Production of The Lord of the Rings film series

Tolkien's novels The Hobbit (1937) and The Lord of the Rings (1954–55), set in Middle-earth, were the subject of many early failed attempts to bring the fictional universe to life in screen. Tolkien was skeptical of the prospects of an adaptation.[1] While animated and live-action shorts were made in 1967 and 1971, the first commercial depiction of one of his books onscreen was in an animated TV special of The Hobbit in 1977.[2] In 1978 the first big screen adaptation of the fictional setting was introduced in Ralph Bakshi's animated The Lord of the Rings.[3]

The rights to adapt Tolkien's works passed through the hands of several studios, having been briefly leased to Rembrandt films[4] before being sold perpetually to United Artists,[5] who then passed them in part to Saul Zaentz (which did business as Middle-earth Enterprises). Filmmakers and producers interested in an adaptation included Walt Disney,[6] Al Brodax, Forrest J Ackerman,[7] Samuel Gelfman, Denis O'Dell (who contacted David Lean, Stanley Kubrick and Michelangelo Antonioni to direct),[8] and Heinz Edelmann.[6]

At the time that Bakshi's film was released, a teenaged Peter Jackson had not read the book,[9] and went to see the film: "I liked the early part – it had some quaint sequences in Hobbiton, a creepy encounter with the Black Rider on the road, and a few quite good battle scenes – but then, about half way through, the storytelling became very disjointed and disorientating and I really didn't understand what was going on. However, what it did do was to make me want to read the book – if only to find out what happened!"[10] He then read the book,[11][12] thinking it would make for a great live-action film. He assumed that Disney or filmmakers like George Lucas or Steven Spielberg would eventually produce one for him to see, but realized it would have been impossible to adapt at the time.[13][14] An amateur filmmaker, he soon tried making original fantasy films inspired by Jason and the Argonauts and Conan the Barbarian. He did not revisit the books until 1997, thinking that he would be out of his depth to adapt them.[15]

In 1995, Jackson and his partner Fran Walsh were finishing The Frighteners and considered doing an original high-fantasy film to keep their special effects company in business. With the new developments in computer-generated imagery following 1993's Jurassic Park, Jackson set about planning a "Lord of the Rings-type of story" but whenever he and Walsh tried conceiving of a story, they ended with something so similar to Tolkien's books as to be considered derivative. Jackson began wondering "why nobody else seemed to be doing anything about"[12] adapting Tolkien to live-action, and at his request, his agent Ken Kamins tracked the rights to Saul Zaentz.[15]

Since Heavenly Creatures, Jackson was in a contract with Miramax. While he and his lawyer were unsure whether he was contractually obligated to bring his pitch to Miramax first, Jackson decided to do so out of courtesy, only to realize upon calling Harvey Weinstein that he had recently rescued Zaentz' production of The English Patient, and could therefore leverage the rights from him. Jackson realized it would take multiple films to adapt the books properly,[16][17] but pitched a single trilogy: one film based on The Hobbit and, if that were to prove successful, a two-part adaptation of The Lord of the Rings, shot back-to-back and released six months apart.[18]

Negotiations with Zaentz were elongated due to Weinstein's intention to keep Zaentz from producing the film himself, and by the fact that the distribution rights for The Hobbit were left in United Artists' hands. Miramax tried to buy the rights from the studio in vain.[15] By April 1996, Jackson had reread The Hobbit and commissioned WETA to produce concept art,[19] when Weinstein suggested postponing it to a potential prequel.[15]

Weinstein's dalliance led Jackson to take up an offer from Universal Studios to film a remake of King Kong.[15] Weinstein was furious, but Jackson still intended to make The Lord of the Rings immediately afterwards, and had the book to hand, re-reading the prologue. Indeed, he suggested that Miramax and Universal co-distribute both films, to which Weinstein agreed once Universal threw Shakespeare in Love into the deal, as well.[15]

Peter Jackson in 2003, at the premiere of The Return of the King in Wellington

When Universal cancelled King Kong in 1997,[20] Jackson and Walsh immediately received support from Weinstein and began a six-week process of sorting out the rights. Jackson and Walsh asked Costa Botes to write a scene-by-scene synopsis of the book, which Jackson then rearranged as the basis for his screen treatment.[21] They also consulted Tolkien's letters and some academic writing done on his works.

Immediately after King Kong's cancellation, Jackson clarified to Weinstein that he still intended to make two films, but concerns expressed by Miramax led him to try and write the treatment as a single film, "but by the time we had got to the end, it was clear that we were talking about two films."[21] At the story conference in Miramax (during which the Bakshi cartoon was screened),[22] the Weinsteins "blanched"[21] but accepted this. While writing the treatment, Jackson considered doing three films[16] and "shaped our treatment into three parts" before Miramax rejected the idea.[21][16]

Between the synopsis and the treatment, Jackson decided to cut Gildor, Crickhollow, the Old Forest, Tom Bombadil, the Barrow Wights, Bill Ferney, Radagast, Lothlorien and Ghan-Buri-Ghan. The final treatment divides the story into two parts: The Fellowship of the Ring (which covered the eponymous novel but also The Two Towers) and The War of the Ring. The first opens immediately with the Battle of the Last Alliance (in what Jackson called a "James Bond" opening) and ends with Saruman's death, and Gandalf and Pippin (the latter having looked into the Palantir) going to Minas Tirith.[21][22]

In this treatment, Farmer Maggot and Glorfindel are present; Gwaihir and Gandalf visit Edoras after escaping Saruman, and Eowyn and Eomer help him find Shadowfax against the wishes of a possessed Theoden. Gollum attacks Frodo when the Fellowship is still united, a struggle during which the Ring falls into the mud and is picked up by Boromir. Bilbo attends the Council of Elrond and Sam looks into Galadriel's mirror. At the end of the film, Saruman is shot by an overhead Nazgûl and, before his death, is redeemed through issuing the Palantir for Gandalf to look into. Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli are sent south to espy Sauron's forces, and Frodo and Sam are en route to the Black Gate.[21][22]

The second film opens in the thick of battle, and ends with Frodo sailing to the West. It features a more pronounced romantic triangle with Arwen and Eowyn, including a scene of Aragorn and Eowyn "asleep in each other's arms"; and has Elladan, Elrohir and Erkenbrand join Aragorn on the Paths of the Dead (the latter dying in the process), which are described as though made of flesh. The Nazgul just make it into Mount Doom before they fall.[21][22]

