LOTR Full Story
2009-08-07
The Book
“One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them. One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.”
For decades, the words above have ignited the imaginations of more than 100 million readers around the globe. They were first read in 1954, when J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring, the first volume in his towering three-part epic, The Lord of the Rings, was published.
Tolkien’s work was to have a profound effect on generations of readers, defining for many the archetypal struggle between good and evil. It set the benchmark for the modern epic in its creation of an entirely new and thrillingly vital universe. It introduced an unforgettable hero – the Hobbit Frodo Baggins – caught up in a war of mythic proportions in Middle-earth, a world full of magic and lore. Most of all, it celebrated the power of loyal friendship and individual courage, a power that may hold at bay even the most devastating forces of darkness.
The Film
Now, the legend that Tolkien imagined has finally been brought to life on the motion picture screen, an undertaking that has required nothing less than one of the most colossal movie productions ever embarked upon. The mythos, landscapes, and creatures Tolkien created are so vast and detailed in scope that it has taken more than four decades for cinema technology to reach the necessary level of sophistication to bring his universe to powerful and palpable life. Such a project would require nothing less than a visionary to take it on, and a first-ever experiment in filmmaking to make the simultaneous production of all three films possible. Tolkien’s epic found a passionate and dedicated shepherd in director/writer/producer Peter Jackson.
Jackson and his devoted production team of over 2400 filmed all over the spectacular landscapes of New Zealand. The result has been the deployment of a logistical operation on par with an intricate and wide-reaching military campaign. An army of artists – including digital experts, medieval weapons designers, stone sculptors, linguists, costumers, make-up artists, blacksmiths and model builders – as well as an internationally-renowned cast of actors and over 26,000 extras have gathered to make this ambitious dream come true.
The Music
The music of The Lord of the Rings is counted among film music’s most complex and comprehensive works. This unique performance sets the score to the film, but allows the music to bear the narrative weight, creating a wholly new and dramatic live concert experience. The music’s vast scope calls for symphony orchestra, mixed chorus, boys chorus and instrumental and vocal soloists singing in the Tolkien-crafted languages Quenya, Sindarin, Khuzdûl, Adûnaic, Black Speech, as well as English. Shore’s score not only captures Fellowship’s sweeping emotion, thrilling vistas and grand journeys, but also echoes the very construction of Tolkien’s Middle-earth. It expresses Peter Jackson’s film as an immense symphonic work—a uniquely developed vision drawn from centuries of stylistic tendencies.
-Doug Adams
Doug Adams is a Chicago-based musician and writer. He is the author of the upcoming book The Music of the Lord of the Rings Films.