Austin,TX LOTR Two Towers

From a lot of the reports I'vs read, the Helm's Deep battle was almost all CG to some degree, with some judicious shots of peope in costume for the close-ups. Perhaps Mr. Lucas could take a cue from this, as there are very few shots in that battle that look CG at all.

 

lol, I wasn't saying TTT could use some more cg, I was saying that they DO use quite a bit of CG. the battle of Helms Deep was nearly ALL cg. it was not filmed at night, in the rain, or even outdoors for that matter. It was all filmed in a studio against blue/green screen. You don't really think PJ hired 10,300 extras, made 10,300 costumes, bussed everyone out to some remote cliff where he built a fortress, and then waited for it to rain at night do you?

 

from every special i've seen of 'making of lord of the rings...' shows them filming outdoors in real rain at times... peter jackson isnt like lucas who depends on the latest cg technology to make battle scenes. of course they used cg in the helms deep scenes, and of course i'm not stupid enough to think anyone would hire 10,000 extras for it. but i personally dont think it could have used any more cg. unlike other films that concentrate mostly on computers and digital this and that, lord of the rings was obviously made in the opposite of that. i've watched interviews of peter jackson and some of the actors, and the message i get is that peter jackson was trying to make these films as if they had happened in our time here on this earth, so he didnt make cg the whole film. big deal, i think no one else could have done a better job. i think using more real actors gives a movie like this one more appeal and reason for people to watch. if you concentrate on cg, those films might as well be disney's latest cartoon.

i know this can be a touchy subject for sci fi fans, but fantasy movies are different.

 

You seem to be putting Peter Jackson on an "anti-CG" pedestal. Asside from AOTC and Ice Age, I can't think of another film with more CG than Two Towers. LOTR could not have been made propperly without CG. And EXACTLY like Lucas, Jackson DEPENDS on CG VERY heavily. The big difference is that Lucas is creating an alternate universe and Jackson is creating an ancient Earth. So a lot of the outdoor scenes Jackson films are on location, but so are Lucas' when possible (Tattoine, Naboo, Hoth, etc.) Even on location, both directors freely add CG elements when the script requires. Watch the bonus features on the extended FOTR DVD. There are a lot of scenes that you may not realize were ALL CG. WETA just just an excellent job of making them feel very real. And no, of course LOTR does not need more CG. Peter Jackson has used exactly enough to tell the story (which happened to be quite a bit like it or not) . . . same with Star Wars, same with Harry Potter, same with Spiderman, etc.

 

wow i never realized i said peter jackson didnt use cg. i mean its like saying trees really walk around and talk. i didnt know that either. geez this is obviously a touchy subject for you. all i was saying is ttt is perfectly fine the way it is. and if peter jackson really concentrated on cg more than live action then he wouldnt have used more than 6 actors and filmed in real life settings and build whole sets from real life places. hell if jackson and lucas are so similar in needing cg they should both work for disney or dreamworks. maybe they can make better computer generated cartoons there eh? hell maybe return of the king will be then next toy story or shrek. lol omg this is getting cheesy.

 

well wow, I never realized i said you said PJ didn't use CG.

I was simply replying to your statement above: "peter jackson isnt like lucas who depends on the latest cg technology to make battle scenes."

now read my above reply again.

 

Actually, the closeup scenes of the fighting were done with actors, however, the scenes leading up to that were a mix. Peter Jackson(or at least someone involved with the LOTR production) stated that they created a piece of software that was used to create Saruman's army. This software is unique in that all the digital Orcs and Uru....whatevers "learned" to fight. They all made there own fighting decisions. Thats what made it look so real and so intense.

 

same thing they use for video games and the opening battle in fellowship. good stuff if you ask me. ever little 'character' makes his own moves and all that. looks neat in a movie.
even though some people think that i think they hired 10,000 extras to film the movies. lol heck even ttt game is pretty awsome, whoa wait i better say no more people i get comments like "ttt video game uses alot of cg cuz peter jackson said so." lol
i just love the fact that lotr was better made than most fantasy/sci fi movies. only in america, oh wait new zealand. hehe

 

W-W-W-WHAT?!

 

The name of the software designed for the Movies (not the video game) is called MASSIVE, and in the Behind the scenes things I've seen, it's being used for ALL of the movies. Now I'm not sure what direction you're going with your posts Anna but it sounds like you're not steppin on Sci-Fi fans toes but Star Wars toes. Granted, I Love what I saw in Two Towers (seen it SIX times so far and plan to see it more) and I give it my vote as the best movie I saw for 2002 but SW and LOTR are two totally different movies and should be left as such. And I agree with some things that Lucas should take notice to the accomplishments the people of New Zealand (not just Peter Jackson) have done, but the horse is dead and shouldn't be beaten any longer and let's all go see the movies that we love to see . . .

Happy New Year People !!!!

and this is just my two cents . . .

Later

John