The Lord of the Rings, the Fellowship of the Ring.

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Phillip Nicholls English coursework

The Lord of the Rings, the Fellowship of the Ring  

 Directed by Peter Jackson

        

The Fellowship of the Ring directed by Peter Jackson is a Film based on the first  book by J. R. R. Tolkien in his epic series the Lord of the Rings. It is about a young hobbit called Frodo, played by Elijah Wood, who is given a ring by his uncle Bilbo. His friend Gandalf discovers that his ring rules the set of rings handed out many years ago to the different races of beings. Many had tried to use the power of the ring to do well but became overwhelmed with greed and used the ring to gain power. The dark lord Sauron, who originally owned the Ring, tries to get it and it is Frodo’s task to destroy the ring before his home, the Shire, is destroyed.

The film, set in Tolkien’s fantasy world of Middle Earth, was filmed in New Zealand. This is definitely the perfect place for Tolkien’s world to come alive as it provides the perfect settings for each event in the book. This, combined with models, computer technology and the studios used, the film producers have done a remarkable job in creating the fictional land described in so much detail in the book. The set they used for such places as the Tower of Orthanc, the house of Elrond and the mines of Moria were spectacular and added the appropriate atmosphere to accompany the scenes in the story. For example in the book, the House of Elrond is described to be a place of rest and sanctity from the evils of the world. In the film they have created this sense comfort by using white colours and bight lights to symbolise serenity, as the use of white will be regularly associated with peace as the film progresses. The backdrop showing waterfalls and untouched countryside combined with the elaborate architecture of the house itself, also adds to recreate the mythical place. In the opening scenes panoramic views of the hills and fields accompanied Gandalf the wizard’s journey and was used to introduce the Shire setting. The Shire, had a very medieval Anglo feel to it, but also the architecture of the houses, being built into the ground reminded us that they are of course different and highlights the relationship between them and the earth itself as they are a very rural farming community. The film left out detail like the role that trees played in middle Earth as was shown in many times in the book. However I was glad to see that the design of the set used in Rivendell, and Lothlórien, where there was clearly a forest theme to the architecture, subtly symbolised the relationship between elves and nature.

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The music in the film was interestingly used. When looking at the film in detail it was obvious that different instruments were used to illustrate different themes. Stringed instruments and soprano voices were used to highlight parts of the film where there was an air of magic or romance. This again was used in places like Lothlórien to show the power that Galadriel had over the emotions of people and the house of Elrond to show the peace there was there. Times in the film where the fellowship was fighting against the Orcs or where they were running from danger, ...

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