This is more detailed than your first draft, but I don’t think you have addressed your main problem — you are not answering the question I asked. You have included a lot of very interesting material that has nothing to do with the assignment. You are getting very close to the list of things that Jackson added to the story or left out of the films that I said I did NOT want.
Read the general comments on the rough drafts that I posted on the “(Almost) Daily Bulletin from the Professor” page this morning. Lydia Fish September 22, 2008, at 05:20 PM
Much better and you seemed like you fixed a lot of your problems in the first one. Have fun writing about all of this inforamtion. Donald Turner September 18, 2008, at 03:40 PM
I also started with a list, it helps a lot, but I would say just choose three or four broad topics you can really focus on. You have included a lot of topics, just be sure in the final copy you elaborate on why Jackson made the changes from the book. Mention things like developing characters, changing scenes to propel momentum, etc. But the list is a really strong utility to draw upon. Eligh Hanning?
You have many good topics to elaborate on. You should also consider writing about the difficulties presented to Jackson while making the Return of the King. Steven Wilser? September 17, 2008, at 05:46 PM
You have so many choices of topics. That’s good. Just develop them and you def don’t have to use all. I would love to see your final draft. Jenelle Jones
I really appreciate the fact that you are trying to find and use outside sources to make your essay more interesting and informative. eg Medieval literature. Good luck on finding more documents. The ending was a very critical point so you may be able to fill up alot of the bulk of your essay with that topic. Sarah McNutt? September 16, 2008, at 11:59 PM
I like all of the topics that you have come up with. However, I do agree with the other girls that it is a lot easier to pick even maybe five specific topics that you can really focus on. That way, your paper will be more detailed and respected by all. (Perhaps I should follow my own advice!) Really good job on research and topics though! Keilah Bradley September 16, 2008, at 06:14 PM]]
I agree with Lauren that you need to choose a couple of topics. I think if you stick with that relate to the difficulties Jackson had in filming the third movie you will be headed in the right direction. You have some good points about Arwen and Aragorn. I think if you focus on them more and the difficulties Jackson had with incorporating Arwen into the 3rd movie you will have a strong base for your final. Carly Lopez?
You should choose a couple general topics that you’d like to discuss. Such as the difficulties of putting scenes from Two Towers into ROTK, the problems with the Scouring of the Shire and how Jackson fit pieces of that story into the rest of the film, along with the relationship between Aragorn and Arwen. Other than that, you will have alot to work off of. Lauren Brych? September 16, 2008, at 01:11 PM
Sarah, I think you are supposed to make a link in the previous rough draft page like I did. Elizabeth Delano? September 15, 2008, at 07:11 PM
You have a long list of ideas to be included in the final paper but you do not address the main topic of this paper. It is to address the Shippey predictions for how the third movie would end. It would be very helpful for you if you could limit your ideas to a number of paragraphs so you can fully develop them. Also, you can use some of your points as examples instead of fully developed points.Trudy Antwi September 16, 2008, at 11:02 PM
This is my second rough draft. It includes a lot of information from the director’s and writers’ cut of the film. I don’t have a very organizes paper yet, but I have a lot more notes to add to my first rough draft. Instead of concentrating on a couple of scenes, I will be discussing several scenes. These are some brief notes on the scenes that I want to discuss. First rough draft notes: “The Return of the King: Adaptation and the Trilogy” • 2 versions: theatrical and extended • The trilogy was filmed during the same time period to overcome challenges with filming • Scenes were cut, but then put into the extended versions o These scenes in the extended version help to make more connections o Articles contains examples of how the extended versions help to make more connections • “creating multiple films simultaneously not only allows for complex interactions between segments, but also echoes Tolkien’s original vision of the work as a single continuous saga” • Difficult to make a film with there being three different novels; Tolkien wrote six different segments, or books, for the