The Lord of the Rings

5 votes

Loading ...

Posted on: March 24, 2010

Posted in: Action, Drama, Fantasy, Fiction, Period, Video

Comment on This Video

Share This Video

Embed This Video

A Lord of the Rings web series? Well, allow me to explain…

The indie film world stopped breathing for a few exited moments when the LotR fan-filmThe Hunt For Gollum was released on May 3rd 2009. The impact was as thundering as the applauses at Sci-Fi-Con in London when it was first shown, and the numbers of online-viewers has steadily risen over the past year: by the time of this article it was at over 3.5 million hits YouTube and DailyMotion combined.

Fan-films based on successful franchises are nothing new (see Star Wars and Star Trek), but taking on Peter Jackson’s LotR entailed more than just having some fun with a camera in someone’s backyard: considering the locations, wardrobe and props the project was down-right epic.

Having a budget and professional experience was indubitably necessary and with the help from a few friendly wallets (make that many friendly wallets) the project got underway in 2007 at prime locations in North Wales under the guidance of Chris Bouchard. Chris did such a good job with everything, the illusion that this might just be part of the original Jackson trilogy is perfect. Even were casting was concerned he found actors with striking resemblances to the film’s originals. Adrian Webster and Patrick O’Connor for example are dead ringers for Mortensen’s Aragorn and McKellen’s Gandalf respectively.

The film is set during the timespan of The Fellowship of the Ring. It takes place seventeen years after Bilbo Baggins’s 111th birthday party and just prior to Frodo Baggins leaving the Shire for Rivendell. The script is adapted from elements of the appendices of Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings. The story is a prequel and follows the Heir of Isildur; the “greatest huntsman and traveller in Middle Earth” as he sets out to find the creature Gollum. The creature must be found to discover the truth about the Ring, and to protect the future Ringbearer.

The quality is near impeccable. Directing, acting and FX do its origin justice. Although low budget, the creators did their best in recreating the world Tolkien dreamed up and Jackson established and even gave us a decent Gollum (using some forgivable cheats of course). At just about 40 minutes it is very long for a web show and too short for a feature film.

Still, it is a web-only show, especially as it not a lone film…

At about the same time a different crew and cast was independently working on another LotR inspired fan-film called Born of Hope. Although two separate projects, both collaborated. Under the guidance of Kate Madison this treatment received a feminine touch. Yes, like Search for Gollum there are lots of well-choreographed Orc-battles, slow-mo swordfights and Howard Shore-ish music, but there is also a touching love-story.

A scattered people, the descendents of storied sea kings of the ancient West, struggle to survive in a lonely wilderness as a dark force relentlessly bends its will toward their destruction. Yet amidst these valiant, desperate people, hope remains. A royal house endures unbroken from father to son.

This hour long original drama is set in the time before the War of the Ring and tells the story of the Dúnedain, the Rangers of the North, before the return of the King. Inspired by only a couple of paragraphs written by Tolkien in the appendices of the Lord of the Rings we follow Arathorn and Gilraen, the parents of Aragorn, from their first meeting through a turbulent time in their people’s history.

Like Search for Gollum the film is jawdroppingly well executed. At their low-budget they nevertheless managed to produce an independent story that expands on the films using Tolkien’s notes. No, it does not feel like a cheaply produced rip-off or a simple parody. Both films show that it is possible to create high-quality low-budget films, all with fan-power and care, as well as the very necessary love for the subject. Unlike some other film-makers who despite budget and access to quality actors manage to make everything kaputt (That’s right Uwe Boll, I’m looking at you).

Two films only? Well, we wouldn’t feature it on Visioweb.TV if it weren’t an ongoing series of sorts. Indeed another film is shortly to be announced. We await news for title and story.

And so, until The Hobbit comes around, here is this web series of films for the LotR addicts.

Mára mesta.