Mythmoot IV SilmFilm panel

Yes, i can understand you better. But theres an annoying humming when i listen weith my big speakers... it#s better with the small PC speakers, but its far less clear
 
I think I'm plenty loud, so I don't see the problem :p Sorry, the talks weren't officially taped, so we only have this because Nick set it up.

Here is a write-up of the conference by Kelly Orazi, though, which I think is pertinent to the Silm Film project:

http://www.themiddlepage.net/2017/06/mythmoot-invoking-wonder-storytelling.html

You'll note that the emphasis from Verlyn Flieger's talk was on how Tolkien creates a sense of wonder by having the reader experience the wonder of the character, rather than simply by describing something wonderful. While it is true that we would rely on sets and props to give us some really fantastic looking Two Trees and silmarils and swanships, it is also true that we will have to have the viewer experience these items through the eyes of the characters if they are to be truly wonderful. A talkative character becoming uncharacteristically quiet in the presence of something that inspires awe would do a lot more to convince the audience than simply showing something awe-inspiring. We really do have to give thought not just to establishing shots, but to how a place will be introduced.

Henneth Annun (the Window on the West) and the Glittering Caves of Aglarond are not the most beautiful places ever written about - but the characters who see them for the first time and tell us about them manage to inspire a sense of beauty so that these places stick in our minds and imaginations as something wondrous. Good luck duplicating that magic in an adaptation....

I would say that this scene very much falls short of what is written in the book, and most likely for the reason that though we are meant to see it through Sam's eyes, we are instead invited to look at it from the point of view of the non-responsive Frodo - and so, we don't believe it.
 
@MithLuin

Well you still have to consider i'm not a native speaker, so I'm not fluent in understanding too and an echo or humming can easily distract someone like me.
 
"100% more Silmarils" XD

I can't tell you how exciting it is to find people who are trying to do this. great talk, btw, both of you!

I had some thoughts on Melkor roaming free, and how even the Valar themselves may have been misled by his apparent intentions (maybe I won't repeat something someone else said, it was kindof difficult to hear some of them):

to begin with, it would surely take more than words to convince the Valar that Melkor was truly repentant, and I would not expect any but the most contrite, emotional and eloquently moving apology with not so much as a hint of insincerity to pass the test - and Ulmo for one would remain unconvinced, if only because he had seen (or maybe tasted) the most of what Melkor had previously been up to in the deepest, darkest, most hidden places of the world. but even after untold ages of struggles in which countless and irreplaceable works had been marred or destroyed, perhaps many of the Valar still had some hope for him, that he might regain some of the splendor he had in the beginning - if not from a former feeling of kinship, then from of a sense of respect and possibly even awe of the works he was still able to perform and submit as abundant evidence of his repentance. it may be that in addition to greatly advancing the Noldorin arts, some of the most surpassing and enduring treasures of Valinor are attributable to Melkor himself - the kind of works that may later be viewed as a paradox, or a painful, even shameful truth that can't be fully effaced for all the things that have been built upon it.

Melkor's works could be used to potentially illustrate at least two important lessons:

one, that works of lasting greatness and beauty can sometimes be created by evil minds, even through guilty knowledge and methods, and with wicked intentions, begging the question of when does the price outweigh the benefit and vice-versa, if at all; and when should such works should be preserved or destroyed. when good and evil exist side-by-side, sometimes they can be judged separately - but sometimes one is really an aspect of the other.

two, even the most seemingly innocent works are capable of concealing deadly poison. there was a comment about a sword used in the kin-slaying which I didn't catch all of; but bloodthirsty swords, or other cursed objects, are only the most obvious ways that this could be demonstrated... I would almost think that Melkor's slow-poisoning of the Noldor could fill out an entire season, whether or not that's literally the way it's being handled.

if it were possible to arrive at the lesson that 'not everything can be justified in the pursuit of knowledge', it would be a very relevant lesson for us, if not also for young Aragorn - but it's probably Sauron who would best demonstrate these kinds of lessons.

definitely looking forward to talking more with you guys :)
 
Firstly, welcome aboard! Secondly, our most humble thanks.

As to your thoughts on Melkor, they are not far away from where we landed. We wanted to show the great potential that Manwë and the other Valar could see in Melkor as part of the reason they felt it necessary to give his repentance a chance.
 
Hello there, and glad you've found this project entertaining thus far!

Very good thoughts about the nature of creation and evil. Tolkien would probably hold that a completely depraved creature would be incapable of creating anything beautiful, but a fallen, formerly-good, not-quite-completely-fallen creature likely could have works of beauty. We are going to show Fëanor full of arrogance (and the genius to justify it, but still) before he ever makes the silmarils, but it is only later that he falls into evil and madness. Likewise, Melkor-in-Valinor is guilty of many crimes, but he has not yet taken the final step towards being irredeemable that will happen when he destroys the Trees and becomes locked in his tyrant of Angband form (at the end of Season 2). So, we have room to play with the different stages in their downward spiral.
 
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