summer vacations new zealand

the lord of the rings trilogy have been some of my favorite movies since they came out, - and they are based on the book by j.j.r. tolkien. i know of no other movies made to such perfection as the lord of the rings movies. after all, tolkien dedicated his entire life to create middle-earth, it's mythology, history and languages. so i don't think any filmproduction would be able to make these movies. the making of these movies are one of the biggest productions ever. the movies were made in new zealand, and all three movies were shot at once, and are directed by peter jackson. the planing of the movies started in 1997, and all three movies weren't completed untill 2004, so the movies took 7 years to make. a lot of time, passion and love how been put into the making of these movies, and it shows on the big screen.

it's also some of the most popular movies of all time, and the third movie alone "the return of the king" won 11 oscars, and the whole trilogy won 17. since i saw the movies for the first time, i have dreamed to go to new zealand to visit the beautiful filming locations, a dream that has finally been realized. new zealand is located in the southern hemisphere, and their seasons are opposite of the northern hemisphere, - so the summer period is between december and february. new zealand consists of two islands, which in total is about 1600 km from north to south. and the lord of the rings locations, are scattered all over the two islands. there's no bridge between the two islands, so when you go from one island to another, you can take a ferry between welling and picton. you have to book a ticket in advance and the travel time is about 3 hours. we went to new zealand in december when the summer starts, and we stayed 3 for weeks to find the filming locations of the lord of the rings.

there's only 4 million habitants in new zealand, so you don't meet many people except in the cities. you pretty much have the beautiful nature surrounding for yourself, and the nature in new zealand is fantastic and offers all kinds of nature, - which made the country ideal for the filming locations of the lord of the rings. we won't be looking much at the hobbit movies, but some of the locations seen in the lord of the rings are also featured in the hobbit, - which makes it difficult not to talk a bit about them, but we are primarily only looking at the lord of the rings movies. there are many people who travel to new zealand to visit the filming locations of the lord of the rings, - and there's actually a guide book to find the locations, but i don't think it's that great, so i can't recommend it. it has some precise gps coordinates to some of the locations, - but other than that, it just explains in what part of the county the movies was shot, so you can get a feeling of middle-earth.

and the book focuses a great lot on the background stories of the areas and where you can sleep and eat. but if you want to find the exact filming locations, then we got a lot further just searching the web. we will go through the movies one at the time, so the first movie we're looking at is the lord of the rings - the fellowship of the ring from 2001. in the beginning of the movie we see the prologue which tell the whole pre-story about sauron and the ring. and after that we see an epic battle in mordor between the alliance of men and elves against the armies of mordor. and the scene was shot on a volcano named mount ruapehu which is located in the middle of the northern island in new zealand. the volcano is located in tongariro national park, and it's easy to get to the location, as there's a road which lead all the way up there. you have to drive far up the mountain to get there, you need to drive to where the road ends, - which is a place called whakapapa, where there's a parking and a place to eat.

we've driven up in the moutains, and we've arrived at this fantastic terrain which is actually a skifield. and we're parked on the other side at a skilift. but it's about right here that the epic battle in mordor in the beginning of the first movie was shot. it's hard to recognize anything when you walk around in the area. the prologue was shot here, but most of the scene is close-up shots where it's hard to recognize the surroundings. and for some of the shots they used a blue screen, where the background has been digitally replaced in the final movie. and the wideshots are partially or completely digitally created. but we managed to find two location where shots made been made. if we go chronologically through the movie, then the first location is 600 meters back down the mountain along the road on a paved ground.

here a shot was made where elves fires arrows, and the rock formation in the background is very reognizable. the other location we found is back at the skilift and the restaurant. it's also a short shot, and here we see a warrior kill an orc. mount doom doesn't exist. both mordor and mount doom in the wideshots are a mixture of models and cgi. we also see mordor and mount doom a lot in the third movie "the return of the king", - and some of it was also shot here in the same skifield on mount ruapehu. for example the end of the movie where frodo and sam climbs up mount doom. unfortunately we didn't find any of these locations, since most of the scene are close-ups which makes it hard to recognize the surroundings. and in a lot of the wideshots the background has been digitally altered.

back to the prologue in the first movie. after isildur has defeated sauron and taken the ring, - we then in the next scene in the prologue see isildur ride through a forest in gladden fields. and then he gets attacked by orcs, loses the ring and gets killed. the scene wasn't shot here on the north island. it was shot in the southern end of the south island. in a park area in arrowtown, which is located over 800 km from the last location. arrowtown is a very small town, and it's easy to get around. the scene was shot in a park area on the edge of the town, and you can park right beside the location. from here you just have to walk 20 meters down a path that leads into the park, and look to the left to get to the location.

in the prologue when isildur has taken the ring, we then in the next scene see him ride through a forest with his men, where they gets attacked by orcs. and it was shot in this park area in arrowtown, and exactly on this path. but it's a little hard to recognize, firstly because it was winter during filming, as there's no leaves on the trees, - whereas right now, there are so many leaves that you can't see between the trees. and secondly there used to be trunks hanging over the road, but they have been logged since then, - but you can still recognize some of the trees, especially the tree in here to the left, which can be seen in the first shot. but it's hard to recognize to other shots from the scene, as most of them are close-ups, and they are very disorienting. but isildur puts on the ring, and flees into a river, - and there's actually a river right here beside the road, but i don't think it was shot here.

at least not when isildurs lies in the river. because the river looks deep in the movie, when isildur drops the ring, - whereas this river is only this deep. that's all from the prologue. we're now going to look at a much more impressive location. after the prologue we are introduced to the shire, where gandalf is on his way to bilbo's birthday in hobbiton. so we're going back to the north island. hobbiton was build as a huge exterior set on privat land just outside the town matamata today the set can be visited, and has become a big turist attraction in new zealand, and there are up to 1000 visitors everyday. the only way to visit the set, is on a guided tour which lasts about 2 hours. it's not free, and you have to book a tour in advance online. you can't drive all the way to hobbiton. when you have booked a time, and the guided tour is about to begin, - you can park at the shire's rest, as it's called, which is located 1,5 km from hobitton.

there's a restaurant here, and a shop which sells merchandise from the movies, that you can visit, - before you get picked up by the bus which takes you to hobbiton. the hobbiton set was one of the most impressive sets build for the lord of the rings. it was a big building project, where builders and landscape architects shifted 5000 cubic meters of earth drained a swamp, made the party field, build hillocks for the hobbit hole and made the fronts. there was nothing inside the hobbit holes, only the fronts were build. and 47 chimneys were places on the hillocks with a smoke machine inside each of them, so it looks like there's life inside the hobbit holes. they also planted gardens and trees, sowed grass and let it all grow for a year before shooting. so it was a long and organic process designing and building hobbiton.

