John Ronald Reuel Tolkien is rightfully considered the great writer of our time. His novels are immortal, and the armies of their fans are growing. Full of magic and mystery, stories about hobbits, elves and wizards living in the kingdom of Middle-earth have long been part of world culture and the heritage of several generations.
The last 15 years have seen the era of Tolkien tourism, a travel phenomenon in which fans of Tolkien's universe and film adaptations have begun making organized trips to novel locations, movie sets and scenery.
In this article, we will tell and show where these places are and how to get to them, and most importantly, we will prove that the fairy tale is real.
Magic Islands
New Zealander Peter Jackson got excited about the idea of filming the novels of his favorite writer in his youth, and when, after a couple of decades, the idea of filming finally matured, the eminent director had no doubts about where to shoot the film. Both The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies were filmed on location in New Zealand, in places where civilization has not yet reached. So believe that all the forests, waterfalls and mountains that are the main scenes in the films are more than real. So let's start with natural beauty.
Anduin River (Waiau River)
The river, surrounded by forest in New Zealand's largest National Park, Fiordland National Park, has become a "movie adaptation" of the Anduin River - the greatest river in Middle-earth. It was this river that served as the border between darkness and light - between the possessions of Sauron and Lothlorien - the homeland of the Elves. The path of the Fellowship of the Ring passed here on the way to fellow elves.
River Anduin
Ithilien (borderland of Mordor)
The Mangavero River was the site of the first appearances of Golum - important character in books and films. The surroundings of the river served as a prototype for the border lands of Mordor. You will find these places in another national park - "Tongariro National Park" in the central part north island New Zealand.
Mangavero Mordor
The ominous desert possessions of the dark wizard Saruman and the abode of the bloodthirsty orcs - Mordor, embodied in two New Zealand ski resorts - Fakapapa and Tukino, all in the same Tongariro National Park. A truly significant place in the story, with huge armies orcs, the volcano Orodruin and the eye of Sauron.
Mordor Orodruin (Mount Doom)
The epicenter of the events of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, the mountain-volcano Orodruil, took a lot of strength from the main characters - the hobbits Frodo Baggins and Sam Gamgee. It was here that the ring of omnipotence was finally destroyed, and bloody war ended. In the "role" of Mount Doom, two mountain peaks "starred": "Ruapehu" and "Ngauruhoe". You can also see both mountains in the Tongariro National Park.
Peaks of Ruapehu and Ngauruhoe Rivendell
The elven valleys of Rivendell are the secret refuge of Elrond, the king of the elves. Endless green expanses with a castle where his family lived, including his daughter - one of the main characters - Arwen, Aragorn's beloved. Here the Fellowship of the Ring, along with four hobbits, hid from enemies. Rivendell is based on Mount Olympus (do not confuse with the Greek Olympus) and the Lake of Boulders. A truly picturesque place worth admiring is located in the Kahurangi National Park in the northern part of the South Island of New Zealand.
Kahurangi Brook Bruinen
Surely everyone remembers the scene when the warlike Arwen in the first part of the trilogy "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" protects the hobbits from the Nazgûl and with the help of elven magic drives away the enemies with a rising wave. This very real stream flows in Skippers Canyon. The canyon is located near the town of Queenstown on the South Island of New Zealand.
Canyon Skippers dead fall
The swamps through which Gollum shortened the path to Mordor, leading the gullible "hobbits" behind him, really exist. In New Zealand, this creepy place is called "Kepler Mire" and is located in the southwest of the South Island in the Fiordland National Park, near the "River Anduin". The swampy field with an area of 900 hectares, like the neighboring mountain range, is named after the famous astronomer - Johannes Kepler.
Swamps of Kepler Dimrill Dale
The wood elf lands called "Dimrill Dale" and part-time the home of the blond elf Legolas, and almost all the forests and territories of Mirkwood were again filmed in the Kahurangi National Park. It is worth noting that the five New Zealand national parks became a real salvation for the artists and directors of both trilogies about Middle-earth. After all, in these places scenic landscapes that even computer graphics required at a minimum.
