The Hobbit Themes

THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RINGS FILM ANALYSIS Many of us are pretty familiar with the 1937 novel from author J.R.R. Tolkien The Hobbit, which is the prequel to The Lord of the Rings series. The live action film of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, was scheduled to start on 11 October 1999 and many people were skeptical and judgmental. J.R.R. Tolkien novel is around 1,008 pages give or take not including the maps, prologue, appendices, and introduction. Fans of the authors work doubted that film makers would be able to translate from paper to screen and capture the images that people projected and fantasized in their minds. Most concerning was would the film makers be able to translate on screen what J.R.R.

The scene with the soft and bright lighting, colors of ethereal shades of white, blues, yellows and grays gives the sense of grace, elegance and culture. Frodo looks the same throughout the entire film, dressed in a white blouse and brownish tan trousers and barefooted. This shows that he is not from the city and just a guest. With the bright lighting, it is clear that natural lighting was not used in this scene and this gives off the feeling of a place that is surreal and not within this world and those who occupy the city. Another example is the scene inside the tavern Prancing Pony and is where Aragon is introduced. Inside the Prancing Pony is dark with dim lighting since candles are the only source of light within the tavern. The colors are all earth-toned with lots of shadows casted over majority of the tavern. This gives the impression that questionable people would be hanging out and those that want to blend in the background instead of standing out. This scene gives the sense of anxiousness and trouble is soon to

Special effects played a huge role in creating the film. Miniatures, pyrotechnics, bluescreen, practical elements, and CG elements were mixed and matched. All the major GC creatures such as trolls, the octopus like watcher, the goblins and Balrog and Gollum started out as clay maquettes. Later the maquettes are scanned by different computer software to bring them to life.

Since the release of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, and the continued sequels, many have called New Zealand as the motherland of The Lord of the Rings series and The Hobbit. According to Pinchefsky (2012) “We’ve seen a 50% increase in arrivals to New Zealand since Lord of the Rings”. There is no doubt that the film has contributed to New Zealand’s economy but isn’t the only factor. According to Pinchefsky (2012) “About 1% of visitors said that The Lord of the Rings was the reason they