The Lord of the Rings Score Restored (Unused Howard Shore Music Restored To Picture)

[crocodile 8,008]

At this point I can't really justify paying for both - just too many expenses at once. Maybe there will be a London performance somewhere down the line.

Karol

[Bilbo 3,709]

At this point I can't really justify paying for both - just too expenses at once. Maybe there will be a London performance somewhere down the line.

Karol

I can barely justify the €75 ticket for ROTK and I live in Ireland!

[crocodile 8,008]

Well, it'll be worth it. Heard some good things about the orchestra. I wonder who is going to be the conductor on this one?

Karol

[Bilbo 3,709]

They were very good last year anyway! It will be worth it I'm sure.

Last year's conductor was a guy called Justin Freer. I have no clue who's doing it this year.

[Faleel 5,346]

Some information on the sources used added to the links in the main post.

And so it begins....

The Two Towers Score Restored!

Foundations of Stone with "Metanna!" from CR restored

Elven Rope Original Version set to Road To Mordor text.

Emyn Muil Original Version set to The Road To Mordor text.

Elven Rope (Revised) - Shire Theme Restored

Ugluk's Warriors with Namarie text restored

[Faleel 5,346]

The Eaves of Fangorn Original Cut (Night Camp Second Ending)

Night Camp (Original with Namarie text)

Night Camp (Revised)

[gkgyver 1,645]

[Faleel 5,346]

The Three Hunters OST version with Brassier Rohan Theme

[Faleel 5,346]

The Three Hunters Isengard Establishing Shot

Fangorn Unused Music Restored

[Incanus 5,714]

Wow all these new videos! I have a lot to watch when I get back home tonight! Awesome Faleel!

[Faleel 5,346]

The Dead Marshes Sprechstimme Voices restored

Wraiths! Wraiths on Wings! (this one was replaced by a hacked up version of the cue and tracked music from FOTR in the film)

[Faleel 5,346]

Gandalf the White Original Version

Edoras (Album Take)

The Forests of Ithilien Unused Coney Scene Music

[Jim Ware 526]

Gandalf the White Original Version

Drop the EE footage (Gandalf's line 'I am Saruman, or Saruman as he should have been') and the whole thing syncs perfectly without the need for any editing.

This six-minute section of the score is my favourite of the entire trilogy. I love the little moment as Gandalf realises who he is.

[Faleel 5,346]

Drop the EE footage (Gandalf's line 'I am Saruman, or Saruman as he should have been') and the whole thing syncs perfectly without the need for any editing.

Editing of the music? (the gap between the choir bit and the timpani thumps) or editing of the footage?

BTW, just an aside, I am thinking of making AC3 files, of the music that was dropped restored (no alternates unfortunately) and muxing them in with the DVD footage.

[Jim Ware 526]

Drop the EE footage (Gandalf's line 'I am Saruman, or Saruman as he should have been') and the whole thing syncs perfectly without the need for any editing.

Editing of the music? (the gap between the choir bit and the timpani thumps) or editing of the footage?

Editing of the music. There isn't a gap between the two 'pieces' of music - it's all one thing.

[Faleel 5,346]

BTW, do we have any of the footage of the longer cut where "Gandalf simply took a bit longer to say hello."?

[Jim Ware 526]

BTW, do we have any of the footage of the longer cut where "Gandalf simply took a bit longer to say hello."?

No, but there is at least one 'interim' version of this music on a DVD menu somewhere.

[Faleel 5,346]

The Forest of Ithilien Haradrim March Replaced Section Restored

One of the Dunedain Evenstar Full Mix Restored

The Wolves of Isengard Full Mix, Deleted Sections Restored

[Incanus 5,714]

I have to say that even after all these years the restored musical sequences have been enlightening. I have never made an experiment of restoring the music to the movie myself and have gone by relying on my memory when imagining where unused music should approximately go but seeing all this music in its proper place has been a real treat. So thank you for your continued efforts Faleel.

[Jay 37,353]

Yes thank you Faleel. I haven't had time to watch any of the TTT ones yet but I hope to soon.

[gkgyver 1,645]

The Forest of Ithilien Haradrim March Replaced Section Restored

Such great scenery.

Who else thinks that the Peter Jackson of the Hobbit trilogy would have had Frodo and Sam lay on a studio set, staring at a green screen, later filled with a CGI landscape?

