The Making of the Movie Trilogy

by Brian Sibley

The official inside story on the making of the award-winning movie trilogy

The Lord of the Rings: The Making of the Movie Trilogy is a lavishly illustrated, behind-the-scenes, definitive account of the creation of an epic film experience. Hailed by critics worldwide, part one of the movie trilogy was a box-office smash, one of the most successful films of the decade. Peter Jackson's "fierce, imaginative movie takes high-flying risks and inspires with its power and scale," wrote Newsweek. "In every way this is moviemaking on a grand scale," wrote the San Francisco Chronicle, while Time proclaimed the "grandeur, moral heft and emotional depth" of the film, which received thirteen Academy Award(R) nominations. Including more than 300 photographs from all three films, most unique to this book, and exclusive interviews with all the cast and crew, Brian Sibley's fascinating book takes every fan inside the process of adapting J.R.R. Tolkien's masterwork for the screen. For the first time in history, three major movies were made at the same time, a triumphant and monumental undertaking that took the world by storm. Here can be found details about the hundreds of dedicated artists, craftspeople and cast and crew members who labored for years -- adding authenticity at every stage -- to bring one of the greatest stories ever told to an eager film audience. Sibley takes us inside the process of filmmaking to show us how the magic is made -- from the director, writers and actors to wardrobe, makeup, miniatures, music and digital special effects, it's all here.

"It was tiring, physically and mentally, but never dull. Three movies, one big story, and so much variety: one day shooting scenes of intimate heart-wrenching drama, the next, vast battle scenes involving hundreds of extras. Every day brought an opportunity to create something new on this enormous canvas that is The Lord of the Rings." -- Peter Jackson

Genres: Nonfiction, Film, Art, Media Tie In, Reference, Science Fiction Fantasy, Classics

192 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Brian Sibley is an English writer, broadcaster, and award-winning dramatist.

The author of over 100 hours of radio drama and hundreds of documentaries and features for the BBC, he is best known for his acclaimed 1981 radio adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, co-written with Michael Bakewell, as well as dramatizations of C. S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia, Mervyn Peake’s Gormenghast novels, and Richard Adams’s Watership Down.

Sibley has also written numerous original plays for radio, presented popular BBC programmes including Kaleidoscope and Talking Pictures, and produced documentaries on figures ranging from Lewis Carroll and Ray Bradbury to Julie Andrews and Walt Disney.

His contributions to broadcasting have earned him accolades such as the Sony Radio Award and the BBC Audio Drama Award for Best Adaptation.

In print, Sibley is the author of many acclaimed film “making of” books, including Harry Potter: Film Wizardry, The Lord of the Rings: The Making of the Movie Trilogy, and Peter Jackson: A Filmmaker’s Journey, as well as companion volumes for The Hobbit films, The Golden Compass, and Disney classics. His literary works range from Shadowlands to children’s books like The Frightful Food Feud and Osric the Extraordinary Owl, with stories appearing in official Winnie-the-Pooh collections.

A noted Disney historian, Sibley has contributed essays to The Walt Disney Film Archives and recorded DVD commentaries for classic films. He is the editor of J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Fall of Númenor, winner of the Tolkien Society’s Best Book award in 2023.

Sibley has served as President and Chair of The Lewis Carroll Society and is an honorary member of The Magic Circle, the Tolkien Society, and The Children’s Books History Society.

Reviews

[Dannii Elle · Rating 5 out of 5]

As the title so aptly suggests, this illustrated volume focuses on how The Lord of the Rings movie trilogy was created and produced. Each page was full of beautiful photos and interesting behind-the-scenes information.

This was actually a far denser read than anticipated. I learned so much about the production, setting, casting etc. of the movies and was surprised by just how in-depth an insight this provided. My Tolkien-loving heart could only give anything related to the fantasy master a full five-star rating, but this book also deserves for just how comprehensive a read it proved to be.

[Alice Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

*slobbers all over the book* MY PRECIOUS!!! MINE!!! Read it if you love the books and the movies!

[Lucy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am an avid lover of The Lord Of The Rings and really enjoyed reading all these behind the scenes interviews about making the trilogy.

This only took me so long to read because the size of the book made it impossible to carry with me anywhere and so other novels took precedent. However, when I did remember to pick it up I loved the detail and background information of this book, focusing on the filming of the trilogy rather than just talking to the actors as several books of this kind have a tendency to do.

