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The new Lord of the Rings intro looks CGI, but it’s 100% practical effects

Jan 27, 2022 by Dunja Djudjic Add Comment

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Two decades after the first movie and seven decades after the first book was published, The Lord of the Rings is getting its TV show version. Perhaps you’ve already seen the gorgeous intro that Amazon prime recently launched. It totally looks like it was CGI – but it actually isn’t. The whole thing is a combination of masterfully created and filmed practical effects.

Amazon Prime has not only released the finished intro attached above, but also a short BTS video showing how it was all made. All of the elements you see were achieved practically at a foundry. The team used liquid metals, reclaimed redwood, sparkler dust, argon pours, liquid hydrogen, and more, as Amazon Prime explains.

“Multiple pours of molten metal were shot with the Phantom Flex 4K camera until the creators got the exact effect they were looking for,” the description reads. Speaking of molten or liquid metal, I just remembered that Terminator II is also packed with stunning practical effects despite also being famous for its groundbreaking CGI.

The new series is titled The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power and it’s taking us thousands of years before the events of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. For now, we don’t know much more about the plot other than that. We also know that it’s set to be aired from 22 September this year, and I’m anxiously waiting to see if it will be a total disaster or a truly epic series. As one comment on YouTube says – it can either be “a masterpiece or a complete trainwreck,” and I’m curious to see what it’s going to be.

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Filed Under: Inspiration Tagged With: cgi, Lord of the Rings, practical effects

Dunja Djudjic: from diyphotography.net

About Dunja Djudjic

Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.

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Dunja Djudjic: from diyphotography.netDunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.

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