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Yep, still procrastinating.
Because there can be no such thing as too many EE Party Tent screencaps, I pored over the scene in which Bilbo pulls Frodo aside, hiding from the arriving Sackville-Bagginses. Once they are out of danger, Bilbo tries to confide to Frodo what he plans to do. He struggles to say what he feels, but can't quite bring himself to do it. He ends up changing the subject and bringing the exchange to an abrupt close. Frodo mostly listens. I think this is a gorgeously played scene, and film-Frodo looks gorgeous in it. As I moved from frame to frame, I almost couldn't choose....
Frodo's face changed by only the tiniest increments as he listened to Bilbo, but I stared, enthralled, just the same.
I still am staring. How can he LOOK like that? My heart squeezes in my chest gazing at such finely-drawn emotions, expressed by a face of such incredible beauty. The lighting inside the tent doesn't hurt, either, producing, "Golden Frodo".
Here are some caps, appearing in film order.
Golden Party Tent Frodo:
Ah, just look at those eyes, so dark, so brimming with affectionate feeling:
And now, for the real drool-fest:
Click HERE for table of Frodo and Elijah Wood Screencaps.
~ Mechtild
Because there can be no such thing as too many EE Party Tent screencaps, I pored over the scene in which Bilbo pulls Frodo aside, hiding from the arriving Sackville-Bagginses. Once they are out of danger, Bilbo tries to confide to Frodo what he plans to do. He struggles to say what he feels, but can't quite bring himself to do it. He ends up changing the subject and bringing the exchange to an abrupt close. Frodo mostly listens. I think this is a gorgeously played scene, and film-Frodo looks gorgeous in it. As I moved from frame to frame, I almost couldn't choose....
Frodo's face changed by only the tiniest increments as he listened to Bilbo, but I stared, enthralled, just the same.
I still am staring. How can he LOOK like that? My heart squeezes in my chest gazing at such finely-drawn emotions, expressed by a face of such incredible beauty. The lighting inside the tent doesn't hurt, either, producing, "Golden Frodo".
Here are some caps, appearing in film order.
Golden Party Tent Frodo:
Ah, just look at those eyes, so dark, so brimming with affectionate feeling:
And now, for the real drool-fest:
Click HERE for table of Frodo and Elijah Wood Screencaps.
~ Mechtild
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From:
no subject
And the thing is, it's not Elijah I see or swoon for in these films. It's Frodo.
Big difference. :)
Yup, Elwood is as cute as a button. But, in these films, it's FRODO first and foremost.
From:
no subject
From:
no subject
Here's a scene that really struck me last night, doing the caps, because of the way it seemed to mirror the last scene in RotK, when Bilbo and Frodo are driving off to the Grey Havens.
The composition is so similar, I am guessing it was intentional, even if this scene did not make the theatrical cut. Visually, they are like bookends. I am betting they were shot at about the same time, too. Frodo look tremendously young in this EE Party Tent scene. In the side views below, his face looks little older than the one that appears in Huck Finn. The scene in the wagon at the end of RotK also shows a very young-faced Frodo (underneath all that the pancake).
What do you think? Was the similarity intentional? In the first scene, Bilbo was trying to prepare, to console Frodo about his leaving. In the wagon scene, Bilbo was too old to offer Frodo any consolation. Frodo had to provide his own.
Series from "Party Tent" scene:
~ Mechtild
From:
no subject
Many times those mirror scenes are absolutely wonderful - like the two Frodo/Sam handclasps - one in water, one in fire. And the repeated inclusion of such scenes provide a structure to the narrative - one event reverberates in our mind as we see a later similar yet contrasting event unfold. There are many such and they are rewarding to consider. :-)
But still, they also unfortunately included a certain mirror scene set that pretty much ruined their Frodo characteriztion for me (Frodo's ephiphany at the Crossroads, realizing he might actually **gasp!** die on this quest; - with Sam allaying his fears and encouraging him to go on. According to the filmmakers this was supposed to mirror the scene between the two of them in the corn field in FotR. Well OK then. Of course, if a mirroring scene can be made, never mind that Frodo comes across as a helplessly naive little being, - not as much having maturely and courageously having accepted his fate as merely being swept along by a flow of events that he doesn't understand, while always hoping for the best: He's unable to reflect on his situation, oblivious to the enormity of his task, and certainly not displaying any "endurance beyond hope". Character assassinated, mirror scene gained: Mission accomplished.)
(Sorry for this pathetic ranting - I'll never get over that dreadful Crossroads scene. I still can't believe they'd *do* that to the character of Frodo.)
From:
no subject
Generally, I like all the mirror scenes, and the sheer concept of them. I think they are a good device for linking images and themes together, if subliminally in the audience mind, especially when the story spans three films and three years of viewer's imagination-involvement, considering it took three years for the films to be released in the end.
Yeah, too bad about that crossroads scene. But the beheading of the emissary was the worst for me, the very worst. Hey. We had better stop this before we get ourselves all worked up!
