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Lord of the Rings Theatrical Trailer 334

Posted by michael from the one-compressed-video-format-to-bind-them dept.
BadmanX writes: "The brand new Lord of the Rings trailer that ran on several shows tonight (including the season premier of Angel) is available for download from Apple's Quicktime site." Hmmm. Mirrors definitely needed.
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Lord of the Rings Theatrical Trailer More

Lord of the Rings Theatrical Trailer

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  • sorensonmedia's site is either slashdotted or down for maintenence? mirrors anybody?
  • It crashed upon The One spinning Ring and never got up again.

    From the trailers I have seen however i'm still incredibly impressed.
  • http://www.tolkien-movies.com/media/officialtraile rs.shtml

  • Hopefully it's not all straight from the script (Score:5, Insightful)

    by bonoboy ( 98001 ) on Tuesday September 25, 2001 @06:28AM (#2345845) Homepage Journal
    I'm not entirely sure if this is still the case, but my buddy working on the FX for this was saying that alot of the stuff in the previous trailers was made specially for them. So the spoilage would be kept to a minimum and guys like me who saw the Phantom Menace trailer and wish we hadn't seen the movie won't be disappointed.
    • Doesn't everyone wish they hadn't seen Phantom Menace? I remember before it came out, everyone was so stoked about how cool it was going to be. After Jar-Jar...blah.
    • I certainly hope so... the trailers have been somewhat disapointing... I am still pissed about Tom Bombadil!
    • I know there are some minor changes (Sorry Tom Bombadil), but I believe the movie follows the book's plot pretty closely.

      Phantom Menace was a different deal. The trailer showed the fabulous visuals, but didn't clue you in to the fact that the plot sucked and the dialog was lame. With FOTR, we know the story is great. The trailer sure shows that the visuals are great, too.
  • I have the second trailer on 35mm film.

    I'm thinking about selling it on Ebay. Anyone interested?

  • I swear... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Raymond Luxury Yacht ( 112037 ) on Tuesday September 25, 2001 @06:42AM (#2345877) Homepage
    ... I bet Jobs is sitting at a desk somewhere just watching hits pile up and giggling like a school girl at all the people trying to watch.

    Damn you! Damn you for toying with out hopes and emotions!!! *sob* Don't you think next time it might be a good idea to use something more powerful than an LCIII and an Appletalk cable for a web server, you sadistic bastard!?!?!

    /me bangs head on desk/

  • Be gentle with me. (Score:3, Interesting)

    by RavinDave ( 58826 ) on Tuesday September 25, 2001 @06:44AM (#2345879)
    What am I missing here? Why is this generating so much anticipation? Is it merely that they are going into much more detail than the somewhat feeble [imdb.com] version that came out several years back? (I don't recall such anticipation for that). Is it the people who are to be in it? Is it the fact that special effects have matured to a suitable stage to handle this subject matter? Is Pauley Shore doing a cameo?

    Honestly -- this isn't a troll. I know we all read the books, but I can't quite grok how much of the anticipatory hype is grass-roots and how much is media manipulation. (I also recall a similar feeling before the release of "Dune", so I don't wanna get my hopes up too much).

    • OK. I'll be gentle...

      Why is this generating so much anticipation?

      One word: Marketing.

      It works though - I'm salivating with anticipatory excitement as much as the next sheep......

      The cartoon from a few years ago (underrated in my opinion) was unfinished, because they ran out of cash. Hence no marketing, hence a flop.

      • Not at all!
        It generated so much anticipation when it was still Slash-style rumours and whispers back in 1997 (or earlier) that they were thinking of making LOTR movies.

        The reason is simply because the source novels are by far and away the greatest fantasy work of all time (in fact, they created the genre), and it has won countless large readers' polls as Best book of all time.
          • Why is this generating so much anticipation?
          One word: Marketing.

        That's three words, and it's not true anyway from where I'm sitting. I haven't seen one paid ad for this anywhere, and yet I'm still twitching like a loon.

    • Re:Be gentle with me. (Score:2, Interesting)

      by pointwood ( 14018 )

      This is a major thing - I believe it's going to be as big as (or bigger than) Star Wars.

