The Fellowship of the Ring

Nearly every movie fan knows that The Fellowship of the Ring installment of The Lord of the Rings trilogy was nominated for many awards, but few realize the attention that was also given to the film score. Much of the other awards won by The Fellowship of the Ring were overshadowed by its nomination for the best picture of the year, which it ultimately lost. Out of thirteen nominations, the team walked away with four Academy Award trophies, including those for Best Cinematography, Best Makeup, Best Visual Effects, and the Best Original Film Score. Of these, the best film score award has maintained resonance in the nearly ten years since the movie came out.

As has been reviewed countless times, Peter Jackson paid attention to nearly every detail that was used in the construction of the movie. The film score was no exception and Jackson wanted the same composer to provide the music for all three films of the trilogy. With this attention to detail, it surprised many in the industry that Peter Jackson chose Howard Shore to helm the herculean task. While Howard Shore had completed many film score jobs, many regarded him as a second tier candidate for his subtle entries to the canon of film scores. On the other hand, Peter Jackson saw his potential and Howard Shore delivered in an exceptional way.

Similar to Jackson’s role in making the movie of The Fellowship of the Ring, Howard Shore attacked the musical project with the same attention to detail. For the first movie alone, he composed music for over 80 different conceptual ideas, many of which were tossed in the garbage during the editing process. Of the ones that remain, there is a great melding of dissonance and harmony that are used to shape the viewer’s experience of watching the epic movie.