Forests of Kuharangi misty mountains
The Misty Mountains, or Misty Mountains, are the largest mountain range in Tolkien's universe. It was through these mountains that the path of Gandalf, Bilbo Baggins and the 13 Dwarfs ran through the second fantasy trilogy - a prequel to the first films about Middle-earth, filmed under the direction of Peter Jackson. Real prototype The misty mountains in the movie are The Remarkables mountain range at an altitude of 2,400 meters above sea level on the South Island of New Zealand.
Mountains The Desolation of Smaug
Smaug is an evil and greedy dragon, the antagonist of the Hobbit trilogy. Smaug stole the gold of the dwarves and remained, guarding it, under the Lonely Mountain, in the former Kingdom gnomes. The plot of the films is tied to how the dwarf king Tori Oakenshield goes to the Lonely Mountain to fight the dragon Smaug and return the family treasures. The film version of the Lonely Mountain is based on Mount Cook near Lake Pukaki in the Canterbury area in the center of the South Island. By the way, the first scenes of the film "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers" were filmed in the vicinity of the mountain.
Mount Cook Hobbiton - the real Shire
One of the main locations in all six films is a hobbit village called The Shire. Little round huts, sheep, low wooden fences and lots and lots of greenery. Every fan of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit would love to visit this picturesque place. And this dream has already become a reality.
In 1999, Peter Jackson, starting work on the first film of the trilogy, did not want to make hobbit houses out of cardboard and instructed his team of artists and decorators to create a real village with small burrow huts made of plastic and wood. Went to create scenery whole year, even the New Zealand army took part in the construction: the soldiers built a road to the filming site with a length of 1.5 kilometers. Hobbiton, as the filming location of the Shire village is called, is built on a private sheep farm, 20 minutes drive from the town of Matamata on the North Island of New Zealand. Peter Jackson personally negotiated the construction of the scenery with the owners of the farm, the Alexander brothers, who have been living and working here since the 70s of the XX century. After filming ended, the owners of the farm and the city authorities from the set decided to create a park for fans. magic story Tolkien.
Hobbiton Now at the entrance to the town of Matamata flaunts a large shield with the inscription "Welcome to Hobbiton!". And in 2011, shooting was again carried out here for the second trilogy - The Hobbit.
In cooperation with the owners of the farm, local authorities have organized tourist excursions to the Shire, and now more than 500 people visit the farm every day. The Hobbiton Tour costs about NZ$50 ($35) and lasts about 3 hours. During the tour, tourists are shown the hobbit houses, the bridge, the mill and the Green Dragon pub. Unfortunately, you cannot get inside the hobbit hut, but you can drink beer or ale in the famous pub-tavern. In the "Green Tavern" everything looks exactly like in the movies. And all tourists are given special food to treat local sheep.
Tavern "Green Dragon" It was not in vain that Peter Jackson chose his homeland as a filming location: endless expanses of green hills, mountains, rivers and waterfalls, untouched by modernity - all this takes everyone who has been there into the atmosphere of Tolkien's Middle-earth. New Zealand is beautiful and mystical place, a real paradise for a sophisticated traveler, and even more so for a fan immortal history about the adventures of hobbits, elves, dwarves and wizards.
The Lord of the Rings, an epic novel and the most famous work of the fantasy genre in the world, has millions of fans in all countries. For half a century, fans could get into Magic world Middle-earth is only a dream. But things have changed since the early 2000s. Director Peter Jackson, a native of New Zealand, filmed a film trilogy based on Tolkien's book in his homeland, and those wishing to plunge into the world of hobbits, elves, dwarves and orcs rushed to look for places shown on the screens. The Lord of the Rings has since become a New Zealand brand.
This island nation continues to experience a boom in everything related to the Lord of the Rings. In 2004, just after the last part of the trilogy was filmed, this type of tourism brought $320 million into New Zealand's treasury. And recently, gold coins with the image of the heroes of the film were offered to be used as a means of payment.
It is expected that there will be even more people wishing to visit New Zealand: in December, the world premiere of the prequel "The Lord of the Rings" - "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" will take place. And then there will be two more films. All of them will describe the events of Tolkien's novel "The Hobbit, or There and Back Again".
