Middle-earth from Script to Screen: Building the World of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit by Daniel Falconer

Middle-earth from Script to Screen: Building the World of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit Reviews

• 
  Calista

  Beautiful book about the movies of middle earth. There are pictures of sets and interesting art in the book and the text goes into how it was made, decisions about it and also what it means. Anyone who geeks out over the movies will probably find something to enjoy.
  
  You can really see all the craftsmanship that went into these movies through these pictures. They have a picture of some of the people who work on these things. From full scale buildings to beautiful models. I guess this book would be like all the making of on these disc combined into a book. It was Peter Jackson's work of love I think.
  
  
• 
  Keith

  I was pretty let down with this book, which is partly unfair because I came in with very high expectations. I always compare books on the making of movies to the Making of Star Wars (for each of the original trilogy), which are absolute masterpieces. Those books take you in sometimes painstaking detail on the decision making process and methods of virtually every aspect of the movie. This book focused on how they made the special affects. That is fine, but the downside is I wasn't all that impressed with their explanations. Very rarely were scenes described in detail where I felt like I really understood how they achieved the end result.
  
  The first major problem is it felt like most of the book focused on the Hobbit trilogy, which is far inferior to the LOTR. I suspect this is because they were trailblazing on LOTR and hadn't experienced the monumental success from those movies. They weren't taking the time to document everything. I am guessing that they did take that time while making the Hobbit. A good example is the section on the Shire. Almost every picture from the set and description is from the Hobbit.
  
  My biggest complaint is that a huge percentage of the book, maybe 70-80% is explaining what happens in the actual story. There may be 8 paragraphs telling you what happens in the plot of a scene and then maybe 1 or 2 that say something "this set of building were real and the rest was digital. Smaug was digital and voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch." I doubt too many readers of this book don't know the story of LOTR or the Hobbit. I don't mind this on more tangential subjects, but this book should've focused on how they achieved the amazing special effects instead of biographies on Aragorn and Frodo.
  
  On the same note, far too many of the pictures are screenshots from the movies. I would love that if that was paired with a picture of the actors without the special effects so we could see what was practical and what was digital, but there weren't many of those. A number of times, they would include a quote praising some sketch that was perfect and was the inspiration for iconic shots in the movie. They often wouldn't include the sketch in the book. They would have a screenshot from the movie and I'm yelling at the book, "I've seen the movies, I haven't seen the sketch!"
  
  The book improved about halfway through and you start getting more details about how they made models and what they specifically did to achieve certain shots. The most amazing thing about this series was the incredible sets and miniatures they created. It was incredibly fascinating reading about insane amount of detail they put into the sets. I really hope they saved all of the miniatures and someday they will have a LOTR museum where you can go and see them all.
  
  It was a little heartbreaking reading about their excitement for and the ingenuity utilized to get that horrendous barrel scene. It reminded me of the behind the scenes video of George Lucas making Episode 1 and saying that Jar Jar Binks is the key to the comedy of the movie and me thinking "You poor misguided fool." There were so many scenes from the Hobbit trilogy that were just silly to the point of stupidity. I'm thinking of the ladder scene in the Goblin caves, the barrel scene, and the scene in Dale where someone is balancing on a wagon while fighting while rolling down a hill. It is just dumb. I often hear the dumb argument that this is all A-OK because it is a story for children. My response to that is that there are multiple graphic battle scenes (one ends in an orc displaying the decapitated head of the leaders of the dwarves), killing throughout the entire trilogy, and extended scenes of a dragon murdering almost everyone in a town. Those aren't aspects of children's movies. Reading about the decision making for all of the dumb silly scenes really reminded me of Lucas with the prequels where he got carried away with the technology he created/innovated and forgot what made the first trilogy a masterpiece.
  
  I loved the occasional time we would learn about how they created practical effects. One that stands out in my memory was the treasure scenes in the Hobbit. Obviously a lot was digital, but quite a bit was real. They used "treasure blankets" where they would affix treasure to a blanket and lay that over sandbags and stuff like that. It would look like a pile of treasure when they only had to do the blanket. Still, they created I think something like 80,000 coins. Most impressive of all was how they just hired actual professionals for everything. They just went out and hired blacksmiths to make the armor and so on. So many things are pretty close to real in the movies because they actually made them. The most impressive of all are the trees where they sewed on hundreds of thousands of leaves.
  