I found the first 50 or so pages a little hard to get through (I think it took me 5 months just to get past this bit!) as this was based on building the structures, scaled down models of the buildings and choosing where to film etc. Personally this was not as interesting to me as the rest of it - the costumes, the weapons, the hair and make-up, the musical score which is whizzed through, absorbing and loving every unknown detail.

It's so bizarre to think of the time and money that went into the filming of the fellowship of the ring when they didn't even know if it would be a box office success or flop. It blows my mind to think of the scale of this project!!

[Lucy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Look, LOTR movie guides like this are my guilty pleasure reads. I've read and own a lot of them. That said, I really liked this one. Brian Sibley described actually being in the room with the cast and crew, instead of writing it all from a third-person perspective. I enjoyed that. It's a little vague about stuff in The Return of The King since the book was published before the movie came out. But overall it's a fun read.

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the sheer detail incorporated into the book - all the minutiae covered highlight the utter magic that is film-making. I'm particularly blown away by the fact the entire trilogy only had 1500 visual effects shots!!! That's like, insane dude!

I wish there had been more coverage of the scripting process, particularly decisions behind omitting scenes from Tolkien's text (is it too much to ask for someone to officially say Tolkien's whole Tom Bombadiil detour is mahoosively unnecessary? 🤣). Otherwise, the book should act as a template for the Behind the Scenes genre - more detail equals more staggering the reader! 💪

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“The Lord of the Rings: The Making of the Movie Trilogy”. Brian Sibly

I much enjoyed watching the three LOTR films as they were released to the cinema in turn (2002, 2002, 2003). I didn’t chance across Mr Sibly’s “Collectors’ Edition” book until now (2016). I struggled through four-fifths of the text & pictures, but ultimately just couldn’t stomach the utter self-righteousness arrogant puff of it all. So very, very, unlike Professor Tolkien’s brilliantly imaginative writing.
The marketing spin on Mr Sibly’s book implies that you, the punter, can’t possibly be a ‘true’ fan without owning his book. Nonsense. I love good books. Mr Sibley’s tack-on “The Lord of the Rings: The Making of the Movie Trilogy”, is one of the most abysmal & badly written exercises in writing that I have ever had the misfortune to acquire. A very real case of the proverb Buy in haste, repent at leisure. In retrospect, the only good thing to come out of it was my donation to charity.

It’s by far, far, far better to read Professor Tolkien’s unabridged text, and enjoy using your own wits and imagination. Or, second best, watch the trilogy of films on as large a screen as you can find, before turning to Professor Tolkien’s masterpiece.

Buy in haste, repent at leisure. Yes. If ever there was a lesson to steer clear of any book labelled “Collector’s Edition”, this is it. Here I was, looking for a well presented “this is how we visualised and made LOTR for the Big Screen”. Instead I got “Our greatest ego-trip ever”!
The self-opinionated aggrandisement of the bitty text is breathtakingly ghastly, almost as though Mr Sibly had taken his cue from Sean Astin’s truly dire book: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8...

Persons illustrated, whether in or out of film costume, are not immediately identifiable by name, or function. Within Mr Sibly’s text there is an over-abundance of grammatically inappropriately located teenage exclamation marks. The photographs come in all sizes and shapes, carelessly cast three or four on a double page spread, as might a drunken fly-fisherman relieving himself after lunch.

What did I learn? That here was an industry NEVER to seek employment in.

[Elsa Altschuler · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was very good and interesting!

[Nate · Rating 5 out of 5]

FIVE stars, added 22 years belatedly on this disposable, promotional tie-in that I just found in a box again, because boy were these movies everything to me then.

[Kris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Insightful and informative, but nothing to write home about.

Most of the pictures and stories in here can be found in the documentaries on the extended editions of the movies, so I felt I might as well just watch those. And frankly the writing was rather choppy and half-hazard. He switches between subjects without ever really finishing his exploration of one idea. For instance, Sibley starts off talking about digital effects, and you feel like he's going to get into the details... when suddenly he's on to editing and sound effects, and never comes back. There's never really solid introductions or conclusions in each chapter, and he cuts off when he could have said much more.

