elves are very dispassionate about battle, they don't particularly wanna do it, but if they ARE gonna do it, they are gonna be very good at it. They have a code of battle which is very precise, unemotional and a type of perfection which is a very elvish approach to things. Except for one, and that was Gil Galad. Gil Galad, it's one of the reasons why he's got dark hair and he's the only one who looks dirty, because he LOVES battle. And he's the one with blood spatters, spattered blood over his face, because he loves getting in there. Whereas all the other elves look like they had a bit of a fight and then they got washed, got their hair done, but not him.

Anybody else? No? Yeah, oh sorry, yeah?

Question: Is there anybody else... (difficult to hear)

Och god! That I would've killed to play?!...

Umm... who's really cool in it? Umm... I think Gollum is the best. I don't know about killing in order to play a CGI character, ha!, but he's just so cool. Especially when he starts being the whole, you know, the dual character. Umm, alright? That just reminds me of something. I remember I was talking to a group once and they were very very committed fans and very deeply passionate about the books and umm... I was kinda clowning around as I'm wont to do and something came up about the journey and the ring and I really stupidly said "That's one of the things I find slightly odd about the films is that after they end the huuuge journey they're lying on the rocks and you think it's all over when suddenly the eagles arrive and you know, pick them up and save them and everything is... see, why didn't they just give the ring to the eagle and the eagle flies in and then just drops the ring?" And then, of course, like so many put their hand up they were very outraged and very angry with me (with German accent): "Mr. Ferguson, no! The eagles, they are sentient beings and they would be perverted by the ring!" And I went: "Ah, right, that's true. Well then, why then doesn't Frodo keep the ring, sit on the eagle, then fly in and just drop it?" - "Because that would be a boring story!" (laughter) "Yeah, now you're on to it! That would be..." No, you don't want the logic police sort of investigating such things. That would be terrible, but I found the eagles very interesting.

But there are also some very cool parts in it. Umm... some of the bad guys... I always enjoyed playing the bad guys, I played quite a few of them, played quite a few of them in Xena. I think I got killed by Xena a record of about five or six times and umm... if you're going up against Xena you generally knew you're gonna die. (Somebody from the audience yells) "Put the pinch on me?" (Laughter) Yeah, I got a few different pinches from Lucy! Um yeah, we were rehearsing a scene once and we were looking for some little thing for her to show... I was playing what I thought was a warlord who was equal status as Xena and at one point he puts a bit of a move on her... umm... that she and I would be, you know... (winks) and when she rebuffs me, she could've politely basically turn me down or turned away. No, Lucy suggests, she goes (grabs crotch painfully) (laughter). Yeah. Yeah. And then it's close up on my face. Lucy thought it was HELPFUL to my acting (laughter)... Now I'm sure a lot of men would have been really happy to come into that crotch kind of contact with Lucy Lawless, but um in this... (laughs) No, no. She got a bit method (referring to method acting?) on me, then. It wasn't that much fun.

Any other questions or are we gonna wrap up? Nothing else? No? NO?? Yes!

Question: What have you seen of the fair...?

About the fair? Oh, look, this has been fantastic! I really had no idea what to expect and I've been to a few conventions before but this is completely unanalogous, and the thing I love about it and I've been talking to a few people is, this amazing sense of acceptance, of people from all various different books of life, from different ... of the fantasy world, and everybody here, there is no sense of "what are YOU doing here?". It's just a sense of welcome to all of these different parts, it's just wonderful. One of the things I'm doing when I get back is um... I'm gonna do a story on the fair for the Herald (NZ Newspaper) and it's actually a part of the travel section, so hopefully we'll be seeing a few more Kiwi's here next year. I don't know whether I'll be talking about it or whether it's going to be in the paper. But I've had a fantastic time, it's completely blown me away. And the thing I love is not just the creativity but the sheer BEAUTY of so many of the costumes. But also what people have been investing in the costumes when they arrive, when they walk, it's all... you know, they're completely part of this world. It's wonderful. So, thank you for having me here. And um... thank you very much, see you soon, I'm around and about, come and see me. (Applause)

Updates

I've uploaded screencaps from episode 113 of Sons and Daughters and some new stats. (09.03.10)