      The book (Tolkiens trilogy, The Lord of the Rings) has been awarded as the book of the century. The previous trailers has been the most downloaded trailer ever, beating The Phantom Menace. It will, IIRC, have premiere in more than 10.000 cinemas all over the world - again, many more than The Phantom Menace.

      For more info - hit the fansite TheOneRing.net [theonering.net].

    • Star Wars for adults (Score:5, Interesting)

      by dbowden ( 249149 ) on Tuesday September 25, 2001 @08:05AM (#2346115)
      What am I missing here? Why is this generating so much anticipation? Is it merely that they are going into much more detail than the somewhat feeble [imdb.com] version that came out several years back? (I don't recall such anticipation for that). Is it the people who are to be in it? Is it the fact that special effects have matured to a suitable stage to handle this subject matter? Is Pauley Shore doing a cameo?

      Speaking as one who eagerly stood by with the remote last night, waiting to tape the preview as it came on, and watching my wife literally jump up and down in excitement when it did, this is a big thing.

      This is the fantasy story that started a whole genre. Try and find a fantasy novel today that doesn't have _some_ type of resemblance to LOTR. It can be done, but it isn't easy. I started reading the books for the first time when I was 10, and I haven't stopped since. They are that good.

      The reason everyone is so excited by this is that, as far as we've been able to determine, they're doing it right. The casting looks right. The look of the characters, of the land, of the people (elves, dwarves, hobbits, wizards), looks right. It looks like they're finally going to make this story get up, and walk out of the pages of the book, and work on the big screen.

      In regard to casting, I think they made an excellent choice by NOT casting big stars -- this way the audience doesn't have a preconcieved notion of who the actors are, and can see them as only Tolkien's characters. In much the same way that Mark Hamill will always be Luke Skywalker, and Carrie Fisher will always be Princess Leia, I suspect that these actors will be typecast by this movie.

      Another reason people are excited is that the state of special effects has finally arrived to the point where the special effects can be seamlessly integrated into the movie. We can watch Gandalf fighting the Balrog without being impressed by how real the Balrog looks, or by how impressively they were able to model the caverns. We've become used to seeing the impressive effects, and we can now watch them as part of the movie, without wondering how they're done, or being jarred by their unreality.

      With regard to the screenplay, we already know that they've decided to take a bit of license with the story line, and increase Arwen's role (she's a lead character's love interest). They decided to do so because she really doesn't have much of a role in the story -- with the possible exception of Galadrial, no female character does. I personally don't think it'll be a big problem, and if it's the only concession they're making to the "normal" movie going public (as opposed to the geeks & uber geeks that are eagerly watching every move leading up to this production), I'll be happy.

      I also recall a similar feeling before the release of "Dune", so I don't wanna get my hopes up too much.

      Dune wasn't the same - I don't think we'll ever see a really good theatrical interpretation of Dune (the recent Sci-Fi channel series was pretty good, but I still think it missed a lot). The reason for that is that Dune is a very complex story. There is a lot of background, a lot of character development, and a different culture to assimilate. LOTR is essentially a good vs. evil story. The story line is very simple. We won't have to worry about extensive flashbacks, or narratives to explain complex plot points. There are good guys, and bad guys. The bad guys appears stronger, but the good guys eventually win in the end. That means that it will translate a heck of a lot better into a movie medium.

      I'm really looking forward to this movie.

      • This is the fantasy story that started a whole genre.
        Actually, I'd say The Illiad, The Odyssey, and the derivation, The Aenid. :-)
        • Admittedly, I don't have a degree in classical literature, but you're well of the mark in comparing Homer and Virgil to Tolkein. The Iliad is a semi-historical account of the fall of Troy. The actions of the various gods and goddesses, what we consider mythology, were intimately related to the religion of the day. The Iliad did not "create" a universe as such; it simply represents the pinnacle of it's own literary tradition. The Odyssey can be treated in much the same way.

          Now, when it comes to the Aeneid, Virgil was merely attempting to link the founding of Rome to the fall of Troy. This pseudo-historical was little more than Virgil endeavouring to glorify Rome from from its very beginning. In effect, it is a work of propaganda.

          Tolkein, on the other hand, "created" a world from scratch, or at least from a couple of languages he developed (Sindarin & Quenya). While the basic laws of physics and biology appear to be the same, with a bit of magic thrown in, Middle Earth is an entirely fictional creation. That is where the originality, the brilliance, of Tolekein's work's lie.

