The Thing I Love Most About The LOTR Films Is Their Ability To Do Storytelling Without Words.
The thing I love most about the LOTR films is their ability to do storytelling without words.
Many of my favorite moments in the trilogy are ones that have no dialogue. Wordless storytelling is the one thing the films do that the original books can’t, because books Have to use words.
I argue the vast majority of the films’ depth comes through things that AREN’T the dialogue. So much of the storytelling in LOTR is done through the music, cinematography, visual effects, character/costume designs, prop designs, environment designs, performances, and so on and so on. So some of the most powerful moments in the films are the ones that have minimal/no dialogue – like the moments after Gandalf’s death, or the lighting of the beacons, or Boromir dying as he defends Merry and Pippin, or the moment when Frodo wakes up after being rescued from Mount Doom and sees Sam in the doorway, the hobbits in the Green Dragon after their quest ends…..I could go on and on and on. And people joke about how Lord of the Rings is “50 percent landscape shots to pretty music”, because it IS, but I argue those landscape shots are so important and emotional and symbolic and evocative! They convey so much about the world, and the characters, and the tone! I’ve written essays on it here and here and here –
One of my favorite moments in the trilogy is the destruction of the Ring. I love how it captures this feeling of like…. relief beyond words.
There’s just so much beautiful wordless storytelling! The way Sauron’s tower collapses to the musical leitmotif we first heard playing gently at the crossroads when Sam saw the fallen king statue and said “look– the King has got a crown again.” The way that, after Mount Doom explodes, the soundtrack transitions into the musical leitmotif that we last heard at Gandalf’s death. The elvish in the soundtrack. ;_: And I love Gandalf’s reactions in this scene….the entire trilogy he’s been racked with guilt over “(sending) Frodo to his death.” The villains recognize and torment him over this: Saruman saying “Gandalf does not hesitate to sacrifice those closest to him, those he professes to love” while Gandalf has no response. And then we see that Frodo did it, he actually made it, and Gandalf breaks into tears…;_; and without a single line of dialogue you know exactly what this means for him. I’ve already written an overlong essay on how I love the general “watercolor painting” aesthetic of the films, and I want to add that I love the way the visual effects for Mordor’s collapse are designed– the way broken tower of Barad-Dur BURSTS outward, like a spirit is leaving it– and how initially it seems triumphant until you realize that Mordor is falling apart with Frodo and Sam still trapped there. And then all of the Fellowship breaks down. ;_; And so many scenes in the films are like this….Frodo crawling up the slopes of Mount Doom to a warped broken version of the Shire leitmotif. Eowyn standing on the edge of the Golden Hall as the flag of Rohan symbolically flutters away, and the Rohan theme plays on the Hardanger Fiddle. Frodo waking up in Rivendell and walking out of his room for the first time as the Rivendell leitmotif plays, autumn leaves falling all around him, then reuniting Bilbo to a mature sad verison of the Shire leitmotif. When Gandalf dies, the soundtrack in that scene is the only one in the films where the vocals aren’t in elvish/dwarvish– it’s just cries of pain, wordless grief.
And I know that’s Basic Film Theory– the vast majority of things viewers will take away are the things that aren’t in the script– but Lord of the Rings does it so well!
Every element has so much love and care put into it. Every artist gets to add something to the story.
And I don’t actually think it’s because “every artist on Lord of the Rings was uniquely talented in a way no artists have been before or since.” I actually have….really mixed feelings on LOTR as a franchise, both because there’s so much in them that I think was objectively Bad and wrong (like the horrible lack of diversity/racist use of coding.)But the reason there are so many strong moments in Lord of the Rings despite its inarguable flaws was because the films had an extended pre-production time that a lot of movies don’t get. Howard Shore was given years to work on the soundtrack rather than months. The visual artists were treated like storytellers in their own right. The difference between the Hobbit and LOTR trilogies wasn’t talent or money– it was time.
And the problem with a film industry where everyone is trying to churn out as much Content as possible is that time is something you can’t really buy.
More Posts from Raysreads and Others
the fact they released a “clean” version of noel’s lament is SO funny to me. the song is about being a slut in postwar france and having sex with a different guy EVERY NIGHT and they think that taking out “fuck” is going to make it family friendly? yeah this song is very explicitly about sex and death but nobody cusses so here let your children listen :)
One thing I feel people miss about lord of the rings is that it’s sort of……….post-apocalyptic?
Like– the world already ended, a long time ago, and the characters are surrounded by the ruins of dead countries. They spend most of their time journeying through places that are either abandoned (Moria) soon to be abandoned (Rivendell/Lorien) or half-destroyed and falling into decay (Rohan/Gondor.) The villains are creatures that Used to be Human; I feel like Lotr’s orcs/ringwraiths have more in common with zombies than they do with DnD-style orcs, because they’re a state that “normal” people enter when they’re corrupted by a supernatural force.
Even the Shire is surrounded by ruins– the ruins of watchtowers, the ruins of the old Northern Kingdom, the ruined city near the Grey Havens. The people around there have an idiom “when the king comes back” that means the same thing as an idiom like “when pigs fly”– “when a completely ridiculous improbable thing happens.” They’re so used to the disintegrated state of the world that the idea of a central government is fairy-tale-like and bizarre. They have their little mayors and thains; they don’t need anything else.