I liked the little blurbs about specific aspects of the movie, like a conversation with Merry and Pippin or how they created Gollum on screen, but the general authorial voice was lacking. I would have appreciated much more insight into the actors themselves, and their specific experiences on set, or an analyzation of the characters and how they came to life on screen. While yes, this is about the making of the movie, it would have been great to get into the design/creative process in how they wrote the script, how they designed the cultures, more of the artwork and things like that... and he doesn't even delve into the influence of Tolkien's books at all!

Frankly the design of the book overall could have been a little cleaner as well. There are too many tiny little photos in corners with bad lighting and cropping. There should have been more full-page pictures, and the types of pictures could have been organized better (too many unlike things split together on one page). I loved the design and organization of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe: The Official Illustrated Movie Companion much more.

Also, this movie companion was written just after the release of Fellowship of the Ring, and even though all the movies were all filmed at the same time, there's very little distinction between each of the stories or information about the latter movies.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a brilliant companion guide to have if you are a fan of Lord ofthe Rings as it includes some inside secrets and describes how they did some of the effects and their first premiere. This book does have a lot of reading in it and if you are looking for a guide that is like Harry Potter Film Wizardry then this book isn't for you. The book is more for adults but it can be enjoyed by any Lord of the Rings fan.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good overview of the making of the trilogy. Sibley is the man behind the BBC radio version of LOTR, so it was quite nice to read this.

[Alexa]

The Lord of the Rings: The Making of the Movie Trilogy by Brian Sibley (2002)

[Lauren Contreras-Loreto]

Beautiful book, with gorgeous pictures

[Charity Pearce · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent!

[Emily D. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yes yes yes! This was an engrossing behind-the-scenes that was hard to put down. It gave me all the nostalgia of watching and re-watching the movies countless times back when they first came out, and also made me want to watch them all again. On top of that, the book made me wish I had been involved in the making of the movie (it seemed like a thrill ride) despite the backbreaking work that went into it. I am amazed at the thousands of details that went into making the LOTR films, and this book taught me so much. A few of the stories that stuck out to me were: 1) the environmental lawyer negotiating with conservationist groups, native tribes, and several other committees for use of the gorgeous locations used, 2) the painstaking detail that went into scaling the various models and actors, including using smaller and larger versions of identical looking horse and cart for Gandalf scenes depending on reference point, 3) the sheer bulk of materials needed for costume and scenery i.e. thousands of silk leaves shipped from China used to create Fangorn Forest, 4) the talent and passion within each contributor to the film-making process-I love how each person perfectly fit their role, and were dedicated to authenticity, including craftsmanship and functionality of for instance the weaponry, and finally 5) the thousands of hours of work that goes into making 2.5 hours of perfect film. I learned that the sound effects team used an audience at a cricket match to stomp, yell, chant, etc. in order to create the sound experience of an army of Uruk-Hai. Also, 90% of dialogue in a scene is later recorded in the studio. And the work that Howard Shore and the symphony orchestra and choir put into the soundtrack.... it is way more moving pieces than I could keep track of. I really shouldn't have been surprised that all of that work went into the process, since it yielded a masterpiece.

[Iris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lord of the Rings: The Making of the Movie Trilogy
Author: Brian Sibley

Have you ever wondered how the filmmakers of the Lord of the Rings trilogy managed to create the world of Middle Earth?

The author Brian Sibley created a book that offers fans the ultimate backstage experience.
Brian Massey tells us how he and his team cultivated the wooded valley of Rivendell and the Elven Kingdom of Lothlórien and the Ents in the backyard of the Weta Workshop.

Director Peter Jackson describes how he experienced the entire Middle-earth adventure and the many challenges he encountered during filming.

Many miniatures of the cities were built for the movies. The Miniature Builders share all the ins and outs of the entire building process in detail.
Costume designer Ngila Dickson explains how she and her team managed to provide each actor with a unique costume that allowed them to perfectly portray their role.

There is so much covered in this book, such as the design process of the ring, the composition of the music, and the casting process of the actors and more.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and would recommend it to all Lord of the Rings fans.

"A wizard is never late, nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means to."

