Maxance Vincent
The second season of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power has a far darker aura than its first season. As it delves deeper into Sauron’s (Charlie Vickers) rise within Middle-earth, the tone of the show also shifts in that regard. Showrunners JD Payne and Patrick McKay discussed at length how this season would differ from the first in storytelling and atmosphere during multiple interviews, how it would go far deeper than simply introducing the Second Age and showcase the creation of the Rings of Power through Celebrimbor (Charles Edwards) being manipulated by Sauron, who presents himself as Annatar.
This was also a consideration in the visual effects department, as explained by VFX supervisor Jason Smith, who spoke to Awards Radar during a virtual press day. From the very moment he discussed with the showrunners on season two, it was clear that “the story was about a darkening. It was about evil taking hold. I love that, because it means that creatures will play more of a role, and I’ve got a creature background. They’re very close to my heart, every single one of them. A couple of the creatures we did this season are very near and dear to my heart.
At the beginning of the season, we heard about this darkening. We knew that more creatures would be a part of the season. It turned into a situation where there’s a glut of amazing things to work on, and not a single one of them I would ever forgive myself if we compromised in any way. We have so many things that we tried to nail and deliver something we can be proud of. It did feel like a fast roller coaster with many loops, and maybe a wooden one. It felt like that for the entire season until the last day we delivered, but it’s been a lot of fun putting it all together without compromise.”
In making the visual effects look as seamless as they did in the first season, the most significant balancing act was figuring out how they could look massive in scale and scope, but serve the story the showrunners were telling.
In fact, Smith explains that it’s not only the number one factor in creating the VFX, but the only, and most important one:
“Certainly, with scale, if people are sitting in their chairs going, “Oh, what a visual effect,” then we’ve failed. We failed the showrunners. We failed the actors. We need to be part of the story to the point that the people watching the show say, “That’s a great story!” and, of course, maybe they recognize they are seeing visual effects they can appreciate. Hopefully, they’re not pulled out of the narrative because it’s a visual effect hammering them on the head, like the camera flying around in a way that a drone camera couldn’t fly around. We tried to avoid these. We tried to stay out of the actor’s way when we were doing scale and tried to facilitate what the directors were trying to do when we did big environment shots. It’s all a balancing act, but if we do it right, hopefully, it serves the story, and that’s what we’re trying for.”
Of course, there was much more to unpack in our interview, seen below, such as breaking down key sequences that rank high among some of the best work in an incredible season of television. We talked about Forodwaith Sauron’s (Jack Lowden) death in the first episode and the Siege of Eregion in episode seven. Be warned, however, that spoilers are abound.
You can check out my full interview with Jason below and see all episodes of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power – Season 2 on Prime Video today:
[Some of the quotes in this article have been edited for length and clarity]
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