Lord of the Rings - Shelobs Lair

Lord Of The Rings

In the first shot of this scene the audience can pick up on the tone and atmosphere of the scene straightaway. With the low-key lighting and light shining in the opposite direction of where Frodo is headed it tells us that he is coming from safety and entering danger. This low-key lighting gives the scene an eerie feel and we know that because of the darkness this isn’t a happy safe place. With the wide camera shot most of the frame is filled with the cave walls with the lighting in the centre, this makes Frodo seem very small and weak in comparison.  The angle of the camera shows a corner, which is an enigma code and makes us thing what is beyond?

    As the camera moves to show back lighting of Frodo we can see the outside and that, that is the safest way to go and for Frodo not to go into the dark, making the audience think and feel about Frodo’s safety. The backlight means we cant see Frodo’s face and he’s covered in shadows showing that he’s being took over by the darkness already, that he is now completely alone and isolated in this cave. Now that Frodo is in the centre of the frame, we can see that he is completely surrounded by the walls, and with it being a mid-shot it shows that it is his whole body trapped in this small in closed cave and this is a representative of the trap he is walking into.

The camera moves into a P.O.V shot from Frodo, this positions the audience to move forward with Frodo and emphasize with him and to feel the danger that is connoted by this dark cave. Moving back to the shot of the light in the cave in the P.O.V shows hesitation by Frodo and confirms that, that is the safer way to go and there is a chance for potential escape. When we see the walls, we see that the cave sides are much like a hive which suggests insects and bugs, also much like a tomb which can connote death, either way it makes the audience realise that this isn’t a natural cave and there is something living there.

The next shots confirm our thoughts that there is something living in the cave. P.O.V shots from the creature shows that Frodo is being watched and that means privileged information for the audience, we know something that Frodo isn’t sure of.  He’s an even tighter spot than before with the left and right side of the frame completely used to show the walls. He’s trapped and with the handheld moving of the camera we can tell he’s being stalked, hunted and watched.

The mid-shot has both the foreground and background in focus which means that its important for us to be able to see Frodo and his expression while in the cave, so we know that he’s seeing what the cave looks like as well and the light shining from the right side of the frame shows the he hasn’t moved very far and he’s moving very slow and hesitantly. A close up of the bones and remains with the background not in focus tells us that we should be focusing on the subject of the bones, this tells the audience that people have died in the cave and it makes us feel scared for Frodo, tells us that he’s in even more danger than originally thought.

Further in Frodo goes with the handheld camera tracking the movement the deeper and more dense the surrounding spider webs get and this could show that he is getting closer to the giant spider and further into the trap. Which we can also tell there is a medium close up showing the expression on Frodo's face that suits the trapped framing that is given to him by the camera. In one shot using the rule of thirds we can see that 2 of the thirds is actually filled the the scenery of cave walls, this is an effective way of showing that there is literally no where for Frodo to go and this place is just all rock and webs trapping him. It is also a P.O.V from Shelob and we can see that it is an obstructed view which means the audience can tell that Shelob is hiding from Frodo at the moment in time and stalking him like a creature stalks its prey.

The camera then positions us closer to Frodo with the background blurred and out of focus so we concentrate on Frodo and we can see his expression and realisation that he is alone. It tells the audience that even now both the audience and Frodo know that this cave and situation is unnatural. Then a P.O.V of Frodo, a panning shot of left to right tells the audience that Frodo is hesitating. He doesn't know whether to continue even with the webs getting deeper, and to find Gollum or to run back towards the light and safety. A close up of Frodo's face shows that he looks shocked and scared and because at that moment we go to a P.O.V we can see what Frodo is shocked and scared at. The camera tilts towards a skeleton and remains wrapped in spiders webs, this tells Frodo and confirms for the audience that there is death in the cave. That the suspicions of this eerie cave are correct and there is a trap set for Frodo.

There are then P.O.V cut ins from Frodo's perspective, which not only provide us with information and shows different types of prey dead and preserved in spiders webs, but it puts us in the position of Frodo, seeing what he is seeing as he does so. Which is confirmed by the close up of his disgusted face, telling us how we should feel with him. The animal corpses are distorted and twisted with death. The fact these are not the usual bug and insects a spider eats this tells us that this is a bigger than average spider. The scene started off with only bones and remains and as Frodo gets deeper and deeper more and more death has surrounded him and it tells us that he is being overcome with the death and darkness. As Frodo is turning to leave and head back towards the light the camera is a handheld P.O.V of Shelob and the camera goes up and along with walls tilting more and although we haven't seen the spider this tells the audience that this is definitely what it is and it was hunting.