Passage of Time

Phillip Menzies

Moderator
Staff member
I was going back to the source material, "The Shaping of Middle Earth", specifically "The Annals of Valinor" and noted that huge amounts of time pass in what will be the first season. The years given here are our years not Valian Years.
Year 0 the creation of Arda
Year 5,000 Melkor destroys the lamps
Year 20,000 Varda makes the stars and the elves wake
Does anyone have any ideas on how to convey this passage of time through the script? I think the hosts have made it pretty clear that they do not want to have an extreme case of compression of time.
 
Wanted to point out that Varda makes the stars well before the Shaping of Middle Earth, but I think makes the constellations around the time of the waking of the children? Certainly I recall her making more stars around that time.

I know there's been a lot of discussion about "voice overs", but I really think the only way to do this justice is either to break back into the frame narrative and discuss the issue of time passing, or mention it in a voice over with a short montage highlighting what we're supposed to understand is going on during these periods. As mentioned, what goes on during these periods isn't nothing, it should be addressed and represented, either visually or through exposition. I am particularly loathe to the idea that ANY compression should happen with large time-lapses. If for the sake of an individual episode, moments that might otherwise be slightly seperated might be thrown together doesn't bother me so much, but some of the mechanical "the Valar labored long in the shaping of Arda" should just be montage broken up by relevant character moments.
 
Back
Top