"A Film of Epic Proportions: Peter Jackson's

The Fellowship of the Ring"

• The Fellowship of the Ring was directed by Peter Jackson in 2001.

• Taglines: The legend comes to life.

• Plot Outline: In a small village in the Shire a young Hobbit has been entrusted with an ancient Ring, and he must embark on an Epic quest to the Cracks of Doom in order to destroy it.

More Taglines• One Ring To Rule Them All

• Fate Has Chosen Him. A Fellowship Will Protect Him. Evil Will Hunt Them.

• Middle Earth comes alive. . .

• Even the smallest person can change the course of the future.

• All we have to decide is what to do with the time that we are given

• Power can be held in the smallest of things. . .

Literature• n. 1.The body of written works of a

language, period, or culture. 2. Imaginative or creative writing, especially of recognized artistic value: “Literature must be an analysis of experience and a synthesis of the findings into a unity” (Rebecca West).

American critic Herman G. Weinberg has said, “The way a story is told is part of that story. You can tell the same story badly or well: you can also tell it well enough or magnificently. It depends on who is telling the story.”

Film

• n 1. A form of entertainment that enacts a story by a sequence of images giving the illusion of continuous movement; picture, moving picture, motion picture, picture show, flick.

The great French critic André Bazin noted that “One way of understanding better what a film is trying to say is to know how it is saying it.”

Aristotle’s Poetics

• Aristotle, a scholar from ancient Greece, formed certain theories about evaluating literature

• These ideas develop into the study of aesthetics– The best works of literature have no

elements that are extraneous to the communication of the piece’s message.

– The use of the elements should be manipulated to best convey that piece's message.

Theory of organic form: form and content are mutually dependent in any art form.

Theme

• The moral or lesson that the reader learns from the piece of literature that he or she can apply to his or her own life.

• Themes: – Each person has an obligation to resist evil

– The most meek may determine the destiny of the world

– Power corrupts

– One needs both courage and faith to succeed

Allegorical Meanings

• Biblical: God or Christ vs. Satan

• World War II: Allies vs. Axis

• Technological: Industrial Revolution vs. Agrarian Lifestyle

• Mythological: Ancient Matriarchy vs. Progressive Patriarchy

Allegorical Meanings

Gandalf as Cloistered Monk

Saruman as Possessed Follower

God vs. Satan

Allegorical Meanings

Allies vs. Axis Power

Frodo and Sam as Allies

Goblins and Orcs as the Evil Axis

Allegorical Meanings

Agrarian Lifestyle vs. Industrial Production

The Shire as Paradise

Saruman’s Military Production Line

Allegorical Meanings

Earth Goddess vs. Natural Order Distorter

Saruman Corrupting and Co-opting the Birth Process

Arwen as Healing Goddess

Fiction and Film

• In addition to theme, there are other elements of literature and of film.

Plot Photography

Character Mise en scene

Point of view Movement

Setting Editing

Style Sound

Note: The literary elements are present in film.

Plot

• Plot is the action, the narrative and chronological structure of what happens in a story– Exposition– Conflict– Rising Action– Climax– Falling Action – Resolution

Plot of Fellowship: Book and Film

• Exposition: Prologue explains the Shire and the Hobbits’ genealogy; songs throughout the text inform us of Middle-Earth history

• Exposition: Prologue, narrated by Galadriel, explains the history of the Rings of Power, Sauron, and the one Ring

Plot of Fellowship: Book and Film

• Conflict: The “precious” magic ring Bilbo Baggins finds is the most evil ring of Sauron and wants to return to him to enable him to destroy life as known by all Hobbits, Elves, Dwarves, and Men, as well as other creatures

• Conflict: The “precious” magic ring Bilbo Baggins finds is the most evil ring of Sauron and wants to return to him to enable him to destroy life as known by all Hobbits, Elves, Dwarves, and Men, as well as other creatures

Plot of Fellowship: Book and Film

• Rising Action: Gandalf suspects the Ring is evil– Frodo begins journey to Bree, with three Hobbit

companions, aided by Tom Bombadil– Strider assists the Hobbits to Rivendell, pursued by

