25 June 2003
| Although principal photography finished on
the Lord of the Rings trilogy in late December 2000,
each year since most of the main cast have been returned to
Middle-earth to shoot extra scenes for each film in turn. So
here, in June 2003 and less than six months to its world
premiere in Wellington on 1 December, The Return of the
King is back in production at the Stone Street Studios of
The Three Foot Six company just by Wellington’s international
airport, whose jet engines interrupt our progress as per
usual. |
Gandalf the White at Minas Tirith looking toward Mordor
Photo Credit: Pierre Vinet/©2003 New Line Productions
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Peter Jackson (left) suggests to Sean Astin (Sam) how he might
confront Shelob
Legolas (Orlando Bloom), Gandalf (Ian McKellen) and Aragorn (Viggo
Mortensen) at Edoras
Photo Credit: Piere Vinet/©2003 New Line
Productions
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Of course, work on the film has never stopped -- just ask Andy
Serkis, who provides voice and movement for Gollum -- and the
miniatures crews are still photographing the models of Minas Tirith, for those Gwahir-swooping shots which catch the breath
on the big screen. Peter Jackson has been editing our work of
three years back and realising that the story needs the
occasional reemphasis so that the audience may feel more what
is at stake as the Ringbearer gets ever nearer to Mount Doom.
Will he, won't he make it? And will Frodo throw the Ring?
What’s Gollum up to? Meanwhile, will Minas Tirith and the
troops from Gondor be able to withstand Sauron’s armies of
Orcs? Whence Saruman? Whither Aragorn? What’s become of Merry
and Pippin? Is Samwise Gamgee as faithful as ever? As for
Gandalf, his parental concern for Frodo reminds us that The
White hasn’t erased the humanity of The Grey and the Walsh/Boyens
additions are as much concerned with that sort of emotional
clarity as with plot details.
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On June 7 at 10.30pm, I closed in
Dance of Death
with a short curtain speech of thanks to the full audience, who
represented all the previous ones who had ignored The War and
Governmental Advice that London was a Prime Terrorist Target,
and came out, despite the new Congestion Charge and the old
faltering Underground transport, to the rather seedy West End,
for a night out with Strindberg. I wasn’t allowed to forget Tolkien as the film’s fans waited each night at the Lyric
Theatre’s stage door in Great Windmill Street, mingling with
X-Men supporters and with some of those who had seen the play.
But no sooner was I flying to Los Angeles (en route for Sydney
and Wellington) than the play began to fade and the movie took
over, for the last time.
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Signing autographs at the Lyric stage door
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Gandalf the White disrobing, fresh from battle
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The atmosphere on set seemed a bit giddy as I came
to check with the wardrobe department that my waistline hadn’t widened
too much since I stopped my lifelong affair with tobacco a year back. Gandalf
the White’s pants (unseen under his outer padded garments) were let
out by a couple of inches and I promised myself a dietary regime was
due. Everyone was talking about Bernard Hill’s final day of shooting,
where a special reel of his high moments in the film (bloopers and
all) had gone down very well. Each of the actors get a turn –
yesterday Miranda Otto left with her own film, her sword and other
gifts plus a welcoming haka, the Maori ritual reenacted by
the shirtless stunt department. Last night it was also performed
before the All Blacks/England rugby match which I watched in an
open-air bar. Tourists note: even in high winter there are sunny and
warm days in the Land of the Long White Cloud.
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The studios are surrounded by enticing bits of Middle-earth. Today I
was in the interior of Theoden’s Golden Hall (long since demolished from
its site near Medven on the South Island) which stands alongside
the base of Saruman’s tower at Isengard and the Paths of the Dead,
where Aragorn ends his part this week. The overall feeling is that
the end is in sight, even for the technicians who may not hand over
the completed film (effects, music et al) until September or
October. A last flurry of media film crews and other official
visitors contributes to the busy atmosphere this week. On Fridays,
as ever, a string quartet in the dining tent calms the lunch hour
nerves.
| My work revolves around a few new lines that will be cut within
scenes otherwise completed over two years ago, some of which I have
no recollection of having read, let alone learnt and filmed! It’s
little wonder that the director has had the same problem, solved by
replaying shot footage on a palm-sized video recorder (labelled "My
Precious Clam-shell") and consulting the
shooting notes of Victoria Sullivan, in charge of script continuity.
Hundreds of Polaroids have accurately recorded details of the
costumes, make-up and settings for every scene - and then it floods
back. But Peter’s first contribution to bringing us back to
Middle-earth is always to remind the actors of the story. In his
family-sized cinema in the Jackson home I was shown a so-called
“fine cut” or “text cut”, which roughly tells the story and has no
special effects cut into the actors’ scenes. It was fun to admire
Andy Serkis himself cavorting as Gollum before his motion had been
captured in a computer and turned into MTV’s fave actorless role of
last year. |
Ian McKellen, Jose Perez, Victoria Sullivan, Viggo Mortensen
A Summer day, 2000, South Island
Photo by Ian McKellen
Ian McKellen and Karl Urban
(Wardrobe Polaroid)
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( I hope WETA Workshop’s Smeagol/Gollum/Serkis acceptance
speech makes it onto the final trilogy DVD.) Seeing this three hour
version, without Howard Shore’s music or Jackson’s editing, let
alone the visual and sounds effects, I could easily tell why
everyone here is agreed that this last film will be the best of the
three. Some situations are effortlessly tear–provoking and the
physical excitement and pageantry eclipse even the Helm’s Deep
fighting of the Two Towers. Elijah Wood’s performance deepens and
ripens, but all the hobbits have their acting chances and run with
them. As we watched, Phillipa Boyens explained where my new material
would be seamlessly added. It would take about ten full days over
the rest of the month.
Gandalf the White riding Shadowfax with a wooden board that
marks his correct position
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Today’s work began well (despite the wake-up call at 5.15am) with
Gandalf and Shadowfax arriving at Isengard early on in The Return
of the King. Only today there was no Shadowfax, just me
crouching slightly so I could mimic in my close shot, the
shifting movement on top a horse. There was no Tower to look up
at. So I crouched in front of a green screen as an erstwhile stranger (the
New Zealand actor Bruce Phillips) read out the words of the other characters who
will eventually surround and face me when the scene is stitched
together in the editing suite. The sun was out, the wind was up and
we made good speed till the green screen (trying perhaps to emulate
a kite) slid gracefully to the ground. We abandoned that scene and
went to a Rohan party with Pippin and Merry doing a jig on a
table-top. Only there was no table and no hobbit dancing – that had
been filmed in my absence last week - though oddly there was an
ample crowd of hirsute soldiers to mill about behind us, as Viggo
and I did our last scene together, worrying as usual back at base
camp whilst Frodo and Sam climbed up Mount Doom and Sauron set his
eye on Minas Tirith. |
Half way through the afternoon, jetlag turned off my brain a
little so that the new dialogue stuck in my throat and I stumbled
through half-a-dozen takes. Eventually I isolated the offending
phrase and repeated it on camera until Peter felt he could select an
appropriate reading for the finished film. That ordeal of
incompetence over, it was back with Bruce Phillips (this time
doubling for Theoden at Edoras) and I sailed through a page of new
dialogue without faltering. Confidence restored. -- Ian McKellen,
June 2003
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