Critique of Lord Of The Rings The Return Of The King- Mt Doom

This scene is my second choice for a multiple reasons. not only is the camera work simple but effective, but its the depth of emotion in the actors that support the camera work. In this scene we see Frodo after walking across the whole of Middle Earth preparing to throw the ring into the lava from which the ring was made. This is all happening while the rest of the fellowship are fighting

Saurons army outside the black gate in a last ditch effort to distract them away from Frodo's mission.

Instantly when watching this scene you can see a variety of different camera shots. Some are CGI but they are done to mimic the real shots. But those that really stand out to me are the real ones that focus on the expressions of the characters and their struggles at this point in the film.

One of my favorite shots is the close up of Frodo as he contemplates keeping the ring. The close up brings together the turmoil between throwing and keeping it. Obviously its focused solely on Elijah Woods performance as Frodo but the camera captures the intricate details like the way his eyes gloss and focus on the ring forgetting almost everything else. Multiple different types of close up and medium shots are used solely on Elijah and the decision, because of its significance to the movie.

Very quickly after this scene Golem appears and successfully removes the ring from Frodo's invisible hand by biting his ring finger. The shots that are used for this scene is interesting as technically they are not done with only camera but also with CGI. While some of these scenes are CGI some are a mixture so i have decided to count it. The particular shot of Golem biting of Frodo's finger is a brilliant example as it combines CGI and real acting from Elijah Wood with a great panning close up shot that captures Frodo's emotion as his finger is bitten off at that very second. 

Watching the scene over and over the order of the shots have been specifically chosen to try and convey the struggle between the desire in Frodo to keep the ring and the choice to throw it away. 

The other key things that surround the scene is the sound effects that they are using. In several of the scenes its mostly the sound of bubbling lav, miniature lava explosions and gusting winds flowing in the volcano. These all add to the overall atmosphere of the scene and make it look and feel highly realistic.