Fans are showing excitement as they’re all about to revisit Middle-earth once again, with The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power on the horizon. At the same time, they’re curious to see how Amazon would pull it off as The Lord of the Rings franchise has one of the most well-detailed and designed landscapes ever seen on screen.
Now, people working behind the scenes have revealed that over 10,000 VFX shots were used to recreate the fantasy world for the upcoming series.
VFX producer, Ron Ames, told Variety that over 20 visual effects studios were involved in what has to be one of the most expensive TV projects out there. Around 1500 VFX artists were hired to recreate Tolkien’s world that people fell in love with. Some of the big companies involved in the fantasy spin-off are Weta FX (Thor: Love and Thunder), DNEG (Doctor Who), and Industrial Light & Magic (Obi-Wan Kenobi).
According to Ames, he says that the eight-hour series is “designed to play like a theatrical experience” and that despite the screen limitations, it would feel like you were watching the series on an IMAX screen.
“Our target was the 65-inch screen at home, but we made it so that it would play technically beautifully in everything up to an IMAX screen. It is finished to a theatrical resolution.”
In a previous interview, series director, J. A. Bayona, said that he wanted to “capture Tolkien’s spirit” when directing the series and that he wanted to make sure that he doesn’t over-rely on this new film technology.
The Rings of Power is set to be Amazon’s biggest gamble in the streaming wars as the company spent over $1 billion to earn the rights and produce the series. The show is set before the events of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings and has critics impressed on Rotten Tomatoes. Viewers old and new are invited to enter Middle-earth once more as the two-episode premiere comes out today on Amazon Prime video.