Posted on 03/14/2002 5:07:26 AM PST by HairOfTheDog
Even the West coast hobbit is awake! - Where are all the early risers?
Good Morning!
I am still not committed to staying awake... Now that the horses are fed I could be free to go back to bed if I wish!
What is one your agenda for today? - More weed-wacking for me.
Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
John Gilbert
For me, the task of editing is first and foremost that of creating a compelling narrative and shaping performances so that characters are credible and at one with story. If we can then provide an emotionally satisfying experience for the audience, we stand a good chance of making a film people will want to see.
On The Lord of the Rings, director Peter Jackson was shooting all three films in the trilogy concurrently, and so for much of the time I was left alone with a pile that grew to two million feet of film. Some days I'd watch 20,000 to 30,000 feet of dailies (occasionally 50,000 or 60,000!). Though Peter likes to be intimately involved in editing decisions, during production I was rarely able to get his attention for more than a few hours at a time. As an editor, I'm naturally a collaborator. I like to discuss story, character and themes so I can get into the head of the director. I traveled around the country -- by small plane or even chopper -- moving the cutting room from hotel to hotel to get as much time as I could with him, and by about September, 2000, we had a fine cut that we could preview.
Logistically, this was a pretty complex operation. My first assistant, Peter Skarratt, looked after the technical side of things. We ran six Avids networked with Unity, providing 2.5 terabytes of storage. Apart from the main unit, a full second unit shot fights, big set pieces and the like, and another got pickups, working around the main unit. At one time, there were also three miniatures units. A blue-screen unit was down the road, and the digital team at WETA created around 500 effects shots. The footage was digitally color corrected at a new facility in Wellington, new Zealand, built by the German-based Post House. Editorial had to prepare all the material for scanning, as well as track film and digital elements in and out of the cutting room.
The script also changed daily. By the end, not one original page remained. Once or twice, script changes actually arrived at the cutting room after the footage. It was not unusual for nine months to elapse between shots that would wind up in the same scene.
The first cut we showed to New Line came in at three hours and 17 minutes. Even though I'd lived with the movie for nearly two years and was proud of what we'd accomplished, I still thought it was too long, and those few people who saw that version agreed. Still, that running time struck Peter as lucky. It was the same length of the biggest grosser of all time Titanic. Of course, there's an important distinction: Our film was part of a trilogy. We needed to keep the narrative interesting for three hours, yet leave the viewer hanging for Part 2.
So we worked on -- until they stopped us. We had almost a year from our first fine cut through to delivery, and it still didn't seem enough! The story is so complex it was a mind-bender to economically telescope it into a commercial-length film.
After the initial screenings, I felt two areas still needed to play more quickly. One was Hobbiton, where the movie starts. For me, the film really kicks into gear when the black rider is hunting the four hobbits. Clearly, a huge amount of setup precedes that, but I felt we had to get through it efficiently, yet not so quickly that we'd neglect character development. The other area was in Lothlorien. I found it difficult meeting new characters there, because we were approaching the climax and needed to push on. Both areas were shortened considerably, but fans will be able to see the full scenes on the DVD version.
We were always conscious of the two audiences for the film: fans (such as my 15-year-old son) whose knowledge of the book might make them unforgiving of changes and omissions; and those unfamiliar with the story who might need more setup and be less tolerant of a long running time. Eventually, I think we managed to walk the tightrope quite well.
Even More Spoilers! RotK Style...
Tookish @ 6:15 pm ESTDon't read this if you HATE to know the ending of a good story! From Ringer Miss Mac:
I Just got my Entertainment Weekly, and there is a little quote in the section called "ReelWorld" that I thought may be of interest to you guys.
Heavy spoilers.
"Rings Redux
We bring you news all the way from Middle-earth. Sir Ian Holm, who plays hobbit Bilbo Baggins in The Lord of the Rings:The Fellowship of the Ring, may not appear in the sequel, but don't count him out of the trilogy totally. 'I probably shouldn't say this, but I'm back in three... as a very old man.' Says Holm.
'Bilbo just suddenly appears at the end of the movie and says 'I'm ready for another adventure.' He goes off with Frodo into the sunset.'
Sounds slightly hobbo-erotic to us."-Rebecca Ascher-Walsh,Entertainment Weekly, #662, July 12, 2002
I see I missed out on a discussion with some strong feelings.
2JM, I don't see where you get "pudgy" from. You are very thin + you have a beautiful family.
I'm curious, what is a "home school academy?"
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