Abstract

In my paper 'Rot of the Mind and Corruption of the Soul." I talk about the Dramatic, Cinematic and Literary aspects of the film. Things like the make-up and the costumes play a big role from the dramatic portion of the movie, because without the make-up and costumes how could you tell good from evil? From the cinematic position I used things like the camera angles and the CGI of Sméagol to show how one can tell if the situation is serious or not. Which it almost always is. As for the literary perspective I chose the Characters of Frodo and Sméagol to be examined. As the way they act and talk play a big part into how the movie play out. All of these elements play a big role in contributing to the central theme of Rot and Corruption.

Introduction

In the movie adaption of Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, a book by J.R.R Tolkien the director Peter Jackson shows the watcher that the central theme is Rot and Corruption. In the movie the make-up designers make Sméagol, who seems to be most corrupted by the ring, as a shrivelled up man who no longer looks human. The make-up designers also show Frodo slowly becoming corrupted, and his mind is slowly beginning to rot and the power of the ring takes over. When Frodo is being 'called' by the ring, the camera zooms up either on his face, mostly the eyes, or the ring. In these shots you can see Frodo with his eyes widened and his face concentrated on the ring. Almost if the ring was his and that he was meant to keep it; not destroy it. With Sméagol who is clearly addicted to the ring they CGI him to look inhuman. But even with all the make-up and camera tricks, the movie wouldn't be very good if the actors weren't. The characters of Frodo and Sméagol are complex. One moment they are good and helping in the quest to destroy the ring and the next they are both fighting for the ring as if it was a life or death situation. It's like the ring is controlling them and they can only resist it for so long. Their minds have been corrupted so the ring is the one and only thing they desire.

`Body (Dramatic)

The make-up designers, along with the costume designers had to spend extensive hours working on the characters; getting them ready for filming. With the theme of Rot and Corruption, they had to work hard to get the make-up and the costumes to look right. The make-up shows infected burns on the side of Frodo's neck where the necklace is holding the ring. The burning and rotting leaving permanent marks and harming Frodo. Showing the rotting of Frodo as he is trying to work on this Journey. Also they make his eyes really stand out when he is talking about the ring as if to see the corruption in his eyes. As for Sméagol they have made him look pale, teeth have all fallen out, little amounts of hair and a ripped and tattered piece of cloth for clothing. Before Gollum had come in contact with the ring he was a perfectly fine human. When he came in contact with the ring he automatically got corrupted, at first just by killing his cousin Deagol; then slowly the corruption went from his mind to his body. Other characters who seemed to be corrupted were the Orcs, who had the same sort of face as a human, except it was deformed and scary looking. When making the Orcs they had latex masks the actors had to put on as well as extensive make-up to make them look more real. Along with the suits of armour these creatures are made for one purpose; to fight the people trying to destroy the ring. One of the most rotted characters in the movie would be the Mouth of Sauron, when he talks and when he smiles his lips spit open widely and his teeth are all decomposed. When the Mouth of Sauron is telling the other members of the fellowship that "My master Sauron the Great bids thee welcome." They are kind sounding words coming out of a decomposing rotting mouth. He is also corrupted by Sauron thinking that he will have a great life one the ring is in Sauron's hands. So in the watchers mind you would think that they have been corrupted to follow Sauron they have been fooled into believing that Sauron would let them rule in the "new world" if he would have taken Middle Earth over and attained the ring.

Cinematic

The camera angles on Frodo, mainly on his face when he is talking about the ring. When with Sam and he mentions he can hold on to the ring for Frodo for a little while so Frodo wouldn't have the burden of it. Frodo seems to have thought then that all Sam wanted was the ring, and told Sam to leave, "I mean it Sam, Go home!" The camera zooms in on Frodo and his eyes are wide and ring-looking. As if looking into his soul and only seeing the ring. It's slowly becoming him and taking over his life. The part of the movie where they are on the cave and Frodo is about to throw the ring in the lava, he has a moment where the ring is whispering to him. In the camera angle the ring is in front of Frodo, as if he has more power than him. When he has decided to keep the ring there is a close up on his face, where his eyes have turned cold, cuts on his face, and chapped lips; Looking rotted. After he is free from the ring he looks better and the close up on his face makes him look well and his face isn't scared. He defeated the ring corrupting him, and in the end figured that was his only purpose. As for Sméagol the way the editors CGI Sméagol in makes him look inhuman and almost monster looking. As if he has never been human. As they CGI in Sméagol they also CGI in his evil second personality which is Gollum. When they are working them both together in the scene they tend to use a lot of close-ups. As there is only one actor acting for the both of them. In the end when Sméagol is attempting to kill Frodo and obtain the ring they close up on his face seeing all the evil in his eyes and the monster looking features of his face.

Literary

Frodo and Sméagol are two characters who are complete opposites, yet they find themselves in a similar situation. They are both addicted to the ring. Sméagol was drawn to the ring and immediately obsessed with it. He tries to persuade his cousin Deagol to give him the ring, "Give us that Deagol, my love." is what Sméagol said when trying to obtain the ring from Deagol. When that didn't work he resorted to killing him because he was so obsessed. As soon as the ring had taken over his whole being turned into this human-like animal. Sméagol had a little monologue for when he turned into Gollum, "We forgot the taste of bread, we forgot the sound of trees, the softness of the wind, we even forgot our own name. Mine." At the end of his monologue his eyes had turned round as if it were the shape of the ring. Frodo on the other hand resisted the effect the ring was having on him; until the end. When Frodo had to choose between destroying the ring for Middle Earth and keeping it for his own selfish wants. Sam is begging Frodo to destroy the ring when Frodo is totally taken over by the ring. "The ring is mine." Were Frodo's last words before putting the ring on again and deciding to keep it. That's when Sméagol comes back into the picture and fights Frodo for the ring. Sméagol bites Frodo's finger off and takes the ring, and starts to dance yelling "Yes! Yes! Yes! Precious!" Over and over again. Then Frodo gets up and continues to fight Sméagol for the ring, and pushes him off the cliff and into the lava. Sméagol is smiling the whole way down as if even as he is dying the only thing that matters to him is the ring.

Conclusion

So once the Make-up has been done, and the costumes have been put on, the characters are in place and they find just the perfect camera angles; they start piecing together the central theme. If it wasn't for the rotting of Frodo's neck, the way Sméagol dresses and looks, how the Orcs are deformed, or how the Mouth of Sauron has spit black decomposing lips, the theme of rot and corruption would be a little more difficult to see. But with all the Cinematic, Dramatic and Literary elements of the movie we can see a lot clearly the central theme is Rot and Corruption. Everything from the make-up and clothes, to the landscape is rotted. And all the characters who have ever came in contact with the ring have been corrupted by it and had their minds taken over with the very thought of the ring. The only decision left for the characters to make is if they want to spend their lives being good, or evil.

References and Citation

Lord of the Rings: Return of the King.

Jackson, Peter , dir. Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. Prod. Michael Lynne. New Line Cinema , 2003. Film. 14 May 2013.

English 30-1

Thursday, 16 May 2013

Research Paper

Abstract

Introduction

Literary

Conclusion

References and Citation

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