Posted: September 10, 1999 at 20:41:10: by Goodgulf
: : (To expand a bit)As much of a "purist" as I am, I have found myself changing and tweaking all sorts of things (based on what themes from the book I wanted to emphasize). Take when the king's company leaves Helm's Deep after the battle and they pass through the huorns. Tolkien quite clearly states that the forest was silent and that once the orcs entered it, they were never heard from again. But Tolkien also states that the forest was menacing and held a hidden power and terror. Well, that's kind of hard to show on screen. So my decision was to have periodic orc screams yell out, and then be cut off abruptly (and other things like that), while the company passed through on the road. Not in the text, and there's even textual evidence against it. But changes like that are going to be necessary to convey the spirit and meaning of what Tolkien meant.: I can but agree with your general point, David, but I just wanted to add that this precise example might not be the best one: given Jackson's record in horror movie, I doubt not it would not be a problem for him to make the Huorns look threatening without having to add any sound to the scene. To diverge a bit, I cannot help looking forward to his Nazguls in the Shire, considering the scary hooded figure in The Frighteners... by the way, if some of you did not see it yet, go for it, I think it is a very good plead for Jackson's mastery of directing (any kind of directing indeed), though it has nothing to do with a "Tolkien atmosphere"... Even Michael J. Fox is good in it!
: Frederic I would say that when it comes to fear, there is no "Tolkien atmosphere". Scary is scary no matter where or when. So if Jackson can make us feel the way the Hobbits felt when approached by a ringwraith, he will have done well.
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