They presented this treatment to Harvey and Bob Weinstein, the latter of whom they focused on impressing with their screenwriting, as he had not read the book. They agreed upon two films and a total budget of $75 million.[21]

Early discussions of casting were held, with Miramax wanting to "americanize"[18] the project, and suggesting star names like Daniel Day-Lewis for Aragorn (starting "fanciful internet speculation"[23] that Lewis was allegedly approached for the part several times) and even suggested Morgan Freeman for Gandalf.[24] Weinstein had also dissuaded Jackson from considering Mira Sorvino and Ashley Judd, whom Weinstein had secretly harassed just previous to this time. Jackson compiled his own casting wishlist, which included Ian Holm for Bilbo Baggins and Cate Blanchett for Galadriel.[25]

Meanwhile, WETA Digital developed the "MASSIVE" software and WETA Workshop began conceptual design for the films. Having used their paintings for inspiration (to the point of showing them in story conferences) Jackson suggested hiring Alan Lee and John Howe. Miramax didn't want to involve Lee, due to his association with Tolkien's Estate, but Jackson tracked the reclusive Lee through Michael Palin and convinced him and Howe to join the project. Howe, who previously mailed Lee and spoke to him on the phone once, met him on the plane. Howe also brought along a collection of recreated Medieval armour for reference. A third artist, Ted Nasmith, was invited to join later, but had to decline.[21] Ralph Bakshi also claimed Jackson's company bought many of his designs.[26]

During mid-1997,[27] Jackson and Walsh began writing with Stephen Sinclair.[21] Sinclair's partner, Philippa Boyens, was a major fan of the book and joined the writing team after reading their treatment.[27] It took 13 to 14 months to write the two film scripts,[27] which were 147 and 144 pages respectively. Sinclair left the project due to theatrical obligations.

In this version, Farmer Maggot and Fatty Bolger appear. Gandalf is more frail and has given up pipe-smoking, and Gimli's dialogue contains several vulgarities. Sam, Merry and Pippin are all caught eavesdropping behind the door and forced to go along with Frodo. The Nazgul skewer Barliman Butterbur and Wargs attack the Hobbits near Weathertop. Gandalf's account of his time at Orthanc was pulled out of flashback and Lothlórien was cut, with Galadriel doing what she does in the story at Rivendell. Denethor attends the Council of Elrond with his son. The Watcher in the Water, absent from the treatment, is reinstated. Arwen now rescues Frodo instead of Glorfindel, and later joins the battle of Helm's Deep, where a Nazgul sweeps in, only for its fell beast slain by Gimli. Indeed, Theoden's palace is placed in Helm's Deep itself. While on the Seat of Seeing, Frodo sees the Nazgul, having killed Saruman, attack Gandalf. He puts on the Ring to draw him away and is attacked by a fell-beast, which Sam lassos to the structure. The Nazgul attacks Sam before Frodo kills it.[21]

The second script included a sex scene between Aragorn and Arwen in the Glittering Pools, interrupted by Legolas and Gimli's sight-seeing the caves. Arwen later fends off a Nazgul that menaces Pippin and joins the Rohirrim. The writers also considered having Arwen absorb Éowyn's role entirely by having her kill the Witch-king, with the resulting wound becoming the source of her illness. Faramir finds Frodo after Denethor sends him to do so, having learned the secret of the quest from Pippin. Imrahil and Forlong appear in the script, and Aragorn fights Sauron in front of the Black Gates.[21]

Writing the scripts, Jackson and Miramax drew a 110-day schedule for production, beginning in April 1999 for release in Christmas 2000 and Memorial Day 2001. In so doing, they were able to budget the films better, with Miramax becoming increasingly worried and asking for cost-cutting rewrites such as killing one of the four Hobbits, and sent producers to oversee the work done in New Zealand. Eventually, Marty Katz arrived to New Zealand. Spending four months there, he told Miramax that the films were more likely to cost $150 million; which was beyond Miramax' abilities.[21]

Being a Disney-owned company, Miramax went to chairman Joe Roth, who went to CEO Michael Eisner with a request to aid Miramax on budgeting the production. Eisner had recently demanded cost-cutting measures, and declined.[19] Walsh said this was due to lack of faith in the property and concern over Jackson's proclivity to make violent films, although Eisner later claimed that he only refused because Harvey Weinstein refused to let him review the project or meet Jackson. Instead, Miramax looked for other studios like DreamWorks to join, but were again unsuccessful, and instead suggested merging the films into one.[21]

Bob Weinstein commissioned Jack Lechner to sketch a one-film version of the story. Lechner saw the story as too "dense" and that any two-film version would have left audiences unfulfilled since the story was only "half-told". He thought Frodo was a weak character. On 17 June 1998, he sent a memo in which he suggested cutting Bree and the Battle of Helm's Deep, "losing or using" Saruman, merging Rohan and Gondor, and making Éowyn Boromir's sister, shortening Rivendell and Moria (losing the Balrog and the fight in Balin's Tomb in the process) as well as having Ents prevent the Uruk-hai from kidnapping Merry and Pippin.[21] Miramax drafted a schedule for production of this version.

Jackson agreed that "As an exercise in reducing The Lord of the Rings to one film, it demonstrated a lot of common sense",[21] but was upset by the idea of "cutting out half the good stuff."[27] In the following meeting, he tried to convince Harvey Weinstein to make the first film on-budget and then make the second film, and later suggested making a one-film version under the proviso that it would be four hours long. Weinstein refused, insisting on telling the whole story in a two-hour film. Jackson balked, and Miramax declared that any script or work completed by Weta Workshop was theirs,[21] and that they would commission Hossein Amini to rewrite the script with Walsh. In fact, they had already sent the two-film script to Amini who "loved it". When Jackson and Walsh refused to co-operate, Weinstein said he had John Madden ready to direct it. In a later phone-call to Jackson's agent, Weinstein instead mentioned Quentin Tarantino. Jackson and Amini both believe this was a bluff to get Jackson to agree to make one film.[21]