  There were certain sections that were worthy of 5 stars, but too many sections just rehashed events from the books and movies.
• 
  Emma Rose

  Reread in April 2019 - my goodness what a fantastic read. Completely riveting and once again deepened my love for those films. I'm forever grateful.
  
  --
  This is a wonderful, wonderful book. I can't believe I'm only finding out about it two months after its publication. It completely flew under the radar for me and it took a video from one of the writers, K.M. Rice, for me to realise that, at long last, a book had been written about the Lord of the Rings filming. I'm a huge, huge fan of the LOTR movie trilogy and marathon it several times a year. While I found The Hobbit heartbreakingly disappointing, I really appreciated the absolutely breathtaking work that went into the sets, the costumes and the props, everything that went into recreating Middle Earth. It's just the story that I didn't care for.
  This book is absolutely excellent at detailing every single location and set used for creating that world. It's beautiful to look at and there are many photos of things we don't see on screen (gorgeous tapestries in Edoras depicting historical scenes) or for less than a second (Arwen's bedroom). It was a riveting read. I was, however, disappointed in the fact that it spent little to no time talking about the costumes, props and characterization. Incredible as it sounds, I'm left wanting MORE. Yes, Daniel Falconer wrote The Hobbit Chronicles which I'm sure delve into those topics, but nothing exists for The Lord of the Rings and the DVD Appendices, while wonderful, are not enough when you want high resolution photos of details of dresses and weapons, of Arwen's Evenstar, of Aragorn's Anduril (can you tell my favourite characters are Aragorn and Arwen? My favourite places are Rivendell and Rohan, all those horses!)
  
  This is obviously a labour of love and it shows, but I hope it'll have sequels, after all this time, we deserve to see and know everything. What really struck me reading this was just how much everyone treated this story as historical fiction. Nothing was made for show, everything was made with a background and a middle ground to give the story as much depth as possible. The work that went into these films is awe-inspiring and it made me appreciate them, if possible, even more.
• 
  Timothy

  This is a really well researched and documented book on the environment design of Middle Earth from both film trilogies. It features tons of concept art and on-set and construction photos, plus film screen grabs that coincide with the preproduction work. There are even mini bios on characters and places in the films, (and Tolkien’s legendarium) making the book a mini history of Middle-Earth. There is some analysis of why certain story beats were changed from the books to what is shown in the films. I was hoping for more detail on script adaptation but this is primarily an art direction book. A lot of quotes are presented from cast and crew about their experiences and challenges while creating the trilogies. I did find a few editing gaffes, nothing major, such as a still frame being labeled from the movie: The Fellowship of the King, a one letter mistake. Otherwise, it’s a brilliant book and the artwork contained within is amazing.
• 
  Holly

  This is a MAMMOTH book, and really only suitable for enthusiasts! It was so big I struggled to read it, but now I have I am in LOVE with how good it looks on my shelf.
  
  This covers (in vaguely chronological/plot order thanks to the way the quest plays out) the art design for the realms of Middle Earth featured across the LotR and Hobbit trilogies. If you're the kind of person who has seen all the Extended Edition appendices multiple times and read other WETA books then there isn't likely going to be much in here you don't already know, but having it all in one place makes it a great addition to a collection.
  
  I was disappointed it wasn't more like the Chronicles series produced for The Hobbit trilogy, which are really insightful art books with scores of drawings/costume designs/concept art. I wonder if they just don't have the material for the LotR movies anymore (it has been a while...) which is why they went for this format rather than just doing another set of Chronicles books for FOTR/TT/ROTK.
  
  A high 4*s from me, but I can't give it 5 because of the lack of wholly new content and lack of costume designs, which are easily one of the best parts of the Chronicles books!
• 
  Nicole Taylor

  As a Tolkien and Middle-Earth devotee, words cannot describe the magnificence of this book and how happy it made me to read it. It was made with love by all those involved, and the quality is incomparable to any other like it on the making of these films (in my opinion, the best ever made). It belongs on display in the home of every LOTR fan.
• 
  June J. McInerney

