I never really worried that we'd get it all done. I just wondered if we'd still be standing at the end of it all.

Over the holiday weekend I sat down and watched all the special features on the Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers Extended Edition. Like the same features on the Fellowship DVD I was absolutely blown away by the scale of the production that went into these movies.

When we think about all the work that goes into movies we tend to think of the actors, and the writers, and the directors, and occasionally even the lighting and set guys. But these movies stretch it to another level. Unlike some filmmakers (aka George Lucas) Peter Jackson tries to do as much as possible in the real world. They build sets on location, they use miniatures (some aren't so small at 30+ feet tall.) And most importantly they build a ton of props and sets with more detail then I can imagine. I marvel when I hear the designers talking about how they delve into each individual culture and select themes that they follow throughout their weapons, armor, clothing, art, and architecture. It's remarkable.

Then to see similar attention to detail in the sound, music, foley, editing, cgi work, armorsmiths, makeup, swordsmiths, and more. Not to mention the two guys that spent three years putting chain mail together. By the end of that they had worn off their fingerprints.

Perhaps my favorite thing about these features is they include more aspects of the production then you're used to seeing. There are a lot of unsung hero's that go into a masterpiece film like Lord of the Rings, and I'm sure these DVD's don't cover lots of them. But they cover more then we're used to seeing, and it gives me an appreciation for the vast amount of work that goes into a major film. What amazes me msot is all those talented people come together, work extremely hard, and somehow the whole thing fits together spectacularly in the end.

The Return of the King is just a few weeks away and I am anxiously looking forward to it...

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