As a seasoned movie critic who has spent decades immersing myself in the rich tapestry of Middle-earth lore, I approach “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” with both anticipation and trepidation. Having traversed the twisting paths of Tolkien’s writings numerous times, I find myself intrigued by the bold steps taken by executive producers J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay in mapping out the series’ narrative.
Even before the first season of “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” premiered on Amazon Prime Video in 2022, executive producers and showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay had already made significant progress on plotting Season 2. This was partly because of the extra time they had during the COVID-19 shutdown in 2020. However, it’s not just that—Payne and McKay have been aware for years about how they intend to portray Sauron’s (Charlie Vickers) rise throughout Middle-earth’s Second Age, a period spanning many centuries leading up to the events depicted in J.R.R. Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings” books.
“It’s surprisingly more mapped out than you would expect,” McKay says.
Season 2 kicks off by featuring an initial scene that the writers thought up six years ago: a portrayal of what’s referred to as the “show origin story” for Sauron, which is a more technical way of acknowledging that much of the Second Age history, not detailed by Tolkien himself, had to be created for the series. This necessity has nonetheless sparked some dissatisfaction among dedicated Tolkien fans, who haven’t hesitated to express their disapproval – over the changes made to Middle-earth mythology and the methodical way the story unfolds.
As a devoted cinephile, I must admit that the criticism aimed at Payne, McKay, and executive producer Lindsey Weber hasn’t shaken my faith in their vision for the series. McKay himself admits, “It’s incredibly tempting to concoct a storyline for why Season 2 feels different, but honestly, it was all part of our original plan.”
Just because they stick to the main route when traveling from San Diego to New York, it doesn’t exclude them from making small detours. As you drive, you might come across interesting sights like monuments you’ve only read about online. Similarly, they allow themselves room for such spontaneous discoveries.
In the upcoming Season 2, premiering on August 29th, a significant portion will delve into Sauron’s crafting process of the infamous rings and reveal how their evil essence gradually envelopes Middle-earth in darkness – a narrative that even casual fans of “The Lord of the Rings” will recognize. However, this season promises to explore uncharted realms as well, specifically the desolate wilderness of Rhûn, located east of Sauron’s Mordor domain. Here, a mysterious wizard, known as The Stranger (Daniel Weyman), accompanied by his Harfoot companion Nori (Markella Kavenagh), journeys to discover his destiny.
McKay shares that one of their key focuses is showcasing sights from Middle-earth that have not been displayed on screen before, such as the unique and desolate landscapes with twisted rock formations, which they found particularly captivating and fresh.
According to Payne, “At first, it was a vibrant, verdant oasis. However, due to sinister influences and questionable manipulations, it transformed into the desolate landscape depicted in the series.”
One of these malevolent entities, as McKay refers to them, are likened to a motorcycle gang riding horses that chase the Stranger and Nori across Rhûn at the behest of an evil sorcerer portrayed by Ciarán Hinds from “Game of Thrones”. However, designing their appearance was challenging.
McKay explains that they tirelessly brainstormed unique designs for these characters to make them appear strange and alien. They had many potential ideas, but it was a lengthy process involving numerous adjustments and loops, and eventually, time ran out. It wasn’t until the post-production phase that Jason Smith, our visual effects supervisor, proposed masking all of the horsemen’s faces with digitally created masks.
“Every single one of those masks is a digital effect,” McKay says.
“And it gives us a mystery there that we’re going to come back to,” adds Weber.
“Very much so,” McKay says. “Why did they wear the masks?”
The Rhûn scenes were filmed on the Canary Islands near Morocco’s coast, a location that McKay found “perfectly strange” since it was largely unfamiliar to fans of Tolkien. For the most part, the rest of Season 2 was shot in and around London, where the production moved after filming Season 1 in New Zealand, which is where Peter Jackson filmed his “Rings” and “Hobbit” movies.
The exterior scenes, particularly those featuring Weber’s beloved Ent characters, voiced by Olivia Williams and Jim Broadbent, were predominantly filmed in Windsor Great Park, situated outside the city. As Weber humorously recounts, “We filmed it over four to five days of charming British weather, where it was either freezing cold or a bit colder!” The weather frequently switched between rain and snow, making for quite an uncomfortable experience for those working in the woods at night with their large, lighted metal poles.
The shift to London provided an opportunity for us to essentially restart the approach to creating our show, as per McKay’s statement. However, it wasn’t a decision we voluntarily made.
“It’s an Amazon decision,” Weber says. “When you’re a producer, you go where they tell you.”
According to Vernon Sanders, who oversees U.S. and international television production at Amazon MGM Studios, the decision to move was made because it provides “an ideal environment for us to conceptualize a series that could potentially span across four or five seasons.”
“It just made more business sense for us, to be completely honest,” he adds.
The substantial financial investment made by Amazon in “The Rings of Power” series, amounting to approximately $100 million to $150 million per season and an initial $200 million for the rights in 2017 (which some industry experts now claim is closer to the actual cost than the initially reported $250 million), reflects the extravagance of the streaming industry’s golden age. However, with the current shift towards contraction, such spending seems outdated. Nonetheless, Sanders affirms that Amazon remains strongly supportive of the show and aims to attract more viewers through various channels such as retail, music, and their service itself, hoping for another surge in subscriptions. Sanders is reluctant to disclose specific viewership numbers like those released for “Fallout” and the latest season of “The Boys,” but hints that they may share data if it warrants attention.
McKay and Payne haven’t prepared any backup plans if Amazon were to abruptly end their legendary journey across Middle-earth.
“We’re not anticipating that,” McKay says. “We’re making our show and going all the way.”
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2024-08-29 01:17