I don't understand how the art department had to be super detailed and careful because of the 48 fps on AUJ, and yet they went with studio sets most of the time, where the risk of looking fake is also high, instead of just scouting a location in their backyard.

[Dixon Hill 4,234]

Gandalf the White Original Version

Drop the EE footage (Gandalf's line 'I am Saruman, or Saruman as he should have been') and the whole thing syncs perfectly without the need for any editing.

This six-minute section of the score is my favourite of the entire trilogy. I love the little moment as Gandalf realises who he is.

Great stuff. It may be my favorite sequence as well; I love the aleatoric build up, and something about the harmonies from 1:42-2:00 has always struck me as extremely Middle-Earthy. One of those moments that make you realize Shore was absolutely perfect for these films.

I think I prefer the final film version of Gandalf's revelation and Shadowfax's entrance, but it's wonderful to hear these other approaches.

[SafeUnderHill 205]

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[gkgyver 1,645]

The Forest of Ithilien Haradrim March Replaced Section Restored

Such great scenery.

Who else thinks that the Peter Jackson of the Hobbit trilogy would have had Frodo and Sam lay on a studio set, staring at a green screen, later filled with a CGI landscape?

I don't understand how the art department had to be super detailed and careful because of the 48 fps on AUJ, and yet they went with studio sets most of the time, where the risk of looking fake is also high, instead of just scouting a location in their backyard.

I have to disagree there, plenty of locations were used in the film. There were few locations that needed to be real ones, for example Rivendell is green screen in TH and LOTR. Lord of the Rings used more composite locations whereas the Hobbit tended to showcase real locations (not multiple combined).

Technically, NO locations NEED to be real ones if you look at the Hobbit. It's just a question of how does it make the film look? There are of course necessities to build sets in fantasy films like this, like Goblintown, or to create huge battlefields in the computer (Helm's Deep, Pelennor). But contrary to LotR, in the Hobbit, sets were used without any need to do so.

As an example, why can't you shoot the final warg battle in a real forest, using digital extensions for the cliff edge? Why does the whole forest need to be built? Imagine the forest around Amon Hen for the finale in FotR being fake. Or why is there need to build a set for the dwarves' night camp?

Remember to which remote locations the cast was flown to shoot the smallest scenes in LotR. Technically, there was no need whatsoever to fly the cast to a snowy mountain just to shoot the small scene between Boromir and Frodo. Shoot on fake snow, add a backdrop, place CGI figures on a shot flying over the mountain. Done. But that wasn't the mindset on LotR. It is however now on The Hobbit.

I just can't imagine Edoras being built for freaking real today, with PJ's 2013 mindset.

And real is real, there is no replacement for that, not ever, period. LotR, particulary FotR and TTT felt and looked terrific because it was a fantasy story in a real environment, opposite to the usual fantasy fare, who try to sell a real story in a fake fantasy environment, and that is unfortunately where the Hobbit was heading.

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[gkgyver 1,645]

No, I don't understand the Out of the Frying Pan scene either. Sure, yes, you have a certain image in your mind how you want the scene to play out. But really, there are no special environmental requirements for that scene showcased in the movie at all. And it doesn't feel very moody as well, with the excessive colour grading. It's one thing to nudge the colour a little to the unreal side, it's another thing entirely to make it look like Yoshi's Island.

The Black Rider scenes early in Fellowship were kind of creepy, imagine a treatment like that for OotFP. If you want to make a CGI character like Azog believable, it doesn't help throwing him into an artificial environment.

By the way, I also think Fangorn Forest looked better than the one Radagast lives in.

I mean, the budget for these films must have been gargantuan, they could have probably carved out a freaking mountain and built Goblintown and the studio would have gone along with it based on the perspective of having a cash cow the size of Star Wars x2 on their hands. Surely they could have done more location scouting, preparing and shooting.

[Jay 37,353]

Sigh. It's depressing to think about what could have been. You guys are sooooo right about all this!

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[KK 3,307]

I miss miniatures. And I wish they built Dale or Erebor sets in real locations, close to the mountains or something, kind of like thy did with Edoras and Mina's Tirith....those were awesome sets.

