A trilogy of all challenges, Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings, adapted from the works of JRR Tolkien, required unparalleled ingenuity on the part of its director and his technicians.
Not only did they have to visually shape the gigantic world invented by the British author, but also orchestrate colossal battles or create complex characters from scratch, such as Gollum and Treebeard.
Arguably one of the greatest achievements of the film’s artists, however, was the realistic coexistence of tiny hobbits…and two and a half times the size of men.
So well done that you barely notice when you first discover the film. Indeed, on screen and throughout the trilogy, we really get the impression that Ian McKellen and Viggo Mortensen are five feet taller than Elijah Wood or Sean Astin.
Obviously, this is not the case, and if the magic works so well on the screen, it is thanks to a whole series of visual strategies introduced by Peter Jackson: a blue or green background, a complex game with depth of field or, for example, the use of different sized accessories.
But the miracle could never have happened without the intervention of stuntmen, who replaced the actors throughout the filming. So, on many levels, 127-centimeter-tall British actor Kiran Shah plays Frodo in Elijah Wood’s place.
If the audience sees nothing but fire, it’s because Kieran is systematically shot from behind, or hidden by a hood. But as with all productions of this scale, The Lord of the Rings occasionally makes a few small mistakes.
So, provided you know exactly where to look, we can sometimes see Hobbit doubles during the feature film.
In (long version) Fellowship of the RingsFor example, hit pause at 1 hour, 44 minutes and 18 seconds, just as Frodo has just volunteered to take the Ring to Mordor and Aragorn approaches him to offer his service (see above).
For a brief second we clearly see Kiran Shah in Elijah Wood’s place. It’s hard to spot when you don’t know where to look, but impossible to miss once you see it.
The same thing happens moments later when Sam joins Frodo with a similar plan and the two hobbits are again interpreted along the lines of Elijah Wood and Sean Astin (see above).
To go further, (re)discover our special program dedicated to the Fellowship of the Ring…
Source: Allocine
Rose James is a Gossipify movie and series reviewer known for her in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the latest releases. With a background in film studies, she provides engaging and informative reviews, and keeps readers up to date with industry trends and emerging talents.
