April 30, 2002

In Regards to Fight Scenes
Jonny P.

In response to Lem saying that the battle scenes "were hard to see becasue the camera kept moving around and it was dark and fast," I would have to disagree. I thought the fight scenes were done extremely well. It is current in movies to have battle/fight scenes with the camera "in" the fight. This gives the viewer the impression that he is within the fight. The camera moving quick is merely a result of the placement.

I don't know. Is it more exciting to be in the action or looking at it from thirty feet away. Its a personal preference and I respect anyone's choice, but I would choose to be in the action more often than not. We do have the luxury, if the director so chooses, of cutting to different shots of the same scene so we can see it from all angles, be it wide, medium, or a close-up.

As for the scenes being dark, I am not sure if you are referring to specifically the Moria scenes or all of them together. In the movie, I actually thought the lighting for the Moria scenes was done well. In reading the books, Moria is without a doubt dark and caverness, but this does not translate to a visual medium. PJ and team did a great job on capturing the visuals in the Moria fight scenes.

The only gripe I have is Aragorn taking on the Wraiths by himself on Weathertop. It does a disservice to the importance and power of the Ringwraiths to have them so easily defeated.