The march issue of the german magazine "Tv Serien Highlights" has a two page article about Ring*Con 2009, also mentioning Mark and Craig Parker as the "dynamic elven duo" who, together with Lori Dungey show that many people come only for their show. Well said, dear magazine ;) Other than that, I've uploaded some screencaps from episode 112 of Sons and Daughters (from second picture on). (04.03.10)


And how could I (almost, it's still the 28th here) forget that? Happy Birthday, Mr. Ferguson, to your, err, 29th birthday! (28.02.10)


Added infos on a Schmooze Event (2003) Mark hosted and finally, finally, some bits and pieces of the Ring*Con 2009 press conference, more to follow. (28.02.10)


Added infos on Ladies Night (with a picture in the gallery) and 20 Years Entertaining NZ, also with pictures. (26.02.10)


And yet another update, this time some new statistics and some more pictures from Mimm's Ring*Con 2009 pictures (from 4th row, 4th picture on). (22.02.10)


The second part of the Best of Both Worlds 22 pictures are now uploaded (from fifth row on) and I've added some infos on the Nestlé Conference (2002, second but last entry in the "Business & MC'ing" category. (21.02.10)


Sorry for not updating, I've been sick for a while. Anyway - I've added Lhiam's Ring*Con 2009 pictures (from second row on) and some infos on Mark's role in The Lord of the Rings. (20.02.10)


I've uploaded some more pictures from Ring*Con 2009 (2nd row, 2nd picture to the end), this time from Mimms. (10.02.10)


The second part (the last eight) of the Wallpapers from Ring*Con 2009 are online. (07.02.10)


And yet another update ;) Added infos on Hyundai Celebrity Ski and Snowboard Race (2003) as well as the last bunch of Ring*Con 2008 DVD caps (third row, fifth picture to the end). (05.02.10)


I've added infos on Born To Be Big and ASB Classic, (both 2002). (04.02.10)


Just a quick update with some new stats. (31.01.10)


There are three new Affiliates: MissDemi.net, FrodoForever.com and JuicyFlaless.org. (30.01.10)


Added a picture to the gallery. (25.01.10)


There might be a possibility for an extra Kiwi Ring*Con 2009 DVD with the Kiwi's panels and maybe more. There aren't enough votes yet for the DVD to be really made, but you can help with voting in the official poll here (you have to be a member of the board, unfortunately, but joining is super easy) or send an e-mail to me (webmaster@mark-ferguson.info) or Steffie (webmaster@lori-dungey.de, who's gathering votes for Lori-Dungey.de) with your Name and your town and that you'd buy the DVD. Every single vote counts! (24.01.10)


Added infos about a radio spot for the Auckland City Mission and some pictures from the BOBW 21 Convention, again thanks to Peter Fallon. (23.01.10)


There's a german Special about Ring*Con 2009 right here, complete with pictures and videos. (17.01.10)


What a busy week with no time for any updates ;( Anyway - added infos on The Xena Scrolls (1996) as well as the first bunch of pictures from the Best of Both Worlds 22 Convention, thanks to Peter Fallon. (15.01.10)


Added new stats. (10.01.10)


The rest of Nicky's Ring*Con 2008 pictures now is online (from 2nd but last row, 2nd but last picture on). (08.01.10)


Added infos on Scared Scriptless (1999), a show which Mark not only was the host of but also (co-)produced. (07.01.10)


There's another bunch of Ring*Con 2008 DVD screencaps, to be found here (from second but last row on). Yes, Mark is on it quite a lot ;) (04.01.10)


I've uploaded a page with infos on the Xena episode Past Imperfect (1999), screencaps of this can be found at the gallery. (03.01.10)


Nicky send in some pictures from Ring*Con 2008, they can be found here (from 2nd picture on). (02.01.10)


Uploaded infos on Mark's appearance in the Xena episode Remember Nothing (1996). (01.01.10)


I've added a new category 'Fun' which so far has ten jigsaws for you to solve on your own computer. (30.12.09)


Sorry for being so quiet, christmas (hope you all had a lovely one!) kept me busy. I've added the third part of Bettina's Ring*Con 2009 pictures (from 3rd row, 2nd picture on). (27.12.09)


