The incredible complexity of Gollum is evident to anyone who watches the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Although he is a CGI character, he offers great emotional depth. There is never any doubt that he is just as real and important as the movies’ non CGI characters. Clearly, animators painstakingly created Gollum to achieve this realism; however, what audiences are less aware of, myself included, is the extremes that Andy Serkis, the actor behind Gollum, went to in order to create him. Now, Serkis is well known as an actor who can achieve incredible physical transformations. Roles including Gollum in the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movies, King Kong in King Kong, and the ape Caesar in the Planet of the Apes movies have made Serkis a household …show more content…
They look up on-screen and see me in those roles” (cite NPR) To achieve his masterful physical transformation into Gollum, Serkis started with the character’s voice. Serkis states that he wanted “to find the construction in [Gollum’s] throat, the source of his pain” (cite Guardian). He viewed Gollum’s voice as intrinsically linked to his physicality, with Gollum’s body being controlled by the ring and then his voice and the gollum sounds he makes being an involuntary manifestation. Accidently, Serkis used his own pet cat to create Gollum’s distinctive voice. He noticed how when his cat threw up a furball, it was “like the whole body writhes from the tip of the neck to the tip of the tail and convulses. And you see this ripple goes down its spine” (cite NPR). Although Serkis started with Gollum’s voice, the character’s voice and his physicality were always linked. This technique is reminiscent with our own experiments with animal masks in class. While working on our character pieces, we picked an animal that matched that character and then experienced the character as that animal. This method proves to be incredibly helpful because it allows the actor to uncover a hidden side of the character--that animal nature we all have but suppress as civilized members of society. Watching Serkis’ performance
“The murder of Déagol haunted Gollum, and he had made up a defense, repeating it to his ‘precious’ over and over” (The Fellowship of the Ring 62). This quote gives a look into the strongest moment of shock that impacted young Sméagol’s life forever. Gollum is a fictional character unlike any other in The Lord of the Rings series, as he is portrayed as having undiagnosed Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. There are six recurring symptoms that must happen in conjunction with traumatic factors in order for someone to be diagnosed with PTSD, and unfortunately for Sméagol his actions and history sync perfectly into the diagnosis. Due to the fact that Gollum is a fictional character out of a book, it seems that the author, J.R.R. Tolkien, may have purposely given these attributes to Gollum to display PTSD. Though Tolkien may argue that his time in the war did not highly influence his books, subconsciously Tolkien, like many who were in the war, could have had undiagnosed PTSD or known someone who did. As a combat veteran, Tolkien and his friends were more likely to develop PTSD. This may have resulted in portraying these symptoms on to one specific character, Gollum. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder “is a disorder that develops in some people who have experienced a shocking, scary, or dangerous event” (NIMH), just as Gollum had and continues to be put through. He has had a rough past of loss and exile, as well as continuously trudges through horrific events and torture in which he must
The filming of Avatar marked the innovation of combining computer-generated imagery (CGI) and stereoscopic 3D methods, thus expanding the reach of intensified continuity. About 70% of the footage from Avatar is CGI-based and was obtained by having the actors/actresses wear motion-capture (mo-cap) suits while filming. The use of CGI and mo-cap was crucial for Avatar because it allowed for more opportunities to adjust camera angles in post-production as well as “crank up the realism by improving the way the suits captured the actors’ facial expressions” (Johnson). It was this method that allowed the Na’vi to be realistic in their human-like form. The characters were not the only CGI-based aspect of the film. The scenes that took place on Pandora were almost entirely computer generated. The animators were able to balance the CGI and live-action components of the movie well enough that the immersion was never
Lord Acton once said, "Power corrupts, but absolute power corrupts absolutely." He was probably referring to the powerful kings and queens who held power over many people. But, we could see how power is something many of the characters in Tolkien's story are trying to have and hold onto in some form or another. In The Fellowship of the Ring J.R.R. Tolkien tells us a story about Frodo Baggins who is ordered by Gandalf to destroy the powerful ring discovered accidentally by his older cousin, Bilbo. Like the rest of the hobbits, Frodo has lived quite peacefully and well, not having to worry about how dark and dreary the rest of Middle Earth was becoming under Sauron's growing power. Now, Frodo,
Looking. Searching. Seeking. There is just nothing like it for getting to conclusions. Finding. “There is nothing like looking, if you want to find something. You certainly usually find something, if you look, but it is not always quite the something you were after” (Tolkien). Certainly, when E.M Forster wrote A Passage to India or J.R.R Tolkien wrote The Hobbit or Kurt Vonnegut wrote Slaughterhouse -Five they were not looking for anything. However, they ended up finding a crucial link in their books–links to society at the time their books were published. 1924, 1937, 1969 or is it 1890, 2157 (Shire reckoning), 1945-It is not possible to be entirely sure. And it is this ambiguity that reveals a major aspect of literature. Literature has a tendency to represent the prevailing collective outlook. Forster highlights the growing discontent, of both Indians and the British, with the way the sub-continent is handled. Tolkien represents, very allegorically, the hardy nature of the people surviving the great depression, naming them hobbits. Vonnegut expresses the general disillusionment of the post-war years and Billy Pilgrim’s fatalist nature provides a grim undercurrent to the cheery “good war” (Jarvis 62). Thus, as seen through Forster, Tolkien, and Vonnegut’s books A Passage to India, The Hobbit, and Slaughterhouse -Five (respectively) authors tend to mimic
To me, both Tolkien and movie producers in Hollywood captured many of the different aspects and angles of the timeless classic The Hobbit. Although I pictured some scenes and characters different in my mind, both the movie and the book outdid themselves with lovely yet gruesomely fascinating detail. I myself am not sure if I favor the movie or the book better. Each did a great job of benefiting details to the story by either giving great descriptions of high quality imagery. Both the movie and the book both portrayed the story perfectly in their own ways.
