[HCIsland]

I've always though that Lord of the Rings would make an awesome three year run television series. So many of the chapters are somewhat episodic in nature anyway and it would give you the time to explore the character, plot and world at a much more leisurely pace than you would get in a movie. <P>Production costs would obviously be an issue, but with the way digital effects are becoming more and more available to modestly priced projects (look at all the sci-fi/fantasy productions that are on cable channels now) I think a day will come when it will be within reach.<P>Actually, about a month or so ago on a Saturday afternoon, I sat down to play with writing a script for that very thing, just for fun. I began ploting out the first few episodes which would expand on lots of stuff that is only dealt with in passing in the books (Gandalf, Aragorn and Gollum; Boromir, Faramir and the dream; etc.) but when I started writing I only got to the end of the first act when I realized that there was a bigger issue to deal with and that was Jackson's film. <P>The begining of the second act of the first episode would be Gandalf's arrival and then would move into the party and I realized that, although I could change dialogue and plot from the film, visually I couldn't imagine how it could be better. Maybe I'm reaching the end of my limited imagination, but I couldn't shake those visuals from Jackson's film of Gandalf arriving, of he and Bilbo in Bag End, of Gandalf and Bilbo smoking before the start of the party. I'm not sure it could be done better, and so I stopped.<P>If there ever is going to be a series, I think it would have to be a long way off just so people could begin to shaking the images from the movie.<P>For those interested, here's my <A HREF="http://www.geocities.com/hcisland/lotr.htm" TARGET=_blank>script</A>. I think you can see how you can take your time with it, introducing the characters and story more slowly. Before anyone mentions it, I did take some liberties. Most of the scenes did not appear in the book, I aged Pippin because I wanted to have the four hobbits interacting in the first act and I did transplant a bit of dialogue.<P>Maybe I'll pick it up again, but for now I'm thinking what might be more fun is writing a movie script for Beren and Luthein from The Silmarilion. Of all the chapters in that book, I've always thought that one would make an amazing stand alone movie. It's something that I'll keep picking at in my spare time.<P>H.C.<p>[ April 12, 2003: Message edited by: HCIsland ]