Getting to New Zealand is not easy. From Moscow to Auckland The largest city countries) can be reached by plane via Hong Kong, Tokyo, Seoul, Dubai, Los Angeles, Delhi, Paris, Sydney, Singapore and other cities. The journey takes an average of 30 hours. Air tickets are sold at different prices, you can count on about 1 thousand dollars. Visa and medical insurance are also paid.
Usually a tourist in New Zealand does not have to think long where to spend the night. In major cities, there are many hotels that meet international standards. Also, hotels can be found in picturesque places in nature. There are motels along the way to the cities. Hostels are popular, many prefer to stay in the houses of New Zealand families ("homestay") and. And of course there is big choice rental houses. If the night caught you by surprise in the middle of the forest, you can pitch a tent. This is allowed wherever there is a prohibition sign "No camping". There are also designated camping sites in national parks, there are also paid places.
The Lord of the Rings tours last two to three weeks. You can use the services travel agencies or . In the latter case, there will also be no problems, as the locals are friendly and always ready to help.
Agencies offer different rates, most often the cost of the tour varies from 5 thousand to 10 thousand dollars, depending on the number of tourists and the season. The most convenient way to get around is by car.
The journey begins in Auckland. There is nothing remarkable here that would be associated with the "Lord of the Rings", but this is the largest city in New Zealand, which is home to more than a quarter of the total population of the country. In the vicinity there are 48 extinct volcanoes, preserved in the form of mountains, lagoons, lakes and islands. In the city, you can rent a car and hit the road.
The further route passes through such places: Wakaito, Rotorua and Taupo lakes, Tongario, Mount Ruapehu, Wellington, Kaitoke, Nelson, Punakaiki, Franz Josef Glacier, Collingwood, West Coast and the fjords, Te Anau, Queenstown, Mount Cook, Christcher, and the Kepler marie. Some of them were actually filmed, others are just interesting sights along the way.
Hobbiton - Wakaito
The path from Auckland lies south, the suburbs will gradually change rural scenery, and in two hours you will be in the middle of the Wakaito pastures. Green gentle hills will immediately remind you of Hobbiton - the village where Bilbo, Frodo and their friends lived. And there really is a similar village here. The town of Matamata received a second baptism after the filming of The Lord of the Rings and is now called Hobbiton. A sign was put up on the main street, announcing to tourists that they were now in the world of halflings. Here you can feed the animals on the farm, visit all the corners where the film was shot, look into the holes of the hobbits (although most of the dwellings are dummies), have a bite to eat at the Shire’s Rest cafe and buy souvenirs.
Mordor - Tongariro
After that, you should go further south, to the lakes of Rotorua and Taupo. Once you've been there, it's definitely worth a visit. national park Tongariro, which became the filming location of Mordor. This park is characterized by great natural diversity: grassy meadows, forests and quiet lakes are interspersed with desert plateaus. On ski resort Fakapapa filmed the Gorgorot plateau and the Emin Muil highlands, in the resort of Tukino - the slopes of Orodruin (Mountain of Doom), in the Rangipo desert - the Black Gates of Mordor.
Mount Doom - Ruapehu
There are even active volcanoes in Tongariro. One of them, Mount Ruapehu (translated from the Maori language - “thundering abyss”), appeared in the form of Mount Orodruin. At its foot, Isildur overthrew Sauron and put on his finger the Ring of Omnipotence, around which the plot of The Lord of the Rings unfolds.
Orodruin is the only active volcano in Middle-earth. Here is how J. R. R. Tolkien describes it: “Sam looked at Orodruin - a mountain of fire. And from time to time, furnaces far below its ash cone heated up and with a loud roar and noise threw streams of red-hot lava from the cracks on the slopes of the mountain. Some flowed down the great canals to Barad-dûr, others carved their way through the rocky plain until they cooled and lay like twisted dragon carcasses vomited up by the tortured earth.
The Shire, Bree, Troll Grove, Old Wood - Wellington Region
Usually tourists stop by Wellington, the capital of New Zealand, and see its main attractions. Many episodes of The Lord of the Rings were filmed in the vicinity: the outskirts of the Shire, Bree (on the site of an old military base), the Troll Grove, the Old Forest, Helm's Gorge, Minas Tirith and more. An hour's drive from Wellington is the wine region of Martinborough, and on the way there you will meet the Hutt River, on the banks of which the hobbits left their boats.
