What filmmaking techniques does The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King use?

CineCode breaks down 5 techniques in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003): Multiple Resolution Structure, Forced Perspective Photography, Landscape as Sacred Geography, Digital Crowd Simulation and Thematic Musical Identity.

Who directed The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King?

Peter Jackson directed The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, released in 2003. CineCode also covers Bad Taste (1987), Braindead (1992), Heavenly Creatures (1994), The Frighteners (1996), The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002).

What films are similar to The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King?

Films that share techniques with The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King include The Lion King (1994), Braveheart (1995), The Apartment (1960), The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948).

Adventure · Drama · Fantasy

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Peter Jackson, 2003

The Fellowship's quest reaches its climax. Frodo and Sam make their final push toward Mount Doom while Aragorn rallies the free peoples of Middle-earth for a desperate last stand. It's an epic of sacrifice and friendship, and it earns every one of its several emotional endings.

1 Narrative 3 Cinematography 1 Sound

At a glance

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King is a 2003 adventure, drama and fantasy film directed by Peter Jackson. This breakdown covers 5 techniques (1 narrative, 3 cinematography and 1 sound), each with the scene where you can see it. If you like how it is made, The Lion King uses several of the same techniques.

Narrative

Multiple Resolution Structure

Giving the film several endings. They can come one after another to close different emotional threads, or they can conflict and leave you to weigh competing versions.

How this film uses it

After the Ring is destroyed, Jackson gives the film a run of separate endings: the coronation, the Shire homecoming and the Grey Havens. Each ending belongs to a different relationship between characters. Each has been earned over the 3 films of the trilogy.

Where to see it

The Grey Havens. Frodo's departure is the emotional close of the entire trilogy.

Cinematography

Forced Perspective Photography

Placing actors, props or sets at carefully chosen distances from the camera to fool the eye. People or spaces look much bigger or smaller than they really are.

How this film uses it

To make the hobbits look properly small next to humans, Jackson and cinematographer Andrew Lesnie used forced perspective. That is, they placed the hobbit actors further from the camera and kept the human actors close, with sets built at 2 different scales. When it works, you can't see it.

Where to see it

Pippin standing beside Gandalf before Denethor in Minas Tirith. The hobbit is made to look small next to the men around him.

Cinematography

Landscape as Sacred Geography

Photographing real landscapes like mountains, plains and rivers so they feel mythic and full of meaning. The land becomes a spiritual and moral test the characters have to cross.

How this film uses it

Andrew Lesnie's cinematography turns New Zealand into Middle-earth by shooting at a huge scale, with long lenses pointed at mountain ranges and volcanic plains. The landscapes are where the action happens, and they also stand for moral states: Gondor's white peaks, Mordor's ash wastes.

Where to see it

The Pelennor Fields battle. A wide shot takes in Rohan's charge across an entire valley.

Cinematography

Digital Crowd Simulation

Filling the frame with computer-generated crowds, either multiplied from a few real extras or driven by software. The scale feels epic without needing thousands of people.

How this film uses it

WETA's MASSIVE software gave each soldier, orc and horseman its own AI, so no 2 figures in the battle scenes move the same way. As a result, the Pelennor Fields battle looks like a real catastrophe.

Where to see it

The Oliphaunt charge and the cavalry engagement. You can pick out individual casualties inside a huge battle.

Sound

Thematic Musical Identity

Giving each character, culture or place its own musical theme, and changing those themes as the story develops. The music tells you things the images and dialogue hold back.

How this film uses it

Howard Shore's score gives the Shire, Rohan, Gondor, Mordor and the Fellowship each its own musical world. By the third film, these themes have built up enough history that combining and resolving them carries real emotional weight. The score has turned into a second story.

Where to see it

The Shire theme's final return at the Grey Havens. The music is what brings the story to rest.

Questions

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King: quick answers

What filmmaking techniques does The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King use?: CineCode breaks down 5 techniques in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003): Multiple Resolution Structure, Forced Perspective Photography, Landscape as Sacred Geography, Digital Crowd Simulation and Thematic Musical Identity.
Who directed The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King?: Peter Jackson directed The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, released in 2003. CineCode also covers Bad Taste (1987), Braindead (1992), Heavenly Creatures (1994), The Frighteners (1996), The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002).
What films are similar to The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King?: Films that share techniques with The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King include The Lion King (1994), Braveheart (1995), The Apartment (1960), The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948).

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