the set still stands today, but there's a story to it. the film crew got permission from the land owner to build hobbiton here in 1999, - and they would remove the set after shooting and leave the place as they found it. so after the shooting wrapped they started to remove the set. they removed most of it, including the fronts of the hobbit holes, - but due to bad weather conditions, the film crew had to postpone the last work for 6 months. before the film crew got to remove the last of the hobbiton and cleaned up the area, - the first movie "the fellowship of the ring" premiered in cinemas in 2001, - and the land owner experienced afterwards that a lot of people were interested to see the land, even though there was not much left to see.

the hillocks were still there, but there were only white tree to see where the fronts of the hobbit holes used to be. and the bridge, the mill and the inn were gone, but people were interested anyway to see were hobbiton has been. so the land owner decided to make an attraction of the place, and asked the film crew to not finish removing hobbiton. so since 2002 it's been possible to go on a guided tour on the land. but when the hobbit movies was to be made, the location had to be reused. so they rebuild hobbiton in 2010. for the original shooting of the lord of the rings, the set was build out of plywood and styrofoam, which are temporary materials. but for the shooting of the hobbit, they decided to build the set out of permanent materials, like real stone and wood, - so that hobbiton can be permanently can be experienced as seen in the movies. therefore hobbiton is much more impressive to visit today, as all the decorations are back.

when you get to the location and get of the bus and the guided tour starts, - you go through the passage that gandalf drives through in his cart on his way to bagend. it's a fantastic sight on the tour to start out with, where you can see all of hobbiton, including bagend on the top of the hill. hobbiton is an astonishing set filled with many details, and a lot of them you don't even see in the movie. but it makes it a lot more authentic when you're here, - and i'm pretty sure it also helped the actors to feel like their in middle-earth during shooting. you totally forget that you are on a set, there's somethnig to see in any direction, - and even when you look far out in the horison there's nice and green, and no houses or roads to ruin the illusion. so you really feel like you're in the shire.

it's without a doubt the most stunning set i've ever visited. for the lord of the rings, they made 37 hobbit holes, - but when the they rebuild hobbiton in 2010 for the hobbit, they build some additional hobbit hole, - which can be seen in the end of the third the hobbit movie "the battle of the five armies" when bilbo returns to bagend. so today there's 44 hobbit holes. i love all the details. even in the little window over there, there's a lot of props to be seen. and it looks like there's life inside. but as you can see, there's nothing inside the hobbit holes. the most interesting hobbit hole to be seen is of course bagend op top of the hill, where bilbo baggins lives. it's here that gandalf stops in his cart and knock on the door in the beginning of the first movie.

here we have bagend where bilbo baggins lives. and with a tree on top, which is an artificial tree. the tree is quite large and is made of plastic, but you can't tell that on a distance. as you can see, there's a bit of the interior entrance to be seen, but it's only a small part of it that was build, - so they could open the door during shooting and make it look like there's something in there. because when they step inside of bagend, it's no longer shot here. the bagend interior scenes were shot on a set in stonestreet studios in wellington, which is located almost 400 km from here. and the bagend interior set was build in two different versions. one for the shots of bilbo and frodo, and a smaller one which makes gandalf look huge.

and that meant that both sets had to be an exact copy of the other, where every prop had to be build in two different sizes. from bagend you can look down at the party field and the big tree, where bilbo's party is held. it's up here that bilbo and gandalf are smoking in the evening before the party starts. it's here that the bilbo's party is held. when the hobbits decorates for the party during the day, it's been shot here on the field, but most of the party in the evening wasn't shot here. it was shot inside in stonestreet studios in wellington. right beside the party field, you can see the lake, and the other side you can see the inn called "the green dragon", where the hobbits party in evening. when you go the the green dragon, you can cross the bridge we see when gandalf arrives in hobbiton. here's the bridge that gandalf crosses with his cart, in the beginning of the first movie.

it's a very stunning sight from here with many details in every direction. and on the other side of the lake you can see the rest of hobbiton where we've just been. it's also here at the green dragon that the market is, that we see in the beginning of the first movie, when we're introduced to hobbiton. the interior scenes of the green dragon wasn't shot here, it was again shot in stonestreet studios in wellington. only the exterior shots was done here, but when they rebuild the set in 2010 for the hobbit, - they also build the interior with it, and again of real wood and stone. today you can go inside the green dragon to eat and drink. nothing was shot for the movies in there, but the place is very nice and cozy, and it looks exactly like the green dragon as seen in the movies. the hobbiton location is seen a lot in the first the lord of the rings movie, -

but the location is also seen in the third movie "the return of the king", when the war is over, and the 4 hobbits return to hobbiton. that's all from hobbiton, we're off to the next location. after gandalf has sent off frodo and sam with the ring to the prancing pony, - gandalf then rides to isengard to seek out saruman. the isengard scenes were shot almost 400 km from matamata. it was shot in the southern end of the north island, in a park called harcourt park in the town upperhutt. it a quite small park, so it's easy to find the location. you can park close to the park, and from there you only need to walk for a couple of minutes to get to the location. we've arrived at harcourt park, where the scene of isengard were shot.

we start by seeing gandalf ride under a bridge over there, between those two trees. it's hard to recognize the location, and the comparison is not very impressive. beside the tree to the right, the rest of the trees have been digitally altered. and the bridge and the misty mountains in the back have been added. the shot has also been flipped, the place actually looks like this. anyway, gandalf ride along a gravel road, which were made for the movie. it's not longer here. and he rides to the isengard tower somewhere over here. it doesn't exist though, it was digitally added to the shot. the shot were gandalf arrives at the isengard tower is also hard the recognize, because almost the entire background have been replaced. so we didn't find the exact location, but it's somewhere here on the same grass field. in the next scene we see gandalf and saruman who talks about the ring in the isengard gardens, and this scene was also shot here in the park.

it was shot less then 100 meters from the last location. you just have to walk up a small hill next to the grass field to get there. it was down here that we saw gandalf ride to isengard. and if we go up this hill, it's on this path down here, that we see gandalf and saruman talking afterwards. and this location is much easier to recognize from the movie. but still mountains have been added to the background of the shot, and the isengard tower of course. some of the trees have been digitally altered in the movie, and the trees and the bushes here in the park have grown since then. but the location is still recognizable. the red plant in the middle of the shot, was a extra plant in a pot they put there for the shot, - because the film crew wanted more colors in the shot. and it was removed again after the shoot.

the isengard tower was a big detailed model that was build, that was digitally added to the shots. and when we see isengard from the inside, it's a set in a studio. later in the movie when saruman starts to create an army of orc and uruk-hais, they need wood for the ovens. we see a scene where orcs cuts down trees in the isengard gardens, - and the scene was shot on the same grass field where gandalf rides to isengard. of course they didn't cut down any trees here in the park. two big trees were brought into the park and were places on the ground, which they could tip over again and again and shoot it from every angle. unfortunately we didn't find any of these exact location, as the scene was shot at night, which makes it hard to recognize the background. even though the misty mountains were added to the isengard shots, - there's actually mountains around the park, they're just not as impressive as those in the movie.

