In the age of computer graphics, Prime Video's The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power chose to make a practical title sequence.
The footage showcases foggy landscapes, molten liquid snaking down paths and water washing over it as a voiceover recalls the story about the Keepers of the Three Rings. Given the speculation about the massive budget for The Rings of Power, it wouldn't have been surprising to learn that this was done using the best CGI, but choosing not to was a calculated decision. "I always try to find an organic -- or analog -- solution instead of the knee-jerk reaction to use computer graphics," special effects advisor Douglas Trumbull told IGN. "The reason for this is: every time I try this, I get some delightful result that is, in some respects, unexpected. There are magical things that happen in nature -- gravity, fluids, lighting -- that one couldn't really design using computer graphics."
Everything isn't as it seems in the title sequence. The hills and valleys are actually sustainably sourced redwood and the water is molten metal. The idea behind the use of the molten metal was to give it a "burbling" effect because there are things in nature, like fluid dynamics, that are difficult to digitally replicate and because the rendering process can take days. It wasn't just the materials used in front of the camera that made the difference, however.
The production used the Phantom Flex 4K camera to pull off this practical magic achievement, and director Klaus Obermeyer explained that it was the only camera capable of shooting at a high enough frame rate. "We wanted to capture something that was not visible with the human eye," he said. "The molten metal, and its characteristics, are made exceptionally fascinating when you shoot ultra-slow motion which enables you to see the swelling, cooling and undulation and energy of the molten metal in a way that you could never experience with normal human perception."
The synopsis for The Rings of Power describes an epic tale that takes place thousands of years before the events of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. In this time, great villains threaten to cover the world in darkness and heroes new and old will be tested as kingdoms rise and fall. Some of the confirmed lands include the Misty Mountains, the elf-capital of Lindon and the island kingdom of Númenor. Amazon has already committed to multiple seasons of the series, which was announced in 2017.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power premieres Friday, Sept. 2 on Prime Video.