From:
no subject
(((Maeg))))
I know. Sometimes you think: what WERE they thinking??
Oh well. At least Film Frodo is still a thing of beauty and a joy forever. :)
From:
The emissary
From:
Re: The emissary
I think this was one from among a sequence of instances in which the screenwriters failed to see things the way Tolkien did, in terms of his moral universe. Time after time, Tolkien stressed that a good person, a good government shows mercy, even (and especially) to his enemies. The filmmakers obviously didn't buy this. They showed how modern they were in this. Many modern people think this such a policy is impractical and foolish: attractive in theory, but not useful in real life. So they "improved" LotR accordingly.
But how could they be so clueless? LotR is not The Godfather or Sin City. NO ONE but a reprehensible person kills an emissary. The only times you see that happen is when it is done by the bad guys, NEVER the good guys. understands.
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Golden Frodo
Another thing about that sequence that I ADORE is that bratty look he gives the departing Sackville-Bagginses.. having successfully evaded them. If there is a better echo of the "Worst rascal in Buckland" (As he was described in the book by Farmer Maggot) he once was, I haven't spotted it.
From:
Re: Golden Frodo
But do you mean that grin? If so, I do remember that and loved it, but I had interpreted Frodo's grin not just as relief to have evaded them, but a smile at Bilbo's discomfiture. Frodo seems to stand a bit apart from Bilbo's feud with the S-B's, in the book and in the film (in which it is only glimpsed). I always thought Frodo probably found the whole thing a bit amusing, a tempest in a teapot over an offense that happened before his time, even if Frodo didn't like the S-B's either -- simply because they were unpleasant.
Frodo ended up letting Bag End go to them, which tells me that he wasn't that personally invested in the whole squabble.
Just my opinion, of course.
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Re: Golden Frodo
From:
Re: Golden Frodo
I have always felt a little sorry for the S-B's. I wouldn't want to have to endure their company, but they seem such a pitiful, mean-spirited threesome. I think they end up making themselves as miserable as they make anyone else.
From:
So nice to see this sentiment expressed.
Nope. I do not confuse the artist and the art. Elijah Wood is undeniably lovely and I stand in UTTER awe of his acting talent and skill.. but the only pictures that I want to see or keep of him are ones that I can use as an art reference to draw Mr.Baggins. (A particularly great expression usually that I blunder onto when searching the corners of the web for good images of Frodo.
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Re: So nice to see this sentiment expressed.
What he did on screen as Frodo Baggins is unique, though, and I believe time will prove that true more and more. I am sure EW will play some fine roles in the future (soon, I hope, since I haven't been thrilled by his more recent films), but none of them will be such a match of role with player, using an actor at the very right time of that actor's life. (Well, probably not, any way. *grin* )
From:
no subject
I especially swooned for him at Lothlorien, with or without the blue lighting...so utterly beautiful, it hurts...
I don't expect we'll ever see Elijah in quite the same sort of role again, at least not looking like that...must be his age or something...
From:
no subject
Is it "Ride to the Grey Havens," or what?
From:
no subject
From: (Anonymous)
Rrroooowwwwrrrr, from Texas-Hobbit
Mech, you said (I don't know how to do quote thingys): “EW is a cutie, but he cannot be identified with what he and the rest of the LotR team created as film-Frodo. I don't think there will ever be an onscreen creation to match him.”
So true! This phase of his life and physical appearance, matched with a role we all so dearly love is something unique and unlikely to be repeated. If there is a fictional character who is this widely loved and has yet to be visualized on the screen, I can’t think of who it might be. The photos you have posted above are as rare a creation as Michelangelo’s “David”, to whom we’ve often compared him. A work of art of that caliber is rare indeed.
I really don’t see him appearing as androgynous as others might. There’s that strong, muscular neck to account for! :o) But I do see him as a picture of idealized manhood so often depicted by the sculptors and painters among us, especially among the classical artists, a balance of beauty and strength.
May I ask a “screen-capping question”? How do you go about finding out if a PC is already equipped with the ability to do screen-capping? Did you have to buy some special software or did you simply learn how to use a tool already built into your system? I don’t expect a long, detailed tutoring session. If I knew my computer could handle this, I’d Google up some tutorials and experiment with it.
In the meantime, I’ll just enjoy the fruits of your labor, if you don’t mind. Yummy!
Tx-H
PS: I remember reading one of those silly entertainment blurbs they put in the local news magazine in which they compared various stars as “possibly separated siblings”. In comparing Elijah to Winona (Wynona?) Ryder, I could agree with the match up of “quirky wardrobe”, slim stature, etc, but when they said both had “thin lips”, I almost did a spit take with my orange juice. Thin lips? :violentrollofeyes: Oh, my heavens, time for a visit to the optometrist!
From:
Re: Rrroooowwwwrrrr, from Texas-Hobbit
Yes, he is an unrepeatable vision, is he not?
I really don’t see him appearing as androgynous as others might. There’s that strong, muscular neck to account for! :o) But I do see him as a picture of idealized manhood so often depicted by the sculptors and painters among us, especially among the classical artists, a balance of beauty and strength.
