Secrets of filming and actors. The Lord of the Rings reveals mysteries

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Among all the adaptations of literary works, the film "The Lord of the Rings" (based on Tolkien's novel) is perhaps the most famous. The film trilogy was directed by Peter Jackson. Combined, the three films took about seven years to complete and contributed $200 million to the New Zealand economy. All filming took place in this country.

For many actors, the picture was a real breakthrough in their careers. If Elijah Wood has been filming in Hollywood for a long time, then many of his colleagues who portrayed hobbits in the tape remained little-known before that.

Actors

"The Lord of the Rings" was the first film adaptation of the fantasy genre, which gained such great popularity. All participants in the filming gained fantastic fame. Speaking about the cast, it is worth noting that the selection was not easy. Actors changed, The Lord of the Rings was redrawn more than once at the whim of the intractable Peter Jackson.

One such example is the actor Ian McKellen, who played Gandalf. According to the script, his height is 2 meters 10 centimeters. The height of the hobbits is not higher than 120 cm. To ensure this effect, the camera always filmed the actor only in the foreground. It turned out that the participants of the trip did not see the artist who played the magician untilthe very moment of his death in Moria. Their sadness at mourning a friend is entirely the merit of acting.

How to play a hobbit?

The hobbits are another matter. They needed slender, short actors for their roles, but Sam and Meriadoc were supposed to have a small belly according to the script. Elijah Wood himself is short, but it was not easy to find actors for extras. As a result, instead of the planned 140 people, only 100 extras were invited to the ball in honor of Bilbo's birthday. Sean Astin gained 14 kilograms for the role, and Dominic Monaghan wore a special suit. For him and the performer of the role of Pippin, Billy Boyd, shooting became a real vacation. For several hours they spent on a huge tree, from where they were not removed even for lunch. The Hobbits managed to work on their own project in between filming. Food and drinks were served at a height of 4.5 meters where the actors sat. The Lord of the Rings was a pleasant adventure for them.

The Hobbitania itself was built a year before filming so that the props had time to acquire natural wear and traces of time were deposited on everything. Bilbo had two houses - one of normal human height, and the other smaller, for filming Gandalf in it. The bridge to Hobbitania was made from polystyrene by New Zealand Army soldiers.

Men's work

Unlike the hobbits, Viggo Mortensen, who played Aragorn, was subjected to a storm of bad luck and accidents on set. He came to New Zealand with hisson of Henry, who persuaded his father for a long time to take part in the picture. Mortensen knocked out his tooth, nearly drowned, and severely injured his face. The filming process was in jeopardy. According to the actors, The Lord of the Rings filming was not easy at all - there were many injuries.

Orlando Bloom, already a famous actor, had to learn archery, which he successfully completed in two months. In the picture, the viewer still sees the result of computer graphics, since a person cannot shoot quickly, like Legolas. The role of Sauron was played by Christopher Lee - a big fan of Tolkien's work, who re-read the book many times. He is the only one from the crew who knew the writer personally.

Who is under the mask?

The most unusual shooting was for Andy Serkis, who played Gollum. More than 1,000 sketches and a hundred layouts were made before the image of a strange creature appeared. Andy drank a special lemon and ginger tea with honey every day. To be completely realistic, he had to imitate the sounds made by a cat trying to vomit fur.

The cries of orcs in the caves were imitated using recordings of the nightly cries of possums. For the soundtrack of the big battle, Jackson brought 25,000 people to the set and made them scream, squeal, sob - all this to record the terrible howl of the orcs during the attack.

After the final battle, the extras were taken away from the set in an ambulance. Many have suffered heatstroke due to the unbearable heat.

During the fight with the dragon, Gandalf fights withtennis ball. Computer graphics were superimposed, and the terrible battle appeared in this form to the viewer. Many people use this projectile during filming.

The artists who drew sketches for Tolkien's book also took part in the creation of the scenery for the film. John Howe designed the costumes for the Mori orcs. Together with Alan Lee, the artist starred as one of the four kings in the film's prologue.

What's wrong with your feet?

The most difficult was, of course, the makeup of the orcs and urukhai. An unusual novelty of the film is the woolen legs of the hobbits. They were a cross between a leather overlay and shoes worn on the feet. "Prostheses" delivered a terrible inconvenience to actors and make-up artists. It was not possible to remove the lining without problems. As a result, several thousand pairs of such legs were used on the set. The same thing happened with the ears of the elves.

What didn't work out?

It is noteworthy that the roles of Bilbo and Frodo could have been played by other actors. Who knows what the picture would have looked like then. Instead of Ian Holm, the role of Bilbo shone to James McAvoy, and the role of his nephew Frodo to Jake Gyllenhaal. Elijah Wood may not have become the most famous hobbit. The role of Elrond was seriously offered to David Bowie.

John Astin, father of Sean Astin, the actor who played Sam, auditioned for the role of Gandalf and later voiced him in some English versions. Stuart Townsend was fired, losing the role of Aragorn, four days after filming began.

The film "The Lord of the Rings" was not approved by the descendants of the writer, but since all rights to the film adaptationhe sold his works during his lifetime, they were unable to influence the course of events.