MEDIA – FILM DIRECTOR PROJECT

PETER JACKSONTHE LORD OF THE RINGS

Only child Parents: Joan and William. Both parents were immigrants from England. Father was a veteran of the Siege of Malta in World War II. Grew up in a small coast-side town in the North Island of

New Zealand. Given an 8mm movie, started recording his own short fi lms,

which he made with his friends. Spectacular trademark of impressive special eff ects, made

at a very low cost. He used to simulate a fi ring gun by punching little holes into the celluloid (the fi lm in the camera), so that, once projected, the gun gave the impression of displaying a small fi re.

Step towards serious fi lmmaking came with an entry in a local children’s fi lm contest. For this fi lm, he used stop-motion animation to create a monster that ruins a city in the style of Ray Harryhausen. Unfortunately, he didn't win.

DIRECTOR’S BACKGROUND

At 22 he embarked on an adventure that would change his life. Bad Taste (1987) began in an avant-garde style (experimental

style, away from mainstream cinema), at a low budget and using friends and local people to star in his fi lm.

Jackson directed, produced, fi lmed and starred in the fi lm. Filmed on a second-hand, $250 camera. It took four years to complete the movie. A friend of Jackson, who was working in the movie industry,

convinced him the fi lm had commercial prospects and arranged for it to be shown at the Cannes fi lm festival, where it won a lot of acclaim, as well as a number of prizes.

The fi lm started out as a joke between friends, it soon became a cult-classic.

The movie soon became a hit because of its bizarre humour and overdose of special-eff ects, some realistic, some hilarious because of their avant-garde approach. After the success of Bad Taste, Jackson became recognized as a director and gave up his job at a local photographer's shop.

INTRODUCTION TO FILMS

Jackson on staying away from Hollywood - “I just want to go back to my own little fi lmmaking base, tell ing small New Zealand stories with my writing partner, Fran Walsh. I have no huge desire to be swallowed up by Hollywood.”

“To get an Oscar would be an incredible moment in my career, there is no doubt about that. But the 'Lord of the Rings' fi lms are not made for Oscars, they are made for the audience.”

He credits his favourite movie King Kong (1933) as his biggest inspiration in fi lmmaking. He said that he cried when King Kong fell off the Empire State Building.

The movie that gave him the love for splatter is George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead (1978). After seeing it, he felt a bit sick but amazed too.

Jackson on the infl uence of Harryhausen fi lms – “It had such a profound eff ect on me as a 9-year-old that it made me want to make fi lms. The next day I got my Super 8 movie camera and started to do stop-motion animation with a clay dinosaur.”

As a child Jackson was a keen fi lm fan, growing up on Ray Harryhausen fi lms as well as fi nding inspiration in the television series Thunderbirds and Monty Python's Flying Circus.

His wife infl uences him greatly - featuring as a co-writer on all his features.

INFLUENCES

“The most honest form of fi lmmaking is to make a fi lm for yourself. The worst type is dictated by demographics or what is hip or what kids are into. Kong isn't driven by that. No way would a studio think this is the year that people want to see a big gori l la movie. I 've come to realize that, as much as anything, I am making this for the 9-year-old Peter.”

Likes 1960s music. Especial ly the Beatles and honoured them in Bad Taste

Many of Jacksons fi lms appear to be heavily infl uenced by avant-garde cinema, yet he stated in an article:

“I have reasonably broad fi lm taste. I don’t regard myself as at al l unusual; I ’m a regular guy. I ’m a fan of a bunch of diff erent directors, a bunch of diff erent styles, but I l ike to think that I ’m a regular guy. I l ike to think that I l ike good movies and I don’t l ike bad movies! I l ike a lot of James Cameron, a lot of Steven Spielberg.To get inspired, while I ’m directing, if I ’m tired and I feel my imaginations seizing up, I put Scorsese’s Goodfellas  or  Casino  on DVD and either of those fi lms reminds me what great fi lmmaking is, and they serve as a tonic, and an inspiration.I’m a huge James Bond fan, and whenever a new Bond picture’s about to come out, I feel as if I ’m ten years old again, and I’m hoping to see the greatest action fi lm ever made.So I don’t have particularly unusual taste, then!”

INFLUENCES

His fi lms frequently conclude with a bloodbath

Frequently shoots his fi lms in New Zealand away from Hollywood’s mainstream environment

He makes cameo appearances in his movies – much like Alfred Hitchcock

Always writes his scripts with hisreal-life partner Fran Walsh.