Rivendell - Kaitoke
In the south of the North Island, not far from Wellington, is the Kaitoke Regional Park, where scenes were filmed in the land of the elves, the Anduin River and battle scenes at the Fords of Isen (in the upper reaches of the Hutt River). For the filming of Rivendell, Kaitoke was chosen because of the variety of landscapes: there are forests, valleys and a river. With the help of CGI, the filmmakers managed to make it look like the place Tolkien described: “Sam led him (Frodo) down several long corridors and down stairs with many steps and through a garden over a steep river bank. Here, on the threshold facing east, sat his friends. The valley below them was covered in shadow, but it was still light here, and the light reflected off the distant mountains. The air was warm. The sounds of flowing and falling water were heard loudly, the evening was full of the smells of trees and flowers, as if summer had lingered in the garden of Elrond.
Edoras - Mount Sunday
The next attraction is Mount Sunday in Canterbury. To get there, you have to make a big jump to the center of the South Island. The two parts of the country are connected by a ferry service for passengers and cars. On the way to Canterbury, you can visit the cities of Collingwood, Picton and Nelson, see pristine beaches, breathtaking mountain peaks and crevices. Mount Sunday is significant because in the film Edoras, the capital of Rohan, is located here, along with the palace of Meduseld, where King Theoden lived.
Argonath and Bruinen - Queenstown region
Some end their journey by stopping at Christchurch, just east of Edoras, but true Tolkien fans go further south. In the vicinity of Queenstown, they filmed the Rohan Refugee Crossing, the White Mountains, the Eregion Hills, the Misty Mountains, an overnight stay in Ithilien, Argonath, Bruinen and more.
The Bruinen River scene took place in Skippers Canyon. In The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Arwen, along with Frodo, escaped the pursuit of the Black Riders by driving them into this body of water. Nearby, in the area of the Twelve Mile River, an episode called "The Overnight in Ithilien" was filmed, when Frodo, Sam and Gollum watched the battle of Faramir's warriors from Gondor with enemies from Harad. The difficult passage through the Misty Mountains actually took place in the Southern Alps. The stone statues of the kings of Gondor were "placed" on the Kawarau River, but the statues themselves were drawn using computer graphics.
Dead Marsh - Marie Kepler
Farther south lie the swamps where they filmed the scene in which Frodo falls under the spell of the dead and Sam rescues him. These are the so-called Kepler mari, located not far from Te Anau, the largest lake in the South Island. The depth of the swamps reaches almost 5 m. Marie Kepler really look like Description of the Dead swamps from Tolkien's book: “On both sides and in front lay wide swamps, stretching south and east in a dim half-light. Mist rose in curls from dark, fetid pools. Heavy fumes hung in the air. The only green was the foam of pale algae on the dark, dirty surface of the gloomy water. Dead grasses and rotting reeds rose in the mist like ragged shadows of a long-forgotten summer.
To go back, you can get to Queenstown, and from there by plane - to Auckland. The same way can be done by bus or car.
Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings project went down in history for a number of reasons: it is both the first live-action adaptation of John Tolkien's brainchild, and one of the most ambitious works in the history of cinema. An incredible amount of half a billion dollars was spent on the creation of the trilogy, as well as its advertising. More than 3,000 people worked on the films. This gave an absolutely unsurpassed result: 3 billion fees, 17 Oscar statuettes and the name of Jackson in the annals of film history. It is hard to imagine that someone can surpass the eight years of work of such a brilliant director. Let's look at how this franchise was created.
Long way to filming
Jackson's acquaintance with The Lord of the Rings happened when he was 17 years old. He saw an animated work by Ralph Bakshi based on Tolkien's work and was so impressed by it that he read the trilogy in 12 hours. Already in these years, Jackson knew his calling, so the idea of creating a picture was born in his head, but so far in financial plan it was not feasible. Jackson was introduced to The Lord of the Rings after watching Ralph Bakshi's cartoon
First creative steps the director did in his native New Zealand. There he started several businesses and a film production company. With their help, he filmed quite successful and original paintings. In 1995, for example, a film called "Scarecrows" was presented. Despite the fact that the shooting of this project took place all in the same New Zealand, the US film companies provided funding for the work. Soon the Hollywood masters had to admit that they had worthy competition.