i got interested to find out where the mountains we see in the movie were located. and after a lot of research, i found out that the mountains were shot in the southern end of the south island, - in a place called paradise, near the town glenorchy. and we managed to find the mountains that was added to the isengard shot where gandalf and saruman walks in the isengard gardens. there wasn't as much snow on top of the moutains when we were there as seen in the movie, - and it was a bit cloudy, but you can clearly tell that it's the same mountains. we see isengard in all three movies, and the misty mountains around it, - were all shot here in the same area in paradise, which were digitally added to the shots. besides the isengard scenes, it's generally the mountains here in same area we see, when the misty mountains are seen in the movies.

for example this scene, that's seen in the beginning of the second movie "the two towers". it's beautiful locations, but we couldn't seek these out, as it requires a helicopter. we're off to the next location. when frodo and sam are going to the prancing pony, they run into merry and pippin. and after a farmer chases them and they run away, we then see a scene where they fall down a hill, - and ends up on a road in a forest where one of the exciting scenes from the movie unfolds. a ringwraith rides past them and senses the presence of the ring, while the 4 hobbits hide under a tree. the scene was shot in wellington, which is the capitol of new zealand, located in the southern end of the north island. and the location is in the middle of the city, in a park near mount victoria. you can park close to the location, and from there you only need to walk 200 meters into the park to get there.

and it's very easy to find this location, as there are signs in the park that leads to the location. we've arrived in this park in wellington, which is actually in the middle of the city. you can actually see the city if you look through the trees. they chose this location, because it's only a 10 minute drive from stonestreet studio where all the studio scenes were shot. when they tumble down they hill, that wasn't shot right here, but 50 meters further down the road, but the rest of the scene was shot right here. it's right here that we see them tumble down, 50 meters from the tree they hide under. but it's around here that they tumble down to begin with, and you can easily recognize the location beause of the trees. you could have hoped that the tree they hide under would still be here, but it was actually an artificial tree made for the movie. but you can see the whole where the hobbits sat. i don't know if it's from the actual shooting.

bause it might be fans who have marked the spot later. we're going back to when frodo looks down the road. when frodo stands on the road and senses that something is coming, - it's not on the same road that his point of view was shot. the only thing you can see in the opposite direction from here, - is the road that turns left and the city of wellington in the background. his point of view down the road was shot elsewhere in the park. there are no signs that leads to this location, - but we didn't look for long before we found the location, as it's only a 5 minute walk away. it's here that frodo looks at a ringwraith, about 200 meters from the other place. it's a little hard to match the same shot, because if does that zoom effect, but it's right here.

the following scene where thay get chased by the ringwraith was also shot here in the park, - but it was shot at night, which makes it difficult to recognize the surroundings. and earlier in the movie, there's a scene where frodo and sam have set up a camp, - where they hear woodelves, before run into merry and pippin. and that was also shot somewhere here in the park. but looked around for these locations, but we didn't find them unfortunately when you're in wellington, it's absolutely worth it to check out some other "the lord of the rings" related things. as i mentioned before, stonestreet studios is close to the park we've just seen. it's only 3 km to the south-east from there. you can not go on a tour in the studio, but you can go there and check it out from outside. behind my is stonestreet studios, where all the studio scenes were shot for the lord of the rings and the hobbit.

you don't need to be so sorry that you can't go on a studio tour, since all the sets from the lord of the rings were demolished after shooting wrapped. 1,5 km north of stonestreet studio you'll find weta workshop and weta digital, which are more interesting to visit, - and which i'll recommend visiting if you're a fan of the lord of the rings. weta digital is the company that made the visual effects for the movies, and weta workshop is the company that made all the sets and the props for the movies. weta workshop has a building next to their facility called weta cave that you get visit for free. at the entrance you'll see 3 big models of the three trolls seen in both the lord of the rings and the hobbit. and inside the building you can see props and buy merchandise from the movies. as the last the lord of the rings experience in wellington, it's also worth it to pay a visit to the wellington airport. it may sound strange, but it's because weta workshop have made impressive decorations for the airport, for every premiere of the hobbit movies.

in 2012 they put up a giant gollum who reaches out for fish. and in 2013 they put up two big eagles with gandalf sitting on top of one of them. and the latest decoration is from 2014 where they put up the head of smaug with moving eye that's lit up, which is very impressing to see. that's all from wellington, we're off to the next location. when the hobbits have reached the prancing pony and gandalf haven't turned up, - they meet aragorn, also called strider, who helps them continue their journey. they all travel to rivendell, and on their way they stop at weathertop to spend the night. the weathertop scene was shot in an area called port waikato in the northern end of the north island, in a very green land without much civilization. it was a great challenge to find weathertop. we had no precise gps coordinated for the location.

we only knew in which part of the region it was supposed to be. so there was nothing to do but look around thoroughly. we looked for a couple of hours, and suddenly we had some luck. we were actually about to give up finding weathertop, but i think we've found it now. there's a rock formation far out in the valley that looks like it. the only problem is that i don't know how we're going to get there, because it doesn't look like there's any road leading out there. so that's going to be a challenge, but we'll try to get closer. there are no road leading out there, so we spend a lot of time trying to get as close as we could in our car. and we found out that it's on privat land with a fence around it. luckily we found the owner of the land, who were kind enough to give us permission to get into the land and walk to the location which was a 2 km walk.

we've walked for 30 minutes and finally reached weathertop. and it turned out to be on privat land. but luckily we got permission to be here. so remember if you want to visit this location yourself, you need permission first. but it's right here that aragorn and the hobbits stops and look at weathertop. the camp in a carved in cave on the side of weathertop, and the real rock formation actually has one the same place as seen in the movie. it's looks like the cave as seen in the movie, but it wasn't shot here, the scene was shot on a set in a studio. and in the scene we see stairs leading up to the top of weathertop, and that's definitely not to find out here on the rock formation. of course the ruins on the top are not here. that might dissapoint you, but they were added digitally. and when they fight against the ringwraiths on the top, that was shot in a studio. but even though there's nothing up there, i'm a little curious to know what's up there, and how the view is, so let's get up there!

it's not easy to get to the top. it's very steep to walk up there and the ground is uneven, and it took a while to get up there. i can't acutally recommend to climb up here, as it doesn't really feel safe. and i'm a little dissapointed that it's not a flat top as seen in the movie, but at least the view is fantastic. when you look at it from the ground, it looks like a round rock formation, as weathertop is supposed to look like in the movie. but it's not in real life. it's actually a long line of rock formation, that looks like a round rock formation from the ground of the right angle. here we see the rock formation from the side, where you can clearly tell that it's not a round rock formation. weathertop is also featured in the hobbit "an unexpected journey" when azog and the other orcs have a meeting. but it wasn't shot here. weathertop in the hobbit was all cgi. and the scene on the top with the ruins were shot on a set just like the lord of the rings.

