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The length of Hobbits and their actors.
http://www.arwen-undomiel.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=21386		 Page 1 of 1
Author:  GoldStrike [ May 4th, 2011, 12:35 pm ]
Post subject:  The length of Hobbits and their actors.
So I have been really wondering how they did the following thing. In the movie you see in the House of Frodo that he is quite small and doesnt hit plafond contrary to Gandalf. But in real Elijah isn't a midget and as miles tinier than Ian (Gandalf). The same thing is counting for Sam, Pippin and Merry. In the movie they seem so small comparing to the rest. But in real they aren't that small and just have an average length. How did they visualize this in the movie? I guess I never wrote such a long message! :goofy: But this is a subject which has really occupied me.

Please discuss here.
Author:  Nurrantiel Mashiara [ May 4th, 2011, 1:36 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: The length of Hobbits and their actors.
This is actually extremely fascinating to me (and I almost wrote my film paper on it). :P They have a lot of information on this in the Appendices of the Extended Editions. They basically did it through three methods: forced perspective, replacement actors, and green screen.

For forced perspective, they would place one actor closer to the camera than the other, but the angle of the camera made it look like they were next to each other. This is how they did shots like Gandalf and Bilbo inside Bag End. In normal, everyday life it looks like >> this.

They also had small people to stand in for the hobbits and Gimli, and larger people to stand in for the men. So when Gandalf greets Bilbo, and his hand looks so much larger, it's because it's a larger actor seen from the back. That was also common in the boat shots.

Green screen is just normal CGI. They'd film one actor against a green screen, then film the other actor, then superimpose them together to look like one is smaller.

They also built Bag End (and possibly other places, I don't remember) twice - one normalish, for when the hobbits were in it, and one very small for when the "big people" were in it.
Author:  GoldStrike [ May 4th, 2011, 1:43 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: The length of Hobbits and their actors.
Great explanation. Now i finally understand it! :D
Author:  Eä [ May 4th, 2011, 2:10 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: The length of Hobbits and their actors.
I watched some behind-the-scenes about it.. where they showed how they positioned Gandalf and Frodo in the cart.. I think it might be on the dvd, it's quite interesting.

Oh, and Nurr, I LOVE that photo.. they're so much fun to play around with!! :P
Author:  Idril Tinúviel [ May 30th, 2011, 11:23 am ]
Post subject:  Re: The length of Hobbits and their actors.
I always wondered about that as well. I never questioned it though, because I knew that there was some long explanation that I didn't want to listen too. :lol:
Author:  Tinker Bell [ June 20th, 2011, 12:48 am ]
Post subject:  Re: The length of Hobbits and their actors.
I find it interesting that in the commentary they talked about Sean Bean not being there for the shots where they were leaving Rivendell so the Boromir we were seeing was actually added in later. All their little tricks they use are really neat.
Author:  Harthad [ July 1st, 2011, 1:53 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: The length of Hobbits and their actors.
Also, a fact I recently found out. After the birthday party when Gandalf and Bilbo are in Bag End, that scene wasn't shot with both of the actors at the same time. Ian McKellan filmed his parts on blue screen, and Ian Holme filmed his parts in the actual set of Bag End. And then the shots were edited and put together during the editing process. :) Just thought I'd throw that out there.
Author:  Tinker Bell [ July 1st, 2011, 8:12 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: The length of Hobbits and their actors.
That's awesome! I like how they did the wagon scene and how the camera angles and the way the wagon was built made it look like Gandalf and Frodo were sittin side by side.
Author:  greeneyesmetblack [ September 16th, 2011, 2:57 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: The length of Hobbits and their actors.
There were also some scenes where they had the actors who were playing the hobbits sit on their knees. This was mostly to identify the size that they should be as well as using the CGI to make it look like they were actually standing. As far as I saw, they only did this a couple times, but most of it was CGI and camera angles. :)
Author:  Arabella Baggins [ September 16th, 2011, 3:01 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: The length of Hobbits and their actors.
I remember Dom saying on the FotR EE DVD extras that he hated working on his knees, because you don't have as much freedom of movement as you do when you're standing normally. And I think Sean Astin mentioned in his book that the 'on the knees' idea was his idea, though I can't quite remember.
Author:  greeneyesmetblack [ September 16th, 2011, 5:58 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: The length of Hobbits and their actors.
Arabella Baggins wrote:
I remember Dom saying on the FotR EE DVD extras that he hated working on his knees, because you don't have as much freedom of movement as you do when you're standing normally. And I think Sean Astin mentioned in his book that the 'on the knees' idea was his idea, though I can't quite remember.


haha I'm sure the hobbits all thanked Sean for that :lol:
It sounds painful though, I wouldn't have been able to work on my knees for that long.
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