[CC · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brian Sibley's book contains loads of behind-the-scenes information, anecdotes and pictures. Rather than concentrating on minute technical details, Sibley writes in a more conversational tone, bringing the stories of the women and men involved in the unique production challenges of Lord of the Rings to vivid life. There are a few typos here and there, and with a publishing date of 2002 movies 2 and 3 had yet to be released, meaning Sibley was obviously prohibited from revealing too much of the latter instalments (practically nothing on Gollum, the great cinematic wonder of the age, for example), but this is a nice accompaniment to the films and a great read for any LotR fans and fans of movie magic in general.

[PenguinKaiser · Rating 5 out of 5]

Es de verdad esencial para cualquier amante de las adaptaciones, ya qué no sólo es la biografía de las películas, sino de las personas en la producción de las que nadie habla.

Mucho se dice de Peter Jackson, de los actores y quizá de los guionistas, pero nunca de los maquilladores, encargados de producción, del follaje, del sonido, de los extras, etc. Este libro les da el protagonismo que merecen. Es como leer todo el contenido extra de los DVD.

El único pero que le puedo poner es que al haber sido investigado y escrito durante la producción y antes del estreno de Las Dos Torres, no cubre la totalidad de las películas y sus detalles finos. Aún así, es una gran adición para cualquier fan de la trilogía y del libro.

[Keith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stars: 4

This is a very interesting book if you are a LOTR fan, but it probably doesn't get into enough detail if you were reading this purely to learn about the movie-making process. I can't make up my mind if I liked the format. It felt at times that a lot was getting glossed over, but I do appreciate that a lot of time was spent with the people that aren't the face of the franchise.

There was something interesting on nearly every page, and much of it I hadn't heard before.

The pictures needed a lot of work. I couldn't tell what the pictures were if they were of a dark scene. There were also too many times when the author would be describing something I would've like to see a picture of, but they'd put in something random like a picture of King Theoden.

[Henry Cavil · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have had this book for a while. I've often flipped through it, but today I sat down and read it/looked at it page by page. In the forward Martin mentions being nervous about Fantasy Flight giving a face to all of his characters. This book was published before the TV show, of course, and while that is true I now have so many of these characters firmly in my head that some of the art was unsatisfactory for that reason. Unfair perhaps, but that is how it goes.

[Ruben Mes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unexpectedly comprehensive, with interesting behind the scenes info.

However, it was way too superficial for my liking, and chapters were generally very short and brief.

I did enjoy most of it. Just the Gollum book, I will most likely not keep it on my shelf, as a single read through suffices, unlike the art books and Weapons & Warfare book.

[Charlotte · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good look behind the scenes of the film, and I'm for sure going to browse it again and again, but I really wanted it to have more detail. It is in the end fairly surface-level.
If I could dream, I'd have loved to have much more detail on the time line, more detail on how the shoot worked daily in practice, more detail on... Well, everything. For that, it's just too short a book.

[Michela · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love a good making of book and this is one of them. I love how it showcased all the behind the scenes departments that don't really get talked about. I loved learning about everything from smiths to the art department. You really got to learn about the unsung heroes of film making and I really appreciated that. Overall, a great read for any Lord of the Rings fan.

[Kristin Eoff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, this book could have used more pictures and fewer anecdotes about the staff. Far more captivating than this book are the behind-the-scenes documentaries included in the films' DVDs. I admit I didn't read the book very closely because much of it wasn't very interesting.

[Jelka · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book did a great job at capturing some of the work that went into making the Lord of the Rings movies. (The author himself admits that one could fill several books with the process of making the movie trilogy.)
The book is very well put together and has many amazing pictures.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant and fascinating look at how one of the greatest trilogies in Cinematic history was made. This biography is both in-depth and gives a wonderful overview of the entire filmmaking process from the lighting, stunt work, and miniatures to to sound design and score. Highly recommend!

[Chingwang · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actual rating: 4.5

It was fun reading this book because I was able to learn so much about the processes done to make the TLOTR film trilogy


My only nitpick about this book is the overuse of exclamation points in quoting. It usually feels unnatural and clunk.

[Eleanor Novotny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely fascinating. It's the kind of book you just sort of flip through, but I actually read it the whole way through and the amount of work, detail, passion, and love put into these movies is spellbinding.

[frances · Rating 5 out of 5]

such a comforting and wholesome read with lots of wonderful insights into the gargantuan artistic accomplishment and thoughtful production of one of the greatest trilogies of all time. A perfect read to give even the most well-tread viewer fresh eyes to appreciate the films

[Mariana · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved it