Loard of the Rings Two Towers - Page 3 - Simply Maya User Community

# 31 30-12-2002 , 05:30 PM

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Ok, no shouting but I have to add my POV. I won't comment on the compositing since I haven't gotten a chance to see it, yet. That being said...here we go. user added image

Originally posted by Kevin
Yep I see it mate..

Bad points:

1. That dam tree scene where them 2 dudes where carried about aimlessley was sooo boring, simply no need for it - that scene could of been done in 3 mins - plus the trees looked crap - and what the hell did they do? I reakon I could have cut and pasted in photoshop more realistic then that!! - Pippin looked at times like he was floating in mid air.

Originally Posted by

Well, the guy doing the film wants to keep as close as possible to the original book and if you read the book, there's a whole lotta Treebeard carrying the hobbits about and chit-chatting. Does it work in a movie? Maybe...maybe not. I think the film-maker is catering these movies towards the hardcore fans which there really are enough of for profit. Since I haven't seen it yet, I can't say whether or not this is actually in the film, but I remember reading an interview where he was saying he didn't want to put a summary at the beginning of each sequel because people that were into it would know what happened before.

2. The "whole" film was so drawn out. I was nearly alseep aside the main action scenes.

Originally Posted by

Hardcore LotR fans are going to dig a 3hr. escape into middle-earth. When I saw fellowship, my friends were disappointed because they didn't realize it was only the first part and that it was so long. Me? I was as happy as a clam. This is supposed to be an epic adventure so....there ya have it. Again, yeah, they could shorten it to keep people's attention but the hardcore are going to eat it up.

3. The main wizard guy just "reappearing" was crazy! In stead of drawing out the tree scene so much they maybe should of done something with this part to make it more believable.

Originally Posted by

Well, that's what happens in the book. Gandalf the Gray suddenly shows up and becomes Gandalf the White. The only thing that would bum me out is if none of the other actors act startled when he shows up. Speaking of acting, what is up with that scene Star Wars' Attack of the Clones where Amidala gets blown out of a transport or whatever towards the end...she's comatose on a sand dune...a trooper asks if she's ok...and she just pops up like nothing happened and no scratches.....holy crap...that's like watching a little kid play pretend but I digress... user added image

4. 10 thousand bad guys break through the gates and still cant defeat 80 people!!

Originally Posted by

Well, that's NEVER happened in cinema before user added image

....think any tough guy movie (ala rambo) or any fantasy/space movie that has a small party gong up against some bad guy's minions.

5. Did they steal gollum from else where as I swear I have seen it

Originally Posted by

No idea.

"Terminat Bora Diem, Terminal Auctor opus."

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# 32 30-12-2002 , 05:39 PM

Kevin

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see I told you it was me user added image

but I still dont rate it as much as you guys did user added image

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# 33 31-12-2002 , 08:04 PM

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I didn't like it, I walked out half way through the first one, managed to sit all of the way through this one but only because the cinema I was in had no bar; so it was sit in the warm and watch this POS or go outside and wait in the rain for me m8 to come out, the rain very nearly won.

David user added image

From a readers' Q and A column in TV GUIDE: "If we get involved in a nuclear war, would the electromagnetic pulses from exploding bombs damage my videotapes?"

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# 34 02-01-2003 , 06:21 PM

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There were about 10 thousend bad guys in total, but only a few hundred were at the door user added image

Yeah, but no but yeah but no....

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# 35 02-01-2003 , 07:00 PM

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if you havent seen Gollum, here's a pic.

Yeah, but no but yeah but no....

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# 36 02-01-2003 , 07:08 PM

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Pic Of Gollum

if you havent seen Gollum, here's a pic.

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# 37 02-01-2003 , 08:43 PM

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Dont tell me Maya made that user added image

-Emo

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# 38 02-01-2003 , 10:17 PM

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It's motion capture data, Maya, and loads of custom programming.

Just reading around I've found some fun things regarding LotR and WETA. Here's an excerpt regarding gollum:

"I think that Gollum may be one of the most sophisticated digital creations seen yet," notes WETA's Richard Taylor. "Throw out all your old ideas about what CG looks like because Gollum defies them."Gollum was brought into existence through a combination of state-of-the-art computer animation and sophisticated motion-capture technology utilizing "fluid dynamics." Peter Jackson wanted to avoid a "computer-generated look," so instead the painstaking design lends to Gollum realistic joint movement based on actual organic muscle and bone, all seen rippling under his translucent, but flesh-like skin. The computer artists studied anatomy books to create a believable view inside Gollum's skin."WETA developed vast amounts of code to create Gollum," notes Peter Jackson. "They developed new modeling codes, new skin codes, new muscle codes. He is amazingly life-like and we were able to give him a range of expressions from the evil of Gollum to the sympathy of Smeagol."

The filmmakers also brought in renowned character actor Andy Serkis to give Gollum a range of voices -from melancholy to menacing. According to Barrie M. Osborne, "It is imperative that Gollum is a realcharacter. He is brought to screen as an animated character, but we need him to have an emotionalrange, a character torn between the power of the One Ring. Andy Serkis has that range as an actor to doan amazing job, both in his vocal range, in his ability to pantomime Gollum on set, and also on the motioncapture stage - so when animated he will become the most realistic animated creature ever on screen."Digital technicians worked closely with Serkis to capture his own uniquely created movement for thebony, lonely creature.

For the large-scale battles, they use something called "Massive," which isn't commercially available yet but allows them to create ecologies. One other thing I read about that I thought was cool was their in-house software "Orc Bulder" which allows them to vary the creatures so that when it's combined with massive, orcs don't look like simple clones.

"Terminat Bora Diem, Terminal Auctor opus."

Last edited by NitroLiq; 02-01-2003 at 10:21 PM.

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# 39 02-01-2003 , 10:18 PM

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And just for kicks...one of WETA's full-size models of Gollum... user added image

"Terminat Bora Diem, Terminal Auctor opus."

Last edited by NitroLiq; 02-01-2003 at 10:22 PM.

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# 40 02-01-2003 , 10:32 PM

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Here's another one showing a motion capture side-by-side. Apparently after WETA had spent tons of time developing the original gollum, Peter Jackson decided he wanted gollum to resemble Andy Serkis, gollum's actor so they had to go back to the drawing board.

"Terminat Bora Diem, Terminal Auctor opus."

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