Forged in Fire: New ‘Lord of the Rings’ Teaser Features Molten Metal, No CGI
Amazon Studios’ new series The Rings of Power just released an epic new teaser made entirely with practical effects. Screenshot from YouTube.
Fans of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy have just eight more months to wait until they can embark on another adventure. Amazon Studios just released a first look at the title sequence for its upcoming Lord of the Rings series, The Rings of Power, and the stunning footage was made entirely with old-school movie magic.
The minutelong title sequence is full of molten metals pouring through letters carved into a thick slice of redwood while nostalgic Middle-earth music tugs on the heartstrings of fans of the Peter Jackson films. The red-hot metal snakes through the grooves as sparks, smoke, and steam dance along. It’s hard to believe the visually stunning effect was made without computer-generated imaging, which is probably why IGN put out a behind-the-scenes companion video showing how the teaser was produced.
The Rings of Power will take place during the Second Age of Middle-earth, thousands of years before The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. According to showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay: “The Rings of Power unites all the major stories of Middle-earth’s Second Age: the forging of the rings, the rise of the Dark Lord Sauron, the epic tale of Númenor, and the Last Alliance of Elves and Men.”
If the immense effort put into creating the title sequence without CGI is any indicator of the series’ quality, it appears the fate of Tolkien’s epic fantasy is in good hands.
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Mac Caltrider is a senior staff writer for Coffee or Die Magazine. He served in the US Marine Corps and is a former police officer. Caltrider earned his bachelor’s degree in history and now reads anything he can get his hands on. He is also the creator of Pipes & Pages, a site intended to increase readership among enlisted troops. Caltrider spends most of his time reading, writing, and waging a one-man war against premature hair loss.
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