There are now 30 screencaps from Mark's appearance in Mrs. Bracegirdle's Adventures in Therapy uploaded to the gallery. (21.12.09)


I've uploaded the second part of the pictures Sons and Daughters Website allowed me to use here: third row, last picture to the end of the album. (20.12.09)


This website now is the home of Mark's approved Fanlisting. Have a look and join ;) (19.12.09)


Added the third part of Starry's Elf Fantasy Fair Lecture transcript as well as some more caps from the Ring*Con 2008 DVD (second but last pic to end of the album). (14.12.09)


The statistics page is updated with the numbers of the last four weeks. (11.12.09)


I've added some of the wallpapers I did for Ring*Con (they were shown during the press conference and other occasions), the last eight, only available in 1024x768. (10.12.09)


A new Affiliate, Lion-and-Lamb.de, as well as a new partner site, Lori-Dungey.de. (07.12.09)


Again some new pictures, this time the second part of Bettina's Ring*Con 2009 pictures (last row & next page). (05.12.09)


The second part of Starry's EFF transcript is online. (03.12.09)


Thanks to the Sons and Daughters Website I could upload some pictures from the series, all here except the first five as well as some from the episodes 112, 118, 131, 140, 239 and 244. 01.12.09)


I've added the first part of the Ring*Con 2008 DVD 1 screencaps (last row, 3rd picture to the end). (29.11.09)


A new link has been added, Mark@Speakers NZ (27.11.09)


Starry has made a transcript of Mark's Elf Fantasy Fair Lecture of which the first part is now online. (26.11.09)


I've uploaded the first bunch of Bettina's Ring*Con 2009 pictures (from last row, 4th pic on). (23.11.09)


I've added some new Affiliates: ChristianBale.us, JamesMcAvoyFan and KateWalsh.org. (21.11.09)


Just a very small update today: I've added some new stats. (19.11.09)


The second bunch of Jörg's Ring*Con 2009 pictures is online (from 3rd row, 2nd picture on). (17.11.09)


Did the annual check up, cleaning out dead links and such. Some things still need to be done but otherwise the site should work fine now again. (15.11.09)


Added infos on Mark's appearance at Celebrity Joker Poker (2007), complete with pictures. Also online: The first bunch of Jörg's Ring*Con 2009 pictures (fifth row, last pic to the end of the album). (13.11.09)


The NZ Herald has a nice article about the Elf Fantasy Fair online - written by the Boss Elf himself. I've also added a new Affiliate, Max-Felder-Online.de, as well as Tonny's pictures from Ring*Con 2009 (last two). (10.11.09)


There are some more Ring*Con 2009 pictures in the gallery, from the fourth picture first row on, taken by Bijou and Hai_Di (the last two). I've also added a new Affiliate (Marcia-Cross.net) as well as infos on the BOBW 22 Convention (2004). (07.11.09)


The last bunch of Starry's Ring*Con 2009 pictures is online (last row, 3rd pic to the end). I've also added new stats as well as some links to report about Ring*Con, only in German so far, unfortunately, but some with pictures ;)

Matthew Lewis, Neville Longbottom from Harry Potter wrote something nice at Twitter, right after Ring*Con: "The Twilight guys were a right laugh. They're alright by me! Kyle Schmid was a lad. And Craig Parker and Mark Ferguson stole the show. Mint." Go, Craig and Mark! (03.11.09)


I've added some new Affiliates (X - X - X - X - X - X), Starry's Ring*Con 2009 pictures from Saturday (first row, last picture to the end) and the info pages on the work Mark has done now have pictures as far as they were available. (30.10.09)


I've split the formerly one A Country Practice page into two single ones (here and here) because it made more sense for two guest roles that weren't connected.