Jackson's agent later clarified to Weinstein that, should he hire other filmmakers, he could not use Jackson's scripts or designs as a basis (which would compound the cost), and that he would be better off putting the project on a turnaround, which Miramax only begrudgingly agreed to. Hoping that Jackson could be forced to make the one-film version, Miramax dictated draconian conditions for the turnaround, limiting it to four weeks.[21][27] They further demanded that the other studio repay their investment and give them 5% of the revenue of the films: half for themselves, and half for Disney.[19]

Jackson made a 35-minute "making of" video to sell the project, and had the scripts sent to various studios. Jackson wanted to go to New Line Cinema, where his friend Mark Ordesky was an executive. Knowing Ordesky was a fan of the books, Jackson called him with the proposition. Meanwhile, all the other studios passed. Centropolis and Sony disliked the script, while 20th Century Fox declined due to Zaentz's involvement. Polygram were interested but were in the process of being sold to Universal. The other studios did not review the scripts.[28]

A fan of the books, New Line CEO Robert Shaye was enthusiastic about the concept ever since he heard Miramax landed it, but initially refused Mark's inquiry on account of the percentage that the Weinsteins demanded. Eventually, however, due to New Line's need for lucrative franchises, he was convinced to meet Jackson. He was still unsure, however, but Jackson feigned being busy talking to other studios to give Shaye the impression that he was "in a more competitive situation than he truly was."[28]

Shaye had run the prospect by his head of international distribution, who said he could shore-up most of the investment from foreign distributors.[29] He was still unsure about Jackson himself,[29] and talked to him before the meeting, telling him that he did not like The Frighteners and that The Lord of the Rings is "probably something that we're not going to want to do."[30] However, after viewing the video, he asked "Why would anyone want movie-goers to pay $18 when they might pay $27?".[28][31] Eventually Jackson caught along that Shaye wanted to make three films, to which he responded enthusiastically. Shaye later explained he had already discussed making three films – should he decide to take the project – with his partner Michael Lynn, and went on to comment that he "would have made five if there were five books."[29] He talked about whether they should be released within a month, two years or three.[28]

Now Jackson, Walsh and Boyens had to write three new scripts.[27] The expansion to three films allowed much more creative freedom, although Jackson, Walsh and Boyens had to restructure their script accordingly. The three films do not correspond exactly to the trilogy's three volumes, but rather represent a three-part adaptation. Jackson takes a more chronological approach to the story than did Tolkien. Frodo's quest is the main focus, and Aragorn is the main sub-plot.[32] The filmmakers also consulted Tolkien's biography, letters and scholarly books written on his works. They spoke with Tolkien's Estate, who decided to distance themselves from the films.[14]

In one iteration, the film would have opened in medias res with Frodo and Sam near the borders of the Shire. Farmer Maggot had a bigger role than in the finished film, and Merry and Pippin only join the quest later. Arwen follows the Fellowship to Lorien, and later rejoins them in Rohan after she rescues two refugee children from the Orcs, delivering them to Helm's Deep where a love triangle develops with Eowyn, who delivers a child while fending off Orcs in the Glittering Caves. This culminates in her riding to war with Eowyn, who saves her from the Witch-King.[33]

Many sequences, such as Tom Bombadil, that do not contribute directly to those two plots were left out, although Jackson considered re-incorporating Bombadil by having the Hobbits see his hat across the bush, as well as trying to edit the finished film to suggest that the Bombadil incident happened offscreen. The writers also considered adding the Battle of Dale into The Return of the King. While he couldn't incorporate the Hunt for Gollum, he toyed with the idea of shooting it after the fact and inserting it into the extended edition, should the film prove a success.

Much effort was put into creating satisfactory conclusions and making sure exposition did not bog down the pacing. Along with new sequences, there are also expansions on elements Tolkien kept ambiguous, such as the battles and the creatures. During shooting, the screenplays continued to evolve, in part due to contributions from cast members looking to further explore their characters.[27][34]

Jackson began storyboarding the trilogy with Christian Rivers in August 1997,[35] effectively creating a rough black and white 2-D version of the film. Jackson showed excerpts of the "animated" storyboards (filmed images with voices and a temporary soundtrack) to allow potential cast a view of the film's style.

To plan his visual effects sequences, Jackson also utilized a lipstick camera for the models of sets and computer animatics (learned from Industrial Light & Magic), planning the battle sequences like a real general and giving a sense of direction. This often allowed room for him to improvise action sequences, such as the Moria staircase collapse (which was never in any script draft).[27] He also bought 40,000 toy soldiers to play with.[34] Pre-visualisation would continue throughout production, such as the late addition of the Ents attacking Isengard,[34] and the siege of Minas Tirith in February 2003.[36]

Helmet and vambrace of Rohan with interlace, spiral, and horse-motif decoration, Lord of the Rings costume and props exhibit, 2003

The design of the trilogy began in August 1997 during storyboarding. Jackson himself wanted a gritty realism and historical regard for the fantasy, repeatedly citing the 1995 historical epic Braveheart[16] as a good example:

It might be clearer if I described it as an historical film. Something very different to Dark Crystal or Labyrinth. Imagine something like Braveheart, but with a little of the visual magic of Legend. ... It should have the historical authority of Braveheart, rather than the meaningless fantasy mumbo-jumbo of Willow.[14]

In November 1997,[27] the Tolkien illustrators Alan Lee and John Howe joined the project. Up until then, concept artists had primarily been influenced by Dungeons & Dragons in their designs. Some of their famous images of Bag End, Orthanc, Helm's Deep, the Black Gate, and Howe's Gandalf and the Balrog made it into the film. The last one inspired the opening sequence of The Two Towers. Jackson sometimes replicated some shots from famous Tolkien illustrations as a nod to fans.[37]

Lee worked on designs for architecture, the first being Helm's Deep,[34] as well as the Elven realms, Moria, Edoras, and Minas Tirith, and although Howe primarily designed armour and the forces of evil (see below), he contributed to the design of Bag End, Minas Morgul, Cirith Ungol and Barad-dûr. Lee also applied a personal touch by painted imagery in Rivendell, such as the one of Isildur removing the One Ring from Sauron, as well as tapestries in Edoras. There are many real-life influences on the Middle-earth seen in the films: Rivendell is "a cross between a Japanese Temple and Frank Lloyd Wright",[38] and Minas Tirith takes influence from Mont Saint-Michel and the Palatine Chapel in Aachen. The City of the Dead takes stylistic inspiration from Petra, Jordan, and the Grey Havens were inspired by the paintings of J. M. W. Turner.[36]