Jackson often features axes in his fi lms

Known for his dark, humorous scenes of violence

Enormous visual scope with emphasis on landscape

TRADE MARKS

Cameo appearances in each LOTR film

Has an interest in matricide (the act of killing your mother) which often features in his early horror fi lms

Frequently casts Andy Serkis and Jed Brophy in fi lms Jackson directs/produces.

Jackson is well known on-set for insisting on lots of coverage (fi lming the scene from many diff erent angles), his attention to detail, and being a slight perfectionist - especially on the Lord of the Rings fi lms, where he would spend days shooting a single scene.

Often fi lms close-ups using wide angles

TRADE MARKS

Jed Brophy in Jackson films

2013 The Hobbit: There and Back Again (fi lming) 2012 The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (fi lming) 2010 King Kong 360 3-D (short) 2009 The Lovely Bones 2008 I Crossing the Line (short) 2005 King Kong 2005 The Lost Spider Pit Sequence (video short) 2003 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King 2002 The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers 2001 The Lord of the Rings: The Fel lowship of the Ring 1998 The Making of 'The Frighteners' (video documentary) 1996 The Frighteners 1995 Forgotten Si lver (TV movie) 1994 Heavenly Creatures 1992 Braindead 1989 Meet the Feebles 1987 Bad Taste 1976 The Val ley (Short)

OTHER FILMS

OTHER FILM POSTERS

In his early films the posters feature his name prominently so he could establish himself. Also so his cult followers would easily recognise a Peter Jackson horror film and go and see it purely for his style. Now he is an established director the posters don’t feature his name as much as he has a following and the films are big budget and popular enough to attract their own audience.

When it was announced Peter Jackson intended to convert Tolkein’s works to the big screen, many thought he would fail.

He knew the key to a successful translation of Tolkien's saga was to make the audiences care deeply about each character's journey.

He had to win the hearts as well as minds. Which is exactly what he did, he pushed the FX envelope without sacrificing the warmth and humanity of the story or the characters.

“The eff ects in Lord of the Rings always existed to serve the story and enhance the emotional texture - something George Lucas (Star Wars) and the Wachowski Brothers (The Matrix) lost sight of a long time ago.” – BBC Article

BECOMING A WORLD RENOWNED DIRECTOR

“Here's an indisputable fact: Peter Jackson's achievement with the Lord Of The Rings trilogy is unparalleled in the history of cinema.” – BBC Article

"It's him, it's his vision, it took thousands of artists and passion and love to make it come together but it was his vision we were all following.” "He's devoted seven years of his life to make these films come to life. He deserves everything," – Elijah Wood on why Jackson won the Best Director Oscar

PROFESSIONAL VIEWS OF PETER JACKSON

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=co9SNfJNDN8 The trailer features a clip of all members of the ensemble cast to

ensure the audience knows that all the characters wil l have their end. “This is your test. Every path you have trod through wilderness,

through war, has led to this road.” “All you have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to

you” These voice-overs are from the two most infl uential characters in the

fi lms, this present fi nality to the last fi lm. It gives the sense that every part of the fi lm will be important and every part of the characters journey has led them to a certain destiny.

The fact that the last quote is from the fi rst fi lm shows how Gandalf always knew each action was vital and now the audience can understand this too.

The soundtrack to the trailer is mystical which represents the genre of fantasy. The song creates a journey, much like the journey that the trailer refers to that the characters have been on. The music reaches a crescendo and the tempo quickens after this point. This symbolises the climax of the fi lm, and the culmination of the entire journey. It poses a question: wil l the journey result in victory or despair?

TEASER TRAILER

FILM POSTER

FILM POSTER

• All 3 posters for the tr i logy show continuity to help audiences recognise the continuation of a series. The fact that at the bottom of the poster of the second and third fi lms it says “The Journey Continues” and “The Journey Ends” furthers the notion that the fi lms are sequels to attract the vast audiences that wish to continue fol lowing the story.

• The colours fol low codes and conventions for fantasy/adventure fi lms as the colours are dark and use a lot of green and brown which are earth tones. This conveys the theme of the fi lm to automatical ly attract the target audience.