I've also added the lyrics to Reuinted which Mark and Craig sung at Ring*Con as well as the first bunch of Starry's very cool Ring*Con 2009 pictures (second but last row, from third picture on to the end of the album). (27.10.09)


The screencaps of A Country Practice S02E26 are up now as well as infos on Mark's work for Southern Cross. (24.10.09)


I've added infos on the Best of Both Worlds 21 Convention (2004) as well as the second bunch of A Country Practice S02E25 screencaps, second but last picture in the first row to the end of the album. (22.10.09)


There's an old episode of Shortland Street online at YouTube (Part 1, Part 2, thanks to Svenja and Nicky). Some screencaps have been uploaded to the gallery. (20.10.09)


Added the last bunch of Ring*Con 2007 DVD screencaps (from last picture second row on) as well as infos on Paul Newman's Very Own Celebrity Salad Toss (1999) and Extreme Antarctica (2007). (18.10.09)


Added some new stats which show an explosion in the number of visitors after Ring*Con. Hi to everyone ;)

Also added more pictures (last one on page 4 & whole page 5), mostly from saturday's autograph session, a meeting and the costume contest. These were the last of my own pictures, but more will follow with the next updates. If you like to see your own photos here, feel free to contact me, I'll gladly add them. (14.10.09)


Added my pictures of the Ring*Con 2009 Opening Ceremony and the Friday Panel (from 3rd row, 3rd picture) as well as infos on the Herne Bay House Hair Event (2003) Mark was the MC at. (12.10.09)


The next bunch of Ring*Con pictures is online, 4th row last photo to the end of the album, those are from the press conference on friday. (10.10.09)


Back from Ring*Con, I've uploaded sunday's pictures to the gallery. Mark, Craig and Lori really rocked the house, Ring*Con would be such a sad place without those three (do you hear that, Mark? *g*) ... More photos (and other things) to follow with the next updates. (06.10.09)


Just a short note that I'll be at Ring*Con from tomorrow morning until monday, so there'll be no updates. (30.09.09)


The gallery should now be easier to navigate, before it was hard to see on which of the album pages you currently were. (28.09.09)


Added the second bunch of Ring*Con 2007 DVD screencaps (row 2, pic 3, to the end of the album), infos on Living the Dream (2004) as well as some more pictures (the last four). (28.09.09)


After not updating for a bit - what a shame! - I've uploaded the first part of the screencaps of A Country Practice 2x25 from 1982, with a very young Mark ;) I'll upload more of this and the next episode later. There's also a new Affiliate (JustJoaquin.com) and info on Before Stardom (2002). (25.09.09)


Updated with some new new Affiliates (X - X - X - X) and the first bunch screencaps from the Ring*Con 2007 DVD (last picture as well as page 3,4 and 5). I'll try to tweak the gallery a bit asap, at the moment it's quite hard to see on which page you currently are ... (16.09.09)


On with the Updates: Added infos on Mrs. Bracegirdle's Journey to Sanctuary (2008) and some new stats. (15.09.09)


I'm back from my holidays and uploaded a bunch of screencaps of the Ring*Con 2005 DVD (last row and pages 5 and 6). I will try to update more regularly in the future, work's just taking up much time. (13.09.09)


I've added a page on Sons and Daughters (1982 - 1984) now (which includes an article), the first bunch of screencaps from the Ring*Con 2005 DVD (first row last pic to the end of the album) and two new Affiliates (here and here).

I'll be on holiday for about a week, from Wednesday on. I'll try to make another update before leaving ;) (31.08.09)


I've uploaded a clip to the media section, it shows Mark whole 42 seconds role in "Every Woman's Dream". There are some pictures in the gallery, too. (24.08.09)


I've added a new Affiliate, Orliness, the rest of the Ring*Con 2006 DVD caps (from the second row on as well as pages 5-7) and infos on When Ponds Freeze Over (Short Film, 1998). I still have a longish list with things to add Mark has done during the years, but research takes up much time so it will come online bit by bit. (21.08.09)


Like the years before, there'll be a DVD from Ring*Con 2009, for the price of approx. 19,99 Euros. On the DVD will be Panels, Interviews and much more, almost a must have for everyone who went to the Convention. There seems to be a special offer, when you preorder and pay (in cash) the DVD diretly at the Convention, you don't have to pay for postage. Not sure if the offers' valid for postage outside Germany, too, but the people at the booth will surely be able to help you. (20.08.09)


