LOTR - Science Museum Exhibit

Last Update: 16 Sep 2003


 

 

 

Click on the thumbnails to see larger pix.
Picture source: TheOneRing.net
 
 
Source:
The Lord of the Rings, The Making of the Movie Trilogy by Brian
Sibley (Houghton Mifflin Co, November 6, 2002)
"We get strange requests here at Weta," says Prosthetics Supervisor,
Gino Acevedo, "including five days to produce a lifelike dead
Boromir!"
 
The body was required for the scene in which the fallen warrior is
laid in an Elven boat by his companions prior to being sent on his
final journey over the Falls of Rauros.
 
It is unnervingly authentic, but how was it done? Gino explains: "We
already had a head cast of Sean Bean from which our workshop
supervisor, Jason Docherty, made a silicone mold. By pouring melted
plastine clay into the mold he got a perfect copy of Sean's face,
which was passed to one or our top sculptors, Ben Hawker, who worked
out the features in order to make them a little more gaunt.
 
"From this amended sculpture, Jason made another mold of the whole
head, and I mixed up a pale silicone that we use in replicating skin
and poured that into the mold which was left to cure overnight. The
next day, Jason unmolded the head and I painted it in very pale. dead
skin tones.
 
Once it had been painted, Boromir's head then went to Gavin Skudder,
one of our hair technicians, who meticiculously punched in the hair,
beard, and mustache, a strand at a time.
 
So authentic was the result that when the body had been lying around
on the set for an hour or two, an unsuspecting technician
thoughtfully enquired whether Sean oughtn't to be offered something
to drink."
 
 

Tolkien sets new record
By Laura Smith, Evening Standard
15 September 2003
Epic trilogy The Lord Of The Rings is the subject of the Science
Museum's most popular exhibition ever staged - before it has even
opened.
More than 14,000 tickets, worth £150,000, have already been sold for
the show which opens tomorrow.
 
It lifts the lid on the science and special effects behind the films
of JRR Tolkien's Middle Earth. Visitors will also see the costumes,
including the flowing robes of Princess Arwen, played by Liv Tyler,
and the downsized outfits of the hobbits.
 
On the gory side are severed orc heads, wizened feet, ears and teeth
and intricate armour and weapons used in the films' many battle
scenes.
 
Two models - a five-metre high Cave Troll and a life-size Boromir
(played by Sean Bean on film) were specially made for the
exhibition.
 
An interactive exhibit explains how the characters appear to be
different heights, and there are also demonstrations using computer
generated images. Fans can even "morph" into a hobbit and take home a
souvenir photograph.
 
Richard Taylor - who won two Oscars for the films' special effects
and make-up - oversaw the transfer of the exhibition from the
National Museum of New Zealand.
 
Organisers hope some of the actors will visit when the final film in
the trilogy opens in December. The exhibition runs until 11 January.

Opening hours have been extended to 9pm at weekends but advance
booking is advised.
 
 
More Press Stories here




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