• The organisation of the characters in the poster represents how large their role is in the fi lm; the main characters are in the foreground and are larger than characters with smaller roles. For example Frodo is seen as the dominant character in the poster for the fi rst fi lm as he is the protagonist. However, the poster for the third fi lm features Aragorn as the largest, visual ly, because it has developed into one of the main characters, especial ly as he is the t i t le character – the returning King. Frodo is st i l l portrayed to be a large part in the fi lm as he is st i l l larger than other people, this shows continuity of his personal story.

• The fact that swords are more prominently featured in the poster for the fi nal fi lm plays on the idea that this fi lm wil l feature the batt le to end al l batt les and even more than the previous two fi lms (these posters also feature swords to represent the action but they are portrayed to be much less signifi cant). Also, losing in this fi lm wi l l mean death and destruction of Middle Earth and everyone in i t . This attracts more people to see the fi lm as i t gives the idea that i t wi l l include lots of action, which many people are interested in watching.

SPECIFIC FILM POSTERS

These film posters feature individual characters, as after the two films the fans will have a favourite and these posters play on that to attract the largest audience possible. The fact that all the cast had individual posters shows the extent of the marketing scheme and the vast money the publication company had to use.

QUOTATION POSTERS

Presents two vital moments

in the film where the

journey truly concludes. The quotes are iconic. It

persuades the audience to see the film

just for these ‘best bits’.

INTERNATIONAL FILM POSTER

THE EXTENT OF ADVERTISING

Billboards advertising Lord

of the Ring stamps

Lord of the Ring themed scratch cards

THE EXTENT OF ADVERTISING

Air New Zealand featured an exclusive Lord of the Rings design on a number of their planes for the extent of 2 years, to promote the film and New Zealand as a holiday destination as the scenic country is the backdrop tothe trilogy and the home of the director.Model aircrafts were given asgifts onboard tofurther promotethe film.

MAGAZINE FRONT COVER

EMPIRE and TOTAL FILM are the two biggest film magazines

in the UK, so for the film

to be featured on the cover is

a good advertising

technique to attract

dedicated film fans .

MAGAZINE FRONT COVER

These covers were

one issue apart with the same

film dominating the covers. This shows

how the release of

the film was a major

event in the film

calendar.

The extent of the release of the final instalment of the Lord of the Rings trilogy was so popular it even featured on the cover of the Newsweek magazine. Evidently ranking above so called “terror strikes” in Istanbul which also features on the cover. By showing that the magazine has an ‘Exclusive’ article on the biggest fi lm of the time would entice buyers to get the magazine, making more money for the publication company.

MAGAZINE FRONT COVER

The fact that a magazine as ordinary as the TV Guide would off er collectable issues of The Lord of the Ring Return of the King shows how popular the fi lm series was. As the publication company of the magazine has chosen to off er the issues they are benefi ting from the fi lm series success because it will increase their sales.

COLLECTABLE MAGAZINE COVERS

INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE

The release was

worldwide, as was the

success of the previous 2 films in the

trilogy. Thus, magazines for other countries

feature the film too – to

the left ‘Asia’s premier movie magazine’ and

to the right ‘Canada’s #1

movie magazine’

MAGAZINE ARTICLE

Article from a fi lm specifi c magazine Article focuses on certain characters of the fi lm, the fact

this special piece begins with Aragorn shows he is a major character in this fi lm. Which willautomaticallyinterest the audienceas he gained a hugefollowing from theprevious fi lms.

The two double pagespread begins withthis photo spreadacross two pages, itattracts attentionwhich leads them tothe headline where‘King’ is emphasisedthrough its enlargedfont.

MAGAZINE ARTICLE

The article moves on from Aragorn to Frodo, the original protagonist. The same technique for the image is used again here, with the photo of Frodo spreading over the double page spread. This grabs attention and makes the reader follow onfrom the last article.The fact that themagazine have featuredthe two main characters,who happen to be theheroes of the fi lm, ismonopolising thecharacter and actorfollowing they have –helping the magazineget readers and thefi lm get an audience.

MAGAZINE ARTICLE

MAGAZINE ARTICLE

The article goes on to feature some of the smaller characters to ensure that, for the readers who may dislike the previous characters, they have an article to read to entice them to see the new fi lm.

Each article of themagazine is split upby inset images ofstills from the fi lm,which will attract thereader’s eye becausethe magazine waspublished before therelease of the fi lm.

MAGAZINE ARTICLE