So yeah! I see people try to “modern-real-world- au” versions of Hobbiton by making it “a peaceful suburb” but to me, a modern au version of Hobbiton would be more like…….
You are a hobbit.
You don’t know much history, but you understand that there were Wars a long time ago that destroyed a great amount of life on earth.
You live in a little hole in the ground. You don’t know that long ago these holes used to be called “bunkers;” you decorate them with flowers.
When you want to say that something won’t happen, you’ll sarcastically say things “lol yeah SURE that will happen! And tomorrow pigs will fly, Parliament will come back into session, there will be a president in the White House, there will be a prime minister making speeches, and diplomats will intercede between all of them! ha! XD”
If you journey even a little outside of your home, you’ll find the ruins of old cities and skyscrapers. There are messages in the ruins that are written in languages you don’t speak. Human beings used to live here; they don’t anymore.
And you’re not supposed to leave the Shire because sometimes you’ll meet the things that used to be human, but aren’t anymore.
I need a Too Sweet edit for Dean Winchester, but instead of a ship edit, it's just between pre hell and post hell Dean.
masterpost of horror lists
here are all my horror lists in one place to make it easier to find! enjoy!
sub-genres
action horror
analog horror
animated horror
anthology horror
aquatic horror
apocalyptic horror
backwoods horror
campy horror
children’s horror
comedy horror
coming-of-age horror
corporate/work place horror
cult horror
dance horror
daylight horror
death games
domestic horror
ecological horror
erotic horror
experimental horror
fairytale horror
folk horror
found footage horror
giallo horror
gothic horror
historical horror
holiday horror
home invasion horror
house horror
indie horror
isolation horror
lgbtqia+ horror
lovecraftian/cosmic horror
medical horror
meta horror
monster horror
musical horror
mythological horror
neo-monster horror
new french extremity horror
paranormal horror
psychedelic horror
psychological horror
religious horror
revenge horror
romantic horror
sad/dramatic horror (i think??)
science fiction horror
slasher
southern gothic horror
splatter/body horror
survival horror
techno-horror
vampire horror
virus horror
werewolf horror
western horror
witch horror
zombie horror
horror plots/settings
road trip horror
summer camp horror
cave horror
doll horror
plot devices
storm horror
from a child’s perspective
final girl/guy (this is slasher horror trope)
last guy/girl (this is different than final girl/guy)
reality-bending horror
slow burn horror
foreign horror or non-american horror
african horror
spanish horror
middle eastern horror
korean horror
japanese horror
british horror
german horror
indian horror
decades
silent era
30s horror
40s horror
50s horror
60s horror
70s horror
80s horror
90s horror
2000s horror
2010s horror
2020s horror
companies/services
blumhouse horror
a24 horror
ghosthouse horror
shudder horror
other lists
horror literature to movies
video game to horror movie adaption
video nasties
female directed horror
my 130 favorite horror movies
horror movies critics hated because they’re stupid
horror remakes/sequels that weren’t bad
female villains in horror
horror movies so bad they’re good
non-horror movies that feel like horror movies
directors + their favorite horror movies + directors in the notes
tumblr’s favorite horror movie (based off my poll)
horror movie plot twists
cult classic horror movies
the saiki k cast is all just so sad like seriously they have so many issues it isnt funny aiura has probably tried to warn people about their deaths so many times and it just doesnt work kusuke feels probably completely worthless when compared to his brother and moved away at 16 kusou has seen the absolute worst in humanity and probably feels like garbage because he didnt do anything teruhashi needs to get into therapy so bad it isnt funny nendou is hated just because of the way he looks even though hes one of the sweetest people out there aren has been beating people up since elementary and based on his nickname has killed someone and likely struggles with the guilt of that kaidou has a very overbearing mother thats trying to push him in a direction he doesnt want to go mera works like 5 separate jobs just to provide for her family saiko most likely doesnt know how to properly convey emotions since all he cared about til the show was money chiyo feels she has to have a boyfriend and when she does get one he fucking sucks akechi used to be beat up by bullies if hairo gets burn out hes just going to explode since all he does is help people and without that hed probably feel useless and toritsuka didnt know his grandparents were dead til he tried to hug them the entirety of this mangas cast needs therapy and if it wasnt for each other they probably couldnt cope (anyways im very normal about this show)
Oscar Wilde, De Profundis // @i-wrotethisforme // Jorge Louis Berges // @smokeinsilence //@viridianmasquerade //Jorge Louis Berges // @honeytuesday // Kaveh Akbar // F. Scott Fitzgerald // AKR //Olivie Blake, from “Alone With You in the Ether” // Kaveh Akbar, Pilgrimage
“So you’re telling me you can’t die?” “No, I’m telling you I can’t stay dead. There’s a difference, Trust me.”
They are studying us in petri dishes
Y’know, sometimes you just want to fuck a TV. And you know who doesn’t ask questions? Tumblr. Tumblr fucks that TV with you.
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A Place where I dump all my thoughts on Books, Movies, Tv shows and any Fandom I end up involved in along the way. Favorite Characters include: Percy Weasley, Regulus Black, Dionysus, Mycroft Holmes, the 12th Doctor, Bruce Banner and many More.
273 posts