should there be a narrator?

[captain Tarpols]

I mean there is ALLOT of unspoken text in the book so i think that they HAVE to have one. they could always say 9 years later or something, but i don't think that the audience would get the same effect. There would be ALLOT less detail without a narrator and people would understand it less. what do you think?

[IronParrot]

No spoken narration, but text overlays or scrolls are fine...

[Fat middle]

good directors know how to give many many details without needing a narrator. i hope we don´t need to hear one, save perhaps at the begining...

BTW, each time i see the old version of Blade Runner i think that Ric Olie is only an apprentice about "obviousing" thins

[captain Tarpols]

i sure hope that it will be good without a narrator! BTW, i plan on finishing the fellowship before the movie comes out.

[IronParrot]

You could probably finish all three volumes...

[Darth Tater]

If it was narrated tehy'd have an even worse time dealing with a problem that is already giving them problems: Cramming these books into two hour movies. It just wouldn't be possible if all those details were told.

[Film Hobbit]

I must admit that at first I was a little taken aback at the thought of there being a narrator, but there is SO much backstory and so much depth behind each and every scene in LOTR that I fear it would be impossible to convey even a small portion of that in any other fashion.... it really is necessary to give the watchers the sense of history behind the movie.

[Darth Tater]

Hello and welcome to the board! :)

[Film Hobbit]

Hi there, thanks :)

[anduin]

Film Hobbit, have you checked out the Movie forum yet? :)

[noldo]

Welcome to the Entmoot, Film Hobbit!

[Darth Tater]

Ha ha I beat you all!!! :p

[Film Hobbit]

Which movie forum do you refer to?

[Marsufo]

The Entmoot Movie forum (I suppose) ;)

BTW, I hope there is no narrator, because in most movies if there is spoken narration after the first 5 minutes, I go INSANE! :-)

:)
Marsufo

[Quickbeam]

I think he means the "LotR Movie" forum or the general "Movies" forum. I say, "Both!!" (and the "Star Wars" forum for good measure!)

[anduin]

Quickbeam is right, I should have said the "Movies" forum, under the category, "Other Topics", right above the Mod Forum. Sorry 'bout dat. :)

[Film Hobbit]

No Problem, answer= Yes
:)

[Shanamir Duntak]

I feel that if a narrator is to be, it should be like Frodo or Bilbo telling the story. Hey, isn't it them that supposedly wrote those books???

[Quickbeam]

Frodo narrating isn't a bad thought, except there could be problems with that approach in the Book III and V sequences. Another option that would solve that problem would be to have SAM be the narrator, and begin the movie with Sam starting to tell the story of the War of the Ring to Elanor and her siblings. Not a terribly original device, of course, but definitely serviceable.
Obviously, though, that decision was made some time ago, whatever it might be.

[Wizard of the Secret Fire]

I think that a narrator could be needed in the beginning. They can however use Gandalf if they tell most of the history of the Ring in 'The Shadow of the Past' part...

Sam would be a good choice if more narrating is needed...

[Stiegl]

For this movie, I don't think it would work well to have Sam as the narrator because Sean Astin's voice would not work well at all. I imagine they'll have Gandalf talk over the history of the rings of power and the Last Alliance and how it came to Frodo.

[Shanamir Duntak]

Maybe they'll have multiple narrator...I know that the movie starts with Bilbo saying something about darkness, So maybe he's the narrator for the first part (If one there is...)

Well.. i'm pretty stubborn with the idea that if there's a narrator, that should be Bilbo and no one else.

He started the Red Books and all and was writing Frodo's story at Rivendell... and ...and...

No more arguing... I won't change my ideas about that :)

[Gilthalion]

From an audience point of view, long and frequent narratives are distracting. In theatre as well, it is difficult enough to maintain the "suspension of disbelief" that allows the audience to "get into" the story.

A narrative at the beginning of each movie will be indispensible. After that, it's best to rely on the presentation to unfold the tale as it does to the characters themselves.