Grant Major was charged with the task of converting Lee and Howe's designs into architecture, creating models of the sets, whilst Dan Hennah worked as art director, scouting locations and organizing the building of sets. The army often helped out, too, building Hobbiton almost a year before filming[39] to give the impression of real growth and age, moving 5,000 cubic metres (180,000 cu ft) of earth, and creating roads to the Edoras location during six months of building, although there was some controversy over their pay.[40] Sometimes sets would be reshaped: the caverns of Isengard became Shelob's Lair, and Helm's Deep became a Minas Tirith backlot.[36] Sets would also occasionally employ forced perspective to save budget. Despite a large amount of safety involved, there were still fires on a Rohirrim village location[34] and the Morgul Road set,[36] and Alan Lee fell off a Lothlórien miniature.[41] During Bilbo's birthday party speech, the polystyrene birthday cake with 111 (not confirmed if there really were 111) candles was actually on fire, but everyone kept acting while some of the crew tried to put it out. A similar instance of things occurring that were not in the script was Ian McKellen knocking his head painfully on a beam inside Bag End, but he kept acting through it (though the actor says he improvised it and did it intentionally[42]).

The Art Department was careful to respect nature, considering its importance to Tolkien, such as taking plants from the Edoras location into a nursery. They would sometimes mould shapes from real rocks and bark, too, and take branches into a steel structure with polystyrene for more convincing prop trees. Brian Massey led the Greens Department, and even wrote a booklet on tree growth when he complained of the props "being too coney" for Lothlórien when the time came to film Fangorn Forest.[34] The numerous props within the trilogy were all originally designed at different scales, and many craftsmen were hired, most notably Jens Hansen Gold & Silversmith to create 15 replicas of The One Ring.

Contemporary jeweller Jasmine Watson created other significant pieces of jewellery, including the Evenstar worn by Arwen, and Nenya, the ring worn by Galadriel. Statues were sculpted out of polystyrene, although some thrones seen in the trilogy are in fact crafted out of marble, stone and wood. A former bank worker named Daniel Reeve was hired to write the numerous books, spines, documents, maps, diagrams and even Orc graffiti that appear in the trilogy.[41]

Frodo (Elijah Wood) holding Sting. Sting is leaf-shaped, with gently curving edges. Engraved on the blade and cross-guard are letters in Sindarin that read "Sting is my name, I am the spider's bane". Sting is 23 inches long and 3 inches wide at the hilt.[43]

Jackson hired longtime collaborator Richard Taylor to lead Weta Workshop on five major design elements: armour, weapons, prosthetics/make-up, creatures and miniatures. Notable among the concept artists were Daniel Falconer and Warren Mahy, who enjoyed creating the forces of good and evil respectively. Jamie Beswarick and Mike Asquith helped with the maquettes, as did Ben Wooten with his extensive zoology knowledge.

John Howe was the supervisor on armour, having studied and worn it. Stu Johnson and Warren Green made 48,000 pieces of armour from the numerous moulds of plate steel. A small group of crew members spent three years linking plastic chain mail, eventually wearing their thumbprints away. Peter Lyon forged swords, each taking from three to six days, with spring steel "hero" swords for close-ups, aluminum fight swords and rubber versions. Weta created 10,000 real arrows and 500 bows.[44] Howe even created a less crude type of crossbow, intended for the Uruk-hai while requiring no external tools to rearm, based on a 16th-century manuscript.[34]

Weta created numerous pieces of prosthetics and continually monitored them on set. They created 1,800 Orc body suits to go with 10,000 Orc heads, taking six days and one day respectively. Weta spent a year creating hobbit feet that would look like large, furry feet yet act as shoes for the actors. In total, 1,800 pairs were used by the four lead hobbit actors during production. Actors went in for face casts to create pointed ears and false noses. Most extensive was John Rhys-Davies as Gimli, whose Dwarven prosthetics required four-and-a-half hours to apply each morning.[27] Gino Acevedo worked on realistic skin tones for the actors, such as Bernard Hill's possessed Théoden and a younger Bilbo. Peter King and Peter Owen led the make-up department in making numerous wigs and creating general dirt on the actors. At the end of each day, an hour was spent carefully removing the make-up and prosthetics. Numerous corpses of actors and horses were made.

Weta's first completed creature was the cave troll. Production designers wanted to make the Orcs totally animalistic before the switch to prosthetics. They gave specific designs to the Moria Orcs, Uruk-hai, and Mordor Orcs, so as to make these characters visually distinct.[38] They sought to make their creatures biologically believable: Shelob's body is based on an Australasian funnel-web spider, while the Wargs are a bear/hyena/wolf hybrid. Howe lent himself for Beswarick to study when shaping Gollum; Beswarick took inspiration from Iggy Pop due to his skin-muscle ratio.[34] Whilst most creatures were destined to exist in the computer, Weta did create a 14-foot-tall (4.3 m) Treebeard puppet (which needed five people to operate it), a single dead mûmak and, later on, a "Phoney Pony" for close-up shots of riding actors. Design continued throughout production; Gollum was redesigned in May 2001, while the Great Beasts were reworked in early 2003.

The backstories of the cultures depicted in the films had to be shown through subliminal glimpses on screen, while for the Elves and Gondorians, fictional histories were presented by changing styles of armour. The Elves have an Art Nouveau influence that involves leaves and flowers, while the Dwarves have a preoccupation with geometry intended to remind the audience of their digging nature.[27] The Hobbits hark back to 18th-century England, the Rohirrim feature horse and sun motifs with visual inspiration from Beowulf and the Anglo-Saxon artifacts found in the Sutton Hoo burial ship, and the Gondorians reflect 16th-century German and Italian armour and the motif of the White Tree. The evil Haradrim Men take influence from Aztecs and Kiribati after bad feedback from Phillipa Boyens over looking African. Most of the Orc armour is sharp, reflecting secateurs, and is written with runes to reflect worship of Sauron.[36]

Several liberties were taken in adapting Tolkien's weaponry and armour to the screen. While plate armour is used in the films, it is unmentioned in the author's writings (except for vambraces), where scale and especially mail predominate. Some swords, like the broken royal sword Narsil, are interpreted as two-handed longswords. These design choices help evoke the Late Medieval and Renaissance periods, whereas Tolkien's original atmosphere is generally more akin to the Early Medieval period. In a private letter, Tolkien compared Middle-earth clothing and war gear to that of Dark Age Europe and the Bayeux Tapestry.[45][46] Weta also invented Elvish inscriptions for weapons like the spear Aeglos and the swords Sting and Narsil. In some cases, Tolkien writes about runes on sword blades but does not give them in detail. The Elves in the film series use curved swords, whereas the author mostly assigns such swords to Orcs and enemy Men (he mentions one Elf with a curved sword in very early writings).[47] The designers went so far as to invent new weapons, such as Arwen's Elvish sword Hadhafang; while the design is original, the name is derived from Tolkien's "Etymologies" in The Lost Road.[48]

To develop fight and sword choreography for the series, the filmmakers employed Hollywood sword-master Bob Anderson. Anderson worked directly with the actors, including Viggo Mortensen and Karl Urban, to develop the film's many sword fights and stunts.[49] Anderson's role is highlighted in the 2009 film Reclaiming the Blade.[50]

Detail of embroidery on the sleeve of Arwen's "mourning dress", 2003 costume and props exhibit

Ngila Dickson was hired on 1 April 1999[41] to handle the numerous costumes. She and 40 seamstresses worked on over 19,000 costumes for the film series. Due to the large shooting schedule, 10 versions of each costume were made, with 30 more for stunt, scale and other doubles, all in all meaning each design had 40 versions.

Due to Jackson's requirement of realism, the costumers took great pains to make costumes look "lived in", wearing away colour, stuffing pockets and dirtying costumes for the likes of Gandalf and Aragorn due to their terrain-crossing nature. As with armour, there was also acid etching and some overdyeing of colours. Dickson decided to give the Hobbits shorts due to their bare feet, and specifically worked on long sleeves for the Elves for a gliding impression.[27] Dickson took great pains to distinguish the colours worn by the Gondorians (silver and black) and the Rohirrim (brown and green).[36]

Elijah Wood, who portrayed Frodo, revealed in 2021 that one of the Orcs was designed to resemble Harvey Weinstein.[51]

October 11, 1999 – the first scene filmed for the trilogy was the scene in which the Hobbits hide from a Ringwraith

The first scene filmed was the "Wooded Road" sequence in The Fellowship of the Ring, where the Hobbits hide beneath a tree from a mounted Ringwraith. The focus was generally on The Fellowship of the Ring when the Hobbits try to reach Rivendell, such as a single night in Bree exteriors; this was done with the hopes that the four actors playing the hobbits would bond. Second units also shot the Ford of Bruinen chase and the deforestation of Isengard. Liv Tyler generally came to New Zealand for stunts, and spent five days on a barrel for Bruinen while riding double Jane Abbott got to ride on horseback.[27]

During the first month of filming, Stuart Townsend was deemed too young to play Aragorn, and within three days Viggo Mortensen became his replacement, just in time to film the Weathertop sequence. Mortensen, who decided to take the role in part because his own son was a fan of the series, became a hit on set, going fishing, always taking his "hero" sword around and applying dirt to his costume to improve costume designer Ngila Dickson's makeshift look.[27] He also headbutted the stunt team as a sign of friendship,[34] and bought himself his horse, Uraeus, as well as another horse for Abbott.[36]

"What is amazing when you look at the finished scene in Return of the King, is to think that every time we cut to and from between Frodo and Sam we are actually jumping back and forth across a year-long gap." – Peter Jackson[53]

The Cirith Ungol stair ledge was built as a wet weather set on a squash court in a hotel in Queenstown. On 24 November 1999, Sean Astin's close-ups on the Cirith Ungol set were shot in what became the first shots to be filmed for The Return of the King. Andy Serkis (Gollum) had not yet been cast.[36] The set remained standing on the squash court and it was not until a year later, on 30 November 2000, that Elijah Wood's first close-ups were shot on the same ledge. This would become a general failsafe measure if the weather disrupted the shooting schedule. On Wood and the second Cirith Ungol shoot, Peter Jackson stated, "A year later, we were back in the squash court, and this time the heat was on Elijah. He had to get his head back into a scene that had been half-filmed so long ago. He knew that he had to deliver a performance that matched the emotion of Sean's takes, and that he did to perfection".[34]

After this scene, when the flood ended, it was during this time that shooting became focused on the battle of Amon Hen. Sean Bean began filming in November for most of his scenes.[27]

A Christmas break and Millennium celebrations followed, and filming resumed on 17 January. Ian McKellen, fresh from filming X-Men, arrived to film scenes in Hobbiton and the Grey Havens. McKellen did not become that close to the lead Hobbit actors, as he generally worked with their scale doubles, but when Christopher Lee arrived in February, they became very friendly.[27] Shooting the fight sequence in the Orthanc interiors, without air conditioning (for atmosphere) but with heavy wigs and robes, was described by the actors as "murder".[41] The Grey Havens sequence, which takes place at the end of The Return of the King, was shot three times due to Sean Astin forgetting his vest after lunch and, then an out-of-focus camera.[36]

While the Hobbit leads had scenes in Hobbiton interiors and Rivendell exteriors in Kaitoke Park with new arrival Ian Holm, Mortensen, Orlando Bloom and John Rhys-Davies filmed scenes involving the Rohirrim countryside. Mortensen broke his toe kicking an Orc helmet on camera, Bloom fell off his horse and broke a rib, and Rhys-Davies' scale and stunt double Brett Beattie dislocated his knee. They spent two days injured during the "orc hunting" sequence seen in the second film. Soon after, they spent a month of day shoots at Helm's Deep and another three months of night shoots handled by Mahaffie, in Dry Creek Quarry outside Wellington, during which one of Mortensen's teeth was knocked out and Bernard Hill was hit on the ear with the flat of a sword. The extras insulted each other in Māori and improvised stunts, partially because those dressed in Uruk-hai prosthetics got extremely cold.[34]

The production then got larger, with Wood and Astin shooting scenes in Mount Ruapehu for Emyn Muil and Mount Doom. On 13 April 2000, Andy Serkis joined the cast. In the meantime, prologue scenes[41] and the Battle of the Black Gate were shot, during which Sala Baker wore the Sauron armour. The Black Gate scene was filmed at a former mine field in the Rangipo Desert, and soldiers served as extras.[36] With the return of Sean Bean, the Fellowship reunited and proceeded to shoot the Moria sequence[54] and the Rivendell interiors, including five days of coverage for the Council of Elrond.

