: Well, where shall we start?

: Well, we could start talking about movies which contain the three things I will be talking about, and then see where it leads from there...

: Perfect! Which are they?

: The Lord of the Rings trilogy and Josie and the Pussycats.

: Great! Those are two of my favorite movies! Well folks, as you just heard, we'll be talking about the three movies based on the Lord of the Rings books by J.R.R. Tolkein, and directed by Peter Jackson. Why don't we start with that?

: Good Idea! Why don't we start with its visual effects?

: Ok. Well Mr. Tangen, what did you think of the Lord of the Rings' visual effects?

: The visual effects in the movie trilogy 'The Lord of the Rings' are part of what makes these movies some of the best ever produced, according to world-acclaimed movie critics. The impressive use of film language enhances the storyline and adds just the right touch to the film. The sound and lighting together create moods to fit the storyline – causing fear, suspense, and dread. For example, in 'The Fellowship of the Ring,' the first of the three films, the use of lighting is brilliantly used to set the proper moods. For instance, in the chapter titled 'The Flight to the Ford,' when main characters Frodo and his Hobbit friends flee from the evil Nazgül, the lighting darkens to create an effect of fear and terrifying suspense. In other scenes, such as 'Many Meetings,' the music and bright lights entrance and calm viewers, and create a different mood than that caused by violent, fast-paced music or shadows and darkness. Now, if we move on to the next film in the trilogy, 'The Two Towers' the film applies the use of camera angles quite well. In the scene 'The Three Hunters' during which Aragorn (the ranger who's destined to become the king of kingdom of Gondor), Legolas (an elf from the woodland realm) and Gimli (a dwarf from the Lonely Mountain) chase a pack of elite Orcs, known as Uruk-hai, they are filmed from many different angles in order to create the feeling of passing time and distance.

: Very interesting. Do you agree that the editing of a film determines whether or not the film is a success?

: Absolutely. What makes a film a good film is the editing. In the 'Return of the King,' without the editing the film would be just one long, boring battle scene. Throughout the movie more than one plot develops. The creature Gollum, a corrupted Hobbit, leads Frodo and Sam to Mount Doom to destroy the evil One Ring of power before it should fall in the hands of evil. Simultaneously, the remainder of the Fellowship is caught in the middle of a battle between Minas Tirith, the city of men, and the Orcs, and are doing all they can to defeat them and buy Frodo time to destroy the ring. If the film hadn't been edited to jump between each of the plots, it would have been long and boring – no matter how interesting the plot itself is.

: Well, that was fascinating. Do you agree that the graphic designs in the trilogy are done to perfection?

: I couldn't have said it better myself. graphic design is becoming increasingly essential in the production of films, and especially unrealistic films such as the “Lord of the Rings” in order to create an authentic feel.
The director wants to implicate the homes of the Hobbits with nature, by describing the course of their lives in harmony with the world. Peter Jackson used a farmer's field in New Zealand and transformed it into Hobbiton. The color designs in Hobbiton, such as liberally used natural browns and greens that compliment each other and give the feeling of love for nature. Some of the scenes had to have immense landscapes that don't exist, the art department had to produce the items and have them look real and were essential for the graphics of the films. In a chapter from the first film, 'The Council of Elrond', the background of trees in fall was actually painted since the filming was done during the wrong time of year. This painting had to feel and look authentic and fit with the filmed items on the scene. In the movie trilogy many beast creatures that don't exist in reality had to be created. These creatures had to look real so that the audience would be able to connect with the film. In 'The Return of the King' the creature Shelob, a giant spider that lives in the passage of Cirith Ungol, chases Frodo and Sam on their way into Mordor, the city of evil. Peter Jackson understood that if Shelob wouldn't appear as a real being the audience wouldn't be frightened from her at all. Being an arachnophobic, Peter Jackson knew that it would take research on real spiders to make Shelob as realistic as possible. The art department researched spiders and created various spiders to play Shelob's role. The chosen end- product acted with intelligence so that the audience would fear her.

: Wow! It's amazing what went into this film! No wonder it got so many Oscars. So, Michael, do any of the movies you mentioned before have subliminal messages?

: Well, that's an interesting question. Clearly, there are a lot of messages in the film, but whether there are any subliminal messages I find it hard to say. Subliminal messages are basically messages that are hidden in a way throughout the film. Let me show you a recent report I wrote on the editorial page of the "Arts Magazine" from Sweden.

: Wow Mr. Tangen. I just finished watching the report. It is incredible how all of this works.

: Yes, it truly is.

: But, I mean, nothing drastical has happened regarding subliminal messages, right?

: Well, actually there is an incident known as the James Vicary Theater Incident.

: Wow! Me and the audience at home would definitely like to know more about it!

: For a long time, the James Vicary theater incident has been questioned by experts. According to scientific documents, in 1957, marketing researcher James Vicary performed a psychological experiment to a public audience. While playing the movie Picnic, he displayed the messages “Drink Coke” and ”Hungry? Eat Popcorn” at a rate of 3/1000ths of a second every 5 seconds. As visual stimuli, it affected the audience for the two weeks of display the movie had. Popcorn sales went up 58% and Coca Cola sales went up 18%.

: Wow! That is hard to believe!

: Exactly. Since there is no real hard proof that this happened, according to experts, this experiment never took place. Some say that he actually lied about the results of his experiment. About 2 years later, he was challenged by the president of the Psychological Corporation, Dr. Henry Link, to repeat the experiment. He did, and gathered no significant results, or increases in popcorn/coke sales. Eventually, he confessed to Dr. Henry Link that in his first experiment he falsified many data. This and other evidence makes professionals suggest and question if this experiment ever took place in the first place.

: So, if he accepted that he falsified some information, that means that it did not happen...right?

: Not necessarily. Many of his colleagues later said that he lied on purpose so that Dr. Henry Link, as well as other people, would stop bugging him.

: So how can we know if it all was true?!

: We can't, but even though most people don't believe this, I do. Let me talk to you a little bit about graphic design, the basics.

: I believe it too, Mr. Tangen! It'd be great to hear a bit about graphic design!

: Basically, graphic design is the practice or profession of designing print or electronic forms of visual information, as for an advertisement, publication, or website. It uses skills such as photography, typography, and other types of art form to create pieces of displays of brochures, posters, logos, and letterheads in the advertising industry and others. Many Graphic Designers use different types of program depending on the field they specialize in, but the most popular programs used nowadays are Adobe Photoshop and InDesign.

: Oh! I'm pretty sure I've heard of those! They're kind of like the same thing.

: Yes, but it really does vary. If the designer were looking forward to creating 3D graphics, first they would use Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator to create the 2D design. Then, they would use other programs such as Macromedia Extreme 3D to create the 3D elements.

: Whoah! Sounds complicated! Mr. Tangen, here at the show we've heard some things about animation film design. Are you familiar with it?

: Animation film design is basically putting a series of cartoon drawings in a sequence; each drawing differentiates a bit from the one before. This type of visual communication is used either in advertising, educational purposes, or just plain entertainment.

: Wow! That sounds so cool! Well everybody, I guess that settles it for today. It was an honor having an expert such as yourself on our show!

: The pleasure was all mine Mr. Davis! Thank you!

: No, thank you Mr. Tangen! Well folks, that was it for today! Don't miss us tommorrow at the same time here in Silver Screen TV!