You raise some very interesting points and you write very well. However, much of your material, such as the discussion of how the relative sizes of the characters was addressed and the archticture of the sets, has nothing to do with the assignment.
You need to get back on topic — please read the general comments I made on the rough drafts on the “(Almost) Daily Bulletin from the Professor” page this morning. Lydia Fish September 22, 2008, at 05:40 PM
It looks like someone watched the commentary. You have a great deal of solid information from the best source you can get it from. But you can probably trim off the parts pertaining to the trilogy as a whole like the scale of Hobbits etc. Brian Nacov September 18, 2008, at 05:05 PM
You really have managed to write a lot already, which should make things easier for writing your final paper. You bring up a lot of good points, but I don’t know if discussing proportions is appropriate for the topic of the paper. Otherwise, you have a lot of good information. Sarah Chudyk?
Please give me feedback, guys and girls! I’d really like to add more thoughts of Shippey into my paper, but I don’t quite know how to make anything fit. Plus, if you have any suggestions on how to make my paper flow a little better, it would be a big help. Thanks!!!
You paper has many different topics about the movie production that many aren’t covering, It’s a nice change! I can’‘t wait to read the rest, I’m guessing you have watched a lot of the bonus features on how they film the size differences. Brittany Thrun ? September 17, 2008, at 11:31 PM
It is interesting how you discuss the problem of size proportions and how hey were handled. I like how you discuss how King Theoden and Denethor couldn’t be portrayed as good and evil, but something more complex. I believe you have well developed ideas and paragraphs. Good work. Steven Wilser? September 17, 2008, at 09:01 PM
Peter Jackson, a director for the Lord of the Rings trilogy, came upon many difficulties as he tried to turn Tolkien’s epic narrative into an equally epic film. The third book, and film, Return of the King, became the most difficult tale of the three to put into motion. The many problems that Jackson faced included time limits, proportions, costume designs, landscapes, certain limitations that could only be solved through technology, as well as not having sufficient details of certain aspects within the narrative. While Peter Jackson had created many differences and similarities between the film and narrative of Return of the King, he still managed to create a highly successful work of art. It is Jackson’s ability to overcome the problems from page to screen that continues to make Tolkien’s work a classic masterpiece.
One of the first challenges occurred through the writing of Return of the King’s script. While many of them do create differences between the narrative and the film, it’s imperative to recognize that most of the differences were due to the fact that the writers couldn’t fit any further information into the previous film, The Two Towers. One of the main problems was the inability for Peter Jackson to fit the entire Isengard sequence at the end of the second film. He had come to the conclusion that the battle at Helm’s Deep made the second film long enough. Another essential component of the narrative included the discovery of the palantir. The writers needed to find a way to incorporate the discovery, and managed to do so by having several key characters return to Isengard; Gandalf, Theoden, and Pippin, being several of the individuals of the group.
Another scene that should have been at the end of The Two Towers was the scene with Frodo being wrapped up in Shelob’s cocoon web. The directors had to come up with a gluey, string, material, to act as the webbing that wrapped up Elijah Wood. Unfortunately, the process in which it took to wrap this material around the actor was a long and arduous ordeal. Not only was it difficult to attach the webbing, but it was also impossible to slip out of easily. Therefore, the actor would be trapped within the costume for several entire days of filming. Making sure that the actor could withstand this sort of restriction for long periods of time was an aspect that had to be taken into consideration.
One final scene that appeared within Return of the King, instead of a previous movie, was Aragorn receiving the sword of Elendil. The directors of the film decided this was one of the most climactic parts of the narrative. While they needed to introduce the sword into the film, they knew that they couldn’t have it given to Aragorn too early in the trilogy. This way, once Aragorn finally received the sword, a new hope could then be realized, heightening the final climax of the film. Jackson wanted the storyline to appear hopeless for some length of time. By taking the sword out of the picture so early on, it gave the spectators more anticipation to the resolution. The directors had eventually decided that Elrond would have to be the one to ride and deliver the sword to Aragorn.
One of the biggest noticeable challenges that every individual observes are the proportions in size between wizards, hobbits, orcs, and everything in between. To be able to make the hobbits shorter than most other individuals, the hobbit actors would either have to kneel, or other actors would have to stand on boxes. The other tricks that were used to create a variation in height mainly involved camera angles. In one particular scene, Pippin had knocked himself out after having looked into the palantir and had a mental battle with Sauron. Gandalf was directed to stoop over Pippin and to place his hand next to Pippin’s head. To be able to show the immense proportions between Gandalf’s hand and Pippin’s head, the directors had a seven foot man step in and to simply put his gigantic hand next to Pippin’s head instead. One other proportions challenge that was easily solved was the scene where Smeagol begins to turn into Gollum. Since an actual actor had been used during the transformation scenes, there had to be many prosthetics and computer graphics applied. Computer graphics were mainly applied because the actor’s legs were too muscular for an emaciated looking Gollum. Therefore, the directors used computer graphics to slim down the muscularity in the actor’s legs.
