The following contains spoilers for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 1, Episode 6, "Udûn."
Charlotte Brändström, director of The Rings of Power's sixth episode, "Udûn," says that she studied volcanoes to make the surprise depiction of Mount Doom's eruption more realistic.
After a long and massive battle, the episode showcased the birth of the infamous Mount Doom. The scene marked one of the most pivotal moments in Middle-earth's history when the human traitor Waldreg (Geoff Morrell) used Sauron's blade/key, initiating the volcano-erupting geological disaster. In an interview with Variety, Brändström expressed that, while getting the opportunity to direct such a significant event was amazing, there were significant challenges in making the volcanic eruption look and feel realistic in terms of special effects and stunt work. "I just thought, wow, this is just a director’s dream," she said. "The pressure was about trying to succeed in making it as good as possible. It was a lot of hard work, mixing special effects and visual effects and real stunts and a lot of hard work from the crew."
Creating Mount Doom's Fateful Fiery Birth
To tackle this important task of adding realism to the eruptive sequence, Brändström closely examined real-life natural disasters across history to ensure that the ash and smoke being funneled out of the volcano came across as realistic as possible. "I studied every volcanic eruption you can think of," Brändström said. "We looked into formations of ash clouds, everything from the Pompeii eruption to what happened in New Zealand a few years ago, in the Canary Islands, in Italy."
Luckily for the director, the birth of Mount Doom was one of the few moments in "Udûn" to take place during the day. The remainder of the episode was shot during New Zealand's cold winter nights, which made producing the battle sequence a waking nightmare. "We lived in mud and rain for months," Brändström recalled. "We had seven weeks of just night shooting. I never saw the light of day. I would come home, go to bed and get up when it was night. It was just night all the time."
Taking place thousands of years before the events of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power brings the major moments of Middle-earth's frequently referenced Second Age to life. Notably, the show aims to cover the creation of the Rings of Power, the Dark Lord Sauron's eventual ascension, the fall of the island kingdom of Númenor, along with the elves and humankind's final alliance over the course of its initial eight episodes.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is available on Prime Video, with new episodes released every Friday.
Source: Variety