Bilbo would be my sentimental favorite, but Frodo (or Sam reading to the next generation) would be the most accurate. But, for sheer presence, among the cast, they would most likely use Gandalf. In the HOBBIT play (in Australia?), Gandalf himself narrates. In the book, the text imposes itself as a storyteller/narrator.

In LOTR, we have a more removed, omniscient third person narrator. This makes the movie more true to the feeling of Tolkien's work if shot without narrative intrusion.

[Shanamir Duntak]

Yeah... you're probably right all the way... that would be the best way to do it.

[Film Hobbit]

Personally the best narrative I ever saw in a movie was in "The Princess Bride" Though the narrative went on throughout the movie, and even though there was a lot of it, at no point did it ever detract from what was going on but rather added immensly to it. Sometimes a long and continuous narrative can be good, its just hard to get it right.

[Shanamir Duntak]

Narrative is only useful when you skip parts of the story than would be too hard or too long to be shown on screen or too hard to understand for the public. If you use too much narration, you missed the point somewhere as much can be shown by scenes without resorting to narration.

Unless you decided to do it that way cause otherwise it would be impossible as I just mentionned, you're a bad director...

[dunedain lady]

Gandalf or Bilbo would be my vote for narrator. Sam telling the story to his children would be cool but it would spoil the ending a little. Many people going to see the movie would already have read the books, but it does still serve as a reminder that they get out all right in the end if you see Sam with his children comfortably at home. Hmm...It would be funny, though, if one of Sam's children kept interrupting like the kid in The Princess Bride.:lol: Bilbo would be the logical choice for narrator, since he did supposedly write the books, and he mostly serves as an advisor to Frodo, and is never in a position where having him as narrator would be awkword. Gandalf would also be good, as he would have more of a "presence" than Bilbo, even though there might be less of a reason for him to tell the story.
Just my two cents:)

[Film Hobbit]

For an example of BAD narration, watch Dune... which by the way is a horrible movie and should not be taken as any kind of a representation of Frank Heberts books which are great.
But in addition to your normal narration they also have the type of narration where you hear what everyone is thinking.... only they do it constantly throughout the whole movie... it becomes extremely idiotic about 10 minutes in and by the end you want to shoot yourself.

[Grand Admiral Reese]

Dune is horrible in every sense of the word. The books are great, but the movie, it just doesn't measure up. The narration in it didn't work(not much did).

A narrator for LotR would be interesting, if done correctly. Not too intrusive, but in the right places, at the right time. Bilbo would probably be the best for it, too. Or Gandalf.

[Fat middle]

last month i began to see Dune on TV. first i heard a narrator spoiling something of the plot (sorry, i cannot remember now what was the point), then i saw a great mouth speaking to the Emperor, then i switched off the TV.

i'm SURE i didn't miss anything good :p

[Shanamir Duntak]

First time I saw Dune, I woke up with the end credits.

[Film Hobbit]

I'd say turning LOTR into a good movie is almost as challenging as turning Dune into a good movie... and you all clearly have seen how that went. If Jackson pulls this off, I think we should start a new religion and worship him like those Scientoliigist worship L.Ron Hubbard.... only with more parties and cavorting.

[Shanamir Duntak]

That's ok for me... and I'm sure it will be good.

[arynetrek]

whether or not PJ does a good job on LotR, we should have parties & cavorting. if LotR turns out to be the best movie made in the history of the world, we could try the whole worship-Peter-Jackson thing; if not, we could go pillaging & destroying (or at least hunting...)

aryne *

[Shanamir Duntak]

Hummm party, pillaging, destroying... sounds nice to me :p

[dunedain lady]

Sounds good to me! When the movie comes out, I'm waiting for someone else to see it first, then I can have some idea what to expect. If it turns out terrible, I'll still go simply to make fun of it. If it does turn out rotten, I hope they go all-out and make it REALLY awful, so that it will by the type of movie people will go and see simply to make fun of.

[Shanamir Duntak]

I hope it doesn't turn bad. If it turns out awful, I think I'll buy the bakshi version :p