Ring Wraiths, aided by Glorfindel – Frodo determines to accompany the Ring to Mordor,

accompanied by the Fellowship– Evil minions of Sauron force the Fellowship to take a

path through Moria, where they lose one of their membership, Gandalf, to a balrog

– The Fellowship go to Lórien and meet Galadriel, the elf queen who has one of the three elf rings of old; there the elves supply them for their continued journey

– The Fellowship fails as Frodo truly grasps the power and corruptive influence of the Ring, and Boromir, seduced by the Ring, frightens him

– Sam and Frodo go on alone

Plot of Fellowship: Book and Film

• Rising Action: Gandalf suspects the Ring is evil– Frodo begins journey to Bree, with three Hobbit

companions, fleeing from Ring Wraiths– Strider assists the Hobbits to Rivendell, pursued by

Ring Wraiths, aided by Arwen– Frodo determines to accompany the Ring to Mordor,

accompanied by the Fellowship– Evil minions of Sauron force the Fellowship to take a

path through Moria, where they lose one of their membership, Gandalf, to a balrog

– The Fellowship go to Lórien and meet Galadriel, the elf queen who has one of the three elf rings of old; there the elves supply them for their continued journey

– The Fellowship fails as Frodo truly grasps the power and corruptive influence of the Ring, and Boromir, seduced by the Ring, frightens Frodo, and they are attacked by the Uruk-hai

– Sam and Frodo go on alone; Merry and Pippin are taken hostage; Boromir is slain, regaining his honor; Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli go after the Orcs

Plot of Fellowship: Book and Film

• Climax: Encountering the Balrog in Moria• Climax: Encountering the Uruk-hai after

leaving Lórien

• Falling Action: Encountering Galadriel • Falling Action: Burying Boromir

• Resolution: The Breaking of the Fellowship• Resolution: The Breaking of the Fellowship

Characters in Fellowship

Round or flat, major or minor

Personality

– Psychological

– Moral compass

Physical descriptions

Protagonists vs. Antagonists

• Frodo• Gandalf• Sam, Merry, and

Pippin• Strider (Aragorn,

Elessar)• Glorfindel• Elrond• Legolas• Gimli• Boromir• Galadriel• Arwen

• Sauron• Gollum• Saruman• The One Ring

Character

• Frodo– His heart is in the Shire:

• Innocence

• Strength

Frodo’s Biggest Fear is the Destruction of the Shire

Frodo

Frodo

Character

• Aragorn– Conflicted

• Identity

• Past

Narsil

Star-crossed Lovers

Aragorn

Aragorn sings of Lúthien

Character

• Boromir– Hopeful and despairing in turns

– Warrior-king character type

– Most easily seduced by the Ring

BoromirBoromir is complex:He struggles with his fears and weaknesses.

Even though Boromir frightens Frodo, he redeems himself by allowing the hobbits to escape (at least initially) as he summons the Uruk-hai to him. His warrior honor is redeemed.

He is even able to accept Aragorn at his end, overcoming his jealousy.

Character•Sam

–Loyal

Point of View

• The perspective from which the story is told– Narrator

• Omniscient

• First person

• Second person

• Third person– Limited

– Omniscient

• “Fly-on-the-wall”

Tolkien claimed the perspective of the novel came from the Hobbits’ point point-of-view; certainly Frodo’s third person limited narrative correlates to this.

Point of View

The film begins with narration by Galadriel before becoming mostly “fly on the wall”, as most films are. However, we do see some things through Frodo’s perspective, as in when he dons the ring.

Setting

• Time and place where a story occurs

– Provides mood or tone

– Provides historical context

– Provide symbolism

Setting of Fellowship

• Middle-Earth– Hobbits

• Hobbiton• The Shire• Bree-land

– Dwarves• Dain• Khazad-dûm

– Men• Gondor• Arnor

–Elves• Mirkwood• Rivendell• Lórien

Settings

• Bag End and Rivendell

Style• The manipulation of language

includes the following components:– Diction– Syntax– Figurative Language

• The manipulation of film includes, among other things,:– Camera angles– Placement of characters in the frame– Pace of inter-cutting– Use of Color

Figurative Language

• The “intentional departure from the normal order, construction, or meaning of words in order to gain strength and freshness of expression, to create a pictorial effect, to describe by analogy, or to discover and illustrate similarities in otherwise dissimilar things.”

