#the WETA artists of LOTR just own my soul honestly

[meeko-mar]

Okay, you really want to know the difference between the filming process/methods used for LOTR, the LOTR franchise is a self-contained, perfect example of it.

Just remember what Sir Ian Mckellan said about his experience filming The Hobbit trilogy; the lack of human interaction in scenes, the use of greenscreen sets in lew of on location shooting "made him miserable." And he broke down on set where he was talking to an empty room that was meant to be filled with other actors playing Dwarves.

It was the same character and same actor. It was the same franchise. It was even the same direction and the same VFX company(Weta).

The difference was 11-12 years(Return of the King was shot in 2000, and the first Hobbit movie was shot in 2011/12).

In that time, CGI had overtaken the world of filming, and was used in much more dominant amounts in the filming of The Hobbit Trilogy vs. the LOTR. And, as I recall, it's one of the fandom's biggest gripes about the later series(likely right behind the changes to plot and certain characters' involvement in the story).

The same scene that would have been filmed with clever perspective shots in a carefully constructed set of a hobbit hole was replaced with Ian Mckellan in a green room, speaking to green tennis balls.

So yes, there WAS CGI in the LOTR, because there were some things that simply couldn't be scaled up with practical effects and clever camera tricks, obviously... but there is a MARKED difference in the abundance of CGI use just a decade later, in The Hobbit trilogy.

The work that went in to LOTR has always been such an amazing thing to me and I have long been in love with it. The difference is, the CGI in LOTR was used to emphasize all that amazing work that they did practically, physically. It was used as polish and to aid where large scale or very specific things were needed.

In newer movies and productions...It's used as the entire effect, and while that's not necessarily BAD, it makes a difference.

LOTR used some amazing processes that were some of the most fascinating in its time. And I'm glad it was made before Green screens took over absolutely everything.

We’re so lucky they filmed Lord of the Rings when they did. Twenty years later, they would’ve had Viggo Mortensen riding a green bike that they CGI into a horse because that’s better for some reason.

This simple feeling… is beyond Disney’s comprehension.