Wednesday, 30 September 2009
Dig the forced perspective ...
... in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy. How can you not be charmed by the simple trick of putting actors at different distances from the camera in order to make one look bigger than the other? By combining this age-old technique with artful set and prop design and cunning camera moves, Jackson and his crew overcame what could have been a major stumbling block by keeping everything in-camera and avoiding (mostly) tricky post-production effects.
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There's little substitute for use of skill, to be sure.
ReplyDeleteA question for you, Graham: what do you make of non-dramatic characters? By which I mean characters such as your Tallow. He was measured and calm, very rarely got upset about anything and seemed to have his life pretty well sorted out. But you turned him into what William Horwood would no doubt have called a 'much-loved' character. How did you manage it? ~ Satine
Satine – I didn't really set out to make Tallow 'much-loved', but I'm delighted if he came out that way! To begin with he was just a minor character who appeared at a convenient moment to guide Fortune to the Fortress. But his simple strengths got under my skin and I couldn't let him go. I think there's something universally appealing about the strong, silent type – the loyal friend who will never let you down.
ReplyDeleteFor sure; his final scene in Dragonflame was a pretty painful blow. Such a straightforward and reliable character proved a winning combination. ~ Satine
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