back to the lord of the rings. after frodo has been stabbed on weathertop, the rush to rivendell to save his life. they meet arwen on their way, who takes frodo with her on her horse to rivendell. she gets chased by ringwraiths on her way, and ennds up crossing a river, while the ringwraiths stay on the other side because of their fear of water. this scene was shot at a river called skippers canyon in the south end of the south island, not far from queenstown. it's a bit difficult to get to this location. you need to drive on skippers road, where the most of the way is driving in the mountains on a narrow gravel road. and you need to drive carefully, as there are no crash barriers. and sometimes there are several hundred meters to fall next to the road. you need to drive for 20 km on the road to get to the location, and it takes about an hour. and there are cars driving in both directions, so it's a challenge everytime you meet another car. fortunately there are sometimes a wider piece of road, to pass each other, but a lot of times one of cars need to back up a bit, if you met in a bad place.

we drove in a small rental car without 4x4, but i can't recommend others doing the same thing. it's recommended to only drive in a 4x4 car, as it's a dangerous road. and there are also big hole in the road where you can get stuck. when you rent a car in new zealand, the insurances don't cover if you drive on skippers road. we've arrived in skippers canyon, and it's here that arwen crosses the river and stay on this side. and the ringwraiths stay on the other side. and when they ride out in the water, arwen then summons a tidal wave from down there that flushes them all away. the most of the scene was shot here in skippers canyon, but there's a lot of current in the river and it's quite deep, - so the shots of arwen and the nine ringwraiths crossing the river were shot elsewhere. it was shot at a river in arrowtown, which is only 15 km from here. arrowtown is a very small city, and we've already been there, -

as the park in the town was used for the scene when isildur rides through a forest and gets attacked by orcs, as we see in the prologue. this river is not very deep. the water only goes to the knees, and the current is not that strong, so you can easily cross in. and therefore it was ideal for the shots when they cross the river. it's hard to find the exact location along the river where they made the shots though, - as all the shots done here are close-ups, where it's hard to see the surroundings clearly. so we didn't find the exact location. of course it had to be close-ups, otherwise you would be able to tell that it was shot on two different locations. we also see wideshots of the nine ringwraiths standing in the middle of the river in skippers canyon, where it's very deep as i said. but in these shots, it was only arwen who was really in the shot. the nine ringwraith were shot in front of a blue screen and were afterwards added to the shots. we're off to the next location. right after the scene at the river, we then see frodo wake up in a bed in rivendell who's recovering. rivendell is one of the most beautiful places seen in the lord of the rings, but unfortunately it doesn't exist as seen in the movies.

it's a mixture of indoor and outdoor sets, a model that was build, and waterfalls shot seperately that all comes together as rivendell. a lot of the rivendell scenes were shot on a outdoor set build in a park located on the south end of the north island, about 40 km north-east of wellington. the park is called kaitoke regional park, and it's quite a large area, but it's not difficult to find the location, as there are sign that leads to it. there's a parking close to the location, and from there it's just a 2 minute walk to get there. and again there are signs that lead all the way to the location, so it's easy to find. and there are also poles in the park that shows information about the movies. we've arrived at kaitoke regional park, and here they shot the scenes for rivendell. but it's a bit difficult to recognize the location, because everything has grown since then. and the set that was build here, is not here anymore of course. but fortunately there are information boards, that shows a map of where everything was build, -

and there a pictures from the movies, so you can see about where it was shot. for example elronds house was right here. it's difficult to recognize today, but you can identify some of the trees if you compare them with the movies. it was a very beautuful set they build, filled with many details. and they even made an artificial river for the shoot. so it would have been fantastic to be able to still see the set, but unfortunately it was removed after the shooting wrapped. it's still a very beautiful park area though to wander around, and you get a good feeling of rivendell. and the information boards shows you a map of where everything was. and even though the planting has grown a lot since then, - you can still recognize some of the trees seen in the movies. this is a shot from elronds terasse. you can't recognize the background, everything in this area has been added digitally. most in the background is a model we see, and mountains and waterfalls that were shot elsewhere.

when the camera pans down, it's here in the park we see, but everything has grown since then, - so the open space is gone, and you can only recognize the tree in the foreground. if you compare the pattern in the bark of the trees, you can tell that it's the same tree. but the top of the tree has been digitally altered, so you can't recognize that. and if you look closely, you can tell where the transition is between between the tree here in the park and the altered top. right there at the corner, is where the building was, where frodo wakes up in the bed, - and goes out on the balcony and overlooks the fantastic sight of rivendell. but the final look of rivendell doesn't exist unfortunately. it's a mixture of shots from here, - and shots of a model and cgi which all combined makes rivendell.

i just said that there were nothing of the set left, but the coolest thing about this location, is that this archway is here. it's not the archway featured in the movies though. that one is long gone. it's a replica that was made in 2014, - so you can get a feeling of what the rivendell looked like. and the archway is placed in the same spot where the original stood. you quickly realize it's not the original, because it's not an exact replica. when you compare it to the one in the movies, you can see that the patterns in the replica looks different. the replica is also quite smaller than the original. it's here that we see the fellowship prepare to go to mordor, and go though the archway right there. but unfortunately everything has grown since then, so you can't recognize anything anymore. and in the movie there was a path up here and an open spot. but i think it was made temporarily for the movie unfortunately, so it's impossible to recognize. other rivendell scenes like the interior of elronds house was shot in a studio. but there are also some exterior scenes that was shot in a studio.

for example the council of elrond scene where the talk about the ring and the fellowship is gathered was not shot here in the park. it's quite a long scene, and they decided to shot it in a studio, so they could be in total control of the light and avoid changing in the weather. we see rivendell in all 3 the lord of the rings movies, but we also se rivendell in the hobbit - an unexpected journey. but for the hobbit they didn't shot the rivendell scenes here in kaitoke regional park, and they didn't use models. it was all shot on sets in a studio, and all the surroundings are cgi. back to the lord of the rings. the fellowship leaves rivendell and is heading to mordor. and on their way we see some fantastic shots in mountains. we tried to find some of the locations that was shot on the south island near queenstown, but unfortunately it was without luck. and the location i wanted to see the most, which is where they camp and saruman's raven come, you can't get any near by car.

