Lord of The Rings: Return of the King

LOTR Special Feature notes

·         ‘Fall from grace’-fell because to hungry for knowledge

·         First Elvish language inspired by the book “Finnish”

·         Second Elvish language inspired by Welsh

·         Numenour destroyed when corruption took over, drown by the wrath of god

·         Rohan, parts came from personal experiences- horses

·         “nobility of warfare no longer exists once your able to deal death at a distance” Jude Fisher

·         Arwen introduces the theme of death

·         Arwen casts off immortality for the love of mortal man

·         There are worse things to lose than your life-love and loss

·         Luthien and Beren based on Tolkien and his love for his wife, Edeth. Intimacy

·         Elves represent perfection

·         IN-TO-Me-SEE- intimacy

-Namaste-the divine in me, sees the divine in you (gratitude, future)

·         Palantir- always tells you the truth but encourages you to draw the wrong conclusion

·         Despair vs. Hope

·         Eucatastrophe- sudden turning when things go right. Bad to good

·         Good coming out of evil even though Frodo failed

·         Good vs. Evil

·         Hope vs. despair- Tolkien feared no one would read his work

·         Initial event- events increasing dramatic tension- climax(turning point)-resolution-denouement, events occurring after the turning point

·         Tolkien thought it was an unfilm able work

·         Events that take place in the two towers actually take place alongside return of the king

·         Philippa Boyens- author of the script

·         Fitted the script without losing the essence of the book

·         Hero is not always right

·         Gollum trying to separate Sam and Frodo

·         Addiction- The ring (Frodo)

·         Frodo being less intense (telling Sam to go home) – skills of the actors

·         Dying was a reward- beautiful place to go after death- Worse things to lose than your life

·         Heroism- not a one on one personal duel but to sacrifice for the success of someone else

·         Struggle – Frodo failed, Frodo pushed him he stays the hero

·         Parallel structure – Gollum and Deagol – Frodo – Gollum

·         Corruption- Frodo

·         Experiencing life through Frodo’s life – his Fate

·         “How do you go on, when in your heart you begin to understand, there is no going back?” Frodo – rhetorical question

·         Corrupt and Loathsome – setting- statues on bridges in Minas Morgul

·         Even though something was burned the good can still come out of it and be used for better

·         Prolonged presence of evil- corrupt and rot

·         Evil of Shelob- kills everything

·         Combining well-built set and computer generated images to create verisimilitude

·         Out of the ashes of helms deep rises the minas tirith

·          A vs. R – the doors and set of minas tirith

·         White symbolizes old and almost dead

·         Incredible sets and detail

·         Parallel structure- characters in the movie and their quest and returning to the shire and filmmakers and crew and cast and making the moving and returning home

·         Cinematic- Lighting- used at minas Morgul for specific details, green glow from supernatural swamp, final effect, 4 lighting schemes Corruption and Rot

·         Cross Backlight used to make set macabre

·         Design structures, sets – John Howe

·         How you view anything is how you do everything- even the tiniest details make depth into film and  how the characters connect into their roles

·         representive details

·         Allan Lee- drawings

·         Corruption and rot- orcs, Shelob lair—prolonged evil makes harder, stronger more evil of saurons strength

·         Words Evil corrupting characters—blindness, teeth

·         Evil can be bigger than it seems

·         Angry threatening-skull-king of the dead corruption

·         More relaxed-rotten flesh- king of the dead corruption

·         Shelob-Corruption and rot

·         Characters in the film, no success, push through-cast and crew, almost done, has to do more—Achieve goals

LOTR Return of the King movie notes

Cinematic

·         Green light within the mountain path that is evil- any man that travels it does not return

·         Drums; heartbeat

·         Requiems

·         Horn-hope of Rohan here-frame composition

·         Gollum position in frame-bigger than Sam and Frodo-power over them

·         Ring has a life of its own or controlling Frodo- drums; heartbeat in background

·         Shire music in mordor when close to mount doom

·         “Mr. Frodo look there is light, beauty out there that no shadow can touch” Sam- white light in the dark clouds at mordor-hope

·         Frodo’s hope of destroying the ring-falls looks up at mount doom and tries to pull himself up

·         Flower blooming on tree of Gondor as Denethor is say there is no “hope for man” –shows there is hope

·         “Hope is kindled” beacon of Amin din lit

·         Guard tree because they have hope

·         “This task was appointed to you Frodo of the shire, if you don’t find a way no one will” Galadriel in elf forest

Dramatic

·         Gandalf only white in battle-hope

·         Sam’s fight with Shelob- hoping for best for him and Frodo-good vs. evil

·         Frodo’s face dirty, eyes wide bright and blue & white- hope in his eyes