  Sometimes learning what happened behind the scenes is more interesting than the scenes themselves.
  Take, for example, the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies, the epic films of the early 2000s, based upon the Ring Trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien, that won 17 out of 30 total Academy Award nominations and captured the hearts of both adults and children [of all ages] alike, They certainly did mine…
  I became an avid Tolkien fan in the mid-1960s. Primarily because it was assigned “optional” reading in my Advance Placement English literature class. What started out as almost confusing reads ended up emmeshing me into the depths of the world of Middle Earth, with its Hobbits, Gnomes, Dwarves, Elves… and the dreaded Kingdom of Mordor; not to mention the convoluted, but intricate plot lines. Once I got the hang of the author’s writing style, I was hooked and have, over the course of the past fifty years or so, must have read the fantasies more than four or five times… And, of course, when the movies started hitting the silver screen, I just had to see them all.
  And all through the marvelously produced and directed [by Peter Jackson] films, I kept on asking, “How did they do that?” Well, thanks to my buddies at Harper Collins and their collaboration with Warner Bros. Consumer Products, now I know.
  Between the handsomely green-bound pages of "Middle Earth: From Script to Screen", I learned that a whole, nearly functioning Hobbit Village was constructed on a large farm in Australia… It was – and still is – so real that most of the actors during filming actually began to believe that they were actually in The Shire. That Sauron’s Black Riders – the Ringwraiths – were not only human actors wearing over thirty meters of carefully crafted fabric and gauntlets but also digitally animated riders. Many children of crew members were featured during several of scenes, including ‘Old’ Gerontius Took’s flashback party in An Unexpected Journey. And, do you know what Mathoms are? Flets? Palantíri? You’ll have to comb the 574 pages of this most wondrously extravagant compendium of Hobbit knowledge – while marveling at the full-color illustrations and drawings – to find out.
  What I particularly like about Middle Earth is not only the stories behind the scenes and stories, but the stories themselves. Carefully and assiduously written by Daniel Falconer – with a forward by Peter Jackson – the complete gestalt of the Ring Trilogy is mapped out. There are marvelous explanations – paraphrased from the pages of the original books – of how Bilbo originally obtained the infamous Gold Ring and how he passed it on to Frodo to destroy; the interconnections between Sauron and Saruman the White; the back-stories of Frodo’s friends, who accompany him on his perilous journey… I could go on and one, but I don’t want to spoil the fun for you. Besides, this book – yet another beautiful product of Harper Designs – is not one you read from cover to cover in subsequent sittings, but one you dip into from time to time – absorbing each little tidbit of fascinating information just as you would sip a well-aged mellow whiskey.
  Middle Earth – released just last month -- is a valuable and valued addition to any library. And would, in my mind, be an especially appropriate Holiday gift for the avid movie-goer, film-ologist and/or connoisseur of all things Tolkien.
  Enjoy the read!
  
• 
  Van (Short & Sweet Reviews)

  Disclosure: I received a review copy from the publisher in exchange for honest review.
  
  I legitimately screamed when I received Middle-Earth: From Script to Screen in the mail. It was like, “how did they know I am a big fan of both film trilogies by Peter Jackson?!” This book is massive, the biggest compendium I’ve ever seen; It’s approximately 10x12 inches, over 500 pages and pretty heavy! I imagine it’d be over 10 pounds, if not more and it is beyond beautiful. The compendium cover consisted of a matte dark forest green with a scenic image of Rivendell as the background and a risen golden decorative border. At the center was the shiny, slightly raised image of the well-known, infamous ring that started it all. Like previous Harper Design compendium, I loved the additional reading ribbon, a golden ribbon that tied everything together. The entire cover design was very cohesive and appeasing to the eyes; another stellar book by Harper Design.
  
  One of my favorite aspect of film is learning about what happened behind the scenes. How the films came to be and all the stages that came in between. Middle-Earth: From Script to Screen is a all-encompassing, in-depth look at the creation of Tolken’s most beloved novels brought to life. The book was full of stunning conceptual artwork, pictures from the films, blueprints, quotes from cast and crew and so much more. Each chapter was dedicated to a key location from the films; such as The Shire, Rivendell, The Misty Mountain, Mirkwood, Rohan, and Mordor to name a few.
  
  Middle-Earth: From Script to Screen is a must-have, must-read for all Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit Fans, or any movie aficionado. Everything that you’ve ever wanted to know about Middle-Earth lies with the pages of this stunning book. The labor of love that went into Middle-Earth is evident; I can’t imagine how long it took to compile everything needed for this compendium. Falconer and Harper Design has out did themselves. This book can only be appreciated in person, like art that is displayed in a museum. If you want to truly own a master piece in your own home, then you need this book as part of your personal library. I highly recommend this book to everyone, I guarantee you won’t be disappointed!
• 
  CC