the scene was shot on mount olympus, in mountains located in the north end of the south island. and unfortunately it requires a helikopter to get there, so we didn't see the location. afterwards they go through the mines of moria, which was all shot in a studio, and when they come out of the mines again, - they end up in stunning mountains which in the movie is called dimrill dale, where they grief for the loss of gandalf. and this scene was shot on 2 different locations. the first part of the scene was shot on mount owen, which is located in the north end of the south island, - which unfortunately you also only can get to by helicopter, or if you're an avid mountain climber. so we didn't see this location either. the last part of the scene, where aragorn runs though water and looks down on lothlorien, was shot 500 km south-west of mount owen. it was shot in mountains called the remarkables, near queenstown in the south end of the south island. and this locations is much easier to get to. you have to get high up in the mountains though to get to the location. it's in an altitude of 1800 meters, -

and the remarkables is a ski area, so you can drive most of the way up there. you can park at the ski lifts which is located in an altitude of 1600 meters, and from there you need to walk the rest of the way up the mountain to get to the location. fortunately it's easy to find the location. the scene was shot at a lake called lake alta, and there are yellow poles that lead up to the lake. we've walked for 45 minutes up the mountain, and we've arrived at the spot where they shot the scene. they lake behind me is called lake alta, and the fellowship walks over there on the other side, - and then we see aragorn run through the water, and then he stops right about here and looks down on lothlorien. when aragorn looks down on lothrien, then there's not much to see from here where he stands. as you can see there's just a rock wall to look at. but it was shot here, there was just less water back then. and there's been added things digitally to the shot. and for some reason the shot has been flipped. if you look closely, you can recognize a lot of the stones in the water. but other than that, all of this has been digitally replaced.

that's all from the remarkables. in the next scene they run into lothlorien, and this scene was not shot far from here. we're only going 60 km away from the remarkables. the scene was shot in a forest in paradise, that we've already been to, - as the mountains in the same area have been used as the misty mountains around isengard. we didn't have any precise gps coordinates to where the lothlorien scene was shot. we only knew in what part of a forest it should be. and i would recommend to drive in a 4x4 when you go to the location. it's uneven terrain to drive in. and you have to drive through rivers on your way out there, that can get pretty deep if it has rained a lot. and we also encountered big branches on the road, that we had to remove to be able to continue. we've arrived in this beautiful forest, and here they shot the scenes when they arrive in lothlorien. it's a very unique and beautiful forest to wander around in, and it looks just like lothlorien as seen in the movie.

well, we won't find the exact locations. without gps coordinates it's practically impossible, - because it's all just trees, and it's a huge area. and they also build some trees for the movie, to get those huge lothlorien trees in the shots. and such huge trees don't exist in new zealand. and it also makes it hard to find the locations, when some of the trees were artificial. in the forest they meet haldir, who leads them to caras galadhon, the elven city where they meet celeborn and galadriel. these scene weren't shot in the forest in paradise, but on a set in a studio. when the fellowship leaves lothlorien, they takes their leaving at a shore, and gets boats to sail down anduin river. this scene wasn't shot in a studio though. it was shot at a lake on privat land called fernside, - on the north island, about 50 km north-east of wellington. because it's on privat land, you can't just go visit this location. we sought out the place, but we weren't allowed to visit the location.

the only way to see this location, is on a guided tour that lasts a whole day, that is pretty expensive, - and where you also visits a lot of other the lord of the rings locations, that we've already seen. so we weren't interested in the guided tour, and didn't get to see the location unfortunately. afterwards we see the fellowship sail down anduin river, and these scenes weren't shot on a single location. it was shot at 4 different rivers in new zealand, so you have to travel far to get to all the locations. it's hard to seek out the locations without a boat, and we didn't have that. and most of the shots are done from a helikopter or are close-ups of the boats, - that offen have blurry backgrounds, which makes it hard to match the same shots. we visited 3 of the rivers, and came as close to the locations as we could in car.

the first river we're going to see is called rangitikei river which is on the north island. it's a very impressive location, as the river is down a 80 meter deep vertical canyon. therefore it's hard to get near the river. one of the best places to observe the river, is from this lookout, where you can look down the canyon, and where you can also go bungejumping. we see this river is some of the first shots where the fellowship sails. but i don't know exactly where it was shot along the river, and it's hard to find the locations without a boat. the next river we're going to see is in the town upperhutt, which is in the south end of the north island. we've already been to the town, as of the parks in the town was used as isengard gardens. and the river we're going to see is only 5 km from the park we saw. the river in the town is called hutt river, and this river is easily accessible as it's not down in a canyon. on this part of the river some close-up shots were made of aragorn and boromir who sails on the boats and hears uruk-hais in the area.

the shot of boromir has been flipped, the location actually looks like this. and you can tell it's been flipped if you compare it to the shot of aragorn, as it's exactly the same rock formation in the background of both shots. it guess the shot was flipped to make the location look like a canyon. there's actually only big rock formations on one of the sides here at hutt river. the last river we visited is in the south end of the south island, about 20 km east of queenstown. the river is called kawarau river, and unfortunately it's also difficult to get near this river, because it's down a deep canyon like the first river we saw. the river is not as deep though, and it's much easier to get a good view of the river. we've arrived at kawarau river near queenstown, and this river is also used as anduin river, - when the fellowship sails through the canyon and passes the argonath which was added digitally to the shots. but we can't get closer to the river than this, so we can't find the exact location and match the same shots, -

because it requires a boat. so we'll have to look at it from here. it's a very stunning scene when they see the argonath. the argonath was a model that was build, - that was shot seperately and added digitally to the shots of the canyon. and the canyon is only about 40 meters deep by the way. but the illusion in the movie, makes it look like it's more than 100 meters deep. this is not a shot from kawarau river. most of this shot is a mixture of the model and cgi. when the fellowship has passed the argonath and is out of anduin river, they end up in a big lake called nen hithoel that has a huge waterfall in the other end. and there at the lake they sail to the shore to camp. these scenes were shot only 60 km further away, - at a lake called mavora lakes, located south-west from queenstown. mavora lakes consist of 2 lakes, and the location is located at the northern lake, which is a biggest one of them.

there's a gravel road most of the way out there, but other than that, it's easy to get there. and you can park next to the lcoation. you can also go camping at the location, and we saw some people camping while we were there. we've arrived at mavora lakes, and here they shot the ending of the fellowships journey down anduin river. and they sail to the shore right about here. and in the movie we also see that there's a waterfall further down, but it's all a film illusion. for the lake just continues, and there's no waterfall nearby. it's a very stunning waterfall seen in the movie, but it's not located in new zealand. the waterfall was shot in south america. the first shots of them arriving at the nen hithoel lake are impossible to recognize, because the whole background has been digitally altered. that's not at all what the location looks like in reality. you can not recognize the location untill the shot where they sail to the shore, - but you can only recognize the right side of the shot, the whole background and the left shore have been digitally altered.

in the next scenes they get attacked by uruk-hais in the forest, which is a pretty long sequence. some of it was shot here in the forest near the lake shore, but the scenes were shot in 3 different forests, - which is here at mavora lakes, and in closeburn which is located 38 km from here, and in paradise that we've seen a couple of times which is located 65 km from here. the scenes from closeburn and paradise were unfortunately shot on privat lands, that you can't just visit. but we went into the forest here at the shore at mavora lakes to find the locations that were used here. and we found one of the locations, which is located about 150 meters into the forest from the location where they camp. when you look for the locations and and the shore and in the forest, then don't count on finding the ruins and statues seen in the movie. it's all sets and props that was placed there for the shoot, and they were remove after shooting wrapped. we've only walked 100 meters from the parking, and we've found one of the locations where they shot something.

