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Science, fiction
The Lord of the Rings takes to the museums
BY MIKE MILIARD

The fantasy world of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy exists far from the realm of science. Middle Earth was conjured from the right side of the brain — the study of ancient languages and folklore, a fertile imagination — rather than from the left-brain rigors of experimental inquiry and technical innovation. But director Peter Jackson’s epic film adaptations of Tolkien’s novels relied heavily on technological ingenuity to bring that mythical terrain and the fantastic creatures who populate it to life. "The Lord of the Rings Motion Picture Trilogy — The Exhibition," a traveling show that opens at the Museum of Science on Sunday (bright and early; see below) and runs through October 24, explains how.

Conceived in New Zealand, where The Lord of the Rings was filmed, the exhibition features hundreds of props from the movie: weaponry, suits of armor, and other artifacts used by men and hobbits and elves and dwarves alike. And, yes, the One Ring, gleaming with silent menace, is there too. "They’re directly from the films," says the show’s content coordinator, Robin Doty. "We discuss the origins of a lot of the pieces, what it took to make them, the research that went into them."

(What with the ring and all, you can understand why security is so tight. An official disclaimer reads: "No cameras, strollers, bags of any kind, or mobile phones are permitted . . . [and] no weaponry associated with the films’ characters will be allowed in the exhibition.")

But it’s the interactive aspects that sound like the most fun. Demonstrating the technology needed for a movie where "some of your characters are four feet two inches tall and some of them are nine feet tall, and they need to appear that way in the same scenes with each other," one exhibit plays with scale, transforming two same-sized museumgoers into a computerized image where "one of them now is approximately hobbit-sized, and the other one is now wizard-sized." Another showcases the computer-generated technology used to conceive characters like the fire-breathing Balrog — there’s a hand-held scanner that can alter a three-dimensional representation of a patron’s face so as to render his or her visage as CGI monstrosity. Still another, Doty explains, provides virtual-reality extreme makeovers. "The visitor can pick up a shield and a sword made of soft foam, and the camera, with the aid of software, uses the live action of the visitor to portray an orc or an elf or some other fantastical creature wielding the shield and the sword."

Other treats scattered throughout the show’s run include a metallurgy discussion and combat demonstration by folks from Worcester’s Higgins Armory Museum; an orc make-up demonstration; and a workshop with Tony Wolf, who choreographed the films’ battle scenes. "It’s probably the first time the museum has hosted a fantasy exhibition," Doty says. "The whole idea is to compare our science, if you will, here on real earth, with the "science" of Middle Earth. It gives a springboard for understanding our own world by looking at it in comparison to The Lord of the Rings.

"I read the books æons ago, when I was in high school, and fell in love with the story then, and I was very happy that Peter Jackson did such a fine job of bringing them to the screen. When you grow up with this story, it’s in your mind — and that’s a wonderful place for it to be. But [at the museum] you jump into the films and get to see some of your imagination realized. You really get a sense of being as close as you will ever be to the reality of Middle Earth. It’s kind of magical."

"The Lord of the Rings Motion Picture Trilogy — The Exhibition" opens this Sunday, August 1, at 12:01 a.m.; admission is discounted to $5 until 8:45 a.m., and visitors are encouraged to come in costume. The exhibition runs through Sunday October 24; admission will be by timed ticket only and will include a separate ticket for General Admission Hall admission which may be used within six months of its purchase. Tickets are $19 for adults and $16 for children. The Museum of Science is at Science Park in Boston; call (617) 723-2500.


Issue Date: July 30 - August 5, 2004
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