  For such a popular movie franchise, the Middle Earth films have been quite poorly represented in print – until now. Daniel Falconer’s massive coffee table book is a treat for fans of the Lord of The Rings and Hobbit trilogies. Falconer takes the novel approach of simultaneously tracing the journeys of both the Fellowship in LoTR and Bilbo and the dwarves in The Hobbit. Like both sets of films, the opening chapter begins in the Shire, before expanding to take in all of Tolkien’s mythical, magical lands, through Erebor and Mordor and on to the Grey Havens. Falconer neatly mingles fiction with fact, offering an encyclopaedic background on Middle Earth’s fantastical realms before explaining the challenges the filmmakers faced in the real life locations around New Zealand. There’s so much crammed into this book, including character profiles, stories from the major players behind both movie trilogies, countless illustrations and stills, and all beautifully presented in a well-bound, high quality volume. If I had one criticism, it would be that Falconer places greater emphasis on describing Tolkien’s literary Middle Earth than on the cinematic interpretation, which is fine, but I feel this has been adequately covered in other books. I would’ve liked there to have been a bit more of a focus on the production of Peter Jackson’s landmark films.
• 
  Carey Sabala

  This book, goodness, I can't even describe how breathtaking it is. When I received the box, I thought there was a mistake and they sent me 10 books. This book is soooooo heavy and chalk full of nothing but Middle-Earth goodness. It's a hard back that looks like it should be in a very fancy library and will be the Pièce De Résistance for any fan of the original books but especially the movies.
  Daniel Falconer has painstakingly put together a behind the scenes book that brings the reader back to the magic that Peter Jackson brought to screens based on the beloved books by JRR Tolkien and just in time for the holidays. You will not believe how gorgeous this book is and it will make the perfect gift for any fan. I promise you, it will be an instant hit!
  I honestly just want to hug it, pet it and call it My Precious....
  The binding is amazing, the photos are outstanding, the depth of information is any movie fans' dream and the book presentation with the gold leaf, down to the yellow ribbon makes it a treasure any Gollum would covet.
  Please, please, please buy this book if you're even slightly interested. I can't praise it enough and would absolutely give it as a gift to any film buff, fan or book enthusiast.
• 
  Andye.Reads

  I got THE COOLEST book in the mail. I’m pretty much a LotR fangirl freak, so when I opened this I was speechless! MIDDLE-EARTH From Script to Screen (Building the world of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit) is full of gorgeous pictures and more information than you could ever hope for. This book has literally everything. I actually wish I didn’t love it so much because it would make an awesome gift for someone, but I’m too selfish 😂😂
  
  Each chapter gives you and in-depth look at a region (The Shire, Rivendell, Kazad-dûm etc) and tells you about the set, and then interesting info about that part of Tolkien’s wold. The pictures are gorgeous and the information is so interesting and extensive. I’ve been poring over it for days. It’s seriously stunning and I love it!!
  
  What’s your favorite piece of LotR merch? This has become mine (tho I still love my One Ring). Are you buying anyone this book for the holidays?
• 
  Mundie Moms & Mundie Kids

  This is a MUST HAVE for fans of The Hobbit & The Lord of the Rings! Fans will love this in-depth collection featuring illustrations, artwork, details about the making of the movies and more. This book does the stories and the movies justice! It is just what the title says it is, 'script to screen: building the world of Lord of the Rings & The Hobbit'; this book gives you all the details you've been wanting to know and so much more!
  
  The cover alone is stunning, but what's inside this cover is even more visually stunning! The details are absolutely amazing! I can't even imagine how long it took to put this collectors book together. Literally, every page is full of detail. This book is almost too pretty to hide on a book store, and is perfect to put out on a coffee table, night stand etc.
  
  FULL REVIEW
  http://mundiemoms.blogspot.com/2017/1...
• 
  Stephanie P (Because My Mother Read)

  When I saw some reviews floating around about this I put it on hold at my library. I knew it was big, but I was still surprised by the huge size when it came in. It's such a beautiful book with pictures from the movies, art work, a very detailed map with corresponding page numbers, and tons of information. I didn't read every page, but I read a good portion of it and it was really interesting. I love behind the scenes information and I learned so much in this book. It was great timing as my husband and I are currently going through our annual rewatch of the extended edition of all the films. This would be a great coffee table book or gift for an avid fan.
• 
  Ali

  This book is incredibly beautiful and for all fans of the LotR and the Hobbit series. It's huge, and packed full of little anecdotes - as always, Daniel has done an amazing job.
• 
  Alexis

