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Post by Hanasian on Feb 10, 2022 1:44:26 GMT
There is a lot more coming out about the new Amazon Middle Earth series which is called 'The Rings of Power'. I know there is another thread, but for some reason, I'm beginning to think this new series will shape up to be more Middle Earthy than the films of old. In an attempt to separate the project from the brand, I am going to refrain from referring to this series as the 'Amazon' series here as too many discussions I've seen wherever The Rings of Power are mentioned are tainted with a 'If it's Amazon, then it's Game-of Thrones crap' closed-minded mentality. I think this project is truly well above that so I hope this will focus on the series and its making. Now that has been said, the promotion of the series is ramping up with the release of the promo posters, and the 1st teaser being shown during the Super Bowl. As far as the posters go, I like the visuals. I quite enjoyed reading through this speculative article on the released posters. Patrick Lyon is definitely reaching, but I think the whole process of his thinking and conclusions are worthy of consideration. The behind the scenes work has been tremendous, with the 1st season filmed in New Zealand and the 2nd season being filmed in the UK. |
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Post by Hanasian on Feb 11, 2022 0:29:10 GMT
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Post by Hanasian on Aug 14, 2022 5:05:07 GMT
There is a lot of good trailers and still shots out now that the premiere is only weeks away. haven't been sharing stuff here as it is pretty dead.  French interview with John Howe about his work on the series
What did your work consist of?
Imagining the world in which we would evolve. I mainly worked on the settings. We would start by discussing a subject, I would go off and make a series of sketches, and then we would have a long discussion, through drawings, to come up with something that not only suited us aesthetically but also met the requirements of the shoot. Numenor
I began by designing the map of Numenor, which is going to be of significant importance in the series: a vast island located off the coast of Middle-earth. Tolkien drew a lot of maps in his lifetime, but not this one. So we had to visualize what this world was like before the cataclysm that brought it down. We proceeded by doing a lot of research in the texts, grabbing a word here, an indication there... We had to locate it, check its size, set up the cities and different places. We spent a lot of time to know who could have built such road and when... Confronting the fans
And at some point, we put this map online. Twenty minutes later, a fan sent us a message to tell us that we had made two mistakes: a city and an estuary were wrong! A dwarf with no beard
On the lack of beard of the dwarf princess Disa: You have to accept that passionate people consider themselves the guardians of the temple. They are formidable and have encyclopedic knowledge. Some of them even speak the Elvish language invented by Tolkien. It is both frightening and exciting. So yes, we know that the slightest mistake will be blamed on us, but they are also a great source of information and their sites have always helped me a lot. A Balrog with wings? Blasphemy!
Some of them have been with us since the first Peter Jackson movie. I've also been fiercely criticized for putting wings on the Balrog, when today the concept is part of the populare culture... Remaining faithful
In the end, only one thing is important: to go back to Tolkien's texts, keeping in mind that it is above all their spirit that we must illustrate. How many drawings?
I made 1500 sketches for the first season. And I'm already at 450 for the next one. I try to produce between five and ten sketches a day. Real world references
Unlike LOTR, which was a world in decline, the equivalent of Rome in the 17th century, with great empires that left nothing but ruins, here everything is alive, vigorous and populated... It's really going to be exciting. I only have one regret with the work done: not being able to discover it with a new look, like a regular spectator. |
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Post by Hanasian on Aug 17, 2022 22:51:43 GMT
Trailer, Interview with some of the cast, and air dates for season 1. Enjoy.
Amazon Prime Video announced today that two episodes of The Lord of the Rings:
The Rings of Power will premiere on Sept. 1 and 2 (depending on time zone).
The rest of the episodes will follow a weekly, single-episode rollout.
The episodes will launch at the same time around the world, so that all fans can experience them simultaneously.
The finale of the eight-episode first season will air on Oct. 14.
Here’s how the premiere will rollout worldwide:
6 p.m. PDT — Thursday, September 1
9 p.m. EDT — Thursday, September 1
10 p.m. Brazil — Thursday, September 1
2 a.m. UK — Friday, September 2
3 a.m. Central European Summer Time — Friday, September 2
5:30 a.m. India Standard Time — Friday, September 2
10 a.m. Japan Standard Time — Friday, September 2
11 a.m. Australia — Friday, September 2
1 p.m. New Zealand — Friday, September 2
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Post by Hanasian on Oct 9, 2022 22:47:40 GMT
May contain spoilers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Having watched seven of eight episodes of the first season of Rings of Power, I will say there is some good and some bad in it. First thing is the whole negative discussion about the ethnicity of any of the actors is a non-issue. If this issue has already made someone 'hate' the show before even watching it, then it says more about the person than the show. Second, the whole 'it isn't Tolkien' cries are not true either. Based on what the writers had available to them and what they got spec ific permission to use from the Silmarillion, I give them kudos for presenting something decent.
After viewing the episodes more than once each, I can say that when they say in the opening credits that it is 'based on the works of J.R.R. Tolkien', they are completely correct. They aren't presenting an adaptation of a fully written story like Peter Jackson did twenty years ago (I've made my opinions known a lot about that project over the years), but piecing together a rather elaborate fanfic story. The time-scale required a lot of compression if the various tales, and I understand they can't name and show every 1st Age battle, hence they are sort of enveloped into one. Overall, I like the portrayal of the various characters, though some of the dialog is abhorrent with parts of that actually 'cringeworthy' ala Arwen 'catching a Ranger at unawares in the wild' in the PJ LotR project. The interaction between Galadriel and Elrond is weird to me at first, but in the longer run makes more sense in subsequent watchings. But the line Galadriel says when Elrond suggests she give up her sword... "Who would I be without my sword?" is really bad writing. As far as the 'rude and arrogant' Galadriel, I had my issues with that, but have softened on that and actually can see how she 'grows' as a character toward the Galadriel we know from the Lord of the Rings books.
Seeing the Two Trees of Valinor in Episode 1, and seeing child-Galadriel was awesome. The look they got was pretty well done.
Celebrimbor I like, but the actor doesn't fit my 'head-canon of the elf I know from my readings. That said, he is wonderful in acting the role, and is a goldmine of nuggets from the lore. At first in the first episode, I was not picking up the 'Elrond' vibe, but the later development in later episodes really brings it out, especially with his relationship with Durin IV of Khazad Dum. Which brings me to Khazad Dum... wow! They did an amazing job in its portrayal... so much so that it enhances the ruins that was shown us by PJ.
I have run out of time for now but will pick this up later. This place being deserted is a good place for me to capture my thoughts on the Rings of Power series. |
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