Lord of the Rings Exhibition in Berlin.
Yesterday I made a trip to Berlin to see the exhibition of film props done for the LotR movies. Again I was overwhelmed by the endless devotion of all those artists, conceptual designers and craftspeople to get everything not just right, but perfect. I have several book about the making of LotR, but it's different to see the things in original.
Drawings and paintings by Alan Lee, John Howe and other artists, orginal costumes, scale models of creatures, buildings and settings, wax-Boromir in his funeral boat. Little films everywhere that would show special aspects about the making of the movies. Most were interesting, although I'm not surprised that Elijah Wood's resumée about Frodo's role in the story is that Frodo must learn about friendship and trust. Thank you, Mr Wood for your insightful words. I already suspected that you were not so much in years, but foremost mentally too young for the role.
What I found amusing was the way the exhibits were shown. In fact there was nothing out of the ordinary, and that's exactly what amused me. Weaponry, costumes and artifacts were shown in their glass cases, each with their little number, and below was a neat plate with the explanationatory text, just like in any museum. Only the text didn't read: "#1: Celtic dagger from aprox. 250 bC, materials: bronze, glass enamel, wood"; but instead: "#1:Elven dagger from the First Age, materials: bronze, glass enamel, wood".
I loved it.
I also was quietly delighted that I wasn't by far the only person above forty in the hall. I mean people who were obviously interested all by themselves, not merely dragged along by their teenage children. (With Easter holidays over, there weren't many kids around.) Seeing several people around sixty reminded me that the Tolkien's books have been around for some time, and hold interest for all age groups. I wish now I had asked some of the elder visitors how they first met with Tolkien, by book or film.
The exhibition was not quite as large as I had expected or hoped, and in 4 hours I had seen all of it. I was glad I had picked a workday, so it wasn't overcrowded and I could enjoy everything at my leisure. To see all the amazing artwork, costumes, weapons and scale models left me ecstatic, but also a little sad. First for the film itself: All the visuals are so stunningly perfect. If only I could say the same about the script.
Secondly, as a budding Tokien artist myself, I find the artwork and visuals for the films both encouraging and demotivating. Encouraging, because it's inspiring to see such brilliant work. All the creative ideas going into every item. The intricate detail in ornament, jewelry, costume design. The masterful craftsmanship in every single piece.
Discouraging, because everything has already been done, and better than I could ever hope to achieve. I had my sketch pad with me, but I didn't draw anything. Everything is amazing, but I can't use it for my own work.. The temptation is strong, but I don't want to copy. A lot of fanartists do just that; even if they don't go movieverse with their characters, they draw consciously or unconsciously from the films for their costumes and prop design, because it is all so damn convincing. In the wake of the films, few of us can imagine elves in anything other than an Art Noveaux outfit. All the design, from hobbit culture to dwarven ornament to orcish barbarism, is close to what I imagine when reading the books, only so much more detailed and fleshed out.
Costume design is not my forté, so even if I use books about costume history for reference, my characters will usually end up with a generic RPG outfit that can never compete with the perfection and richness in detail of the film design. (And yet not too rich: All the film costuming was done so well that the actors were never reduced to clothes-hangers for their own costumes.)
Of course, the movie design was done by the combined creative efforts of dozens of artists and craftspeople, so it would be illusionary to even try.
But enough of whining! A good look at the devotionalia booth outside the hall, with dozens of action figurines with faces that can give you the creeps (and I mean Aragorn and Legolas, not the cave troll) helped a great deal to reinstore my wounded self esteem. I love figurines of all sizes and am perfectly willing to spend money on them, but only if I like them and couldn't do them better myself. Which means that my LotR figurines collection is very limited so far, if I don't count the dozen cheap ones that came from surprise eggs.
Drawings and paintings by Alan Lee, John Howe and other artists, orginal costumes, scale models of creatures, buildings and settings, wax-Boromir in his funeral boat. Little films everywhere that would show special aspects about the making of the movies. Most were interesting, although I'm not surprised that Elijah Wood's resumée about Frodo's role in the story is that Frodo must learn about friendship and trust. Thank you, Mr Wood for your insightful words. I already suspected that you were not so much in years, but foremost mentally too young for the role.
What I found amusing was the way the exhibits were shown. In fact there was nothing out of the ordinary, and that's exactly what amused me. Weaponry, costumes and artifacts were shown in their glass cases, each with their little number, and below was a neat plate with the explanationatory text, just like in any museum. Only the text didn't read: "#1: Celtic dagger from aprox. 250 bC, materials: bronze, glass enamel, wood"; but instead: "#1:Elven dagger from the First Age, materials: bronze, glass enamel, wood".
I loved it.
I also was quietly delighted that I wasn't by far the only person above forty in the hall. I mean people who were obviously interested all by themselves, not merely dragged along by their teenage children. (With Easter holidays over, there weren't many kids around.) Seeing several people around sixty reminded me that the Tolkien's books have been around for some time, and hold interest for all age groups. I wish now I had asked some of the elder visitors how they first met with Tolkien, by book or film.
The exhibition was not quite as large as I had expected or hoped, and in 4 hours I had seen all of it. I was glad I had picked a workday, so it wasn't overcrowded and I could enjoy everything at my leisure. To see all the amazing artwork, costumes, weapons and scale models left me ecstatic, but also a little sad. First for the film itself: All the visuals are so stunningly perfect. If only I could say the same about the script.
Secondly, as a budding Tokien artist myself, I find the artwork and visuals for the films both encouraging and demotivating. Encouraging, because it's inspiring to see such brilliant work. All the creative ideas going into every item. The intricate detail in ornament, jewelry, costume design. The masterful craftsmanship in every single piece.
Discouraging, because everything has already been done, and better than I could ever hope to achieve. I had my sketch pad with me, but I didn't draw anything. Everything is amazing, but I can't use it for my own work.. The temptation is strong, but I don't want to copy. A lot of fanartists do just that; even if they don't go movieverse with their characters, they draw consciously or unconsciously from the films for their costumes and prop design, because it is all so damn convincing. In the wake of the films, few of us can imagine elves in anything other than an Art Noveaux outfit. All the design, from hobbit culture to dwarven ornament to orcish barbarism, is close to what I imagine when reading the books, only so much more detailed and fleshed out.
Costume design is not my forté, so even if I use books about costume history for reference, my characters will usually end up with a generic RPG outfit that can never compete with the perfection and richness in detail of the film design. (And yet not too rich: All the film costuming was done so well that the actors were never reduced to clothes-hangers for their own costumes.)
Of course, the movie design was done by the combined creative efforts of dozens of artists and craftspeople, so it would be illusionary to even try.
But enough of whining! A good look at the devotionalia booth outside the hall, with dozens of action figurines with faces that can give you the creeps (and I mean Aragorn and Legolas, not the cave troll) helped a great deal to reinstore my wounded self esteem. I love figurines of all sizes and am perfectly willing to spend money on them, but only if I like them and couldn't do them better myself. Which means that my LotR figurines collection is very limited so far, if I don't count the dozen cheap ones that came from surprise eggs.