While watching the commentary, of the directors and producers, from The Return of the King DVD, Peter Jackson reiterated time and time again that Tolkien had not given enough detail within several important passages. While on the other hand, Tolkien had “…[done] things in his writing that must, one would think, have driven the director and the scriptwriters of the movies quite distracted,” according to Top Shippey, a J.R.R. Tolkien enthusiast. It was important for the writers to throw out the meaningless banter and to focus on the less detailed, but highly significant aspects of the storyline. One of the first instances that Jackson mentions is how he had to differentiate between the stature of a steward and a king; with reference to Lord Denethor. A king is someone who is usually spoiled by riches, has a pure bloodline of royalty, and takes pride in one’s kingdom. A steward is not usually associated with a royal bloodline, and is merely appointed as one who supervises and manages the affairs of the city. Not only does Jackson have to strictly distinguish between these two ranks of power, but he also has to take into consideration Denethor’s overall personality. With the loss of Boromir, Denethor becomes sullen and thinks that the grand life that should have been rightly his is now at a total loss. He loses all hope and takes no pride in the city that continually strove for his approval. It was imperative for Jackson to not only establish this character, but also to develop the hope and pride with King Theoden that Denethor clearly lacked. These two characters needed to be properly portrayed as optimism and pessimism, light and dark; not in a sense of good and evil.
Not only did the producers have difficulty with distinguishing particular mannerisms of new characters in the third film, but they also ran against the trouble of not knowing what certain scenes and places looked like. Within The Return of the King, Tolkien did not describe in enough detail Minith Morgul, Dunharrow, or the brief mentioning of the beacon sequence. With the beacon sequence, Jackson at least understood that in order to light the beacons, he had to provide insight for the materials that would light the fire, along with how the fire would blaze into the sky, and how it would appear from a distance. The beacons were piles of wood stationed throughout the mountains, neatly stacked into square-like piles. Instead of heading straight to the computer graphics to emulate blazing flames, Jackson had an actual beacon set up in the mountains and had the beacon lit on fire. He then used computer graphics to reproduce the effects and characteristics of the real fire, in order to include shots of beacons being lit far off in the distance. While Tolkien had not rendered the beacon sequence as an utterly important part of his narrative, Jackson created a phenomenal connection that flowed between events occurring with Minas Tirith in Gondor and with the Riders of Rohan in Edoras.
Both Minas Morgul and Dunharrow had the same literary problem as neither of them had been given enough, if any, significantly detailed descriptions. The directors and producers had to use what little references they could to ascertain the true quality and intentions behind these two highly different locations. They had to use information from other places that had been described by Tolkien, such as Minas Tirith, Gondor, and Numenor, for Minas Morgul. One thing that is not really established in the film, is that Minas Morgul is actually the sister city of Minas Tirith. Much of the fortifications that Saurons forces hold are actually former Numenorian structures. As such, when trying to design Minas Morgul, the filmmakers took much of their inspiration from their designs for Minas Tirith and other Numenorian buildings. They wanted to make the city look as if the orcs had patched over it with bits of their own, with things like metal fortifications over the original stone works. They also used lighting effects to properly portray the evil that has taken over the city.
While the inspirations for Minas Morgul relied mainly on architecture of nearby communities and towers, Dunharrow’s visual conceptions were created through images of a generic Rohan landscape. The only difference that Dunharrow had in comparison to Rohan was that Dunharrow was somewhat inset with the mountains, and needed to contain the path to the dead. While the producers had to use a sort of slight of hand to intrigue the viewer, they also faced a serious problem of trying to explain why Theoden and his army had to stop and wait instead of rushing off to the battle at Minas Tirith. In a cinematic sense, this does not play out well, as the filmmakers would want to take the army straight to the action. Additionally, if one looks at the map of Middle Earth, Dunharrow is actually heading away from Minas Tirith and even from Edoras where King Theoden began from in the film. Because of this, the filmmakers tried to stress that Theoden went there to gather more troops that had to be brought in from the far reaches of Rohan.
Overall, it’s plain to see that the multitude of individuals that gave their hearts and souls into the production of The Return of the King, created a great success. Through the many difficulties of bringing the words, or lack there of, out of an epic narrative and up onto the big screen, Peter Jackson and his fellow associates created a piece of art that even Tolkien himself would be proud of. However, even to this very day, the directors and producers have their own likes and dislikes within the third film that they had created. Even Tom Shippey himself found advantages and disadvantages to both the literary and theatrical works. Nonetheless, having the patience to incorporate the immense information from the third novel into a successful four hour film is a feat that many individuals aren’t up to the task of completing.
Lauren Brych? September 16, 2008, at 05:53 PM
