1． Say That Again?
The hobbits' pointy1 ears are made of foam2 latex3 and then glued onto the actors' ears. Uncomfortable? Yes. But another problem arose. Because foam absorbs sound, Sean Astin, who plays Sam, had trouble hearing his cues while wearing his ears! The solution? Makeup artists eventually cut slightly larger ear holes in the pieces so Astin could hear better.
2． Tree Tricks
Just because a scene is supposed to take place in the fall doesn't mean you have to film in the fall. Director of photography4 Alex Funke and crew created their own autumn! To bring fall colors to the elf5 hangout6 Rivendell, the team dusted the leaves of fake trees with curry7 powder, dry mustard8, and paprika9!
3． Concrete10 Eruption11
The scenes on Mount Doom were filmed on an actual active volcano12 called Mount Ruapehu, on New Zealand's North Island. But the flying lava13 bombs were filmed somewhere else: in a parking lot!
First a basketball-size wire ball was filled with briquettes14—the kind used in a barbecue15 grill16. "Then someone stood on top of a tall scaffold17, torched18 the wire ball, waited till it burned at the right temperature, then tossed it," Funke says. "They'd crash down19 and explode on the concrete!" Don't try this at home!
4． Live Action
Gollum is a digital20 character, but he had a human stand-in21 for his fight scene with Sam the hobbit, played by Sean Astin. Actor Andy Serkis dressed in a Lycra bodysuit22 to go one-on-one with23 Astin. That way, the action looked more real when digital Gollum was layered24 over human Gollum on the computer. "On-screen I'm fighting a digital character," Astin says. "But off-screen I had wrist25 burns and fingernail scratches26!"
5． Short Stack27, Part One
How do you get hobbits to appear two feet shorter than the actors who play other roles, but it looks like Frodo is smaller than he really is? The most common trick was to film hobbits from farther away than the other characters. "We'd shoot Frodo about 14 feet away from the camera. Then we'd shoot Gandalf about eight feet from the camera," Funke says. "When we merge28 the two clips29, they're standing next to each other.”
6． Short Stack, Part Two
Another trick was to use "scale doubles30" for faraway shorts. For instance, when you see Sam from a distance, it's really a three-foot-tall actor wearing a mask. "Artists took a scan31 of my face and created a foam latex rubber mask that my double would wear," Astin says.
7. Small Cities
Many sets seen from far away are foam "miniatures32," exact replicas33 of cities and landscapes34 only lots smaller. Take the city of Minas Tirith, where a major battle takes place. It's built on a 1/72 scale, meaning it's 72 times smaller than it would be in real life. The set is still almost 25 feet high and 40 feet in diameter35!
8． Smaller Streets
At first the miniature set for Minas Tirith was going to be used only for faraway shots36. But then director Peter Jackson decided to film scary-looking37 winged creatures flying through the streets. Problem was, the streets were only four inches wide—too narrow for a camera. So Funke rigged38 the camera with a snorkel39: an L-shaped tube that connects the camera with the lens40. That way, the lens can be steered41 through the streets while the camera travels above the set.
9． Kiwiland42
All three movies in The Lord of the Rings series were filmed in New Zealand. The diverse43 landscape, from snowy mountains to lush44 valleys, gave filmmakers plenty of options when it came to scenery.
10． Something＇s Fishy45
Keep your eyes on the swamp46 in the scene where the Orcs are marching over a bridge out of Minas Morgul. Something, uh, drove(hint, hint!) the set artists47 to half-submerge48 an item in the swamp that really shouldn't be there!
