Many of the issues you raise (the music, creating the Orcs, the Ents and Gollum, the software used in the battle scenes, and the budget for the films) have nothing to do with the assigned topic of your paper.
Please read the general comments on the rough drafts which I posted on the “(Almost) Daily Bulletin from the Professor” yesterday. Lydia Fish September 23, 2008, at 09:43 AM
Making the music fit with the books is important, but there are many other obstacles that Jackson had to deal with. And remember that this is an essay on RotK, and your ideas are rather all incompassing. Brian Nacov September 18, 2008, at 04:55 PM
Make sure you fucus just on the third book and film, so maybe you do not want to talk about ents. It’s good your excited about the paper. The research your talking about may be hard to find but good luck. Talking about Gollum seems to be good. Donald Turner September 18, 2008, at 04:16 PM
i like your ideas about discussing Gollum, the ending of the book, and what scenes were and weren’t put into the film, but I don’t know if it is appropriate or not to discuss music in this paper or about the size of the hobbits. Sarah Chudyk?
I really like the idea of the development of Gollum, It would be interesting to compare the description of the book and the movie Gollum both character-wise, appearance! Sound interesting! Brittany Thrun ? September 17, 2008, at 11:47 PM
Very strong ideas and good focus. The music is a unique topic worth researching, especially as the Return of the King has many characters singing for the first time. Perhaps you could also include what you think Tolkien’s interpretation of the music would be. Eligh Hanning?
I like how you bring up the question of how Jackson visualized Gollum the way he did and am interested how you will develop that. You have some great ideas. Once you develop them a little more our paper will be great. Steven Wilser? September 17, 2008, at 09:09 PM
I don’t actually think the music and hobbit size will add anything to your paper. It just seems like a waste of space. You should really look through the director’s cute for a bit more information that has substance. Jenelle Jones
The music and hobbit size ideas are interesting, but make sure to address specific problems that Shippey brings up, too. Like a few people have said, don’t make music the bulk of your essay. While I agree that the scores are beautiful, I think you would have to get into the mind of Howard Shore to truly understand the inspiration behind the pieces, and we’re supposed to be focusing on the labors of Jackson. Devon Cozad? September 17, 2008, at 12:22 PM
You have many ideas but perhaps you may want to find more book to film problems to add bulk to your paper. Otherwise I think your good to go, being enthusiastic will probably make the paper easier to write. Good luck! Sarah McNutt? September 17, 2008, at 12:35 PM
Including music into your paper is a unique twist. In the script writers edition they talk about the absence of music when Smeagol is strangling Deagol. Maybe you could then tie this into Gollum’s increased role in the movie. Annika Laughlin? September 16, 2008, at 09:45 PM
I think including music in your paper is a good topic but include difficulties Jackson faced in his selection of the music and whether or not (in your opinion) he made a good choice in music for the 3rd movie. Some of your topics seem a little general. I think after you watch the directors clip on Return of the King you will have additional topics for your paper. Carly Lopez?