      • Re:Star Wars for adults (Score:2, Insightful)

        by TZA14a ( 9984 )
        With regard to the screenplay, we already know that they've decided to take a bit of license with the story line, and increase Arwen's role (she's a lead character's love interest). They decided to do so because she really doesn't have much of a role in the story -- with the possible exception of Galadrial, no female character does.

        No? I believe that Eowyn is a pretty substantial character. After all, she kills the Nazgul king and stuff. She also has a love story to offer, though hers is not as teenage-stupid-girl-goes-wooh as the Arwen-and-Aragorn thing is going to be.
        I'm also looking forward to the movies, but focussing a bit more on Eowyn instead of putting in a cheesy happy ending with the Elven girl would have been better IMO.

        • they've decided to take a bit of license with the story line, and increase Arwen's role (she's a lead character's love interest).

        Well, she is a lead character's love interest, we just don't get to see her in the book.

        • with the possible exception of Galadrial, no female character [has much of a role]

        Eowen? If Minis Tirith falls, what's anybody coming home to? Actually, when I heard that Kate Blanchett was featured, I thought "Wow, great casting for Eowen!". When I found out she's playing Galadriel, I had a bit of a think, and came up with "Wow, great casting for Galadriel!". I love when films feature actual actors rather than stars.

        • This is the fantasy story that started a whole genre

        Yup, and in response to the poster below who points out Homer, I'd have to say that Lord of the Rings is much closer to the Norse sagas in terms of setting, character, language and ambience. Gutteral lyricism, cleaving and hewing. You never feel that the characters are safe, and when [spoiler deleted] is killed, it feels grim and right. Oooh, I have to go and read it again! ;)

    • First of all, this is not animated. That makes it a much bigger deal right there. The animated version was clearly meant as a child's cartoon, whereas this is potentially going to appeal to people of all ages.


      Second, when have you EVER seen a good fantasy movie? There are legions of people who have grown up on Tolkien, Dungeons and Dragons (and its assorted spawn), and King Arthur, but never has a truly good movie been made with these elements. Excalibur was passable, I think (or maybe I just think that because it's one of the first movies I saw with nudity as a pre-teen), but this has the potential to be downright GOOD.


      Those are the reasons I'm interested in it anyway.

        • Second, when have you EVER seen a good fantasy movie

        Conan the Barbarian. Pared down, no bullshit. Conan the Destroyer to a lesser extent, but you have to give credit for the line "Enough talk! [thunk, aargh!]"

        I'm hoping for a similar "less is more" feel to LotR. In fact, it's looking so good right now that if anyone grins or cracks a witty quip or goes "Uh oh!" (or "Now this is pod racing!") in any of the combat scenes, I might very well throw up.

  • I'm surprised that it is being hosted by Sorenson when most of the Quicktime trailers are usually hosted at akamai.net and the later usually fairs bit better.

  • Recommended fansite (Score:4, Informative)

    by pointwood ( 14018 ) <jramskov AT gmail DOT com> on Tuesday September 25, 2001 @06:58AM (#2345906) Homepage

    If you are in search for more information - I highly recommend TheOneRing.net [theonering.net]. It's a really cool site, updated very often.

  • As I understand it - though I'm not the fantasy buff I used to be - Tolkein actually wrote the Lord of the Rings as a by-product of his experimentations and work on socio-linguistics. His work on developing what is known, to fans and readers of the Lord of the Rings, as the Elven language which is spoken by Galadriel and also by Elrond (and others as well). You can generally find reasonable notes by Tolkein in the back of the books on how to decipher the script. What will be interesting - with this in mind - is how closely the movie will keep to Tolkein's intended pronunciation, and also how they will deal with the songs that are used as ambience at the council of Elrond. The songs however arent actually spoken during the council, but are inserted by Tolkein for background to the story of the legends behind the quest beginning. But it looks promising so far !!

    • general accent giggle - US or what? (Score:5, Funny)

      by fantomas ( 94850 ) on Tuesday September 25, 2001 @07:38AM (#2346023)

      Yup, the pronunciation is always fun, fits in with that whole thing about reading a book first and having the film shatter your imagined choices on how the characters would look and talk...