and it's this tree that frodo hides behind, when he's fleeing from the uruk-hais. this is the tree that frodo hides behind, and he looks at merry and pippin in this direction, who hide under a tree trunk. and i also think that we've found the tree trunk. it's just up here instead. and if you watch the scene, they actually look in that direction. so in terms of geography they don't even look at each other. it might be hard to recognize the location right away, as it has fallen more apart over the years, - but if you look at the root of the tree which is still intact, and compare it to the one in the movie, you can clearly tell that it's the same tree trunk. earlier in the movie we see the group of uruk-hais who chases the fellowship along anduin river. and these scenes were also shot here in the same area of the forest. and in the very first shot we see the group of uruk-hais who run over a tree trunk. and if you look closely, who can tell by the roof of the tree trunk that it's exactly the same tree trunk that merry and pippin hide under, -

even though it's suppose to be elsewhere. when the battle is over, we see frodo standing on the shore preparing to continue to mordor alone. and the scene is shot at the same location as before, where they sail to the shore to camp. sam then comes running out of the forest and catches frodo in the last second, and then they continue together to the other shore on their way to mordor. that's all from the first movie "the fellowship of the ring". the next movie we're going to look at is "the two towers" from 2002, which is the next movie in line. we've already seen some of the locations, as rivendell and isengard are also featured in the two towers. in the beginning of the movie we follow frodo and sam who have arrived at emyn muil, which is a maze of rocks. the scenes was shot on mount ruapehu which is a volcano in the middle of the north island.

the volcano is in tongariro national park, and we've already seen the place, as the big battle in mordor in the prologue from the first movie also was shot here. the two location are actually very close to each other. we're back on mount ruapehu. and it's only 100 meters in that direction, where we showed that the big battle in mordor in the beginning of the first movie was shot. and here is where the two towers starts, when frodo and sam climbs up from down there on their way to mordor. in the next shot frodo and sam look at mordor, and here it's fun to notice how much the shot has been digitally altered. because there's nothing to see in reality, and there's a house up there. it's only the left side of the shot that is recognizable, the rest of the view is digitally altered. these following close-ups of frodo and sam were not shot on mount ruapehu. it's pickup shots that were done much later, because the lines got rewritten.

and they were shot in a studio, i guess because it was too difficult to go all the way to mount ruapehu again. and i think it's clear that it's studio lighting and not real sunlight as in the shots from mount ruapehu. afterwards when they sit to drink water and eat lembas bread, it's again shot on mount ruapehu. in the next scene we see frodo and sam who walk around and get lost in emyn muil. and it was shot the same place here on mount ruapehu. but it can be be difficult to find the locations and the right camera angles, because it was shot in a fog in the movie, which makes the surrounding hard to recognize. and when you walk around in the area, the rock formations look alike, but we managed to find some of the locations anyway. in the movie you get the impression that frodo and sam walk very far, and gets to a new place all the time. and i thought they shot on many different locations on mount ruapehu, - but all the locations we found where they walk around, was within 100 meters from the location where they climb up to begin with.

it's just been shot from a different angle all the time, which makes the surroundings look different. and it made it less difficult to find the locations, now that the area we had to search wasn't that big. if we look at the area from the air, it's down here that the first shot was done when frodo and sam climb up to begin with. and the shots where they walk around in a fog, was shot in this small area. if we look at this shot, then it's right here on the edge of the rock, that we see them climb up to begin with. much of the emyn muils scenes was shot here on mount ruapehu, but some of it was also shot in a studio. for example frodo and sams encounter with gollum, and a lot of shots when they captured gollum, and gollum afterwards leads them out of emyn muil. that's all from mount ruapehu. later in the movie we see isengard, when saruman encouraged wild men to attack every village in rohan.

afterwards we see a scene of a village in rohan that gets attacked by wild men and uruk-hais. the scene was shot in the south end of the south island, at a lake in a place called poolburn in central otago. it's easy to get to the location. you have to drive on a gravel road most of the way out there, and you can drive all the way to the location and park. the lake is called poolburn reservoir, and people mainly come here to fish. and after the lord of the rings premiered, people also come here to see the rohan location. and we also saw a bus filled with the lord of the rings fans while we were here. we've arrived at this lake in poolburn, and this is where the scene was shot when a little village in rohan gets attacked. and it's here that morwen sends her two children away on a horse, before the village is in flames. and the children ends up edoras. when you stand on the location you can see a lot of fisher hutts, and they were also here during the shoot.

they had to build rohan houses for the scene, and the film crew was clever to disguise the fisher hutts as extra rohan houses. so when you see the movie, then there are rohan houses where the fisher hutts are. there're many other rohan scenes that were also shot here in the same area in poolburn, for example aragorn, gimli and legolas who chases the group of uruk-hais who has taken merry and pippin. we has no precise gps coordinates to where these scenes were shot, but we searched a lot in the area to find the locations. when you're in the area, you can clearly tell that it looks like the rohan landscape as seen in the movie, - but unfortunately we didn't find any of the locations where the scenes were shot. later in the movie we see merry and pippin who escapes from the group of uruk-hais who captured them. and while being chased by an orc, they run into fangorn forest, and here they meet treebeard the ent.

fangorn forest is not a location you can find. the forest is a mixture of shots made on a set in a studio and shots of a model. it sounds complex to build an artificial forest, instead of just finding a real forest. but the film crew didn't manage to find a forest in new zealand that matched the discription of fangorn forest. and that's why they build an artificial forest in a studio. and treebeard was build as a huge animatronic puppet, - that was shot in front of a blue screen in a studio, along with the actors who play merry and pippin. but later in the movie when treebeard walks with merry and pippin cites poetry, we see fangorn forest from the air which are real locations. the shots were done in paradise that we've already seen a couple of times, in the area close to the town glenorchy. we've already seen the exact same location, as it's the same mountains in the area used as the misty mountains around isengard that we showed earlier. and isengard is supposed to be next to fangorn forest, so it fits together quite well.

even though fangorn forest was shot in a studio, you can tell that it's right here that some aerial shot of fangorn forest were shot, - when treebeard walks with with merry and pippin. they did some shots from a helicopter over the mountains behind me. it can be hard to recognize as it's a shot over the mountains from a helicopter in the movie, and our shot is from the ground, - but if you look at the mountains tops, you can tell that it's the same mountains. when aragorn, legolas and gimli look for merry and pippin in fangorn forest, they are reunited with gandalf who has returned. and together they travel to edoras which is a village in rohan located on a mountain top in the middle of a valley, surrounded by mountains. and it's a real location. edoras was one of the more impressive sets build for the lord of the rings. it was build as a huge exterior set on mountain top called mount sunday which is located in the middle of the south island. it's located in the middle of a valley in the mountains, without much civilization nearby.

