The famous trilogy, based on the book of Tolkien, is the most ambitious and iconic project in the history of world cinema. Millions of fans who review their favorite movie dozens of times share their impressions and create fan clubs. And one of the most interesting questions for every lover of the Lord of the Rings trilogy is “Where was the film made?” The selection of territories for film sets is an amazing story, accompanied by many problems and joyful events.
Difficulties before shooting
Peter Jackson, a New Zealand resident, first became acquainted with the fantasy world, watching a cartoon shot based on the book. Then he was only 17, but it was this moment that inspired him with confidence that he would become a director and would definitely make a film based on Tolkien's work.
And Jackson became a director. At first he made films only in his native country. But The Lord of the Rings was 95% funded by the United States, which created difficulties. Perhaps investors did not know what the director was capable of, or maybe they did not believe in success, but only $ 70 million was allocated. And when the producer came to New Zealand with a check, he said upon his return that he would need at least twice as much investment.
At that time, the book was divided into two films. Peter has already prepared a script for each of them. But the sponsors decided that they needed to shoot only one film, cut out many scenes, removed some characters. Jackson refused to shoot under such conditions. However, Peter did not plan to retreat, he rewrote the script for 2 years, invested a lot of effort and money.
New producer and film company
For almost a month Jackson was looking for new partners, he came to the film companies and showed scripts, as well as several already shot videos, again and again being refused. But once he was lucky, he met Mark Ordeschi, and he agreed to become a producer. To the end, it is not clear to whom then luck smiled more, to the director or film company.
Mark offered to shoot not 2, but 3 films, otherwise all of Peter's ideas simply could not fit. In addition, Tolkien himself divided his book into three parts. Jackson set about rewriting the script, and a few months later he was ready. The group started shooting directly 4 years after Peter began to implement his long-standing idea for the film adaptation of The Lord of the Rings.
Where the movie was shot: panoramic beauty and the green Shire
The answer to exactly where the Lord of the Rings was filmed is only superficial - in New Zealand. In fact, there were an infinite number of sets, and you can’t say which part of the landscape got into the film to a greater extent.
The most attractive is the Shire, a quiet place in the Waikato region. Despite the fact that the shooting ended in 2000, today this place has not lost its popularity at all. Here, everything was preserved the same as it was while working on the film, all the scenery left for tourists. You can see a huge tree, under which Uncle Bilbo turned 111 years old, and Beggins' house.
Queenstown is a resort city that is distinguished by its ideal beauty. This was noticed by Jackson, and he shot many panoramic scenes here. In the film in this area is Lorien, a magnificent elven forest. By the way, here Viggo Mortensen (Aragorn) was injured. Resting from work, he decided to go surfing. As a result of a blow to the water, his face was swollen, even make-up artists could not hide it. But the shooting did not stop, Peter decided to shoot Viggo on only one side, less swollen.
Functional Wahiau River and New Zealand Geographic Center
Near the town of Queenstown lies a colorful plain. They shot a battle between the orcs and soldiers of Rohan. The plain belongs to the national park. She meets twice - during the second scene, here Gandalf rides a horse in Minas Tirith.
The Anduin River, which is found in every part of the trilogy, is Wahiau. It was here that the ring lay until Gollum discovered it. This river was the boundary between light and darkness, of course, until Sauron was destroyed. Crossing Wahiau, Arwen rescues Frodo from the Nazgul. And also a raft with the body of Boromir is launched along the river. In a word, this place is full of nostalgic memories, so it is so loved by tourists.
In the town of Nelson there is also a place where they filmed The Lord of the Rings. This is a geographical New Zealand center with magical charm. It is likely that this is why Peter in his film cast a ring of omnipotence here. This city hosts a helicopter tour, which shows tourists the inaccessible sights of the painting "Lord of the Rings."
Where the film was shot: the lifeless plains of the surroundings of Mordor and other gloomy places
Watching a movie, it is difficult to imagine that the whole diversity of natural landscapes, from the green Shire to the terrifying gates to Sauron's lair, are located in New Zealand alone. This is actually the case, and most of the dark scenes were filmed in Tongariro Park.