I think when people say adrogynous, they don't mean "effeminate," but that he has qualities that they associate with both male and female beauty. I think this is accurate for film-Frodo, especially when EW was still a teenager.
Since I am sure no one else is reading this post at this point (LJ entries have short shelf lives, unlike messageboard threads), I will say again that while his face is very masculine in the strength of the bone structure, the chiselled features, etc., there are also beauties most people call "female" (i.e. lots of soft, silky hair, very large expressive eyes, a lot of brow in proportion to the jaw area, a certain softness around the mouth, very smooth, unblemished skin, and rosy cheeks and lips). These are not "female", though, strictly speaking: they are actually the qualities of a beautiful child. Women typically carry those highly desirable childhood qualities into their young adulthood; grown men rarely do. Elijah Wood, at 18-21 years of age during the filming of LotR, was rare in that he, although quite obviously male and a sexual adult, he yet retained some of those beauties of childhood.
The photos you have posted above are as rare a creation as Michelangelo’s “David”, to whom we’ve often compared him. A work of art of that caliber is rare indeed.
Remember this comparison shot that Achila once posted in the Harem? I think I used it for a MOME sig pic last year:
And if you're talking Michelangelo's David, you can't leave out this one:
*snicker*
No, he definitely didn't and does not look like a girl (and you are right -- especially with that neck). Or Winona Ryder. Thin lips? Un-unh. They are thinner nowadays, now that he has finished losing his youthful facial softness *sob*, but they still aren't what I'd call, "thin," for heaven's sake.
Screencaps? Well, what we have is a slot to pay a DVD in the hard drive case for starters. Then we have a program for watching DVD's. Ours is called "Intervideo WinDVD6". That program comes with the capacity to make screencaps which can be saved onto the hard drive. I make copies to put in our photo program. If the caps are from the "wide screen" version, I have to crop them (see above). The caps in the previous LJ entry, showing the "Money Shot" were from the "full screen" version. I didn't have to do anything to them: those are the undoctored caps in actual size and shape.
Well, I must get ready to post another set!
From:
Re: Rrroooowwwwrrrr, from Texas-Hobbit
The neet thing about this is that it is VERY easy to use if you have a dvd drive in your machine. And they let you download it free to use for a month to try it out. You can do a lot of screen captures of Frodo in a month. :-)
From:
Frodo as David
From:
Re: Frodo as David
HA! *LOL*
Why not both? He's a hobbit -- and a man ("the way to a man's [hobbit's] heart is through his stomach", as folk have said...).
P.S. Thanks for that info. on another way to make screencaptures. I know Texas-hobbit and others would definitely be interested in a program that can be downloaded free. Maybe ours was downloaded, too? I am terrible at the technical stuff, so I really don't know.
From:
Re: Frodo as David
Also explains why I have no idea how to share my screen captures. I have a huge collection of Frodo pics on my hard drive. Both grabbed from online sources and captured by myself. I am so glad my husband doesn't mind my hogging of computer resources. (He could probably do without the all Frodo all the time screensaver and desktop pics ;-)
From:
Re: Frodo as David
Once I get a goodly pile of caps in my Photobucket album for screencaps, I'll post the link to it, like I do to my "Frodo Art Travesties" manips. If you have ever opened that album (link is on left border of the journal page), all you are doing is opening a Photobucket album. You could do that with your own screencaptures -- put them in an album and then make the link available. I think a Photobucket album can be looked at by any browser, unless the owner locks it.
From:
Re: Frodo as David OMG!!
And last question is the most important.
Where can I see the rest of the cropped nude Frodo picture? LOL!
I didn't know about photobucket! I will check this out.. Thanks!
From:
Re: Frodo as David OMG!!
Anyway, here's a link to the album:
http://photobucket.com/albums/v382/mechtild/Frodo%20Art%20Travesties/
If you just click open the first one, you can just keep clicking, "Next," to view them full-size. Otherwise, just click on the image you are interested in and it will enlarge. There are two pages. Actually, there is probably something to click at the top to access Photobucket, too, if you are interested in checking out what they have to offer.
I started making them to entertain myself and other besotted posters in Frodo's Harem, a thread at Khazad-dum (a Tolkien messageboard). The first ones I made were meant to be funny, since we were always talking about film Frodo's "art masterpiece"-classical beauty. But I soon found that I could make really beautiful images of him, too. Others were merely excuses to see him dressed in the costume and look of another era.
He really is a splendid model!
To make them, I used the photoshopping programs we already had loaded on our machine at home. For almost all the manipping I used the older, Microsoft Digital Image Pro 7.0, because I understood more easily how to find the things I needed on it. For almost all the cropping and re-sizing I used ACDSee 7.0 which does those functions more easily. ACDSee does everything the other program does and more, but I don't understand how to use most of its functions or how to access the tools. I don't really know how to use either of them properly; I just kept learning things as I fiddle. People who manip a lot seem to prefer PhotoShop.