27 Facts You Didn't Know About the FILMING of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy

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  • 01
    Nature - Minas Tirith and Helm's Deep Were Built on the Same Set
  • 02
    Child - Samwise Gamgee'sdaughter in The Return of the King is played -by his real-life daughter, Alexandra.
  • 03
    Hand - Hobbit Feet and Ears Were Made New Everyday Throughout All Three Films
  • 04
    World - Even the Miniatures Were Huge, and Filming Just Those Scenes Took Longer than Most Films Entire Schedules
  • 05
    Cartoon - John-Rhys Davies, the actor who plays Gimli, is also the voice of Man Ray on Spongebob Squarepants.
  • 06
    Face - Andy Serkis Concocted a Special Juice, as Required for His Constant Gollum Voice
  • 07
    Text - About 18,000 costumes were created from scratch for the film's trilogy, and between 30 and 40 of the same costume were created for each main character
  • 08
    Adaptation - lan McKellen and Elijah Wood never actually filmed a scene together in person
  • 09
    People - Large amounts of hair had to be imported into New Zealand for all the wigs. They found some women in Russia who were cutting their hair and selling it to filmmakers
  • 10
    Font - Balin 541 The Shire Woodhall 537 Tolkien Room 547 Pippin Commons Gandat's Courtyard 533 Housing Office 529 Riyendell Fresbmen atr daiversitylotoaemadlvne, can opt to live in a dorm named Middle Earth where the halls ate named after townstor regions from Lord of the Rings tOom Grey Havens Shadowfaz 625 Arkenstonel Bucklebury 1529
  • 11
    Text - Mortensen did all of his own stunts and used a real steel Sword while filming, rather than one made from aluminum and rubber like the rest of the cast.
  • 12
    Organism - Before Filming the Orcs Had to Swish Licorice-Based Mouthwash to Achieve the Right Look
  • 13
    Adaptation - The design for the Hobbits's feet took over a year to perfect. Over 1800 feet were produced for the 4 lead Hobbits alone, and each pair would take about an hour and a half to be put on over the actors' real feet
  • 14
    Musician - Viggo Mortensen learnt how to speak Elvish for the purpose of the films He also speaks five other languages, including Danish and Italian.
  • 15
    Movie - Unlike the Hobbit Prequels There Is Barely Any CGI in the LOTR Trilogy
  • 16
    Heat - All of the Mount Doom Scenes Were Actually Shot on a Volcano
  • 17
    Bow and arrow - More than 2,000weapons and 10,000 arrowS were created for. the filming of the LotR trilogy
  • 18
    Text - The Return of the King' broke the record for the film with the highest amount of people featured in it.
  • 19
    Nature - The massive trees in Lothlorien forest are made entirely of rubber
  • 20
    Clothing - Some of the Actors Considered for Roles Would'ye Made It a Very, Very Different Franchise
  • 21
    Text - It Took 12.5 Million Plastic Rings to Make the Simulated Chainmailin the Series
  • 22
    Text - In The Fellowship of the Ring, when Gandalf had his big standoff scene with the Balrog, lan McKellen was actually acting to a ping pong ball.
  • 23
    Photo caption - Bret McKenzie, of Flight of the Conchords, played an unnamed elf in two of the films. Fans named his character Figwit, which stands for "Frodo Is Great...Who Is That?" He even has his own documentary.
  • 24
    Face - While filming a fight scene, Viggo Mortensen chipped a tooth, went to the dentist during his lunch break, and then started shooting again the same day
  • 25
    People - The Black Riders/Ring Wraiths Were Also Voiced by Andy Serkis
  • 26
    Adaptation - The main sound elements for the cave troll were a walrus, a tiger and a horse
  • 27
    Adaptation - The Orc Blacksmiths Making Weapons Were Actually the Crew Members... Making Weapons

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