      It will be dead funny as per usual for all the heroes to have American accents (though I guess the money came from the USA and they made the film so why not, and it's no more or less valid than any other accent). The best bit though is I hear a lot of the filming was done in New Zealand, for the big scenes they pretty well rounded up anybody who could ride a horse to be in it, some of our pals got jobs. So, imagine the scene from the film:


      A battle, outside the gates of Mordor (or summink)...


      Gandalf (our hero, in a Texas accent): "I will vanquish thee, oh evil spawn of darkness, back to whence thy came!"


      Evil orc dressed in gothicky black wielding dead big axe (in broad Kiwi accent): "No worries mate! Choice!"



      Not sure what the answer is but it always cracks me up...

      • Heh, heh. For some reason I picture John Wayne playing Gandalf in your version; pity he's dead.

      • LOL

        But you are wrong - they will not have an American accent.

      • By nationality:-

        British
        Sean Bean (Boromir)
        Ian Holm (Bilbo)
        Ian McKellen (Gandalf)
        Billy Boyd (Pippin)
        Dominic Monaghan (Merry)
        Orlando Bloom (Legolas)
        Christopher Lee (Saruman)
        John Rhys-Davies (Gimli)
        Bernard Hill (Theoden)
        The voice of Andy Serkis (Gollum)

        Australian
        Cate Blanchett (Galadriel)
        Miranda Otto (Eowyn)
        Hugo Weaving (Elrond)
        John Noble (Denethor)
        David Wenham (Faramir)

        New Zealand
        Martin Czokas (Celeborn)
        Karl Urban (Eomer)

        American
        Elijah Wood (Frodo)
        Sean Astin (Sam)
        Viggo Mortenson (Aragorn)
        Liv Tyler (Arwen)
        Brad Dourif (Wormtongue)

        As for pronouncing it as Tolkein put in the appendix, the purists have lost that one - the trailers definitely pronounce Gandalf as Gandalf, not Gandolv.

        It's a shame only the Americans will invest in movies. Since half the actors are Brits, the top Hollywood cinematographers are Brits, and the book was written by a Brit, you'd reckon you could drum up some finance in Britain. But no... Silly buggers, money-men.

        Grab.
          • New Zealand : Martin Czokas (Celeborn); Karl Urban (Eomer)

          (plus, among other Kiwis): Robert Gillies (armour/weapons technician), Ngila Dickson (costume design) and Weta SFX productions, all of whom worked on Xena: Warrior Princess or Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. Battle on, Frodo! ;)

          • the trailers definitely pronounce Gandalf as Gandalf, not Gandolv.

          Off the top of my head, isn't that how it would be pronounced if it were an elven name, but it isn't, so it isn't?

          Besides, Christopher Lee is a rabid LotR fanatic, pronounciation and all, and was actually correcting the dialogue coaches on set, so I doubt if we'll hear too many fox paws. At least, not in any scenes with him in them. ;)

  • Lesson In Distribution (Score:5, Informative)

    by shut_up_man ( 450725 ) on Tuesday September 25, 2001 @07:02AM (#2345912) Homepage
    I really wish big companies would GET A CLUE when it comes to distributing popular content on the net. They just keep on screwing it up, over and over, during the WTC attack and every time anything to do with LoTR or Star Wars gets posted.
    • Mirroring is essential. And NOT like having three web servers in the same building, you fools. Scatter them all over the world, and provide links from the official site so people can make choices about where they slurp from.

    • Choose providers who can handle this sort of load balancing, like Akamai. What the hell piddly server is squeeze.sorensen.com? No wonder it exploded a nansecond after it got posted.

    • Allow downloads, instead of streaming-only distribution. Golf claps for doing this for the latest LoTR trailer, but big boos for messing the rest up.

    • Let people mirror the files themselves - in fact, ENCOURAGE it. People want to help, let them. Don't get all caught up in legal crap, in case you haven't realised it, we're making copies for our friends already.

    • Throw files on a P2P service like Kazaa. P2P is PERFECT for this kind of distribution.

    It's all freaking simple, people.

    shut up man

    • Just one comment - it is actually available for download - in several versions/sizes.