fortunately there are roads leading out there, but the last 25 km to the location is a gravel road, where you have to drive slowly. but the surroundings are stunning on the way out there, and suddenly you get to the valley where you can see mount sunday far out. you can park about 1 km from mount sunday, and from there you have to walk the rest of the way to get out there. we've arrived as close to mount sunday as we can get in car, and from here there's a 45 minute walk to get all the way out there. there's a path that leads to the location, and fortunately there are bridges over the rivers that you have to cross to get there. there's a lot of great spots on the way out there, like this place, that you don't see in the movies. mount sunday has also become a location that's being visited by the lord of the rings fans, - and here we also saw a bus filled with fans that were on a guided tour. the first time we see edoras, it's gandalf, aragorn, gimli and legolas who ride up this hill on horses, -

and looks upon edoras, that's in this direction. and even though the village is no longer up there, the location is still very recognizable and very beautiful i must say. edoras was one of the biggest building projects for the lord of the rings, as the location is far from civilization. the film crew got permission to build on the location, on the condition that they would leave the place exactly as they found it. and that meant that they had to carefully remove all they plants where they had to build, that was taken care of in a nursery for 18 months, - and put back once the shooting wrapped. and they had the new zealand military make roads all the way to the location and up the mountain top, so that the location was accessible. and then contructers began to build edoras on the top which took 8 months. it was a very stunning set they build out here filled with many details. and it was made look as if the village had been there for years.

and it was only the top portion of the village and the golden hall that was build, along with some of the lower buildings and the entrance of the village. so when we see the wideshots of edoras, then the rest of the wall around the village and the rest of the lower houses is cgi. all the edoras scenes were shot in 8 days, and then it was all removed again, including the road leading out there. in the next shots gandalf, aragorn, gimli and legolas rides into the village and up to the golden gall on the top. so we're going to the top of the mountain to see the next locations. as you can see it's very windy on the location, especially on the top, but it's not because we were there on a bad day. it's only windless 3 days a year out here, the rest of the time it's very windy in the valley. and if you look at the edoras scenes, you can tell that it was also quite windy during the shoot for the movies. we're now on the top, and the golden hall was build right here. but even though the building was here, there was nothing inside it.

because the interior scenes were shot in a studio. but it's right here that eowyn comes out and looks out on rohan and the flag flies away from her. the edoras location was one of the places i was looking to the most to visit from the lord of the rings, because the location looks so stunning, - and is located in such breathtaking surroundings. and it's absolutely one of the most beautiful places i've ever been to. it's a very beautiful sight to stand on the top and look around, as there're mountains ranges all around you, and it looks exactly the same as in the movies. when gandalf, aragorn, gimli and legolas walk into the golden hall it's not shot here on mount sunday. it was shot in a studio as i said before. gandalf frees king theoden who was controlled by saruman, and after theoden gets well again, - womtongue then gets banished from edoras, and after that, theoden then learns that his son is dead. we see the funeral afterwards, which takes place outside of the entrance of the village, which is down in front of the mountain top. we're down in front of edoras, and it's right about here that theoden gets his son burried and talkes with gandalf about it afterwards.

and it's over there by those rocks that the entrance of the village was. the little round hills with flowers on them which are the graves are no longer here. there were made for the movies and was removed again after the shooting wrapped. edoras is not only featured in the two towers. we also see the location in the third movie "the return of the king". later in the movie we continue following frodo, sam and gollum on their way to mordor. we see a scene where gollum tries to catch a fish in a water stream, while frodo and sam disputes about gollum and the ring. the scene wasn't shot on the south island. it was shot in the middle of the north island at a waterfall in tongariro national park, - where we've already been a couple of times. the location is close to the volcano mount ruapehu, - where a lot of the mordor scenes from the prologue were shot, and the scenes of frodo and sam in emyn muil.

the waterfall is called mangawhero falls, and it's easy to get there, because you can park right next to the waterfall. there's a lookout behind a fence where you can look at the waterfall and the view. and if you walk close to the water stream and the waterfall, then you need to be carefull not to slip, - as there's a 28 meter drop from up here. when frodo, sam and gollum are on their way to mordor, then a little scene was shot right here, - where gollum sits on the other side, and tries to catch a fish. and afterwards he splashes around in the water to try to catch it. it can be hard to recognize the location, because many of the loose stone in the water lay differently today, - but other than that, you can still recognize the rock formation if you look closely. the background behind frodo and sam looks different in the movie, because it's been altered.

and during the shoot, there was just a blue screen behind them, and andy serkid who played gollum really splashed around in the water, - and he was later removed from the shot and replaced by the computer generated gollum as we see him in the movies. this shot on the other hand, is easy to recognize, but as you can see, the background here has also been altered, with mountains being added in the movie. it's a nice view i must say, and there's a big waterfall down. and i know that andy serkis who played gollum, he splashed around in the water, and he had 2 guys ready to grab him if he came to close to the edge, - as it's a big drop to fall from. a little funny story to mention is when the scene has to be shot and the film crew arrived, - it had unexpectedly been showing in the entire area and the water stream was frozen. and the day before there was neither show nor ice. so they had to do everything they could be remove the snow and ice, they didn't want in the movie.

so the film crew turned on the warm film lights, brought out the fans, turned on the heaters and had the local fire department spray away the show. after a couple of hours they managed get rid of most of the snow and ice, so they could start shooting. later in the movie we see frodo, sam and gollum who have camped, where they see oliphants and soldiers marching to war. the scene was not shot here on the north island. it was shot in the south end of the south island, - close to a lake called lake wakatipu, about 10 km west from queenstown. the location is close to lake wakatipu, and if you're driving from queenstown, you come by beautiful moutains sights on your way there along the lake. and the location is actually on a camp site, and it is free, so you can just enter it. and when you have parked, you have to walk for about 10 minutes to get to the location. on the little hike out there, you come by beautiful nature and water streams which is worth stopping by.