The first part of the Ring*Con 2006 DVD screencaps is online, from the link to the end of the album. I've also added some new Affiliates which are surely worth checking out as well as new stats. I've also added the results of my research for Double Booking (TV Pilot, 1997, Pictures Here) and Dead Certs (Short Film, 1995). (15.08.09)


Been busy researching and added infos on some older stuff: The Far Country (1986), Letter to Blanchy (1996/1997) and Every Woman's Dream (1996). I have also uploaed a good bunch of caps from the Ring*Con 2004 DVD: From here to the end of the album.(11.08.09)


I have uploaded a short video from the Power Rangers Mystic Force episode "Snow Prince" which shows Gekkor, Mark's role, and the only thing he has to say in this episode (he does have some more lines in later episodes ;)). I'ver also added a picture of Gekkor at the detail page. The clip is also available at the new Audio & Video section.

There also are infos on Amazing Extraordinary Friends, a shows Mark had a part in (wearing a lycra costume), you can find two screencaps at the gallery. I've also added some pictures from Sons and Daughters. (08.08.09)


As I am progressing (slowly but steadily), I have now added screencaps from Ring*Con 2003, from here to the end of the album. Speaking of Ring*Con: Mark will present two acting workshops at this year's event, "Close-Up" and "Extreme Close Up". More infos on this at the Ring*Con 2008 detail page. In other news, there are two new Affiliates: Angelina-Place.com and Stellar Matthew. (07.08.09)


Just a very short update: The second part of the Ring*Con 2002 DVD screencaps are uploaded (from here to the end of the album). (04.08.09)


And on with the updates - there are some new screencaps from Shortland Street, a transcript of the Ring*Con 2008 press conference, new stats and infos on Big Brother of which Mark was the host a few years ago. (31.07.09)


And to actually use the advantages of the new gallery, I've added a whole bunch of screencaps from Mark's panel with Craig Parker (from here till the end of the album) at Ring*Con 2002, taken from the official DVD. I've also added infos on Mark's apperance in Xena: Orphan of War. Last but not least there are some new Affiliates: Tennatively.org, Sparkle-Kate.org and Civilized James. Welcome! (30.07.09)


I've spent several hours setting up and customising the new gallery which is way easier to update and also has the nifty feature of showing a collection of randomly chose pictures (right under the categories). Please let me know if you just see the gallery in German (and aren't German), I am not sure the language stuff has worked out the way it should. (29.07.09)


A short update in between: There are screencaps of episode 124 of Sons and Daughters and a link to a video someone recorded at mark's panel at the Elf Fantasy Fair. Thanks to Melli for that link. (28.07.09)


Slowly catching up with infos on Cleopatra 2525 and screencaps of the episode Mark was in, infos on The Mole (and a picture in the gallery) and a transcript of the Ring*Con 2007 press conference. And: YouTube has some videos of Mark at Conventions available - here, here and here. (20.07.09)


I am so behind with updating, sorry! Anyway, added screencaps from Xena: The Xena Scrolls, new stats and infos on the Market Research Effectiveness Awards 2008 of which Mark was the host, there even is a picture in the gallery. (19.07.09)


I've added two pictures of Memorabilia which Mark attended back in 2003, some infos on the tv show P.E.T.-Detectives from 2004 and screencaps from Xena 2x02: Remember Nothing. (12.07.09)


There are some videos from Shortland Street which also feature Mark: Go here, here and here to view them. They surely are more so if you find anything, don't hesitate to send me the links ;) Other than that there are some more pictures from Elf Fantasy Fair, taken by Eline. (12.07.09)


I've added some infos on Ring*Con 2009, infos on the current layout and screencaps from "Hercules in the Underworld" with Mark as Hades. And say Hi to our 1.000th visitor - someone from the US on July 8th 3:04pm local time who came from an Elf Fantasy Fair board (here) in search for pictures of James Marsters - like the, at least, last 20 visitors so far *wavesHello* ;) (09.07.09)


To let you know that I am still alive (and only very busy), here's a little update, more to follow soon. I have added Parker-Blue as a partner website (a visit is highly recommended), some more stats (we've almost reached 1.000 visitors, yay!) and the third and last part of the screencaps from Xena: Orphan of War. (07.07.09)