    • Well,

      • Mirroring is essential. And NOT like having three web servers in the same building, you fools. Scatter them all over the world, and provide links from the official site so people can make choices about where they slurp from.


      and

      • Choose providers who can handle this sort of load balancing, like Akamai. What the hell piddly server is squeeze.sorensen.com? No wonder it exploded a nansecond after it got posted.


      are the same, really. Akamai provides a great network for posting stuff like this. Akamai is your friend.

      Allow downloads, instead of streaming-only distribution. Golf claps for doing this for the latest LoTR trailer, but big boos for messing the rest up.

      I agree with this. It's very inefficient. If you want to play the trailer again, you have to request all the data again, and I don't believe many places proxy and cache streaming media requests.

      P2P distribution is also a good idea, but I don't think the studios want to look like they are legitimising the practise. It's all about appearances.

    • They ARE using Akamai!! (Score:5, Funny)

      by CaseyB ( 1105 ) on Tuesday September 25, 2001 @08:45AM (#2346280)
      "Choose providers who can handle this sort of load balancing, like Akamai."

      Here's the HTML of the link to the file:

      <a href="http://squeeze.sorenson.com/video/fellowship ofthering_fs.zip"><IMG SRC="http://a772.g.akamai.net/7/772/51/a8a1a3fc413 633/www.apple.com/trailers/newline/fellowship_of_t he_ring/images/index_18.gif" WIDTH=99 HEIGHT=23 border="0"></a>

      Note that they ARE using Akamai -- for the 449 byte image used for the link. It's only the 30 Meg movie that's on the dial-up iMac.

      • "It's only the 30 Meg movie that's on the dial-up iMac."

        I can't comment on the bandwidth available to them, but that's no iMac. Netcraft [netcraft.com] say:

        The site squeeze.sorenson.com is running
        Apache/1.3.20 (Unix) mod_throttle/3.1.2 on Solaris [sun.com].

        Having said that, they could probably achieve similar results with an iMac running OS X, or indeed a 386 running Windows 3.1, serving a "Server Unavailable" page.

  • Well I could plagiarize it for the free karma, or I could just point out the obvious and mention there is a ten page feature in this month's Wired about Tolkien the man, the author, the professor, his books, his legacy... and why this movie is going to be such a big f**king deal.

    hell, half the posts i have read already quote it word for word... interestingly without giving credit...

  • MIRROR: I just put it on Morpheus (Score:5, Informative)

    by BenHmm ( 90784 ) <ben AT benhammersley DOT com> on Tuesday September 25, 2001 @07:32AM (#2346004) Homepage

    search Morpheus for "fellowshipoftherings_fs.mov"

    it's the full screen version, and *hell*yes*it*rocks*

    I've throttled the max uploads to save myself, if you get it, spread it around...

  • Try this link (Score:2, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward
    http://homepage.mac.com/johnemdall/.Movies/lotr-tv 240.mov [mac.com]

  • the easiest way to get these files is always P2P (Score:4, Informative)

    by Kraft ( 253059 ) on Tuesday September 25, 2001 @08:07AM (#2346122) Homepage
    1. Get Morpheus [musiccity.com].
    2. Install and run it.
    3. Select "Video" and search for "Lord of the rings"
    4. then you should be able to get in a few mins. The problem is figuring out what the hell the file is called.

    With apples shit site, I have to upgrade to a new version of quicktime, which took me forever and it still doesn't work. I wanted to get the zip file from the sorensen server... but it's dead.

    ... or you can just view the file here:
    http://homepage.mac.com/johnemdall/.Movies/lotr- tv 240.mov

  • 9/6 Trailer is not 9/24 Trailer (Score:5, Informative)

    by Gregoyle ( 122532 ) on Tuesday September 25, 2001 @08:34AM (#2346231)
    Thanks to all those posting links to tolkien-movies.com and Ain't it Cool News, but the trailers they have from Sept 6th are not the same as the one from last night, Sept. 24th.

    To my knowledge none of the mirror sites have it yet (although that could change). TheOneRing.Net just posts a link to the broken Apple/Sorenson server. They may be available on the Morpheous/Kazaa network; I'm at work and haven't been able to check. I'd post a mirror, too, except I haven't been able to get the latest trailer myself :-).