In June they began shooting scenes on soundstages with Cate Blanchett for Lothlórien,[55] as well as a week of exterior shooting for the Lothlórien farewell sequence.[27] Other scenes shot in June were the Paths of the Dead across various locations, including Pinnacles. In July the crew shot some Shelob scenes, while another unit shot in July to August, and during September the scenes in Fangorn Forest and Isengard were developed. Dominic Monaghan and Billy Boyd tried numerous takes of their entrance, stressing the word "weed" as they smoked pipe-weed. Christopher Lee spent his part of his scene mostly alone, though McKellen and Hill arrived on the first day for a few lines to help.[54]

Edoras exteriors were shot in October. The Ride of the Rohirrim, where Théoden leads the charge into the Orc army, was filmed in Twizel with 250 extras on horseback. The Battle of the Pelennor Fields makes more use of computer-generated imagery, in contrast to the Battle of Helm's Deep in the second film which relies mainly on live action. Also filmed were scenes in Osgiliath, including attempts by Faramir to retake the city. At this point production was very hectic, with Jackson moving around ten units per day, and production finally wrapped on the Minas Tirith sets, as well as second units shooting parts of the siege.

Pick-up shoots were conducted from 2001 to 2003 for six weeks every year to refine each film's edit. For the first two films, the cast and crew often returned to sets; for the third, they had to shoot around the clock in a car park full of set parts. Pick-ups provided a chance for cast and crew to meet in person again, and during The Two Towers pick-ups, Sean Astin directed a short film entitled The Long and Short of It.

Notable scenes filmed in the pick-ups include the flashback with Boromir (where he is sent to Rivendell by his father Denethor) featured in The Two Towers Extended Edition, as well as the re-shot Witch-king scenes with his new helmet design, the improved Orc designs and the new character of Gothmog, and a re-shoot of Aragorn and Arwen kissing at the coronation scene, all for The Return of the King. Théoden's last scene was re-shot just after Bernard Hill finished his scenes; Hill was still in New Zealand. Andy Serkis also had to re-shoot a Mount Doom scene in Jackson's house during post-production.

The final and only pick-up in 2004 was a series of shots of falling skulls in The Return of the King as part of an extended Paths of the Dead scene. Jackson joked that "it's nice to win an Oscar before you've even finished the film".[36]

Jackson initially intended to have all three films edited at once by himself and editor Jamie Selkirk. This soon proved too ambitious, and Selkirk (who continued to act as the supervising editor) hired a different editor for the first two films: John Gilbert, who worked some reels to be shown to distributors during the shoot, would edit the first film, while Michael J. Horton and Jabez Olssen on the second. Selkirk and Annie Collins edited the third. Initially, they were all intended to cut them simultaneously, but after a month, overseeing three edits became too much for Jackson, and he focused on editing the first film,[59] while the other editors created assemblies of the other films.[16] Daily rushes would often last up to four hours, with scenes being done throughout 1999 to 2002 for the rough (4½-hour) assemblies of the films.[27] In total, 1,828 kilometres (5,997,000 ft) of film, representing 1110 hours,[41] was edited down to the 11 hours and 26 minutes of the extended edition's running time. This was the final area of shaping of the films, when Jackson realized that sometimes the best scripting could be redundant on screen, as he picked apart scenes every day from multiple takes.

The first film's editing was relatively easygoing, although after a screening to New Line they had to re-edit the beginning for a prologue. The Two Towers was always acknowledged by the crew as the most difficult film to make, as "it had no beginning or end", and had the additional problem of inter-cutting storylines appropriately. Jackson even continued editing the film when that part of the schedule officially ended, resulting in some scenes, including the reforging of Andúril, Gollum's backstory, and Saruman's demise, being moved to The Return of the King. Later, Saruman's demise was cut from the theatrical edition (but included in the extended edition) when Jackson felt it was not starting the third film effectively enough.[60] As with all parts of the third film's post-production, editing was very chaotic. The first time Jackson actually saw the completed film was at the Wellington premiere.

Many filmed scenes remained unused, even in the extended editions. Promotional material for The Fellowship of the Ring contained an attack by Orcs from Moria on Lothlórien after the Fellowship leaves Moria, replaced with a more suspenseful entrance for the Fellowship. Also cut were scenes from the book, including Frodo seeing more of Middle-earth at Parth Galen, an extended Council of Elrond[27] and new scenes with an attack upon Frodo and Sam at the river Anduin by an Uruk-hai.[27]

A major cut from The Two Towers featured Arwen and Elrond visiting Galadriel at Lothlórien, with Arwen then leading the Elven reinforcements to Helm's Deep.[34] This scene, and a flashback to Arwen and Aragorn's first meeting, was cut during a revision of the film's plot; the Elves' appearance was explained with a telepathic communication between Elrond and Galadriel.[34] Éowyn was to have a greater role in defending the refugees in the Glittering Caves from Uruk-hai intruders,[61] while in Osgiliath, Faramir was to have a vision of Frodo becoming like Gollum,[34] with Frodo and Sam having an extended fight sequence.[62]

Filmed for The Return of the King were two scenes present in the book: Sam using the Phial of Galadriel to pass the Watchers at Cirith Ungol, and further epilogue footage, with endings for Legolas and Gimli, Éowyn and Faramir's wedding and Aragorn's death and funeral.[63] Sauron was to fight Aragorn at the Black Gate, but with Jackson deciding the scene was inappropriate, a computer-generated troll was used instead.[36] To give context for Wormtongue killing Saruman, and Legolas in turn killing Wormtongue, it was to be revealed that Wormtongue poisoned Théodred.[64] The final scene cut was Aragorn having his armour fitted for the Battle of the Black Gate by the trilogy's armourers, which was the final scene filmed during principal photography.[36]

Peter Jackson has stated that he may release some of these scenes in a home video release although this has yet to be announced.[65]