You have some great ideas going, and a variety too. Make sure that you focus on specific examples from the third book. That way, certain things like proportions won’t be generalized with the entire Trilogy. I think your take on discussing the music is very innovative, and different from what everyone else is writing about. Your list under “other ideas” can really help you out. Maybe you should focus on the music associated with these ideas, but keep in mind that you should dicuss other difficult aspects as well. (Storyline, or imagery). Lauren Brych? September 16, 2008, at 12:42 PM
Be careful not to focus too much on the music of the Return of the King. You might talk about how it helped solidify the feelings that Tolkien tried to get across in the books, but you might not want to go into how the music was made, etc… I do like how you intend to talk about Gollum from book to screen. He plays an especially important part in Return of the King (destroying the ring). Do you think Tolkien would approve of Gollum’s character in the films?Joseph Bella? September 14, 2008, at 04:48 PM
I think you should definitely use the music ideas in your paper, but like Emily and Joe suggest, don’t make this the meat of your essay. It would be great if you could talk about the songs that Aragorn as well as some of the other characters sing to show more of Tolkiens views and how this might have been difficult for Jackson to handle. Elizabeth Delano? September 15, 2008, at 10:24 AM
The music topic might deviate too much from the paper’s topic, although it would be interesting. I personnally used many examples from the extras watched in class last time. A lot of the issues come up with your 4th bullet point, so if you extend on that using specifics, it would contribute a great deal to your paper.Emily Marvin? September 13, 2008, at 11:21 PM
I think that you should definitely explore the music in the third movie, and how Jackson decided what was essential to include in the movie. Both are interesting points to make. For your question on Gollum’s appearance, I have recently finished reading “The Annotated Hobbit” and there are various drawings of Gollum in it, all very different. One is a pencil sketch by Alan Lee,for his 1997 illustrated edition of “The Hobbit,” which looks almost identical to the Gollum in the movie. He also served as conceptual artist and set decorator for Peter Jackson’s three films. Hopefully this information is helpful, I think it answers part of your question and maybe you can google this artist! Good job! Kelsey Till September 13, 2008, at 05:08 PM
Great that you are trying to approach the essay from a different prespective. Focus more on the ending of the movie and how the music used in those scenes give the scenes the finishing touch that it needs. Trudy Antwi September 15, 2008, at 09:37 PM
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Hi Lord of the Ring friends!
I just have to let everyone know that as we are starting to analyze and bring up our own questions to research between the books and the films, I am starting to like LOTR more and more!
I have not gotten to watch Jackson talk about the issues of the film-making yet, but I am going to focus on that this weekend along with finding some more references that I can use to answer my questions and fulfill the ideas I have for my paper. I am extremely excited about seeing how everything was solved! (Though I outline in question form-it just means that I need to research it!)
I. Since I am a music major, I thought the mini-conversation in class that we had on the music of LOTR was interesting. Now I want to know more about how the music selections were picked. While watching the movie, the music for each event seems to fit so well. I would love to see the process of thinking that the music techs took to fit proper pieces with each section/event. (Events such as the final battle.)
II. Gollum. How did Peter Jackson develop Gollum in his mind from book descriptions…What made him think of Gollum quite in that way? It must have been incredibly difficult to make him look so grotesque but yet real on screen in the movie. I would like to know how it came to turn out so well!
III. Another issue from book to movie that I am intrigued by is the size of the hobbits. Hobbits are very small creatures. To me, Frodo looks downright dainty at times. So how is it that, especially in the first movie when Gandalf and Frodo are standing in the same room, the hobbits and regular sized creatures are able to look so different in size on screen? Because in the movie, Gandalf is huge compared to the hobbit. Also, the size contrast of the few hobbits in the battle next to tons of other characters made me more interested in this issue. It’s amazing!
IV. A big issue must have risen with Jackson over what was okay to cut out of the book and not put into the movie. I want to watch the commentary and write about his thought process in these major decisions. It must have taken a lot of thought to sequence events and see what Jackson thought was absolutely necessary for the viewers versus what was a little less important.
Other ideas…
- Ents (battle involvement as well as size) and Oliphaunts
- How was it possible to involve so many people and horses in the battle scenes?
- Why this particular decision to use the “Well, I’m back” (Sam) instead of any other ideas for an ending?
- Money-The LOTR crew was given a HUGE amount of money to use. I want to research whether or not they had enough for all of the props and materials they needed.
- Along the same lines as Gollum, the Orcs are so gross as well! I’m curious on the special effects of that.
This is, clearly, a draft of things I want to research and write about in my paper. There is organization and probably some cutting of a couple of less important ideas, but I am optimistic that this paper and all of yours will be great! Please feel free to comment on anything that I may be incorrect on. Let me know if I am on the right path!
Keilah Bradley September 10, 2008, at 10:16 PM]]
