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Cate Blanchett reveals her favourite thing about Lord of the Rings

Cate Blanchett has been discussing her favourite example of movie magic on the set of Lord of the Rings, which was used to make the hobbits smaller

Cate Blanchett Lord of the Rings

Cate Blanchett has reached the most important stage of any prestigious actor’s Oscar campaign for their latest drama movie – going on Hot Ones. The YouTube series, in which celebrities eat chicken (or tofu) wings slathered in increasingly scorching hot sauces has become one of the most important interviews on the circuit.

Sean Evans of course asked Blanchett about Lord of the Rings while he had her at his mercy, and asked what her favourite example of movie magic or cinematic wizardry was while making the trilogy. “I think it was what Peter Jackson called the split frame diopter. It’s something they do with the lens, so you can hold two people of monumentally different sizes in the same frame.”

“They would build a table where on one side everything was large and everything was small on the other side. But there was something with the lens where they were able to hold them, a bit like a funhouse mirror, which was really incredible. It was done in-camera, which was pretty cool. I think you can feel it when it’s all done in post, I love it when those tricks are done in-camera.”

A whole host of tricks were used while making Lord of the Rings to make the hobbit actors including Elijah Wood and Sean Astin appear smaller, and the human-sized beings such as Ian McKellen and Viggo Mortensen appear bigger. Forced perspective and bigger props and sets were just some of these methods.

Of course, technology has moved on in the twenty years since the Lord of the Rings trilogy was released, and Rings of Power was more CGI-heavy. The production design and costume design was still exquisitely detailed and stunning, however. We are eagerly awaiting the second season of the big-budget Amazon series.

While we wait, check out our guide to Sauron’ magic rings.