·         Rot & Corruption- Frodo’s eyes red, squinted, dirt, blue in eyes is the hope he used to have-ring overpowering his mind-Sullied with the contact of the ring

·         Necklace with ring- To tear and corrode Frodo’s neck-corruption

·         Mouth of Sauron- Rot and corruption- yellow, cut, bloody

·         Orcs fighting each other because of greed and power

·         Gollum- what happens when evil is present-corruption of his mind, forgets his own name(Gollum crawling into a cave-transforming)

·         Grima – once a man of Rohan- evil of Sauron has corrupted him

·         Pippin- tiny touch with the plantar has started to corrupt him

·         Shelob- Rot

·         Shelob’s lair- “What is that smell”-Frodo---“It’s sticky what is it?” Frodo  “you’ll see, oh yes you’ll see” Gollum

·         “He’s not dead, he’s not dead” Pippin- Faramir Denethor is burning him anyway

·         Gollum corruption/greed- fighting Frodo

·          

·         Literary

·         Ring still in existence when Frodo chooses life

·         Worm- everyone ends up in the same place

·         Ring immediately causes corruption of Deagol and Sméagol- Sméagol kills Deagol

·         Gollum-Arnold Joseph “murderer”- determines your actions

·         Sméagol- did it once can do it again-murdering for greed

·         “and take it for me” “for us” “yes I ment for us”-Sméagol’s greed

·         Eyown ‘s hope for being with the one she loves

·         “night changes many thoughts” Aragorn-despair, hopelessness

·         Pippin “I just want to look at it one more time” addiction with pippin to the Palantir-greed corrupts him

·         Merry’s hope for Pippin

·         Denethor- son is dead-despair

·         Greed- Denethor does not want king to return

·          “I don’t think I’ll be coming back” Frodo- despair

·         “Mr. Frodo look the king has got a crown again” Sam- hope

·         “there never was much hope, just a fools hope” Gandalf-about Frodo and Sam

·          “you wish it had been me that died instead of Bromirer” Faramir “yes I wish it was” Denethor -Despair

·         Frodo’s addiction to the ring-Gollum’s greed for the ring

·         “He’s poisoned you against me” Sam to Frodo about Gollum

·         Literary-allusion- romans decline from roman empires  - Denethor eating wastefully

·         Metaphor- how Denethor’s disregard for the preciousness of his son

·         “Do not give into fear” Gandalf

·         “master must go inside the tunnel” Gollum to Frodo-greed

·          “Sam” Frodo realizes he needs Sam and Sam was on his side

·          “I have to destroy it Sméagol, I have to destroy it for both our sakes” Frodo

·          “you have much to live for and many who love you” Merry to Eyown – his hope for her

·          “Gondor is lost” Denethor –despair

·          “I didn’t think it would end this way” Pippin “end? Our journeys not over yet, death is just another path we must take” Gandalf

·         “I am going to save you” Eyown

·         “I go to my fathers in whose company I shall not now feel ashamed”

·          “give it to me, give me the ring Sam” Frodo – corruption

·         “keep him blind to all else that moves” Aragorn

·          “do you remember the shire Mr. Frodo, it’ll be spring soon” Sam

·         “No it’s just the first spring rain” Faramir 

Creating the Essence of Film

Kenzie Parent

English 30-1

Ms. Henderson

Table of Contents

Page One- Title Page

Page Two- Table of Contents

Page Three- Abstract

Page Four- Introduction and Thesis statement

Page Five-Six - Literary Elements

Page Seven-Eight-Cinematic Elements

Page Nine-Ten- Dramatic Elements  

Page Eleven- Conclusion

                 

Abstract

            When Studying Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, director Peter Jackson, you start to recognize certain themes in the film that stick out to you as main themes. Peter Jackson used many literary, cinematic and dramatic elements to create central themes within the film, the themes I thought he portrayed in a main way was corruption and rot with hope vs. despair tied in which includes the fight between good vs. evil. There were many details great and small that made up these elements that gave the film the essence of greatness it had; the cast and crew worked very hard to create this film. They all showed teamwork, perseverance, and friendship together to make this great trilogy of films.

Thesis/Introductory:

In the film, Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, directed by Peter Jackson, which was created based on the books by J.R.R. Tolkien. The central theme portrayed in the film is hope vs. despair alongside with corruption and rot being a bigger theme. Cinematic, Dramatic and Literary are all elements that show the effect of each central theme within the movie, these elements create the themes and show how they are used within the film. The characters in the film show many parallel structures to each other and between good vs. evil, and how loyalty plays in that which ties in with the central themes of corruption and rot and hope and despair. 