1. 请再说一遍
霍比人的尖耳朵都是用泡沫乳胶做好后再用胶水粘到演员的耳朵上去的。不舒服？是的。可是，另外的问题又出现了。因为泡沫材料吸音，所以，扮演山姆的辛·亚斯汀戴着他的假耳朵就听不清他的台词提示。解决办法？化装师们最后还是在他的道具上开了更大的耳孔，这样亚斯汀就可以听得更清晰了。
2. 巧妆“秋色”
仅仅因为一场戏应该在秋季发生并不意味你非得在秋季拍这场戏。摄影导演亚礼克斯·凡克和他的团队一起创造了他们自己的秋天！为了给小精灵的巢窟带来秋色，他们用咖哩粉、干芥末和红辣椒粉喷洒在那些假树的树叶上。
3. 水泥火山爆发
“厄运山”上的那几场戏是在一座真实的活火山上拍摄的，叫“鲁阿佩胡山”，它位于新西兰的北岛。可是，拍摄飞射的溶岩球的地方却在别处：一个停车场！
我们首先在篮球大小的铁丝球中装满煤屑做成的小煤球——也就是人们做烧烤用的那种燃料。“然后某人站在一个很高的脚手架顶上，点燃火球，等它燃烧到所要求的温度，再将它抛下来，”凡克说，“它们会呼啸而下，落在水泥地上炸开花。”可别在家里尝试这些哟！
4. 真人演出
戈蓝是一个数码合成的人物，可是，在他同由辛·亚斯汀扮演的霍比人山姆的那一场打斗戏中，他有一个真人替身。男演员安迪·色基斯身穿弹力紧身服同亚斯汀单挑。用这种方法，演出效果显得比将数码的戈蓝在电脑上叠加到真人戈蓝身上更加逼真。“在银屏上，我是在同一个数码人物作战”亚斯汀说，“可是在银屏之外，我的手腕被烧伤了，身上被指甲抓破了。”
5. 矮人堆叠（1）
你如何使那些霍比人看上去比扮演其他角色的演员显得矮两英尺呢？弗罗多看上去确实比他实际的身材要矮小。“最常用的手法就是从比拍摄其他人物更远的距离拍摄霍比人。我们从大约十四英尺的距离拍摄弗罗多，然后我们再从大约八英尺的距离拍摄甘道夫。”凡克说，“当我们把两个镜头合并时，他们就站在一起。”
6. 矮人堆叠（2）
另一种方法就是用小比例替身演员来制造远处矮人的效果。例如，当你从远处看山姆时，那其实是一个戴着面具的三英尺高的演员。“化妆师按我的脸型做了一副模，然后按此制作了一副泡沫乳胶面具，给我的替身演员戴上。”亚斯汀说。
7. 微缩城市
许多远景都是用泡沫乳胶做的微缩模型，是城市和风景的精确复制，只是比原景小得多。比如说迈纳斯人的提利斯城，在这里有一场主要的战斗发生。该城是按1/72的比例建造的，也就是说它只有实际城市的七十二分之一大小。可是该模型仍然有二十五英尺高，其直径达四十英尺！
8. 狭小的街道
起初，迈纳斯人的提利斯城微缩模型只打算被用作远景。可是后来彼得·杰克逊导又决定拍摄令人恐惧的有翼生物飞过街道的镜头。问题是，街道只有四英寸宽——窄得放不进摄影机。所以凡克为摄影机制作了一个潜望镜似的装置：一根“L”形的管子将镜头连接到摄影机上。用这种方法，镜头就可以被挂在摄影机的下面，穿行在微缩城市的街道上。
9. 鹬鸵之邦
《指环王》三部曲均在新西兰拍摄。这里的风景多样，从皑皑雪山到青青山谷，所以在取景方面给了拍摄师充分的选择。
10. 破绽
在奥克人离开迈纳斯人的莫古尔城，从一座桥上列队走过时，请你盯住场景中的沼泽地。布景师鬼使神差把某个东西一半浸入了水中，而那个东西是不应该在沼泽出现的。
1. pointy adj． 非常尖的
2． foam n． 泡沫
3． latex n． 乳胶
4． photography n． 摄影
5． elf [elf] n． 精灵
6． hangout n． 巢穴
7． curry n． 咖喱粉
8． mustard n． 芥末
9． paprika n． 红辣椒粉
10． concrete n． 水泥
11． eruption ] n． 爆发
12． volcano n． 火山
13． lava n． 熔岩
14． briquette n． 煤球
15． barbecue adj． 作烧烤用的
16． grill [gril] n． 烤架
17． scaffold n． 脚手架
18． torch v． 点燃
19． crash down 呼啸而下
20． digital adj． 数码的，数字的
21． stand－in 替身
22． Lycra bodysuit 弹力紧身服
23． go one－on－one with sb． 与某人单挑
24． layer v． 分层，层叠
25． wrist [rist] n． 手腕
26． scratch n． 抓伤
27． stack n． 堆叠
28． merge v． 合并
29． clip （影片）剪辑
30． scale [skeil] double 按比例的替身
31． scan n． 符合的模子
32． miniature n． 微缩模型
33． replica n． 复制品
34． landscape n． 风景
35． diameter n． 直径
36． shot n． 风景照，图片
37． scary－looking n． 令人恐惧的样子
38． rig [rig] v． 装配
39． snorkel n． （潜水艇的）通气管
40． lens [lenz] n． 镜头
41． steer v． 驾驶
42． Kiwiland n． 新西兰别名，因产鹬鸵而称为鹬鸵之邦
43． diverse adj． 不同的
44． lush adj． 青葱的
45． fishy adj． （俚）可疑的
46． swamp n． 沼泽
47． set artist 布景师
48． submerge
v． 浸没