Ron Ames (‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’ producer) worked as ‘a unifier’ to bring battles and volcanic eruptions to life [Exclusive Video Interview]

While his credited title may be a producer, Ron Ames describes his role on “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” as “a unifier.” Collaboration was a core feature in the development of the Amazon series, so Ames was tasked with producing many of the technical and design elements of the show. “The notion was that we were going to have an integrated view of the technical department… that there wouldn’t be a separation from art department, editorial, music; that all of it could be worked together,” he explains. A major component of Ames’ work was visual effects, but it’s clear in the way that he describes the series that this producer utilized a holistic approach which stretched far beyond one discipline. “I think it’s a unique way of doing it,” he suggests, “and it was required, when you do eight hours of feature quality broadcast.” Watch the exclusive video interview above.

Middle Earth in this series is “much younger and different” than the one fans encountered in J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings” novels and Peter Jackson’s Oscar-winning films. “The Rings of Power” is set during the Second Age of the fictional continent, thousands of years before the events of the main trilogy. “We approached it with a bit of reverence,” says Ames of contending with the legacy of this beloved world. “Peter’s work was groundbreaking and his perspective was unique, and we wanted to make sure that the audience wasn’t confused,” he explains, “that they knew they were in Middle Earth.”

SEE Ismael Cruz Córdova interview: ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’

The scale of the project, which essentially felt like eight feature films, didn’t make the task easy. “There were 9,000 visual effects. There’s 7,000 hours of dailies. I mean, it’s a huge amount of material to be managed,” Ames confesses. So the producer ensured that the visual effects team was talking with production design, who were also in conversation with costumes and makeup, so that the massive series could achieve a “unified vision.”

That vision is on glorious display in Episode 6, “Udûn,” where orcs unleash their unholy plan upon the world of men. The Numenorean army arrives on horseback just in time to save a group of outmaneuvered villagers from the orcs in an epic battle sequence. Just as the humans believe the battle is won, the orcs break open a dam, sending water surging through newly dug tunnels before it is blasted into the center of Mount Doom. The volcano erupts in a cataclysm of fire that blankets the survivors in an ashen hellscape.

“It really is a slight of hand kind of operation,” admits Ames of deciding which effects will be achieved with CGI and which will be completed practically. “It’s like, you don’t put the thing that you would expect to be CG as CG, you put the thing that you don’t expect to be CG to be CG, and therefore you don’t know where that handoff is.” This led to filling out many battleground shots with digitally created humans and horses, or ones duplicated from other takes.

SEE Owain Arthur interview: ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power’

The volcanic eruption is of course digitally created, but Ames claims that even a large-scale effect like this is grounded in the natural world. “There was nothing in our show, and no visual effect or special effect for that matter, that wasn’t based on physics,” he states, “It truly had to have a physical reality.” The team researched wildfire photography for inspiration, as well as depictions of the ancient eruption of Mount Vesuvius in Pompeii. “We included the physical world, then made it into the fantastic thing that it became,” he explains. It’s a tactic that nature enthusiast Tolkien surely would appreciate.

“Udûn” has already won Ames an an award from the Visual Effects Society, for Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Episode. “There’s so much good work this year. There are so many wonderful shows. So to be recognized by one’s peers is a great honor,” he says appreciatively. The effects were created with the help of 15 vendors across the globe, including major studios like Weta and ILM, as well as smaller studios. So, Ames is thankful that the work accomplished by “all of those hands” was recognized. Ames previously won a VES Award for “The Aviator” and was nominated for “Star Trek: Into Darkness.”

In working as a “unifier” on the production, Ames is determined to foster an environment where the work of many artists can weave together seamlessly. “The future of modern filmmaking is really about collaboration, removing silos,” he reveals. “It is an integrated vision of making films what they’ve always been, stories of the heart, but having new tools to do it. So we came away with a great respect for the collaborative process, and sharing from the very beginning, and working as teams. And we hope the work represents that.”

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