My Return to Middle Earth, Part 3: The Cinematography of The Return of the King

Like usual, I got sidetracked and delayed but I still remain in Middle Earth! I finalize the visual examination of the franchise, this time reviewing the somewhat deflating The Return of the King.

The extended cut of The Return of the King is kind of a mess, especially the first hour. When you're watching a nearly five hour film (yes, the extended cut is well over four hours long), a rough hour can kill it. And, sadly, the visual splendor that made the first two parts of the trilogy so spellbinding is missing in most of the running time.

Andrew Lesnie, who recently passed at too young an age, did have some defining moments. I have added screen caps per usual (thanks to the excellent clicking skills of screencapped.net) but I added a YouTube video of what might be the trilogy's finest visual achievement: the lighting of the beacons across the realms of Men. So, despite a let down, The Return of the King has one of the best visual moments of the entire trilogy. So there's that.

Sadly, and this isn't all Lesnie's fault, the visual effects haven't aged well. It has been well over a decade since the film was released and a lot of advancements have been made since then (ironically, likely because of the grandeur of this film). On a side note, I'd still take these visuals over most of the visuals from a more "contemporary" film like ... The Hobbit trilogy.

I almost feel disrespectful saying bad things about the cinematography due to Lesnie's recent death but I think it is a testament to his strengths that a thing of beauty like The Return of the King can be considered a "mediocre" achievement.

As you may or may not know, The Return of the King was nominated for 11 Academy Awards and won all 11 of them (including Best Picture) ... but cinematography was not one of the categories chosen for nomination.

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The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Director: Peter Jackson
Cinematographer: Andrew Lesnie (1956-2015)

*click on the images for a larger view; images courtesy of screencapped.net

My Return to Middle Earth, Part 2: The Cinematography of The Two Towers

I have remained in Middle Earth! I continue the visual examination of the franchise, this time reviewing the lush and grand visual palette of The Two Towers.

The extended cut of The Two Towers is four hours long and while the story isn't as fast paced or as crisp as The Fellowship of the Ring (which might have to do with the fact that Fellowship boasts one storyline while The Two Towers has about seven (three main arcs, four subplots)), it expands the mythos. Peter Jackson wisely uses the camera to expand the mythos by exposing the grandeur of this imaginary world.

Andrew Lesnie was back again and while the CGI level increased a bit in many background shots, Jackson and Lesnie also seemed to up the ante with the on location shooting, starting with a breathtaking, and undoubtedly dangerous helicopter (or was it an Eagle?) ride through the snowy mountains of New Zealand.

The Two Towers doesn't feel quite as fantastical and magical as The Fellowship of the Ring in terms of setting due to the focus on the worlds of Man (as opposed to dwarves, elves, hobbits, etc), but it feels larger and more epic.

Below is a taste ... and I had to stop myself from just showing a video of the whole movie ... of The Two Tower's spellbinding cinematography.

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The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Director: Peter Jackson
Cinematographer: Andrew Lesnie

*click on the images for a larger view; images courtesy of screencapped.net

^It should be noted that Andrew Lesnie did not win the 2002 Academy Award for Cinematography for this film nor was he even nominated, a fact that blows me away considering the cinematography here is far richer and expansive then the previous film for which he won the award.

My Return to Middle Earth, Part 1: The Cinematography of The Fellowship of the Ring

I have returned to Middle Earth! And to start the deluge of posts dedicated to this beloved film series (currently sitting at six films), I thought I'd share some of the striking visuals from the first film in The Lord of the Rings series, The Fellowship of the Ring.

Director Peter Jackson had to impress with the first film in the trilogy to have folks buy in to the dense concept. Unlike the other two entries in this trilogy and the follow-up prequel series The Hobbit, The Fellowship of the Ring is the most 'real' of the saga. Though there is CGI, there seemed to be a larger emphasis on location shooting and model work.

Fitting with a film series that, if you include the extended cuts, runs for 681 minutes, The Fellowship of the Ring takes its time setting up the mythos and, unlike other films in the series, it dedicates long takes and picturesque visuals to set a large, legendary mood. Below are those, and many other, moments depicting the visual spectacle that is Fellowship of the Ring.

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The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Director: Peter Jackson
Cinematographer: Andrew Lesnie

*click on the images for a larger view; images courtesy of screencapped.net

^It should be noted that Andrew Lesnie won the 2001 Academy Award for Cinematography for this film.

The Cinematography of Carrie (2013)

Before I write a review of Carrie (yes, yes, the 2013 version), I wanted to share some of the striking visuals from the film. Carrie is not necessarily a freeze-frame type of film that I'd usually display here. The accomplishment is a little more psychological. A lot of the crisp, HD images are used as a ironic counterpart to the film's grimy feel ... the film kind of embodies the process of puberty.

That said, there are still some cool looking 'picture' shots. Thanks to KissThemGoodbye, a website I found by chance doing a Google image search. They have a lot of other screen caps so if you're looking for some, go check them out.

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Carrie
Director: Kimberly Peirce
Cinematographer: Steve Yedlin

*click on the images for a larger view