  I've been reading a couple pages a night of this for months. In general, I enjoyed it. The pictures are nice. The behind-the-scenes information is nice. It's all nice. I just wish there were a bit more to it. There is very little contribution from any of the performers and pretty much nothing on casting. There's a lot about locations and art design, which is cool, but it would be nice if some of the drawings they based things on were included (I know they probably aren't for copyright reasons). I also got a little annoyed by the constant summarizing of the plot. I think you could read this book without ever having seen or read Lord of the Rings or The Hobbit and walk away with a fairly detailed understanding of most of the scenes. . . If you are reading a book like this, I am inclined to think you already know the basic plot elements and don't need a scene-by-scene recap. That did fall away towards the second half of the book, however, and the focus became more on the making of the movies, which I loved. I'd have liked to have had more pictures of the cast behind-the-scenes. I already had a healthy appreciation for the films, but this did increase it. If you can find it for a good price and are a fan of LOTR, it's not a bad book to have lying around.
• 
  Michael Reilly

  A large, weighty volume covering the conception and production of both of Peter Jackson’s Middle-earth film trilogies, From Script to Screen presents a wealth of images and information for Tolkien fans – and other interested readers – to enjoy. Neatly designed and printed on thick stock, the included quotes from key personnel are some of the book’s greatest highlights, revealing numerous production tricks and technical difficulties I’d not previously read about elsewhere.
  
  Although packed with fantastic imagery, including sketched, painted and digital artwork, set and miniature construction, and location photography not previously seen in print, many of the included film stills are unfortunately missing the required editing to make them suitable for print, often resulting in a dark, colour-shifted reproduction that hides detail and lacks the quality of other nearby art.
  
  I would have welcomed even more pages beyond the 500+ it already contains (always a good sign regarding enjoyment), so will instead now turn to the six volume (landscape) series covering production of The Hobbit, which continues a similar ‘behind the scenes’ focus.
• 
  Jeff Lanter

  It took me over a year to finish this book because I refused to sit down and read it as you would a traditional novel. Instead, I'd pick it up and read ten pages at a time here and there. Appreciate the beauty of the book and then set it down for a while until I was in the mood to read more. If you have any interest in film-making or behind the scenes information and you like either Lord of the Rings or The Hobbit, then this is a must-have. The information from actors and many of the people who designed what we saw in these movies is extremely interesting and well-written. The images of various sets, miniatures, and digitally generated content is astounding and pretty much anything you can hope for that was in the movie is here. I should add that I own almost all of the Behind the Scenes books released for The Hobbit and I still found the content in here to excellent. It is true that this book is not cheap but it is well worth it if you're a fan of these movies. It will make you wish that your other favorite movies get the same kind of treatment in book form!
• 
  Tufriel

  I'm finished! Took a whole year but I've finally arrived at the end of this hefty tome.
  
  This beautiful book makes a wonderful addition to the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movies. Although I've not seen the Hobbit appendices, I would say that this book adds to the appendices of both trilogies. The typos (yes, I spotted them too... Cirth Ungol) are a minor irritation but do not detract from the epic presentation of the building of Middle Earth.
• 
  Alex Jones

  This book is like a huge, beautiful ocean that's only an inch deep.
  
  Realistically, a comprehensive 'Middle-Earth From Script to Screen' would be a gargantuan, multi-volume effort, but I was still a tad disappointed by this. It spends as much time describing what happens in the movies as it does actually discussing how they were made.
• 
  Michael

  A large (length and size-wise) and beautiful book about the making of the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit trilogies. Organized by geographical region of Middle Earth, it includes hundreds of pictures and recollections from the teams behind the films.
• 
  Kirsty

  Fantastic. I've been slowly reading this for months (in between using it for a laptop stand when wfh) and I've finished it just in time for the 4k releases of the movies in December. I feel another New Year's re-watch marathon coming.
• 
  Mary

  As epic as the films themselves. Really interesting how they created Middle Earth and with lots of extra information about the world Tolkien created.
• 
  Margaux Mannessier

  Un très bel ouvrage sur la mise à l'écran minutieuse de la plus grande saga de la fantasy moderne
• 
  Crainiac

  I LOVE this book, it's truly amazing I love seeing a behind the scenes look at the Lord Of The Rings/ Hobbit movies.
• 
  Michael Eklund

  A picture book with some amazing photos from the movies. Though very nice to read it is a bit basic in information so mostly for the unintiated or for the fanatic.
• 
  Thia Reads A Lot

  Review coming soon!