After completing work on Scarecrows, Jackson began to approach The Lord of the Rings and, together with his wife Frances Walsh, as well as the head of Miramax, Harvey Weinstein, began negotiations with the owner of the film rights to Tolkien's creations, Saul Zaenz. 
Saul Zaentz - owner of the film rights to Tolkien's works
The script has been in the works for two years. . Several people were involved in it: Peter himself, Francis Walsh, Stephen Sinclair and Philippa Boyens. As a result, the team developed two films of grand scale. The shooting of both parts was allocated 75 million dollars - quite an impressive amount for those times. But when producer Marty Katz traveled to New Zealand to study the filming location, it turned out that the possible minimum should be about 150 million. Miramax, unfortunately, refused to provide such a large amount of money.
Jackson faced horrendous circumstances, visiting various studios for a month, presenting scripts and a 35-minute video with already finished material. agreed to this adventure.New line Cinema”, or rather, producer Mark Ordesky. However, this company presented new conditions: if this is a trilogy, then there should be three films. Jackson and his team had one way out: to start writing the script for the third picture.
Material for everyone three films was filmed in 438 days (from 10/11/1999 to 12/22/2000). To implement the plan, 150 locations in Miramar and Wellington were involved. New Zealand was the best place for shooting such a picture thanks to the unique natural scenery. 
New Zealand was a great location for filming because of its unique scenery.
The work took place on seven film sets at the same time. It was a colossal work, in which many assistant directors took part. Jackson himself led the process using satellite communications.(by the way, he had his own team of specialists on this very satellite communications).
According to the plan, work in New Zealand was supposed to end in 2000, and Peter met this deadline. This was followed by post-production in London, which took a year . In 2001, the world saw The Fellowship of the Ring and froze in anticipation of the subsequent parts of such a grandiose project.
Difficult test for actors
According to the actors themselves, they had a hard time. According to Elijah Wood, the performer of the role of Frodo, his working day began at five in the morning. But even this time seemed great, as there were days when the filming process began even earlier. 
Elijah Wood admits that filming was not easy for him
But Liv Tyler, for example, could never find mutual language with his horse: he constantly tried to bite the rider. As a result, for the filming of the elf on horseback, an artificial version of the horse mounted on a pickup truck was used. Thanks to this, there was no need to use real animals, which, although they were accustomed to noise and explosions, still could not accept strangers.
Hard work was not easy for each member of the team. According to Peter, he slept for 4 hours a day. Everything was complicated by the fact that for movement between movie sets helicopters were required, because part of the process took place in places where roads were out of the question. By the way, once Jackson even quarreled with the local authorities, because after unscheduled filming battle scenes restoration work was needed in Tongariro Park.
Makeup and costumes
The greatest difficulties arose with the false feet of the hobbits and makeup, which took more than an hour. At the same time, Sean Astin admitted that about fifty days of shooting went without Hobbits' legs in the frame - but the overlays were an indispensable part of the process.
To begin with, the legs had to be smeared with glue, the feet were attached to it, then they were made up. The actors had to endure all this while standing, as the pads were fixed incorrectly in a sitting position. What's more, the feet could only be used once, so over 1,800 pads were used during filming. Slightly less artificial ears were spent - 1600 pieces. 
During filming, about 1800 artificial feet were used.
Another interesting aspect concerns the rings. About 10 of them were created, and they all got into the frame in different time. The largest of them had a weight of 3 kilograms.- it is he who can be seen in the episode when Frodo dropped the ring, rolling down the snow-covered mountain . At the end of filming, Wood and Serkis each received a copy of this prop., And for a long time each of them was sure that he had an exclusive option. 
After filming, Wood and Serkis received copies of these rings.
The costumes in the picture can be called a real work of art. This is especially true of elven outfits. But the creation of chain mail required the greatest expense. Two craftsmen wove more than 12 million rings in two years and created 400 metal and plastic (to lighten the weight) protective suits. During the work on the project, Frodo needed 64 sets of clothes, Aragorn - 32. 
