Screenwriting, Lyrics, Art, and Investigation
On the left is the encaustic I made as a tap pull for the carbonated water line. On the right is the piece coated in epoxy and mounted on the spigot. It was a great first experiment, but I’m already working on an improved version.
Episode Two of The Rings of Power continues at the Harfoot encampment.
FOUR (CONT.)
The Harfoots notice that Nori is missing.
Cut back to her and The Giant. When she asks about “his kind” he takes a stick and draws in the dirt.
SWITCH
(Here it is! I just needed a little patience.)
Back to the Harfoots straining to raise a tent. Nori’s father (Largo) pushes on a beam held by a rope that finally snaps, as does Largo’s ankle. Poppy runs up to get Nori. The Giant screams in frustration that they can’t understand his meaning.
Continue reading “Adrift (Part Two)”Episode Two of The Rings of Power . . .
ONE
Galadriel, abandoned in the sea, still treads water. With nothing in sight on the horizon, she starts to swim.
Nori stands at the edge of the fiery crater. A man with grizzled hair and beard, naked but for a loincloth, lies in the blaze. Poppy, rushing up to chastise Nori, accidentally pushes her over the slope. The flames are not hot, and Nori approaches “the giant”. She boops his cheek. With a horror-startle, he quickly grabs her hand and rises from the ash. Magical winds and a soul-long look between Nori and The Giant stop when he collapses. She insists that Poppy help her carry the stranger somewhere safe.
TWO
Sadoc, holding a lantern, comes to see what fell to earth. He anticipates a bad omen. He misses Nori and Poppy pushing The Giant over the hill behind him in a wheelbarrow. As the girls argue over what this man is — not human, not elf — they let go of the cart and it starts to roll backward. (The image of an oversized man in a rustic wagon rolling down a hill is played for humor.) Cut to him settled, asleep, under a tree. Nori explains that The Giant, who could’ve fallen to earth anywhere, seems like her responsibility. She was meant to find him. Poppy agrees to keep him a secret.
THREE
Dissolve to Bronwyn and Arondir in the burnt village. They find no bodies. Under a ruined house is a dug passage. Arondir will follow it. Bronwyn will go home to warn her people. Before parting, they share a longing glance.
Continue reading “Adrift (Part One)”
This is the version I entered into my gaming guild’s contest. I can’t say it’s my favorite of the series, but the original screenshot was the clearest and most representative of ESO. We can sort of see the Medusa-like monster outside the glass, which is what I wanted.
Finishing Episode One of The Rings of Power . . .
SWITCH
While looking at a statue of her brother, Galadriel sheathes her dagger. Elrond approaches her with gentle congratulations of the honor to return home.
(The grove has heroic statues carved in the trunk of every living tree.)
Galadriel expected to become one of these statues, but instead she’s to be sent away. She decides she will refuse this “reward”.
(“You have not seen what I have seen,” Galadriel says to Elrond as explanation why she can’t stop hunting Sauron. Well, we haven’t seen it, either. We desperately need more show and less tell.)
FIVE
Putting up a convincing argument, Elrond asks if another dead orc will bring her peace? Will she lead more elves to die and become statues? Turning down the call to Valinor means it will never come again and she’ll be an outcast, left behind.
Continue reading “A Shadow of the Past (Part Three)”A continuing look at episode one of The Rings of Power . . .
ONE
Credits and a map. We’ve shifted to a new storyline.
Two hunters, laden with carcasses, walk through a field. Hearing something, one warns the other of a Harfoot. They continue on, and a small smiling person with a hay-covered hat rises from the grass and watches them leave. An entire community of Harfoots (Harfeet?) comes out of hiding. They have bare, hairy feet; these, presumably are our proto-Hobbits.
TWO
They unveil their encampment, bringing out baskets of food and uncovering their wagons. The leader consults a tome and determines these hunters are a bad omen. A mother and father worry about their wandering daughter, Nori.
THREE
Cut to Nori and Poppy (an instant reminder of Frodo and Sam). They lead the younger children on an adventure.
Continue reading “A Shadow of the Past (Part Two)”Shall we look at The Rings of Power? Season One impressed me as a flawed, ambitious project. I want the show to succeed, and I’m willing to give it latitude to develop its themes.
However, the reviews were brutal. I’m curious. Is the show a structural boondoggle? Do the characters ignore their motivations? Is tRoP actually terrible?
The episodes are long, so I’ll partition them. Let’s begin.
LEFTOVER NINE
A child Galadriel folds a parchment boat. Other children (dressed like creepy Logan’s Run extras) demean her efforts. When the floating boat magically unfolds into a paper swan, the children sink it with rocks. Galadriel jumps on the loudest offender, but is stopped by her grown brother. He gives her a wise elvish pep talk.
Continue reading “A Shadow of the Past (Part One)”
One of my guilds is running a contest for an ESO-inspired piece of art. This is my first attempt, something that allowed me to practice perspective. Doomchar is a house you can own in-game. I used a greenhouse as my tableau, posed a screenshot picture, and went from there. I figured, let’s do more undersea fish art! It’s as good a reason as any to be inspired.