Per usual, the latest The Hobbit production diary video is filled with dense looks at the production, sets, and scale of Peter Jackson’s new trilogy. This one starts a little differently though, as PJ does his best to explain exactly why Desolation of Smaug will not be making a Comic Con appearance. You can tell he’s really sensitive to the response of fans by how far out of his way he goes to explain that an hour spent on a sizzle reel is an hour lost on a half-a-billion dollar production. They also go into detail about what reshoots on a production of this magnitude entails- it really seems to have been like waking a sleeping beast.

Still, you get to see some fantastic reunions, lots of fun make-up, training, prosthetic, set dressing, and stunt work behind the scenes, and even a Dwarven workout video. Enjoy!