The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

1. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring • Director: Peter Jackson • Year: 2001 • Followed by The Two Towers and The Return of the King • All 3 were filmed at once, over 274 days • Cast: • Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood) • Gandalf (Ian McKellen)

2. Cast, continued • Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) • Gollum (Andy Serkis) • Bilbo (Ian Holm) • Arwen (Liv Tyler) • Elrond (Hugo Weaving) • Galadriel (Cate Blanchett) • Legolas (Orlando Bloom) • Saruman (Christopher Lee)

3. Source material • Trilogy (3 books) by J.R.R. Tolkien • The movies follow the structure of the books • The Hobbit takes place in the same setting (Middle Earth) and has some of the same characters (Bilbo, Gollum, Gandalf)

4. New Zealand • It is estimated that filming of the trilogy pumped about $200,000,000 into the New Zealand economy • Wellington, the capital of New Zealand, changed its name to Middle Earth for the film's opening • Air New Zealand safety video

5. Conflicts in the Fellowship • Aragorn vs. Boromir • Boromir is the son of the Steward of Gondor • Aragorn is the descendant of the King of Gondor (Isildur) • Gimli vs. Legolas • Dwarves and elves dislike and mistrust one another • The Ring – Frodo cannot trust anyone

6. Creating the Look of the Film • Peter Jackson recruited the two most renowned Tolkien artists, Alan Lee and John Howe • Hobbiton was made a year before production began so it would look lived-in • Real vegetable patches • Sheep kept the grass short

7. Creating the Illusion • Two sets of Bag End, Bilbo Baggins's home, were built. • One full size for the Hobbits • the other 33% smaller for Ian McKellen • Customers in The Prancing Pony (the inn at Bree) were on stilts • Forced perspective • When Frodo and Gandalf sit together on a cart, Elijah Wood is actually 3 feet behind Ian McKellen

8. The Hero’s Journey • A monomyth – a universal story framework that appears in many great myths • Three stages: • Departure • Initiation • Return

9. The Hero’s Journey - Departure • The Call to Adventure: Gandalf tells Frodo he must carry the Ring to Rivendell • Refusal of the Call: Frodo and Sam plan to return to the Shire once the Ring is in Rivendell • Supernatural Aid: Frodo receives mithril armor, and the Fellowship including a wizard to guide him, and an elf, a dwarf, and two men to protect him

10. The Hero’s Journey - Initiation • The Road of Trials: The Fellowship must fight their way through the mines of Moria • The Meeting with the Goddess: The Fellowship meet Galadriel, who is wise and caring and gives them gifts • Apotheosis: the hero • The Ultimate Boon: achieving the goal of the quest, which may benefit all mankind

11. The Hero’s Journey - Return • Refusal: The hero may not want to return to ordinary life • The Magic Flight: Escaping with the boon may be perilous • Rescue from Without: The hero may need guides and assistants to help him home • Crossing the Return Threshold: The hero must be able to re-integrate into ordinary life

12. The Two Towers • Part two of a trilogy • Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli are pursuuing the orcs who are taking Pippin and Merry to Saruman • Frodo and Sam have entered Mordor

14. Animating Gollum • Motion capture • Actor Andy Serkis wore a suit that allowed “cameras” to capture his motion • The same technique used to create the alien creatures in Avatar • Key frame animation • Allows Gollum to do impossible things • Captures fine movements, like fingers • Facial expressions all were animated