Gollum's Debates

My dad and my brother recently went to go watch The Hobbit in the movie theaters. It seemed to have spur some desire to watch the Lord of the Rings trilogy over again. So, Lord of the Rings was constantly on for a while, and I had nothing better to do so I watched the series all over again too. Gollum's little debates with himself have always been funny to me, and I figured that I could do a media blog about the camera angles and how they affected the scene. 

In the first clip, which is in the second movie, Gollum debates his feeling towards Frodo and Sam. I think it's interesting how the director made it seem like Gollum was divided into to different people, the one on the left side and the one on the right side. It's almost like the angel and the devil on Gollum's shoulders, fighting over what should be done. It's also interesting how Gollum's face seems to change as each angle is shown. On the right side, Gollum seems like a sweet and cute creature, while on the left he looks evil and creepy. At the end, when Gollum finally makes up his mind and tells his left side to never come back, the camera goes from right to left once again, but left side Gollum does not return. This shows that his "left side Gollum" has disappeared.

In the third movie, Gollum has another debate with himself, but this time his evil side gets the better of him. Instead of moving the camera from the left to the right of Gollum, the camera focuses on Gollum, who is above, and Gollum's reflection, which is below. By changing the angle of the camera, the audience feels which Gollum is good and which is evil, even though at the end Gollum is all evil.

The director also sets a mood in each scene, which could almost foreshadow the end of his debate. In the second film when Gollum has his debate, the lighting is bright. It's not completely sunny, but there is more of a brightness then what is shown in the third. Because of the light, a feeling of hope and possibility is given off in the first Gollum scene. In the second, the sky and the surrounding space is dark. Clouds fill the and block the light from shining. This shows that the outcome of Gollum's debate isn't going to be good, and that evil will come back into him, even though he asked it to never come back. By using different angles and lighting, the director has given the audience an easier way to interpret the scene, and to feel Gollum's emotions.