Types of Figurative Language

• Hyperbole

• Imagery

• Irony

• Personification and Anthropomorphism

• Similes and Metaphors

• Symbolism

Cinematic Figurative Language

• Fellowship uses repeated visual motifs throughout the film to help communicate its theme:– Circles– Eyes

Circles• Hobbits prefer circles in their architecture

•

• The Council of Elrond sits in a broken circle

Eyes• In addition to the Eye of Sauron, many characters’

eyes provide focal points in the film. Saruman is the only character who looks directly at the camera.

Strider BilboFrodo BalrogGandalf Saruman

Symbolism

• Symbolism happens when a writer uses one object to stand for another.

• The symbol can be a word, phrase, or idea that contains both its literal meaning and some deeper more complex meaning.– The ring as symbol– The towers as symbols

– Symbols may be universal, or accepted by all people educated within a certain culture.

• For example, the bald eagle can be used to symbolize the United States of America.

– Symbols may also be contextual, or have their meanings determined by the context of the work in which they appear.

• For example, in the film A Civil Action, water becomes symbolic of life, truth, and honesty.

Photography

• Shots

• Angles

• Lighting and Colors

Theory of organic form: form and content

are mutually dependent in any art form.

Shots

• The different cinematic shots are defined by the amount of subject matter that’s included within the frame of the screen.– In general, shots are defined by how much of

the human figure is in the frame.

– Most shots fall into six different categories:• The extreme long shot – The long shot

• The full shot – The medium shot

• The close-up – The extreme close-up

The Extreme Long Shot

• These shots are taken from a great distance and so are nearly always exterior shots

• They serve as spatial frames of reference for closer shots and so are sometimes called establishing shots

• This can distance the subject in the frame, making it seem insignificant or powerless—or make the environment seem grand or powerful

Extreme Long Shots

The Long Shot• Long shot ranges correspond approximately to

the distance between the audience and live theater.

• Like the extreme long shot this can act as an establishing shot and distance the subject from the viewer.

• It can provide different planes of visual interest.

The Full Shot

• This is the closest range of long shot, which just barely contains the human body in full.

• It can allow you to see the full body and its movement, and even large facial expressions.

The Medium Shot

• This shot contains a figure from the knees or waist up.

• It is a functional shot: it carries exposition, dialogue, or movement.

The Close-up Shot

• The close-up shows very little locale and concentrates on a relatively small object, such as the human face and its subtle expressions.

• The magnification elevates the importance of things, often suggesting a symbolic significance.

The Extreme Close-up Shot

• This is a variation of the close-up. Where a close-up might show the human face, the extreme close-up might show just a person’s eyes, mouth, or, in this case, the Ring.

Angles

• The angle from which an object is photographed can often serve as an authorial commentary on the subject matter.

• The angle is determined by where the camera is placed in relation to the subject.

The subject matter can be identical in two different shots, but if the angle from which they are filmed is different, you can have two very different understandings of that subject.

The Bird’s-Eye View

• This angle involves photographing a subject from directly overhead.

• This can make characters seem powerless and insignificant, ant-like, to viewers. It is a favorite of directors whose themes deal with fate.

Notice that Gandalf is barely visible from this angle, especially as the tower’s shadow covers him.

Low Angles

• These angles increase height and are useful for suggesting verticality.

• They increase a short actor’s height, speed motion up, and minimize the environment.

• Psychologically, the subject’s importance is heightened, possibly making the viewer fell threatened, and—especially in violent scenes—increase the sense of confusion.

Low Angles

Oblique Angles• These shots involve a

lateral tilt of the camera. When the image is projected, the horizon is skewed.– This angle is

sometimes used for point-of-view shots, to suggest the imbalance of a drunk, perhaps.

– Psychologically, these angles suggest tension, transition, and impending movements. These, too, are often used in violent scenes to create an extreme sense of visual anxiety.

This shot of Gandalf analyzing the ring after Bilbo leaves spins the subject sideways, suggesting the world has turned on its side, as Gandalf realizes that the ring my be the Ring.

Lighting and Colors

Light and Dark• There are a number of different styles of lighting. Usually

described as a lighting key, the style is geared toward the theme and the mood of a film, as well as its genre.