Filming "The Lord of the Rings" took place near the volcano Orodruin. Here Isildur first destroyed Sauron, but could not cope with the curse of the ring and put it on his finger. Fiery Mountain is also located here - the final place of Frodo's nightmare. Gollum, along with the ring, plunges into the lava, destroying the boundary between darkness and light.
Another rather gloomy place on the set is Lake Te Anau. This is the Dead Swamps, where Frodo falls under the control of the dead. Perhaps Te-Anau is the only place where there were no computer graphics, since it actually completely copies the description from the book.
Cast
With some invited actors, Jackson had difficulties, but luck was always on his side. For example, the performers of the roles of Frodo and Sam are Americans, but the director wanted to see only the British in the hobbits. Therefore, two other short men had to bring them closer to English culture for several months, to correct accents.
The role of the elven Arwen was originally written for Uma Thurman, but she became pregnant before the shoot. Liv Tyler did a great job with the character. Perhaps even better than Thurman would have done.
The actor who was supposed to play Aragorn was too young. The future king is wiser and older. Then right during the filming, Peter invited Viggo Mortensen, whom he had never worked with before. At first he was refused, but the situation was corrected by the son of the future Aragorn, who literally idolized the book “Lord of the Rings”. Where the film was shot, what work was to be done, what the fee would be - all this went by the wayside for Wiggy. He immediately got on a plane and went on a journey.
Orlando Bloom and John Rhys-Davis were born for their roles. They not only perfectly got used to the images, but also played in such a way that it is impossible to imagine anyone else in their places.
But wizards have interesting facts. Christopher Lee, who got the role of Saruman, would like to take the bright side. Moreover, he was blessed by Tolkien himself, Christopher was personally acquainted with that. As soon as he learned about the filming, he immediately rushed over, as he was perfectly versed in the writer's work. Now it no longer mattered to him what kind of wizard he would get. Unlike Lee, Ian McKellen (Gandalf) never read Tolkien and had no idea what he was going to play.
And, of course, Andy Serkis is the real star of the film. Gollum in his performance was perfect. A lively character and surprisingly correctly conveyed emotions - this is what the actor managed to do.
Interesting incidents on the set of the film
Such a large-scale project was required to be accompanied by funny and amazing stories. For example, some injuries that were received by the actors during the filming fell into the frames of the film. Gandalf hit his head several times on the low ceiling of the hobbit’s home. In one of these scenes, he actually got hit. But it was so believable that the director decided to leave the scene. Aragorn also, when he went out into the clearing with a bunch of burned orcs, was supposed to rage in an iron helmet. They took a few takes, but the actor managed only when he broke two toes. He fell to his knees and called for help, without leaving the role. Viewers can also see this unique frame in the film.
Another interesting event happened with Sean Bean, who played Boromir. The fact is that he needed to get to the place of filming of The Lord of the Rings by helicopter. And he has a panic fear of flying on a similar technique. Hoping, he told the project staff that he would rise on his own, on foot. They managed to do this in a couple of hours, and the acting group enthusiastically watched the brave Boromir climb the rocks, although this was not required by his role. The descent was even more difficult, it took almost 3 hours. Undoubtedly, this day was one of the most difficult in Sean's life.
Another, no less fascinating story is the creation of "Gollum juice." Initially, Andy Serkins came to the place where the Lord of the Rings was filmed, only to voice a unique creature. But the whole crew decided that computer graphics are not able to give vividness to the character, human participation is necessary here. As for dubbing, the actor imitated the sounds that his cat made when he cleared his throat. But such a voice literally tore his throat. To cope with the pain, a drink was created from honey, ginger and lemon.
Conclusion
It is impossible to convey the fascination of stories related to the place where the Lord of the Rings was filmed. Photos of characters on the background of endless green plains or panoramic shots of some beautiful scenes, gloomy and terrifying rocks where Frodo walked with his faithful Sam, or beautiful elven forests - all this contains New Zealand. And, perhaps, the dream of every fan of the cult trilogy is to visit this amazing country, in which your favorite characters come to life.