trilogy, and “this structure harkens to medieval literature, reinforcing Tolkien’s stated desire to create a new mythology” • There’s a sense of there being “multiple endings” in The Return of the King: “The abruptness of these transitions in the theatrical version leads one to believe that additional circles will be drawn in the extended version…this saga ends with contemplation on circles and returns” “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” ~starts with ending scenes from The Two Towers o Frodo, Sam, and Shelob o Incorporating this scene from The Two Towers novel into The Return of the King film “has allowed the action between the parallel stories to maintain a sense of balance and in the flow of the story it does not seem out of place” Second rough Draft notes:
- Jackson originally thought of putting the opening scene with Smeagol and his brother in The Two Towers, but decided to put it in The Return of the King
- Isengard scene was supposed to be in The Two Towers, it would have been “anticlimactic” to end The Two Towers this way, Jackson felt it would be more fitting to put this scene in the beginning of The Return of the King; it would be better to end The two Towers with the battle at Helm’s Deep
- instead of having the Shire scene where Saruman and Wormtongue are killed (as is written to end The Return of the King book), there’s a scene with Saruman and Wormtongue at Isengard with Gandalf, Aragorn, Legalos, Gimli, Merry, and Pippin; instead, this is the scene in the movie in which Saruman is killed; Wormtongue stabs Saruman and then Legalos kills Wormtongue with an arrow shot; this is put in here because the film doesn’t end the way the book does with the scourging of the Shire
- there is a scene where Arwen is leaving her homeland; the film writers made a comment saying they didn’t know why Arwen wasn’t leaving; it’s because she has a child, so there is a scene here where it shows a child running towards Aragorn; this scene was going to be put in The Two Towers; Elrond knew of the child that would be born of Arwen and Aragorn
- scene with Pippin and Gandalf talking about Frodo and Sam helps to connect all of these characters at this point in time, even though they are all separated
- witch king acts as a physical representation of Sauron on the battlefield, until much later when they confront the mouth of Sauron on the battlefield; the witch king helmet was made different from the helmet of the mouth of Sauron to distinguish the two different forms; wanted to have the voice of Sauron on the battlefield (the mouth of Sauron) and not just have Sauron in the tower throughout the film
- Faramir is given a lot of fighting footage to help his character in defending Minus Tirith; use this to show Faramir’s heroism and commitment to defending Minus Tirith
- scene with Frodo and Sam sleeping, Gollum takes the lembas bread, sprinkles some crumbs on Sam, and tosses the rest of it off the cliff; this scene is present in the book, but the director/writers wanted to draw this scene out more in the film to emphasize Gollum’s role in breaking up Frodo and Sam; Sam and Gollum fighting (because of Sam’s mistrust for Gollum) causes fighting between Sam and Frodo; this keeps them from being able to move forward with their journey, which causes Frodo to send Sam away and to move ahead with Gollum and without Sam
- Arwen becomes mortal because of her love for Aragorn; Elrond comes to tell Aragorn that Arwen is dying because of her mortality and that the only way to save her is to destroy Sauron
- scene with Frodo, Sam, and Shelob in this film instead of The Two Towers; during this scene while Frodo is trying to escape the spider webs and Shelob (before she stings him), there is an added scene where Frodo is in a sense momentarily dreaming or having a vision, and he sees Galadriel; Galadriel is like a “guardian angel”; the writers felt it was important to put this scene with Galadriel in here
- there is an added scene not from the book with the witch king, Gandalf, and Pippin; Gandalf and Pippin are on Gandalf’s horse, come across the witch king, and the witch king destroys Gandalf’s staff; this scene is added in for excitement
- added scene not from the book: Aragorn looks into the palantir to try to draw Sauron towards himself and away from Frodo
- constantly show the eye of Sauron searching for Frodo and Sam throughout the film; the writers believe that it is easier to write about this (in the book) than it is to show it on film (challenge)
- mouth of Sauron (added scene not in book); used to give some physical representation of Sauron
- scene with the hobbits coming home to their families: Jackson believes that this part is important to Tolkien