– Comedies and musicals tend to be lit in high key, with bright even illumination and few conspicuous shadows.

– Tragedies and melodramas tend to be lit in high contrast, with harsh shafts of light and dramatic streaks of blackness.

– Mysteries and thrillers are generally done in low key, with diffused shadows and atmospheric pools of light.

Light and Dark

• Lights and darks have had symbolic connotations since the dawn of humanity.

– In general, artists have used darkness to suggest fear, evil, the unknown.

– Light usually suggests security, virtue, truth, joy, or purity.

• Lighting can distort or intensify a viewer’s perception of a subject.

– A human face lit from below can look sinister, while lit from above an angelic halo effect is produced.

– Spotlighting can highlight the significance of an object, as well.

Color• Color tends to be a

subconscious element in a film. It is strongly emotional and it can alter people’s moods and perceptions.

• Color use can be symbolic, just as the use of lighting can be.– Cool colors (blue, green,

violet) suggest tranquility, aloofness, and serenity and tend to recede into an image.

– Warm colors (red, yellow, orange) suggest aggressiveness, violence, and stimulation and are more dominant in most images.

• Red is often a color suggesting danger, violence, or death, perhaps because it is the color of blood.

• Black is often the color of villainy or evil.

• White is often the color of truth, spirituality, or purity.

• Blue can often lend a cold chilling feeling to a scene.

• Browns and gold tones can suggest nostalgia.

Fellowship Color Palette

• The Fellowship of the Rings has two primary color palettes:– Scenes where evil or the possibility of

evil is present are dark with a lot of blue tones with low key lighting

• Notice that bright reds and oranges are used as contrasts in the Sauron/Saruman scenes

– Scenes where peace and harmony are predominant are filmed in high key lighting and usually have amber tones, while scenes showcasing nature positively use greens and whites, suing or mimicking exterior daylight

Color in Fellowship

Aragorn and Hobbits Find Bilbo’s Trolls

Gandalf Battles the Balrog in Moria

Color in Fellowship

Legolas in the Woods, following the Battle with the Uruk-hai

Frodo in Rivendell

Mise en scène

• Contrasts

• Character Placements

• Elements of Set Composition

• Mise en scène (pronounced meez on sen) was originally a French theatrical term meaning “placing on the stage.”

• In film, it refers to how the filmmaker arranges the objects and people within the frame of the shot.

Theory of organic form: form and content are mutually dependent in any art form.

Contrasts• The human eye automatically attempts to unify

various elements within a composition. In most cases, the eye sees the items individually before integrating them.

• The area of an image that most immediately attracts our attention is the dominant contrast, or the dominant. This effect can be achieved through color, spacing, size, movement, and lighting effects.

• After we take in the dominant, our eye scans the subsidiary contrasts that the artist has arrange as counter balancing devices.

Contrasts in Fellowship

Notice how color pulls the eye to a certain place in the frame in each of these stills. The balrog’s whip renders Gandalf virtually invisible.

• The area near the top of the frame can suggest ideas dealing with power, authority, and aspiration. A positive character placed there could seem in control of his/her situation, while a negative character placed there could seem threatening.

• The areas near the bottom of the frame tend to suggest subservience, vulnerability, and powerlessness.

• The areas to the left and right edges of the frame suggest insignificance, because they are farthest removed from the center.

Character Placement

Character Placement

Aragorn’s central position, while the Hobbits are peripheral, shows his greater control of their traveling situation.

Later, as he and Arwen share a kiss, they are positioned equally in the center of the frame in a classic heart-shape embrace. Notice the pink and blue shades, too.

Character Placement

• The Heart Shape as Demonstrating Love

Character Placement

• Proxemic patterns refer to the relationships of organisms within a given space.

– The greater the distance between the camera and the subject the more emotionally neutral we remain to them.

– The closer we are to a character, generally speaking, the more emotionally involved we become.

• The proxemic distances correspond roughly to the shots.

Character Placement, continued

• Intimate Distance – Skin contact to about 18 inches away

– This can reflect love, comfort, or tenderness, or suspicion, hostility, and fear, depending on the viewer’s relation to the subject

– This corresponds to the close-up and the extreme close-up

Character Placement, continued

• The Personal Distance

– 18 inches to 4 feet away

– These distances tend to be reserved for family and friends, yet do not exclude outsiders as intimate distances do.

