The special effects and camera work make the film

Rating: 10/10 (9 December 2013)

J.R.R. Tolkien, when he wrote this story, re-wrote fantasy. His character design of Elves, Dwarfs, Wizards, Orcs, and Demons revolutionized the fantasy genre. Because of him, Elves are no longer small, have pointy ears, are green, and always play pranks. Instead, now they are tall, mysterious, and are looked up to for wisdom and guidance. Everything made post- LOTR has been influenced by J.R.R Tolkien. It shows even now, with The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (often compared with The Lord of The Rings), Skyrims' character designs are similar, because it was influenced by J.R.R Tolkien's characters, and his re-design of fantasy.
Although the books that the movies are based on sends this message, the art direction and special effects in the movie give an amazing visual representation of the complete fantasy over-haul in LOTR. With the Elves, in the forest when we first see them in their lands, there is a fog in the forest, and the Elves are walking gracefully, and they are emitting light. The special effects in this scene set a mood of the scene and make the elves look elegant, reserved, and mystical. The special effects are amazing, not only in this scene, but during most of the movies. During the entire trilogy, the Eye of Sauron is the antagonist, and an evil that is just effects. The special effects in all of the Mount Doom scenes, whenever there is one, looks dark, sharp, fiery, and down-right evil. The CGI and special effects in these scenes are very well done in the LOTR, because they are main villain of the trilogy. Saurons' eye is all special effects, and is very good at setting the evil mood of the movie, from when we first see him, to when he is destroyed, the mood is that of darkness, corrupted power, and being scared but brave.
But of coarse, all the special effects in the world couldn't make these movies what they are today without the amazing directing. The film crew, producers, and directors who made this movie used camera angles, pans, zoom, and framing throughout the movies to set mood as well. Hero shots, landscape pans, and visual tricks were all in the movie to create certain visual representations in scenes. Visual tricks to show height differences in characters, landscape pans to show the long journey ahead, and hero shots to show the viewers the protagonists we have come to know and love.
The camera work, the character design, and the special effects, make this movie a perfect example of a well-crafted film.