Just a very short note (knackered from the trip) that there are brilliant news for everyone in Europe: Mark will be at Ring*Con 2009 which takes place between October 2nd and 4th in Bonn, Germany. Welcome back, Mark, it wouldn't be Ring*Con without you ;) (28.06.09)


For your viewing pleasure: Pictures from episode 184 of Sons and Daughters (1980s), some more Icons (Misc: 4, Living the Dream: 7) as well as some infos on High Tide in which Mark had a guest appearance in 1994. The next update will have to wait some days as I am on a short holiday trip from Wednesday to Sunday and won't have much free time directly afterwards, just in case you might wonder ;) (23.06.09)


There are now infos on the voice overs Mark did for Power Rangers Mystic Force, a new link (Mark @ Filmreference.com, four pictures from Ring*Con 2008 (by JeanK), four new wallpaper and five icons from Spin Doctors as well as ten from Xena. (20.06.09)


I've added infos on the TV show Melody Rules, several new icons (Conventions & Shortland Street), six new Wallpaper and 11 pictures from Ring*Con 2007, by JeanK ;) (15.06.09)


There are 13 new pictures from Ring*Con 2006 (by JeanK) as well as infos on The Million Dollar Con Man in which Mark was to be seen in 2007. (11.06.09)


Added infos on Strassman, a show Mark was a guest at back in 2001 as well as 7 pictures from Ring*Con 2005 (by JeanK, again). If you have pictures of any events Mark attended and would like to see them on this website, let me know. (09.06.09)


I've uploaded 15 pictures from Ring*Con 2004 (by JeanK), new stats and 12 icons from LotR and 8 from Orange Roughies. (07.06.09)


New as of now: Two picture from Ring*Con 2003 (by JeanK), some new infos at the profile page and a bunch of icons from Xena. (06.06.09)


New infos on Neighbourhood Network and 21 more screencaps of Xena: Orphan of War. (06.06.09)


I have added another Link: Mark Ferguson @ Tv.com as well as the first bunch of screencaps from Xena 2x01: Orphan of War. (30.05.09)


Here you can find a video of Mark, Lori Dungey and Jed Brophy at Ring*Con 2007. I've also added a new link to the Station to Station detail page (Birth of new plays at Auckland Theatre Company ) as well as some new infos on the play and new picture from the Elf Fantasy Fair (by Tonny and Eline). (28.05.09)


I went through what felt like a million pictures from Elf Fantasy Fair online and this is what I found for you: 001 (scroll down a bit), 002, 003, 004, 005, 006, 007 (several!) and 008 (which even features me *g*). (24.05.09)


There are new pictures in the Hercules gallery, this time from Hercules And The Circle Of Fire, a new link (Mark @ Xenaville.com) at the links page and infos on the Great TV3 Comedy Debate 2002. (23.05.09)


I've added infos on the movie Spooked, the Xena episode Hooves and Harlots and some screencaps from Living the Dream. (20.05.09)


There now is a gallery for Xena 1x10: Hooves and Harlots and some infos on The Great New Zealand Spelling Bee in which Mark was to be seen in 2006. I'm sure it was his teams' fault that he didn't win. (17.05.09)


I've added infos on Mark's appearance in Above the Law, new stats (there are more and more visitors - amazing!) and the second part of the Hercules: As Darkness Falls screencaps. (15.05.09)


The third and final part of the Elf Fantasy Fair report is online. (11.05.09)


I have added the second part of my Elf Fantasy Fair report as well as the first bunch of pictures from Hercules - As Darkness Falls. (10.05.09)


I am constantly adding new Affiliates at the moment so be sure to check back every now and then. I've also added infos on the Ohakune Mountain Mardigras 2003, some screencaps from two more undefined Shortland Street episodes as well as, finally, the first part of my report about the Elf Fantasy Fair 2009. (09.05.09)


There now is a gallery for Shortland Street with some screencaps from episode trailers. I've also added infos about Marlin Bay, a tv series from 1992 as well as some like Mark's Wikipedia page, Mark's imdb page and such. (05.05.09)