– The medium shot captures this distance

Character Placement, continued

• The Social Distance

– 4 feet to 12 feet away

– These are distances reserved for impersonal business and casual gatherings.

– Full shot ranges corresponds to this distance

Character Placement, continued

• Public Distance

– 12 feet to 25+ feet away

– This range suggests detachment and a lack of emotional involvement.

– The long shot and the extreme long shot correspond to this distance

Movement: Symbolic Direction

• Upward movement is usually positive• Downward movement is usually

negative• Movement from left to right seems

positive and natural• Movement from right to left can seem

unnatural and help a view predict a negative end to a scene or a film

Movement

Movement in the mines of Moria indicates a symbolic descent into, and then an escape from, Hell

Editing• Editing can be for continuity, showing all the

significant parts of a given action but cutting any repetition and decreasing the time devoted to showing the action

• Classical Editing can link two or more actions, perhaps happening at different locations, so that viewers understand they are happening simultaneously, and it can link two separate actions causally.– Notice the increased tension you feel, as you

see a multitude of different scenes that you understand, through the editing, happen concurrently.

Editing

Notice how the editing manipulates your expectations as it suggests a causal connection between the two different but simultaneous actions.

Sound

• Sound Effects• Music• Spoken Language

“Cinematic sound is that which does not simply add to, but multiplies, two or three times, the effect of the image.”

--Akira Kurosawa

Theory of organic form: form and content are mutually dependent in any art form.

Sound

Note how dialogue (including the actor’s delivery and pacing) and sound effects help increase the tension in this scene.

Sound

Note how the music of this scene helps us interpret this apparently casual walk across New Zealand as an epic quest.

Literary Style

• Epic Style– Epic (n.)

1.An extended narrative poem in elevated or dignified language, celebrating the feats of a legendary or traditional hero.

2.A literary or dramatic composition that resembles an extended narrative poem celebrating heroic feats.

3.A series of events considered appropriate to an epic: the epic of the Old West. --From Dictionary.com

Epic Characteristics

• Hero is a figure of imposing stature or importance and of great historical or legendary importance

• Setting is vast• Action consists of deeds of great valor or

requiring superhuman courage• Supernatural forces are interested and

intervene from time to time• Style used is of sustained elevation and

grand simplicity

• Voice of epic writer is objective

Epic Hero

• Hero is a figure of imposing stature or importance and of great historical or legendary importance– Frodo, the only Baggins with spirit,

according to Bilbo, as the Ring-Bearer is the only one who has a chance to save the world of Middle-Earth

– Aragorn, the descendent of the almost mythic elf and mortal lovers, descendent of kings, inheritor of the legendary sword Narsil, will need to “save” the world of Men and Elves.

Epic Setting

• Middle-Earth: a world of magic and near immortals, as well as mortal races– Towers are very imposing– The Argonath are impressive, too

Middle-Earth is Vast and Geologically Impressive

Epic Action

• Heroes battle Goblins, Orcs, Wolves, Wraiths, Trees, and Evil Sorcerers in their quest to save their world

• Heroes overcome treacherous obstacles in their quest

• Heroes get aid from supernatural-like Elves and Good wizards as they complete their mission

Epic Forces

• Gandalf saves the fellowship from the balrog by invoking magic

• Sauron forges the ring using magic

• Gandalf is saved by a giant eagle

• Ring Wraiths ride flying dragons

• Saruman creates the Uruk-hai to serve himself and Sauron

Epic Style

• The Fellowship begins in medias res, especially as it continues The Hobbit

• Sentences are simple but include many different figurative devices, including epic catalogues, genealogies, and histories

• The work contains and preserves legends and songs of Middle-Earth

Epic Filmmaking

• Jackson, a “B” film director uses the film elements appropriately to create this epic of Middle-Earth– Scaled sets and actors– Special makeup, – High-tech sets and vast locations– State of the art computer-generated images

• He convinces us that the battle of good and evil, as waged by the characters, is all important and worthy of history.

The End

• See me for sources or questions

• As always, thanks for your patience.