Literary:

          In Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, director Peter Jackson took the books that J.R.R. Tolkien had written; Peter Jackson fitted the books into the scripts of the three films without losing the essence of the books. When J.R.R. Tolkien wrote the books he first created two elvish languages, the first one he based off of a book he read called “Finnish”, and the second he based off of the language Welsh. When he wrote the books he put things in them based off experiences of his own life; then men of Rohan were created from his experiences as he was well-known with horses, the dream Eyown said “I dreamed I saw a great wave climbing over green lands and above the hills. I stood upon the brink. It was utterly dark in the abyss before my feet. A light shown behind me, but I could not turn. I could only stand there… waiting.”  Peter Jackson wanted to include this in film because they thought it was an important line, because it was a re-occurring dream of J.R.R. Tolkien’s. Symbols of the literary devices in the movie are Tree of Gondor, The Ring, Flowers, and Pippin’s song. The Tree of Gondor is a symbol of hope for the people of Gondor because no matter how long there has been no king the soldiers still guard the tree in hope of the king returning. Flowers are symbol of hope because while Merry and Pippin are walking through the forest the head of the old king is on the ground with flowers growing around it and Pippin exclaims “look the king wears a crown once again.” Pippin’s song can be used as a symbol representing despair because he sings “all shall fade” more than once as Denethor is eating wastefully, as Faramir and his men are going off to war and Denethor has no disregard for the preciousness of his second son. “You wish it had been me that died instead of Boromir” said Faramir, “Yes I wish it was” Denethor. Denethor eating wastefully is an allusion to the decline of the Roman Empire because his wasteful eating was what the romans did, they would eat so much and then throw it up and keep eating, not even eating full things just taking bites out of items so they are not whole any longer. There are a couple lines used in the film about spring which are; “do you remember the shire Mr. Frodo, it’ll be spring soon” and “No it’s just the first spring rain”, and spring represents the rebirth and new beginnings. The rebirth or new beginnings could give a new sense of hope to people or a new sense of good and that feeling.  The ring is a symbol evil which causes corruption and rot because when you wear it the eye of evil knows where you are; the ring corrupts you, and you become addicted to it. When you have been near it for too long it becomes hard to give up, your mind becomes sullied with the ring and it starts to control you and it becomes hard to think for yourself. Frodo does not believe the ring has corrupted him and calls Sméagol/Gollum, Sméagol, but Sam has not been corrupt from the evil and see’s the evil within Gollum and knows he is not good. Sam knows that Sméagol is no longer good because he is corrupt from evil and Frodo is starting to become the same. Therefore Sam is not as nice to him as Frodo because he knows the truth behind Gollum from hearing him talk to himself and watching him closely. When it comes time to destroy the ring, it had seems that the ring had corrupted Frodo fully and he does not want to destroy the ring, but Sam knows he can fight the evil; the good in Frodo can win. Frodo and Gollum are both addicted to the evil of the ring and fight for it. Gollum and the ring fall into the lava but the ring is not instantly destroyed it is still in existence; Sam tries to help Frodo up and the good in Frodo comes out and he chooses life over the ring even though it is still in existence he has beat the evil.

Cinematic:

In Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, directed by Peter Jackson, He creates music, audio and artistic choices in the film that make the cinematic elements of the play work and create the sense of the time and emotions. In Minas Morgul there are many lighting techniques used to create the essence of evil and despair. Around Minas Morgul from the supernatural swamp glowed, the crew had used four lighting schemes around it to create the feel of corruption and rot with the darkness and the glowing. Cross lighting is also used to create the set in a more macabre way; which is having a grim or ghastly atmosphere which is also present in all of Mordor. The statues on the bridge to Minas Morgul also help create that atmosphere. The crew was a very large one and without the contribution of each the film would not be as great as it turned out to be because how you view anything is how you do everything; even the tiniest details make depth into film and how the characters connect into their roles.  Another use of green lighting is when the men of Rohan look into the path through the mountains and amidst of green glow appears; it is said that nay man that travels through it does not return. The green glow represents ‘evil’ of the dead soldiers that have been labeled as ‘murders’ and ‘thieves’ and have chance to redeem themselves. In the begging of the film it shows a frame composition where Gollum is bigger than Sam and Frodo which could represent the power of evil Gollum has over the two without Frodo and Sam even knowing he does. Near the end of Frodo and Sam’s Journey; almost through Mordor staring at Mount Doom, Frodo falls and his eyes shut, he is too tired and mind is too corroded and poisoned by the ring. He opens his eyes and all of a sudden he is in the elf forest again with Galadriel and she says “this task was appointed to you Frodo of the shire, if you don’t find a way no one will.” This pushes Frodo giving him the hope he needs to save everyone including the shire, he gets back up and continues moving. Another scene when there almost at Mount Doom and Frodo doesn’t think he can make it Sam looks up and sees a white light in the sky and says “Mr. Frodo look there is light, beauty out there that no shadow can touch” showing there is hope within even the darkest times of despair because this white was in the sky of Mordor which is dark and gloomy. The white light gives the two hopes that they can do it; they can finish it for once and save Middle earth from the evil of Sauron. A cinematic detail in which usually sets the mood for you is the music. When Frodo is in Mount doom there are drums playing in the background, loud and booming like a heartbeat,  the ring is controlling Frodo from corrupting his mind it has taken control of him or the ring has a life of its own, the power of evil. Before Frodo enters the mountain when they are almost at Mount Doom and shire music starts playing you could say that could be a  symbol to hope for the shire, Frodo might save them, or the will of good is pushing through the evil of the ring and has not corrupted Frodo fully yet. Another cinematic sign of hope is when the soldiers are still guarding the tree of Gondor though it has been dead for many years. They guard it because they still have hope; when Aragorn takes his place as king it shows the top of the tree and a flower has started blooming once again on it. This shows that the men were not wrong to have hoped and that there is still good in the world and the good have overcome evil.