During the filming, more than 400 metal costumes were made
Decorations and innovative special effects
Another challenge was the creation of scenery. They were developed in Wellington, and from there they were delivered by cars and helicopters to the filming site, where, in turn, they began to mount them and gradually build luxurious elves' houses. Another one is connected with these dwellings. interesting point: the artist was so imbued with the psychology of the elves that he created all the buildings around the trees. Thanks to this, the bulldozer did not touch the natural elements, which was a big plus for Jackson in the eyes of environmentalists. 
Hobbit dwellings
It is worth noting that Jackson saw no barriers to his ideas. When he needed a location to shoot the lifeless plain of Mordor, the Black Gate, black mountain, he appealed to the New Zealand Army. Only their range met the requirements of the director. Some actors at first refused to play their roles in such conditions, because they feared for their lives, because the live ammunition of military units lay throughout the film set.
One of the most difficult problems was maintaining proportions. To show the difference between Gandalf and the hobbits, it took the creation of overhead hands, exceeding the usual size by 2 times . They consisted of electric motors and could move independently.. Two versions of Bilbo Baggins' house were also created: Ian Holm himself was filmed in the large one, and Ian McKellen as Gandalf was filmed in the small one. All elements of the interior were copied in duplicate so that the large version was one and a half times larger. 
This is what Bilbo Baggins' house looks like from the inside
For each scene, a storyboard was created - these are animated simplified videos in which Jackson imagined what he wanted to get out of it.
Shooting the troll fight scenes in the dungeon proved to be an equally difficult task. Here the masters fromWETA Digitalwho created a special virtual space. Jackson put on his goggles and assessed the movements of the trolls in real time. Thanks to this, maximum realism was achieved, as well as the feeling that huge creatures really existed.
As a result, such colossal work gave an excellent result. For 13 weeks, the first part of the trilogy was in the Top 10 of the American box office, and other episodes showed similar results. 870 million dollars - this is the indicator of the international rental of "The Fellowship of the Ring", but this record was broken by the next two parts. In total, The Lord of the Rings has grossed over $3 billion! And this is without taking into account the profit from souvenirs, release computer games and other marketing moves. Apart from financial success was repeated and the record of the American Film Academy. The Return of the King collected 11 Oscar statuettes, equaling such iconic projects as Ben Hur and Titanic. Total The trilogy has over 100 awards.
The small town of Matamatu, which is located in the Waikato region, is currently a place of real tourist pilgrimage. After all, it is in the vicinity of this city that the Shire is a wonderful land where the people of hobbits live. Waikato, with its small farms, green rolling hills, and heather, was the perfect setting for this shoot. Most of the decorations are still preserved in the vicinity of the city, so here you can see hobbit holes with green round doors, a huge one, at which Bilbo Baggins celebrated his birthday and others memorable places from the movie.
In the vicinity of Wellington (the capital of New Zealand), the shooting lasted for three whole years. Here you can see the incredible landscapes that surrounded the elven valley of Rivendell in the film, and nearby - the plains on which Orthanc stood. If you walk through the hills of Wairarapa, you can reach the gloomy peaks of Pitanguirua, the Path of the Dead from the third film.
Not far from the famous resort city of Queenstown, which is located in a unique natural area, the golden forests of Lorien were filmed - the places where the beautiful mistress of the elves Galadriel reigns. And ten kilometers from this city there is a wonderful national park, which is Deer Park Heights, where Rohans with orcs were filmed.
Rohan and Mordor
Canterbury is the largest of the South Islands. On its most beautiful plains in the film, the Rohan city of Edoras from the second part of the epic was located, it was here that Theoden's palace called Meduseld stood.
Southland is one of the most picturesque corners of New Zealand; the Fiordland National Park is located here. The Hutt River, which flows through this region, became the great Anduin in the film, and the film sailed along it as they left the golden forests of Lorien.
Volcano Ruapehu Peter Jackson (film director) cast in the role of Fire Mountain, or Orodruin. With the flame of this volcano in the film, everything began and ended. There is a whole walking route for fans of the film, tourists can see many places familiar from the film, go to the Ohakune River, where Gollum fished, see stunning mountain scenery.