Howard Shore composed, orchestrated, conducted and produced the trilogy's music

Canadian composer Howard Shore composed, orchestrated, conducted and produced the trilogy's music. He was hired in August 2000[66] and visited the set, and then watched the assembly cuts of The Fellowship of the Ring and The Return of the King. In the music, Shore included many (85 to 110) leitmotifs to represent various characters, cultures, and places – the largest catalogue of leitmotifs in the history of cinema, surpassing that of the entire Star Wars film series. For example, there are multiple leitmotifs just for the hobbits and the Shire. Although the first film had some of its score recorded in Wellington,[27] virtually all of the trilogy's score was recorded in Watford Town Hall and mixed at Abbey Road Studios. Jackson planned to advise the score for six weeks each year in London, though for The Two Towers he stayed for twelve. As a Beatles fan, Jackson had a photo tribute done there on the zebra crossing.[34]

The score is primarily played by the London Philharmonic Orchestra (ranging from 93 to 120 players throughout the recording), London Voices, and London Oratory School Schola boy choir; many other artists, such as Ben Del Maestro, Enya, Renée Fleming, James Galway, Annie Lennox and Emilíana Torrini, contributed. Even actors Billy Boyd, Viggo Mortensen, Liv Tyler, Miranda Otto (extended cuts only for the latter two) and Peter Jackson (for a single gong sound in the second film) contributed to the score. Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens served as librettists, writing lyrics to various music and songs, which David Salo translated into Tolkien's languages. The third film's end song, "Into the West", was a tribute to a young filmmaker Jackson and Walsh befriended named Cameron Duncan, who died of cancer in 2003.[36]

Shore composed a main theme for The Fellowship of the Ring rather than many different character themes, and its strengths and weaknesses in volume are depicted at different points in the series. On top of that, individual themes were composed to represent different cultures. Infamously, the amount of music Shore had to write every day for the third film increased dramatically to around seven minutes.[36] The music for the series turned out to be a success and has been voted best movie soundtrack of all time for the six years running, passing Schindler's List (1993), Gladiator (2000), Star Wars (1977), and Out of Africa (1985) respectively.[67]

Sound technicians spent the early part of each year trying to find the right sounds. Some, such as animal sounds like those of tigers and walruses, were bought. Human voices were also used. Fran Walsh contributed to the Nazgûl scream[68] and David Farmer the Warg howls. Other sounds were unexpected: the fell beast's screech is taken from that of a donkey, and the mûmakil's bellow comes from the beginning and end of a lion's roar. In addition, automated dialogue replacement was used for most of the dialogue.

The technicians worked with New Zealand locals to get many of the sounds. They re-recorded sounds in abandoned tunnels for an echo-like effect in the Moria sequence. 20,000 New Zealand cricket fans provided the sound of the Uruk-hai army in The Two Towers, with Jackson acting as conductor during the innings break of a one-day international cricket match between England and New Zealand at Westpac Stadium.[34] They spent time recording sounds in a graveyard at night, and also had construction workers drop stone blocks for the sounds of boulders firing and landing in The Return of the King. Mixing took place between August and November at "The Film Mix", before Jackson commissioned the building of a new studio in 2003. The building, however, had not yet been fully completed when they started mixing for The Return of the King.[36]

The Lord of the Rings film series used many groundbreaking practical and digital visual effects that were unheard of in the film industry. Ranging from prosthetics and props to creatures almost entirely made through computer graphics, the process of making the film series has been praised as having forged a breakthrough in the world of cinematic visual effects. Weta Workshop was the major stylistic force behind the films, working on concepts, sets and digital effects years before the first scenes were even shot. The series was also briefly aided by Digital Domain in the first movie. Props, sets, prosthetics and locations were given the utmost concentration and detail to achieve a look that was as realistic as possible.[69]

Production was complicated by the use of scale doubles (of sets) and forced perspective on a level never seen before in the film industry. In the Middle-earth storyverse, Hobbits are 3 ft 6 in (107 cm) tall, Dwarves are slightly taller at about 4 ft 6 in (137 cm), and Men and Elves are average human height, about 5 to 6 ft (150 to 180 cm). However, the films used two scale sets instead of three by casting taller than average actors to play Dwarves, then combining Dwarves and Hobbits into one size scale. Elijah Wood is 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) tall in real life, but his character, Frodo Baggins, is only 3 ft 6 in (1.07 m) in height. John Rhys-Davies, who played the Dwarf Gimli, is taller than Wood. Thus in the ending shot of the Council of Elrond scene, when all nine members of the Fellowship of the Ring are standing together, Rhys-Davies and the four Hobbit actors were filmed first. The human-sized characters (Gandalf, Aragorn, Boromir and Legolas) were filmed in a second take, and the two shots were composited at different scales to make one image, making the initial Dwarf/Hobbit character shot seem smaller.[70] An unintended advantage of not creating a third scale for Dwarves is that in a scene in which only Dwarves and Hobbits interact, no scale doubles are needed.

Large and small scale doubles were used in many other scenes, while entire duplicates of certain sets (including Bag End in Hobbiton) were built at two different scales so that the characters would appear to be the appropriate sizes. At one point in the film, Frodo runs along a corridor in Bag End, followed by Gandalf (played by Ian McKellen). Wood and McKellen were filmed in separate versions of the same corridor, built at two different scales; these two separate shots were then combined to create a shot of the two actors apparently in the same corridor.

Forced perspective was also employed, so that it would look as though the short Hobbits were interacting with taller Men and Elves. Surprising the makers of the film, the simple act of kneeling down was used to great effect. Some actors wore oversized costumes to make average-sized actors look small; numerous scale doubles were disguised with costumes (and even latex faces for the Hobbit doubles); close-ups were often avoided, and numerous back shots were used.

