Dark have been my dreams of late...

     Bernard Hill ~ King Theoden.

     Bernard Hill was very hesitant about taking the role of King Theoden at first.  He had only seen a basic script and was not sure how much substance his character would have.  Writers Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens assured him that the character would be worthwhile as the script developed.  "The experience of playing this character and doing these movies far exceeded anything I could have imagined.  They didn't let me down."

     The horse motif is engraved on the inside of King Theoden's breast-plate so it was the last thing the actor would see before slipping into his role.  The Golden Hall of Edoras had several influences in it's making such as the Heorot hall in Beowulf, Beorn's Hall in The Hobbit as well as wooden historic buildings from both Japan and Norway.   

     The make-up for the horses was done so well that when the horses for the Ringwraiths were taken off the truck at their first location, the on site vet was horrified thinking that something terrible had happened to them.  Some of the horses even had their own scale doubles such as the horse pulling Gandalf's cart and Bill the Pony.

     There were about 40 models of dead horses made by the Art Department for certain after-battle scenes costing about $2000 each.  One of the model horses ended up being lost in a freak accident during the burning of a Rohan village.  One of the fires blazed more than expected and set the fake horse alight.

     Two Andalusian horses were chosen to play Shadowfax.  In some scenes there were as many as 250 horses at once being used.  Seventy hand-made embossed and carved saddles were created for the films.

     Edoras was built on a 600 meter high hill called Mount Sunday.  The hill was originally used as a meeting spot for sheep herders and horse wranglers (usually on Sundays).  The set took 6 months to build and after filming, it took another 6 months to return the site to it's original condition.  Even delicate plant life was covered to protect it from film crews so the different location's original natural state would be preserved.

     Conceptual artist Alan Lee was also injured during the shoot.  He stepped back on a section of the set in Rivendell that had not been reinforced yet, fell and broke his arm.  He has two cameos in the films: first being one of the 9 Kings in the prologue of The Fellowship and again in the armory at Helm's Deep, collecting weapons to the left when Aragorn yells, "Then I shall die as one of them!"

The Weta mascot, Gemma guarding the Helm's Deep miniature set.  Apparently during the shoot, Gemma enjoyed chewing and eating the gelatin Elf ears.

     Director, Peter Jackson on the second installment of the trilogy: "The Two Towers refers to the tower or Orthanc, which is where Saruman is based, and the tower of Barad-dur, the home of Sauron, and the two are in alliance.  It's a story of genocide to some degree, of these two evil forces deciding that the race of man, mankind itself, must be eliminated from the face of the earth.  And they attempt to do that."  It has been said that Peter Jackson can be seen wearing chainmail at Helm's Deep throwing a rock (or a spear - fans differ).  The word Orc comes from the name Orcus - the Roman god of the underworld (which is also the Latin word for Hell.)

     On the CG battle characters, Massive technical director Geoff Tobin: "Each of these guys has an AI brain.  One part of the brain decided which action to do based on what he's currently doing, what he's allowed to do and the other brain modules feed into that, giving him information about what kind of terrain he's on, the enemies that are around him, the allies that are around him, navigation...In a way, they're not so different from real extras."

     Massive creator Stephen Regelous: "Each 'agent' has their own personality traits such as boldness, aggressiveness, cowardliness, etc.  There are parameters as to how dirty they are, how tall they are, how weary they are - so there are many ways that each of these agents can behave and be unique entities."

     Some of the costumes provided to be a challenge to the extras in the films.  Extras Casting Co-ordinator Miranda Rivers explains, "We had extras running up and down seriously uneven hillsides in armour they could scarcely see out of, carrying swords that were so heavy they could hardly hold them, doing their best not to trip over the tree roots!  Occasionally an Orc who had spikes on the knee-pieces of his armour would fall over, stab himself into the ground and not be able to get up again.  Totally out of Orc character, you'd hear a pitiful voice call out: 'Can somebody help me, please?' And we'd be yelling: 'Improvise!  Play dead!'"  There were so many extras used in the sequences at Helms Deep, and the filming went for so many months that almost all the extras and principle actors got t-shirts reading: "I survived Helms Deep."

Where now is the horse and the rider?  Where is the horn that was blowing?  Where is the helm and the hauberk, and the bright hair flowing?  Where is the hand on the harpstring, and the red fire glowing?  Where is the spring and the harvest and the tall corn growing?

They have passed like rain on the mountain, like a wind in the meadow;  The days have gone down in the West behind the hills into shadow.  Who shall gather the smoke of the dead wood burning, Or behold the flowing years from the Sea returning?  ~Lament of the Rohirrim.

     More cameos: Peter Jackson's children appear as "cute Rohan refugee children" and Art Director, Dan Hennah is getting suited up in the armory at Helm's Deep past Aragorn's right shoulder after Legolas says, "They're frightened - I can see it in their eyes."

     The battle of Helm's Deep was edited down from twenty hours of footage, shot over a three month period with a rain machine battering down on the cast.  Some sound effects during the battle came from a stadium filled with 25,000 cricket fans in Wellington.  The audience was directed to chant, stamp their feet, slap their chests, and whisper (for Fangorn Forest).

From dark Dunharrow in the dim morning
with thane and captain rode Thengel's son:
to Edoras he came, the ancient halls
of the Mark-wardens mist-enshrouded;
golden timbers were in gloom mantled.

Farewell he bade to his free people,
hearth and high-seat, and the hallowed places,
where long he had feasted ere the light faded.

Forth rode the king, fear behind him,
fate before him.  Fealty kept he;
oaths he had taken, all fulfilled them.

Forth rode Theoden.  Five nights and days
east and onward rode the Eorlingas
through Folde and Fenmarch and the Firienwood,
six thousand spears to Sunlending,
Mundburg the mighty under Mindolluin,
Sea-kings' city in the South-kingdom
foe-beleaguered, fire-encircled.

Doom drove them on.  Darkness took them,
horse and horseman;  hoofbeats afar
sank into silence: so the song tells us.

~Lament for Theoden.

"The battle of Helm's Deep is over.  The battle for Middle Earth is about to begin."

   

The background on this page is from:

Images from The Two Towers at OneRing.net

   

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