Dramatic:

            In Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, directed by Peter Jackson, there is costumes, make-up, sets, and certain scenes and some acting that make up dramatic elements of the film. Within the scene in Shelob’s lair, which is a symbol for corruption and rot, Shelob’s lair is in the hills of Mordor; it was a hopeful thing on the way of the journey not having to go straight through Mordor but is corrupted because of Shelob. The lair is full of webs, skeletons, and body’s wrapped with the webbing; Shelob herself has rot on her face and is a giant spider that will even eat the orcs, so she does not care who it is; she is an evil of her own kind. “Master must go inside the tunnel” is being spoken by Gollum because of his corruption from the ring and greed/addiction for it trying to kill Frodo to get the ring. When Gollum betrays Frodo for his greed; Frodo had already sent Sam home because of being manipulated; Sam was only trying to help Mr. Frodo on his quest. When Sam realizes Frodo really needs him he turns back showing his loyalty to Frodo in fighting Shelob after she has gotten Frodo; this fight is good vs. evil, with same showing his loyalty to Mr. Frodo and  Shelob and her own personal evil. When Frodo is on his Journey there are many scenes where Frodo is about to give up because he cannot bear the weight of the ring any longer, his mind has been become sullied from the ring. The necklace has been dragging him down and the chain carrying the ring has begun to corrode his neck, eat away at the skin leaving the surface cut and bloody, all torn apart. When he falls over, dirty, his eyes squinted and red, with his eyes, bright blue and white showing the hope within him, that he can complete the journey. Frodo has to get up and keep going, he has to endure the journey, throughout the trilogy, the actor of Frodo, Elijah Wood, has done a tremendous job in his acting with keeping up with these films. Elijah has done such a great job with his acting that you could actually believe the ring was actually a source of evil and would change you and make you think differently than you really are; taking over your mind. Another source of evil, which makes you think the worst of things, is the Palantir, a small ball that makes you stare into it and think the worst of the situation shown. Pippin became corrupted by the Palantir; from the first touch. When Pippin gets his hands on it again he steals it from Gandalf and Sauron is staring at Pippin and Pippin cannot let the Palantir go, Sauron is speaking to him and now believes he has the ring. Gandalf has to separate the Palantir and Pippin. In the battle of Pelennor Field, Gandalf is the only white in the battle, his robes, staff, and horse are the only white; everything else is black, and dark colors, showing with Gandalf there, there is hope for Gondor; even if it is a small glimpse of hope in a field of despair it is, at least; hope. When the soldiers go to the black gates to distract Saurons eye, the mouth of Sauron appears; he is dressed in all black; everything covered but his mouth, on a black horse with black armor. His mouth all cut around the lips, yellow teeth, and bleeding his mouth is corrupted from the evil of Sauron. This could represent the corruption of man and what evil can do to someone if they see no hope or light in things; only see the bad. The orcs are also the evil of Sauron; they are all deformed and unique in their own way they represent corruption of man-kind and evil of men.

 Conclusion:

            Within this project I have talked and explained how my themes are created within the film and how Peter Jackson looked at the elements of the film and made certain decisions. Peter Jackson used Literary, dramatic, and cinematic elements to create these themes throughout the film. The film had created many themes but these are the ones that I thought were more of the central themes of the films. They are the main ones that popped out at me; so as you are reading this project I hope you thought the same. Though everyone has a different view on the film, this is what I saw and choose to write about.