The variety of climate zones, stunning nature and beauty of New Zealand made it an ideal location for filming a fantasy epic.
Peter Jackson already early years knew he was going to make a movie. His dream was the film adaptation of "The Lord of the Rings", which he read in his youth. Years later, he nevertheless came to his dream and created an outstanding film, and subsequently two full-fledged trilogies.
The Lord of the Rings was filmed in New Zealand. The first part of the trilogy brought a lot of money both for the studio and for this country. But a big contribution, of course, was cultural heritage, after all, films have become record holders in nominations and victories at the Oscars. Peter Jackson has forever made a name for himself, and the world has received one of the most memorable and outstanding film projects in history. But once upon a time, no one could have imagined that Tolkien's fairy tale would become a real legend.
New Zealand. The perfect place for the hobbit world
Where was Lord of the Rings filmed? Almost all of the main shooting of the legendary film trilogy by Peter Jackson took place in New Zealand. The reason for this was several key factors, because the film adaptation of the cult works of J. R. Tolkien required a truly fabulous nature and atmosphere around. The lands of New Zealand, due to their uniqueness, had everything necessary to recreate fairy world, in which Hobbiton became the capital, a city that still exists.
More specifically, where was The Lord of the Rings filmed? Most of the filming about the life of the hobbits in this village took place in the place of Auckland County, or rather, literally a few kilometers from it. Some of the scenes that required a picturesque body of water with crystal clear waters and blue streams were provided by the Anduin River. Its banks were also used, because the vegetation around is very frightening and dark, which is perfect for many action-packed moments that this fairy tale was seasoned with. Also in the frame was the Mangavero River, the place where Golum himself once fished. The purpose of the trip, as we remember, was Mordor. This place where they filmed "The Lord of the Rings" in New Zealand is located on the territory of Fakapapa, which is a ski resort.
Paradise for Tolkienists
The fever itself, under the unpretentious name of "hobbitomania", prompted many fans of Tolkien's works, and especially fans of the MCU, to engage in real "Tolkien tourism" in order to find out everything and visit the filming locations of the first trilogy, since it mainly took place in natural scenery .
The peaks of Pataungirua are a place in the rocks on a certain hill where Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli once ran together. All the outstanding trio went to war, forgiving the whole army of the Dead. Dan's pasture was a good natural setting for the memorable scene with Gandalf, who goes to Isengard, the legendary fairy tale valley.
Legacy of the Lord of the Rings
The filming location of The Lord of the Rings was chosen almost perfectly, and if initially the local authorities were not particularly eager to give permission for cinematographic activity, and many Tolkienists also resented just such a choice, now few people are dissatisfied.
The creators of the film series have fallen in love with their work, and now in New Zealand, where The Lord of the Rings was filmed, there is not only a real living city of Hobbiton, but also original museums that have preserved certain artifacts from the filming and are conveniently located in the former locations of the film trilogy, thus making a huge gift for the most ardent fans. Now New Zealand has increased its tourist flow by forty percent, and it's all thanks to the Peter Jackson trilogy. Many people now want to enjoy the picturesque places associated with the action of the film, and having received this, no one remains indifferent.
Journey through the years
How many years was filming "The Lord of the Rings"? The implementation of the project within the framework of the trilogy took eight years. All the films in the trilogy were filmed at the same time to save time and money, as long breaks between filming affected the increase in the budget. For example, The Fellowship of the Ring was shot in fifteen months, which is almost a year and a half. Approximately the same amount of time was spent on shooting the subsequent parts.
Innovative filming techniques, including motion capture, which created Andy Serkis' fully digital Golum character, required longer filming and post-production times. But even though it took eight full years, for a trilogy, this is a fairly short time period, because the director's versions, which were released on DVD a year after the theatrical premiere, showed a lot additional material, which Peter Jackson's crew has been filming over the years.
Subsequently, the same team returned to New Zealand to shoot the Hobbit series, which also grew from a dilogy into a full-fledged trilogy. But here the filming time was reduced, as most of production took place no longer on location, but in specialized pavilions.