Mark kindly agreed to record a small video message for the visitors of this website, you can watch it at the left, right under the welcome text. If you discover any problems with the video, please let me know. There's also a bit on Give Us A Clue in which Mark was to be seen back in 1999. (02.05.09)


Added the last bunch of my Elf Fantasy Fair pictures (from the Acting Workshop and again the Walk of Fame) as well as some by Starry. There now also are infos available about the Deutz Charity Event at which Mark was the Host back in 2003. (30.04.09)


There are more pictures now at the Elf Fantasy Fair gallery, this time from Mark's lecture on sunday. I have also updated with infos about The Vanishing Tattoo, a page with visitor numbers and the transcript of the Ring*Con 2007 Slashfest, with many thanks to Lhiam. (28.04.09)


I am back from Holland and dead tired but I have added the first few pictures. Some more will follow, as well as a report and other things, including a nice little surprise for you ;) I've also fixed the non-working link to Mark's Profile at his Agency's Website which was wrong at 'Contact Mark'. (27.04.09)


Just a short note that I removed some spam from the guestbook. And I'll be gone the next few days, Elf Fantasy Fair with Mark. Updates and (hopefully) pictures after I am back. (22.04.09)


There now is a detail page for the Memorabilia 2003 as well as for Neighbourhood Network and Spin Doctors. I've also added a gallery for Spin Doctors which has two promo shots and some screencaps of a part of an episode. (18.04.09)


The gallery now has screencaps from Mark's Orange Roughies episode. I am still not sure this is his only one as his appearance is remarkably short, but as he's an Australian cop and the next episode already takes place in NZ again (and doesn't have him listed, neither does the one before) this seems to be it. (14.04.09)


There's a new page with Quotes, only two so far but there will be more as well as details about Orange Roughies, a drama television series in which Mark had a guest role. (13.04.09)


There finally is a detail page for the Elf Fantasy Fair which is in two weeks, there are also new infos at the detail pages of the Fellowship Festival 2004 and 2005. (11.04.09)


The Ring*Con 2006 page got updated with all infos available as well as the one for Ring*Con 2007. There's also a quite random file with some fragments from Ring*Con 2007: Auction, Calling Craig & More. (09.04.09)


There are some new Affiliates: Erika's Art Zone, The Confessor and the Seeker Society, Multipleverses.com and Entertainm. Hotline. (06.04.09)


Added a Lord of the Rings gallery as well as infos and links on Mark's appearance at Gathering of the Fellowship in Canada, back in 2003. (05.04.09)


The Ring*Con pages for 2002, 2004 and 2005 got updated with all informations available at the moment. (03.04.09)


Just in case you read this, Mark: I am sorry but I had to add a page about the passport story ... ;) There are also a bunch of links and some new infos at the Rin*Con 2003 page. (31.03.09)


The Fellowship Festival 2004 now has it's own page with a bunch of links and more infos on Mark's appearance. I've also added infos on "A Country Practice", a tv series in which Mark had two guests apperances in the 1980s. (29.03.09)


Added a new Affiliate and infos about a lawsuit against New Line cinema in which Mark, amongst other actors, was involved. (27.03.09)


I have updated all the Ring*Con appareances with a list of the other guests as well as detail pages for all events. (26.03.09)


Thanks to Melli, I have added some infos on "Station to Station", a play Mark appeared in in 2007, pictures of the rehersal can be found here at the Gallery. (26.03.09)


Added another Affiliate. (25.03.09)


Added some graphics you can use if you'd like to link here as well as some Affiliates which are definitely worth a visit. (22.03.09)


Because this is worth an update of it's own: This website is now officially opened! Hooray ;) There's still so much to do and not too much content, but I will work on it so that it will grow steadily! (21.03.09)


Added a counter, a Guestbook, some Icons, some Wallpaper and pictures from Ring*Con 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 (21.03.09)


Added more Convention appearances, business stuff and more at the work section as well as some infos about the man himself and some Ring*Con 2002 pictures (20.03.09)


Added the Legal Notice and a Contact Form as well as some infos on Conventions and a Voice Over at the work section (19.03.09)


Added the Upcoming Appearances, Mark will be at the Elf Fantasy Fair in late April. (14.03.09)

[All Updates]