How can an author write a story which appeals to a present day audience? Richard H. Tyre published an article in 1978 that gives an answer to this very question. Tyre explains how most kids today choose to read books like the Harry Potter series, The Lord of the Rings series, and even The Wizard of Oz. An existing theory that Tyre came up with explains that each of these books, along with many others, have one thing in common: 6 plot elements. Not only do these stories contain the same 6 elements but those elements are in the same order! Tyre states that “(1) those who hunt for treasure, (2) must go alone, (3) at night, (4) and when they find it, (5) they must leave some of their blood behind, (6) and the treasure is never what they expected.” (Tyre 2). J.R.R. Tolkien is the author of The Hobbit. The Hobbit revolves around one hobbit in particular named Bilbo Baggins. Bilbo embarks on a journey with 14 others to recover a treasure that is guarded by a dragon. Along the way Bilbo faces many challenges that range from running into huge trolls, to taking part in fierce battles. Due to it’s main character hunting for treasure, facing most of the dangers alone, battling during the wee hours of the night, eventually finding the treasure, after sweating/crying/and enduring injuries, just to have the treasure revealed to him as not what he expected, J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit is undoubtedly a perfect example of Tyre’s 6 plot elements.
1. Based on your interpretation of Gollum/Smeagol in the reading and what you saw in the video, how successful was Andy Serkis in capturing the character in his acting? a. Serkis’s performance does a fine job in capturing Gollum’s voice, mannerisms, and particularly, his double personality. For instance, in the novels, Gollum appears as a vengeful and malicious creature, while Sméagol is often likened to a dog, eager to please its master.
"Three Rings for the Eleven-kings under the sky, Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone, Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die, One for the Dark Lord on his Dark throne, In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie. One Ring to rule them all, One ring to find them, One ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them, In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie(Tolkien)." Master of storytelling J.R.R. Tolkien continues the lives of the fictitious creatures that he introduced in The Hobbit, in his modern classic The Fellowship of the Ring. He artfully illustrates the truths of the evil that plague the hearts of man. He tells a story of greed, destruction and how mortal men are enslaved by
I would like to conclude by saying that this novel The Lord of the Rings has inspired many spin off works, including several games as well.The enormous popularity of Tolkien’s epic saga has greatly expanded the demand for fantay novels, largely thanks to the Lord of the Rings. It is an an extraordinary work, grandly conceived, brilliantly executed and wildly entertaining novel of Tolkien .In the whole novel we see that it 's a hobbit 's dream, a wizard 's delight. And, of course, it 's only the beginning.The language used in this novel is very simple and easy to understand by people. In short this novel has won the hearts of many .This novel is a must read. I see this novel as a near perfect: It 's one of the best fantasy novel ever written. The story just revolves around the Ring which is created by a Dark lord, Sauron.It has brought the supernaturalism in such a way that we could clearly make out where is the supernaturalism used.
Generally, The Hobbit takes place in many different places as listed and described below but the time period is considered to be set in the years of 2941 and 2942 of the Third Age (before the Lord of the Rings)
I suppose the verse could find a still further fulfilment on a world-wide scale, but I seems clear that the sudden rise of Trump in tandem with what is happening politically in this country and even around the world, is just one more “coincidence” that seems choreographed by something greater than ourselves. If what has recently happened is the fulfilment of these two prophecies, than the tribulation could start at any moment. A dark time approaches.
Method acting is often misinterpreted as an acting exercise where the actor “becomes” the character, and keeps the persona of that character until they have completed their work. This misguided thinking has been promoted by pop culture and even sometimes by actors themselves. The Lee Strasberg Film & Theatre Institute defines the Method as when “actors use their imagination, sense and emotion to conceive characters with unique and original behavior, creating performances grounded in the human truth of the moment.” This definition focuses more on the relationship between the actor and their character, rather than both being one and the same. Method acting is not a new idea. It is thought to have been considered an acting exercise for
For this film review, I watched the film Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief. It tells the story of Percy, son of Poseidon, and his quest to discover both who he is and who stole the mighty lightning bolt of Zeus. The film is aimed at families, and generally shows an accurate representation of the Greek myths. There are a few key differences though, which are mostly used to present the Greek Gods in a better, more likable tone for the movie.
There are approximately 630 visual effects shots in the film that had to be shot individual shots in order to capture the proper theme of the storyline. Technical advancements were made in environments, lighting, and simulation of physical effects and integration of CG characters in a real environment. This movie was a true success through the use of well-known actors, and by using proper voice over acting throughout this film. Actors such as Tyrese Gibson (SGT Epps), Magan Fox (Mikaela Banes), and John Keller (John Turturro) just to name a few of the actors that made this movie a huge success. The reason acting played a significant role in the accomplishment of this movie was because they had to act without having the most significant actors being present, the Transformers themselves. All the acting conducted in this movie had to be conducted without the use of real robot actors and most by standing in front of blue screens. By the use of editing the theatrical scenes were superimposed into the background of the acting conducted. It took a team of editors and computer programmers in order to accomplish this mission.
A cultural product that inspires me is the film trilogy The Lord of the Rings, which was directed by Peter Jackson. This movie gave me inspiration because of how beautiful and well put together the film was. It made me want to be involved with the process of how great films are made. According to Wikipedia, “Jackson knew he wanted to bring the movie to the big screen, and was curious to why nobody decided to do so.” He wanted to take advantage of the new technology, and create a fantasy that was serious and felt real (Wikipedia, 2014). Peter Jackson demonstrates the art and business of the film in many ways, which is culturally inspiring.