The Lord of the Rings locations and sets in New Zealand
We must take into account the fact that New Zealand is the birthplace of director Peter Jackson, and he first read The Lord of the Rings at the age of eighteen. When it became his dream to make a film adaptation of Tolkien, he realized that he needed to get a lot more experience. Years later, on the land where Jackson grew up, he had six or even seven teams working at the same time, rebuilding sets and filming everything parallel to each other to save time and meet budget and schedule.
Hobbiton became the birthplace of hobbits, and for its creation, the film company bought the Matamata farm from the New Zealand authorities. The local landscape was perfect for filming, and gardeners, the army and other workers were involved in creating the world of hobbits in the understanding of the authors, who were planting trees, bushes, flowers and many plants. Builders and artists erected the necessary huts, hills and laid out paths. The task was simplified, because a computer and natural layout of this place was initially prepared. In the end, a real hobbit village was built - Hobbiton, it became a real asset and exists to this day, and the unique English comfort meets everyone.
Interesting facts about the creation of the film trilogy "The Lord of the Rings"
There are many interesting facts About The Lord of the Rings. Peter Jackson began writing the script for the film when he was very young. After reading The Fellowship of the Ring at the age of eighteen, he began to make the first sketches. Initially, he saw the whole story in a ninety-page script, but soon everything stretched into two full-fledged scripts.
At the presentation of New Line Cinema, where Jackson presented the project, the management said that they considered it crazy, and Tolkien's work "The Lord of the Rings" should be told in three films, as it should be in the book source. Therefore, two parts turned into three and the script had to be redone again. By the way, the script had to be rewritten right up to the start of filming. In the end, the creators of the Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001 film) took the story told by Tolkien quite loosely, but still tried to maintain the basic philosophy and atmosphere of the story. Many Tolkienists did not like the adaptation of Peter Jackson.
Elven brotherhood
Many members of the cast of The Lord of the Rings (2001), as well as Peter Jackson, got tattoos in honor of the filming of the film epic. The sign of belonging to the elven lads was the symbol "9". Elijah Wood, who played Frodo, did it on his stomach, Billy Boyd and Sean Astin (Sam) did it on their ankles. John Rhys-Davies abandoned the idea, while Orlando Bloom, Ian McKellen, Sean Bean and Dominic Monaghan made it on the shoulder. But Peter Jackson distinguished himself and got himself a tattoo of the elf symbol "10".
Ring of Omnipotence
After filming was completed, Peter Jackson gave one "power ring" to Andy Serkis, who played Golum, and one ring to Elijah Wood, who played leading role- Frodo. Before latest actors they thought that there was only one ring, but the joker Jackson nevertheless decided that both characters deserve such a gift. Now the joke that has already become legendary says that Elijah Wood does not age precisely because he left himself a real "ring of omnipotence".
The Lord of the Rings and Tolkien's legacy today
Not so long ago, Amazon acquired the rights to J. R. Tolkien's works that had not yet been filmed, and the world was stirred up. As it usually happens (for example, it was with the first film trilogy "The Lord of the Rings" and subsequently with "The Hobbits"), there were opponents and ardent defenders. Most of Tolkien's own relatives have always been against such uses of Middle-earth works, but once the rights were sold, and the big movie business stepped in.
This time we will talk about the prequel (prehistory) of "The Hobbit", that is, what was even earlier. But one of the most interesting features is that actor Ian McKellen, who played the role of Gandalf in two trilogies, said that he absolutely did not mind becoming a wizard again and playing his role. Here's what he said on BBC radio:
"What other Gandalf? I have not yet given my consent or refusal to anyone. But no one has asked me about it yet. But do you think that some other actor should play him? As far as I remember, Gandalf the Gray is seven thousand years old and I'm not that old yet."
As we understand, a lot is possible in the world of cinema now, because once Guillermo Del Toro was supposed to shoot the second trilogy, which was called "The Hobbit. There and Back Again", but the studio still managed to persuade Peter Jackson to perform not only the functions of a producer, but and again shoot what he already knows and loves. And now there is a small opportunity that we can see the hero already familiar to us in his usual form, but if Jackson appears as one of the helmsmen of the project, then the series is doomed to success.