and the hike out there, is actually a lot more stunning than the actual location where the scene was shot. we've now walked 10 minutes from the parking, and it's about here that gollum runs to frodo to show that he has catched to rabbits. but it's hard to find the exact spot, firstly because the planting has changed a lot since the shoot, - and secondly you can tell that there has been a fire, as many of the plants are all burned. that's here somewhere that they cook the rabbits, and while sam and gollum are having an argue, - frodo sneaks away and goes to the edge over here and lay down, where he sees soldiers down there marching to mordor. afterwards they get captured by faramir's men, and it's not untill the end of the movie when they've reached osgiliath, - that faramir decides to release all 3 of them and let them continue with the ring towards mordor. osgiliath was a set that was build and it doesn't exist anymore, -

but right after we see frodo, sam and gollum walk through osgiliath wood on their way to mordor, which is the last scene of the movie. and this is a real location. so we're leaving the south island again. the scene was shot on the north island, about 90 km north from wellington, - in a forest called waitarere forest, which is close to the sea. waitarere forest consists of two forests, and north and a south block, and the scene was shot in the north block, and you can't drive into the forest. you can park just outside the forest, and then you walk to walk into the forest. it's quite a big forest that measures about 8 km from top to bottom. so you need to know exactly where to look for the location. we didn't manage to find any information in advance about where in the forest the scene was shot. but luckily we got a hold of the forest ranger, who gave us a map of the forest, - and out of his memory drew where the film crew approximately shot the scene, which was a area of 2 km wide, we had to search through. there's a 4 km walk into the area of the forest where we had to look, and fortunately there are paths in the forest, so it's easy to find your way.

when we found the area, it's was immediately recognizable. it's exactly the same kind of forest as seen in the movie. but even though we looked thoroughly in the area we had to look in, we didn't find the exact location, - because it's a very big area to look through, and all the trees look alike. and some of the forest has also been logged since then, and maybe it was the part where the scene was shot. but even though we didn't find the exact location, we still got a good feeling of osgiliath wood. and you can clearly tell that the scene was shot somewhere in the place. some other scenes have also been shot here in the same forest. for instance the scenes from the return of the king, - where arwen and the other elves goes through a forest, on their way to the grey havens. and the scene when gandalf and pippin ride through a forest on their way to minas tirith.

but even though we searched the forest for a whole day, we didn't find any of the locations. that's all from the two towers. the third and the last movie we're going to look at is the return of the king from 2003. we've already seen some of the locations, as rivendell, isengard, edoras and hobbiton are also seen in the return of the king. halfway through the movie we see the camp of the rohirrim who prepares to go to war against mordor. the realize that they are outnumbered against the army of mordor, so aragorn, gimli and legolas travel down the dimholt road, - so get help from the dead spirits who dwell in the mountain. the dimholt road scene was shot on a location called putangirua pinnacles, - which is located in the south end of the north island, about 100 km from the last location we visited. we're no roads leading all the way to putangirua pinnacles, but you can park nearby, -

and from there you need to walk about 2 km to get there. on the parking lot there's a map over the area, that shows the route out there, and explains about the precautions you have to take on the hike. fortunately it's very easy to find the location, as you just have to follow a path that leads all the way out there. but it's uneven terrain a lot of the way, so it takes a bit of time to get there. now we're getting somewhere! putangirua pinnacles is earth terrain that has eroded over long time, - that has formed this landscape with pillars, which consists of earth, clay and loose stones. so it's not rock formations as it may look like. and because it doesn't consist of solid material, the formations often collide. and you have to be cautious of falling rocks.

and the formations always shift, primarily because of rain, which makes it difficult to find the exact locations where they shot the scene. but luckily the area is not that big, so it doesn't take a long time to look through it. the very first shot of the dimholt road scene is a helicopter shot from the air, and we tried to do the same shot with our remote controlled drone. the landscape has changed a lot as i said, but you can still recognize the location. it's from around the corner right here that aragorn, legolas and gimli ride up here, - but unfortunately it's hard to match the shot completely, as the canyons have collapsed a lot over the years, because they consist of earth and clay. we weren't able to get far enough back in in the canyon and make the same shot as in the movie, because the canyon has collapsed a lot since then. but if you look at the background you can clearly tell that it's the same location. if you look the way they ride, it's actually a dead end. that's hilarious!

most of the other shots in the scene are close-ups, where you can't really see the surroundings, which makes it impossible to find the locations, - but there's one other wideshot, where they ride past a canyon. we searched a lot for the canyon where the shot was done, but again the landscape has changed a lot, so it was hard to find the location, - but it might be this place, that just looks different today. and if so, they also flipped the shot in the movie. the entrance to the mountain itself wasn't shot here in putangirua pinnacles. it was shot on a set in a studio. but the set was built after what it looks like in putangirua pinnacles, so you don't really notice the transition. and when they're inside the mountain, it was also shot in a studio. we're off to the next location. one of the movies big hightlights is the big battle which takes place on the huge battlefield called "pelennor fields", - which is in gondor between the city minas tirith and mordor. pelennor fields as a whole doesn't exist.

some of it was shot on a set in front of a green or blue screen, where the soldiers and the surroundings in the background are cgi. and many of the wideshots with thousands of soldiers are even completely cgi. but many of the close-ups and the tighter shots were shot on real locations. so we're going back to the south island. some of the scenes were shot near a little town called twizel in the middle of the south island. when we arrived at twizel we knew in which area the scenes were shot, but we didn't know exactly where. so there was nothing to do but drive around and search thoroughly for the location. fortunately you can see mountains in the movie, so we looked for the mountains we see in the movie, and found them eventually. you can park pretty lose to the location, and from there you have to walk for about 2 km to get there. and even though the location is behind a fence, you are allowed to go in there.

we've walked far out on the field, and we're now 1 or 2 km from the parking. and it's right here that a lot of the scenes of pelennor fields were shot. and you can tell it's here by looking at the mountains in the background. for example it's right here that the riders of rohan ride forward, and king theoden then holds a little speech before they prepare to ride towards minas tirith. and if we look in the direction where minas tirith is suppose to be, then there's nothing to see, because that location doesn't exist. during the shooting of the scene the film crew had 250 riders in total, which is a lot of course, but in the movie we see 6000. so in the shots where we see thousands of riders, then all the riders in the back are cgi. and when we see wideshots from the air, then everyone is cgi including the surroundings. besides the big battle in front of minas tirith, then we also see pelennor fields a little earlier in the movie, which was also shot here on the same location. it's also the same location we see a little earlier when faramir and his men ride towards osgiliath in that direction.

and it's these mountains you can see in the background. the city of osgiliath itself as we see here, is a model that was added digitally to the shot, so don't look for it on the location. and when we see the city up close, it's a set. the city of minas tirirth as we see here, is also a model that was built. and it was quite big. and just like osgiliath, it was used for the wideshots of the city as a whole. and the rest of the surrounding are cgi. and when we see the city up close, it's a set. the set was quite big and impressive, and was filled with many details. and i'd wish you could still see it, but like many of the other sets it was demolished after the shooting wrapped. that was the filming locations of the lord of the rings. we got to visit almost all the locations you can visit. and least the most important of them. it was fantastic and exciting to travel in new zealand for 3 weeks and find the locations. i felt closer to middle-earth than ever. new zealand is without a doubt the most beautiful and stunning country i've ever been to, especially because the country has so many different kinds of nature.

and i absolutely recommend others to go there, no matter if you want to visit the lord of the rings filmings locations or just want to experience beautiful nature. hostniki topgaard camera operatorline rosted idea and researchniki topgaardline rosted thanks towingnut filmskaitoke regional park film editorniki topgaard