Lord of the Rings opening scene analysis

The Lord of the Rings

 

The Lord of the Rings starts with the non-diegetic narration from Galadriel with only a black screen, this effect adds mystery to the opening scene as the audience do not know who’s the voice is yet. We then get close ups of the rings being forged and the different races they were given to. By this time the audience know that the film is fantasy and that it is not set in the present day, by Mise-en-scene for example the way the characters are dressed and the props used e.g. candles and crowns. When we get a tracking shot of the elves the lighting used is very bright (on the characters) but when we get a shot of the dwarfs and the humans they are only lit up by a few candles, this gives the sense that the elves are clean and angelic compared to the other two who are more dangerous and isolated in caves. After we see the shot of the humans we get a fade out, this show to the audience that the begging story about the rings has ended. The audience then get a close up of the map of Middle Earth, this helps the audience see where the different places are in comparison to others. We then get quick cuts of Mordor on the map then an extreme wide shot of mount doom and then a close up of Souron’s face. This helps the audience as it tells them that in Mordor there’s mount doom and inside mount doom stands Souron. As the narrator (Galadriel) talks about an evil ring being forged, wipes of fire come from different angles of the screen over close ups and mid shots of Souron, this visually tells the audience that the ring and Souron are evil and they might cause danger in the future. You can also tell that Souron is an important character in the film as he is wearing an evil looking crown and special armour. The next shots are of villages being burnt down, they dissolve into each other, and this gives the sense that these attacks happened simultaneously or at least close to each other. These shots of the villages being attacked came straight after the shots of the ring and Souron, this visually tells the audience that Souron and the ring were the causes of the villages being attacked. The next scene is of the battle, a tracking shot is used, it starts with the army and then the camera tilts up to show Mount doom. This tells the audience were they are but also that Souron has the edge over them as when we get a shot of mount doom it is a low angle shot. A crane shot is used over the battlefield to show to the audience what is going on in the battle. The next few cuts of the battle are fast and short, this tells the audience visually that the soldiers are skilled and that fighting is quick not slow. The next shots are tracking shots getting closer to the faces of Isildur and Elrond as they turn to look at something (which the audience cannot see) that is approaching them, the use of the camera getting closer to their faces visually signifies that they are becoming more trapped and the creature (Souron) approaching them is evil. The fact that the audience cannot see the character adds to the tension and mysteriousness to the scene. The next shot is a cut in of the ring telling the audience that the events that are about to take place is the rings doing as well as Sourons. The shot straight after this is a high angle shot behind the head of Souron looking down at the armies, this telling the audience that he is bigger than them in height but also more powerful than them. We then get another cut in of the ring and more low angle shots looking at Souron while he is defeating the humans. A cut away of the sword as it drops to the ground is shown signifying that it’s about to become an important tool. Another high angle shot from behind Sourons head looking down at Isildur and his father is used to once again show Sourons dominance in the situation. Isildur then cuts off Sourons finger and then a sonic boom occurs after the explosion of Souron, after the sonic boom the non-diegetic music stops and all we hear is the diegetic sound of Sourons mask falling to the ground. This helps the audience as it tells them that the event that has just occurred was very important to the story and a powerful character was defeated. The scene then changes after Isildur picks up the one ring to an ambush on Isildur. The ambush is in slow motion, this helps the audience understand that time is passing as the shot quickly changes to one of Isildur face down in the river, so the audience know that Isildur was defeated. After we see Isildur fall to the bottom of the river we get a shot of the ring falling to the bottom in low key lighting to show that the ribg is being lost to darkness never to be found again. The shot then fades out and fades back in to a hand picking up the ring, the use of the fades visually tells the audience that time has passed and this is way into the future. The narrator then tells the audience that the hand that retrieved the ring belonged to Golem. The next shot is a long shot of Golem in his cave talking to the ring, the lighting used is Low key as he is in a dark cave. We then get a few shots of the countryside and trees and they dissolve into each other this effect also helps to show that time has passed and it has been an undisturbed atmosphere. The last shot is a close up of the ring falling down the side of a rock; this shot is in slow motion, and this telling us that this was an unexpected turn to the story and that the ring was never to have been lost again.