An early composite of actor Ian McKellen in the miniature of Isengard for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

Weta coined the term "bigature" for the 72 large miniatures produced for the film, in reference to their extreme size.[71] Out of around six of the shooting crews, there was one specifically devoted to filming on the miniatures, working continuously for years until the end of The Return of the King.[69] Such miniatures include the 1:4 scale for Helm's Deep, which alongside Khazad-dûm and Osgiliath, was one of the first built.[72] Most sets were constructed to allow compositing with the models and matte paintings, and also built in sections to make them easier to travel with, as the miniatures were not built in the studio where they would later be shot. Each of these "bigatures" were required to have an extreme amount of detail, as the cameras were filming within inches of the masterpieces in hopes of using cinematography to make the sets look as realistic as possible.[69] Notable examples include the Argonath, Minas Tirith, the tower and caverns of Isengard, Barad-dûr, the trees of Lothlórien and Fangorn Forest and the Black Gate. Alex Funke led the motion control camera rigs, and John Baster and Mary Maclahlan led the building of the miniatures. The miniatures unit worked more than any other special effects crew, labouring for over 1,000 days.

Creatures such as trolls, the Watcher in the Water, the Balrog, the Ents, the fell beasts, the Wargs, the mûmakil and Shelob were created entirely with computer-generated imagery. Creatures would spend months of creation and variation as sketches before approved designs were sculpted into five-foot maquettes and scanned into a computer. Animators would then rig skeletons and muscles before animation and final detailed colouring scanned from painted maquettes. Treebeard had a digital face composited upon the original animatronic, which was scanned for the digital model of his longshots.[73]

Along with the creatures, Weta created highly realistic digital doubles for many miniature longshots, as well as numerous stunts, most notably for the acrobatic Elf Legolas. These doubles were scanned from having actors perform movements in a motion-capture suit, with additional details created using ZBrush. There are even morphs between the doubles and actors at times.[74] Horses also performed with motion capture points, though horse deaths were represented using keyframe animation.[73]

Weta began animating Gollum (also called Sméagol) in late 1998, using a generic human muscle system, to convince New Line Cinema they could achieve it.[70] Andy Serkis played Gollum by providing his voice and movements on set, as well as performing within the motion capture suit. His scenes were filmed twice, with and without him. Originally Gollum was set to solely be a CG character, but Jackson was so impressed by Serkis's audition tape that they used him on set as well. A team led by Randy Cook performed the animation using both motion capture data and manual recreation of Serkis's facial reference.[75] Gollum's CG model was also redesigned now using a subdivision surface model instead of the NURBS model for Fellowship (a similar rebuild was done for the digital doubles of the lead actors) to better resemble Serkis. This allowed the filmmakers to create a shot where Serkis, made-up to resemble Gollum, is believably replaced with the CG Gollum. The original model can still be glimpsed briefly in the first film. Over Christmas 2001, the crew proceeded to reanimate all the previous shots accordingly. Another problem was that the crew realized that the cast performed better in the versions of the film when Serkis was present. In the end, the CG Gollum was often animated on top of these scenes, and Serkis was painted out. Shots such as his crawling with more than human skill down a sheer cliff were shot with no live reference. Serkis also did motion-capture for the character which would drive the body of the model, whilst animators did all fingers and facial animation. Gino Acevedo supervised realistic skin tones, which for the first time used subsurface scattering shader, taking four hours per frame to render. Render time refers to the amount of time it took the computer to process the image into a usable format; it does not include the amount of time it took the texture artists to "draw" the frame.[75] The hair dynamics of CG Gollum in The Two Towers were generated using Maya Cloth. Because of its technical limitations, Weta subsequently moved to the Syflex system for The Return of the King.

Because they were turned to wraith-like versions of their former terrible selves, tall, slim actors wearing prosthetics and costumes were used to portray the Nazgûl or "Ringwraiths". Filmed on a studio set, the setting and appearances of the Ringwraiths were later edited to look chaotic and terrible.[69] Though 2D effects were used to create the characters and atmosphere, 3D effects were utilized to create the final scenes we see in the film. Weathertop, the ancient ruin site in which the hobbits first encounter the Ringwraiths face-to-face, was filmed using computer graphics effects, but the action scenes were filmed in a studio. Later on, the scenes were merged using digital effects.

Besides Weathertop, many of the other scenes in The Lord of the Rings trilogy were shot in this way, first by filming the scenery or set miniatures, then the actors on a green-screen studio set, and merging the two.[76] An example of this is in the Mines of Moria, when the Fellowship is fighting the cave troll in Balin's Tomb, and again when the Fellowship is on the Khazad-dûm stairs and bridge. Gandalf has his own particular scene with computer graphics as he grapples with the Balrog as they fall to their deaths.

Christoper Hery (ILM), Ken McGaugh and Joe Letteri (both Weta and previously ILM) received a 2003 Academy Award, Scientific or Technical for implementing the BSSRDF technique used for Gollum's skin in a production environment. Henrik Wann Jensen (Stanford University), Stephen Robert Marschner (Cornell University and previously Stanford University), and Pat Hanrahan (Stanford University) (but not the fourth coauthor Marc Levoy), who developed BSSRDF, won another the same year.

Weta developed MASSIVE, a first-of-its-kind crowd simulation computer program used to create automatic battle sequences rather than individually animate every soldier.[70] Stephen Regelous developed the system in 1996, originally to create the battle scenes for The Lord of the Rings.[74] The system creates a large number of choices for each software agent to pick when inside a digital arena. Catherine Thiel provided the movements of each type of soldier, like the unique fighting styles (designed by Tony Wolf) or fleeing.[73] To add to this, digital environments were also created for the simulations. MASSIVE also features Grunt, a memory-conservative special purpose renderer, which was used for scenes containing as many as 200,000 agents and several million polygons. The Pelennor Fields scene also contains "multi-body agents" in the form of a 5 × 5 grid of Orcs.

While Jackson insisted on generally using miniatures, sometimes shots would get too difficult for that, primarily with the digital characters. Sometimes natural elements like cloud, dust and fire (which was used as the electronic data for the Wraithworld scenes and the Balrog) would be composited,[74] and natural environments were composited to create the Pelennor Fields.[70] To give a "painterly" look to the films, cinematographer Peter Doyle worked on every scene within the computer to strengthen colours and add extra mood and tone to the proceedings. Gold was tinted to Hobbiton, whilst cooler colours were strengthened into Lothlórien, Moria and Helm's Deep.[74] Such a technique took 2–3 weeks to do, and allowed some freedom with the digital source for some extra editing.[77]

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King required the help of the company Next Limit Technologies and their software RealFlow to simulate the lava in Mount Doom. A technical overview of the special effects used in the film series is given by Matt Aitken et al. (2004).[78]