You guys are spot on by the way. The lack of real locations and sets outside is what lends to artificial atmosphere of the film. The painstaking work that went into making LotR look as real as possible makes it look like a work of genuine passion by not just Jackson, but the whole crew. The Hobbit looks more like a bunch of big shots who can't bother to go out shoot the hard way and so decide to use their massive budgets to indulge on the computer to do all the work.

This is why LotR will continue to age gracefully and still have sense of timelessness (with some shots being exceptions), while The Hobbit will look rather dated soon enough.

[Faleel 5,346]

Ahem.

Take it to the Hobbit thread please.

[Jay 37,353]

Right, cause JWFan threads never veer off topic!

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[Jay 37,353]

Hopefully this weekend

Do you like the Pink Panther films?

[BloodBoal 7,538]

Haven't seen any.

[gkgyver 1,645]

Faleel, do you think "The Sword That Was Broken" on your Fellowship edit (same as the CR) is the intended version? I always thought the transition at 2:27 is a very obvious edit. Now that I heard "The Nazgul (Revised)", I'm not even sure if the lonely trombone/horn piece playing over Boromir finding Narsil isn't an edit of that same cue, tracked into the scene, when Shore intended complete silence until Arwen comes in.

[Faleel 5,346]

Well, if it is tracked, than it is pitch shifted.

[gkgyver 1,645]

Hmmm, I still think the transition is off though. The reverb is kind of cut off.

[Faleel 5,346]

It could be that it would have come in earlier (in the film the two sections are seperated by silence) with a similar version of the music heard in the extended version of The Nazgul on my edit.

[gkgyver 1,645]

Odd.

But then, it's not the only edit on the Fellowship CR that doesn't make complete sense.

[Faleel 5,346]

The only edit that makes sense, is the edit in Pass of Caradhras (it was made to fit the EE cut), but none of the inclusions of edits make sense.

[gkgyver 1,645]

Well, shortening some long sustained notes, like in the prologue, makes some sense. Of course in a "Complete Recordings" release, no edit really makes full sense ...

[SafeUnderHill 205]

[Faleel 5,346]

Watching ROTK, I noticed a lot of the Minas Tirith stuff had slight Diffusion similar to AUJ (though perhaps The Hobbit being shot digitally makes it look worse than ROTK)

[gkgyver 1,645]

The 48 fps and digital recording certainly add to it. I'm fairly sure Fangorn would have looked the same with digital shooting techniques.

[KK 3,307]

Watching ROTK, I noticed a lot of the Minas Tirith stuff had slight Diffusion similar to AUJ (though perhaps The Hobbit being shot digitally makes it look worse than ROTK)

Didn't really notice it though. I think Minas Tirith always looked great. Probably because it wasn't pure CGI and was shot using miniatures and real sets.

I miss miniatures. And I wish they built Dale or Erebor sets in real locations, close to the mountains or something, kind of like thy did with Edoras and Mina's Tirith....those were awesome sets.

You guys are spot on by the way. The lack of real locations and sets outside is what lends to artificial atmosphere of the film. The painstaking work that went into making LotR look as real as possible makes it look like a work of genuine passion by not just Jackson, but the whole crew. The Hobbit looks more like a bunch of big shots who can't bother to go out shoot the hard way and so decide to use their massive budgets to indulge on the computer to do all the work.

This is why LotR will continue to age gracefully and still have sense of timelessness (with some shots being exceptions), while The Hobbit will look rather dated soon enough.

They did build quite a large Dale set. I do miss miniatures though.

Fangorn was a set just like Radagasts forest.

I think more of the problem is with the grading of the real locations which make them look less real.

That too.

And Dale was a big set, but doesn't look as impressive as places like Helm's Deep, Edoras and Minas Tirith.

[Faleel 5,346]

Jumping ahead again:

Arwen's Vision (Arwen's Song by Liv Tyler)

[gkgyver 1,645]

Recording (and using) that song was a mistake. It's such a detour into the world of new age pop music compared to the rest. Using it in RotK was probably a favour to Liv Tyler. Sounds out of place there as well.

[KK 3,307]

It was a favour to Liv Tyler, she wasn't too happy that it didn't end up in TTT. And yes, it was pretty weird in RotK too.

[Faleel 5,346]

BTW as an aside, there is a bit of Arwen music that appears in all three films, it may not be a actual theme or anything, but....