Return of the king: sammie jo brennan

Return of The king: Analysis

The scene begins with a mid shot of the cave that Frodo realizes he must enter in order to destroy the ring. The first full view we get of the inside of the cave is a very low key mid-shot. This creates a very tense atmosphere as Frodo realizes that he can’t turn back and must enter despite any hesitations he may have. The shot then tracks inside the cave slightly which gives the impression that we are in Frodo’s POV and his vision is focused solely on the cave which lets us know how truly scared he is despite his brave façade.

The next shot takes place inside the cave, looking out at Frodo entering. Once again, low lighting is used; the only light being from the outside of the cave which Frodo is walking away from. This could be a metaphor for Frodo walking away from his safety and into the darkness and the unknown. The music at this point is also very slow and dramatic creating tension and implying that Frodo is in great danger the farther he goes into the cave. The darkness surrounding Frodo could also be showing the path that Frodo is on in his life, as previously in the movie, he is shown to be slowly consumed by evil and darkness, the same way he is in the shot; merely a silhouette of his former self. Despite the shot being a wide shot, only a small amount of it can be seen. This could suggest that despite Gollum being by his side, he is still very alone.

The scene continues with a wide-shot of Frodo hesitantly walking further into the cave. At this point, Gollum has disappeared and only his voice can be heard,  leaving Frodo by himself, isolated and vulnerable in an unfamiliar environment.  We see Frodo walking very slowly through the cave, but due to the small amount of light, we can’t see much and Frodo himself also wont be able to see very clearly which will only heighten his senses and his fear. Our view is also partly obscured by both cave walls implying that we are watching Frodo through the POV of someone or something else which Frodo cant see, giving the impression that Frodo is trapped and wont be able to run away due to the closed in space.

In the next shot, we are even farther into the cave and looking up at an unnatural rock formation that had to have been caused by something inhuman based on the massive holes indented into the walls. The blue tint also represents horror and suspense lurking in the cave and out of Frodo’s view; it is a very unnatural light so it makes us wonder where exactly it is coming from? A tilt shot is then used to bring our vision down to the path ahead of us. The camera movements show that we are once again in Frodo’s POV travelling through the cave.

The scene then cuts to someone else’s POV watching Frodo. Due to the unnatural movements of the camera, we can only assume that whatever is watching him must not be human and also may be hunting him. Once again, despite it being a wide-shot, only a very small amount is actually visible whilst the rest is completely in shadow showing how truly isolated and unaware he is in this situation.

We are then looking up at Frodo through a low angle shot, with the background in focus. It is a mid shot and we can see him looking around and panicking. His movements are now become more hurried and frantic as realization dawns on him that Gollum has left him alone. Frodo doesn’t realize it, but he is also walking towards the carcass of some sort of animal or human that the camera shows a close up of as he walks by. This could be a metaphor for Frodo gradually walking to his own death. The visual connection is very haunting to us as an audience as we are gradually beginning to worry more and more for Frodo as his facial expression show how terrified he is becoming.