  • I've set up a mirror... (Score:5, Informative)

    by infernix ( 300990 ) on Tuesday September 25, 2001 @09:04AM (#2346405) Homepage
    I mirrored the Large version (480x204), it's 18MB. If I find the fullscreen version I'll put it up there too. Grab it here:

    http://lotr.infernix.net/ [infernix.net]

    Note: PLEASE SATURATE THIS LINK.

    I repeat: PLEASE SATURATE THIS LINK.

    It's our (yet) unused new uplink and I'd like to stress-test it.

    Thanks ;)

    infernix

    • The 480x204 version i grabbed from Morpheus starts with the golden ring and a lot of fire. It's nothing more than a quicktime movie.

      The fullscreen version starts with a storyteller while viewing a horse and wagon walking on a bridge. It's 2:51 long and has a nice progress bar (some Quicktime feature I think).

      I think the 480x204 version is some other (older?) trailer, but one thing is for sure:

      The FULLSCREEN version and the 480x204 version on my mirror http://lotr.infernix.net/ [infernix.net] are DIFFERENT!

      And I like the fullscreen one a whole lot better, so you better get 'em both :)

      Regards,

      infernix

      ---> Note to moderators: please mod this up as high as my first post. Thanks :)

    • Re:I've set up a mirror... (Score:5, Informative)

      by psychos ( 2271 ) on Tuesday September 25, 2001 @10:39AM (#2347061)
      Fullscreen .mov file [psychosis.net]

      This is a fast mirror (the one in the parent message is horribly saturated).

  • I'm still reading the first book (1 of 3)... can you hold off showing the movies until I finish? =) ... j/k ...

    I'm 24 and reading LOTR for the first time. I was hesitant at first because fantasy books arent really my thing but I'm actually enjoying the read. When I was younger the size of the books would have put me off (even though I was an avid reader), but now I'm able to approach it as both a first-time reader and as an educated individual. Now I see why there's such a following, the characters don't have a huge amount of depth just yet but it's easy to identify with them.

    Once I finish with the book(s) I'll see the movies, the order things were intended to happen. Perhaps the movies will add to the story instead of destroying it like so many other book-into-movie projects.

      • the characters don't have a huge amount of depth just yet but it's easy to identify with them.

      Don't hold your breath. LotR is an astonishing work, but it's in the saga tradition where characters are defined by their deeds, not by their introspections.

  • Got it from Gnutella in 5 minutes (Score:3, Informative)

    by fils ( 88044 ) on Tuesday September 25, 2001 @09:35AM (#2346582) Homepage
    Use Limewire, what I think is the best and now open source gnutella client.

    http://www.limewire.com
    http://www.limewire.org

    Search on fellowshipofthering

    several t3 speed sites have it....
  • How about another idea. When files like LOTR trailers, Counter-strike updates,, or new Quake engine game tests are released, the few mirrors (usually just fileplanet) are bogged down to almost nothing. If you somehow are able to get the file early, then post it to a binary newsgroup and then post on the forums where it is located. There can be no better mirror than a local server...your news server! I did this for the HL and CS updates recently and got a ton of thank you replies. I tried to get it from fileplanet before I found a small mirror elsewhere and started at like 650 in line with 80 minutes to *start* the download.
  • you people want this to spread? then share this file on morpheus or kazaa? you talk about p2p and not restricting free sharing, but the file isnt on there, except for 2 people.. out of 65k+ people?

    share the original file, then it will spread quickly!

    fellowshipoftherings_fs.mov
  • Will someone please transcode the file to a reasonable format that real people (those unwilling to sell their souls) can actually watch? And post the URL? mpeg, or something...

    --Bob

  • true fullscreen mirror (Score:2, Informative)

    by ti-gars ( 202684 )
    http://www.psychosis.net/lotr/fellowshipoftherings _fs.mov
    and
    http://lotr.infernix.net/fellowshipoftherings_fs.m ov
  • I got the fellowshipoftherings_fs.mov file. I watched and enjoyed it. However, is there a way to remove the border, buttons (e.g. volume, start, exit), etc.? I would like to watch the trailer in true full screen. I am using Winblows 98 with QuickTime v5.0.2.

    Thank you in advance for a reply. :)

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