Impact of the proposed Amazon Project on the Silm Film Project

[Rob Harding]

Yeah multiple timelines would be a way to handle that.

I think time compression would be easier than shifting focus. I think by moving around in time too much you risk losing stakes and drama. It’s seems a hard trick to pull off. Or you lean into it and it becomes the entire premise in a Cloud Atlas sort of way which also doesn’t feel right

 

[Haakon]

It’s obviously something people feel differently about. I’m watching Foundation right now which focuses on one time setting but keeps jumping back to various times of relevance. I think it works fine. In The Witcher, they play a more dangerous game, with multiple timelines that keeps the viewer a bit uncertain and demands a level of attention on detail. Going too far in that direction risks causing confusion. Anyway, jumping back and forth doesn’t have to spoil things or cause loss of stakes; that’s a matter of storytelling details.

 

[Haakon]

Isildur speculation here

Rumours are our Maeglin is to play Isildur.

 

[Rob Harding]

It’s obviously something people feel differently about. I’m watching Foundation right now which focuses on one time setting but keeps jumping back to various times of relevance. I think it works fine. In The Witcher, they play a more dangerous game, with multiple timelines that keeps the viewer a bit uncertain and demands a level of attention on detail. Going too far in that direction risks causing confusion. Anyway, jumping back and forth doesn’t have to spoil things or cause loss of stakes; that’s a matter of storytelling details.

Ah I really want to see Foundation. I heard it was focusing on one time period rather than the leaps of the book. It does help the book is intentionally structured so the jumps form the narrative. That’s what I meant about Cloud Atlas. I think as long as the jumps serve the story and actually speak to the drama and action (if that makes sense), if the sense of history ENHANCES the stakes (as an audience we see what MUST be done to prevent our future heroes suffering down the road, or we have the dramatic irony of knowing something doesn’t work out) then that’s great. As long as it’s not solely for the sake of juggling too much.

 

[Haakon]

I think the story of the making of the rings is going to be told in flashbacks. We will get a main story of Numenor before they defeat Sauron, and then follow the timeline to the end of the Age and the catastrophe on the Gladden fields.