The makers of the Lord of the Rings use many other aspects of film making to create the same contrast. One of these aspects is music and sound effects. During the film there are many different types of music and sound effects. At the peaceful areas there is quiet slow music as if it were in the distance. There is also sounds of the wind, children’s laughter, birds chirping etc. This again gives the effect of a peaceful place that can do no harm. In the parts of the film where evil is present, there is much louder and more powerful music.
This is often accompanied by screams and loud banging in the background. When the first tower/castle shot we see comes you can hear all of this. This is a sensational effect and is a brilliant example of how the contrast between evil and good is shown. Also used in the film to create certain effects is lighting. Using light is a very good effect to show different places in film. For example, in places where evil may be present it is incredibly dark. The sky is always dark (often night-time) and the building are even darker. There is just enough light to see the right details.
This often creates a shadow-like effect. An example of this would be when we first see the sight of evil in the film. There is loud banging, screams, panning and low angle camera views as well as limited light and fire. Quite often in the film, where evil is present, the only source of light is fire. Fire can also be associated with hell which can add to the effect of evilness. This is a very good effect and shows the contrast between good and evil very well. This is because in the film where we are seeing ‘good’, there is sunlight and flowers and grass make the place seem brighter too.
Characters body language and their facial expressions are a very good effect in the Lord of the Rings. Body language in the film is used to show tiredness, exhaustion, sadness, anger, etc. Body language shows a small portion of the contrast between good and evil. Some of the evil characters almost always look as if they are full of energy and up for a fight. The good characters often look exhausted. Facial expressions are one of the most important aspects of film and not just this particular film, any film. Facial expressions can do so much.
They can show whether a person is worried, scared, happy, bored, aggravated, sympathetic, to name just a few. Sometimes facial expressions are used instead of speech because they show so much. During the film most, if not all, facial expressions are shown using close-up, extreme close-up and double camera shots. As shown in the picture below, it shows that Gandalf is clearly worried. Also note that he is in a dark place as he realises they is in grave danger. The Lord of the Rings also has a range of dialogue that adds to the contrast of good and evil.
During the film time there are many types of language used. For the parts of the film where good are involved, speech is in a medium pitch and often a medium volume. It is not spoken in a threatening or negative way either. In the times of action/panic/when evil threatens the dialogue is often loud, low pitched, negatively spoken and often rushed. As for when it is an all evil part of the film, the dialogue is very low pitched but the volume varies although there is loud banging, crashes and screaming in the background of those scenes.
