How does the use of cinematography and mise-en-scène create a feeling of tension in the Council of Elrond scene in Lord of the Rings?

The scene I have chosen is from the fantasy film Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring, directed by Peter Jackson, where Elrond calls a council of representatives from the various species of Middle Earth to decide upon the fate of the Ring. It includes many conventions from the genre, such as the medieval clothing to give an ancient, wise and somewhat heroic feeling, as people associate this kind of clothing with brave knights and kings. Another convention used is the gathering of creatures such as elves, dwarves and men, which is used to present the utopian society that Rivendell is, a place where all the species can interact freely.

Near the beginning of the scene there is a long shot from in front of the council, and behind Elrond who is addressing them. The council’s seating is arranged in a circle. This part of the mise-en-scène suggests to me a sense of equality, because it reminds me of the Round Table from Arthurian legend, which gave each man around it equal standing with the rest as no one had a better or more important seat than anyone else, not even the king.  This implies that the group is currently meeting as equals. However, many things about the shot suggest to me that that is not the case. Firstly, is Boromir’s performance. The shot is framed so that he is seated almost central in the shot, and he is sitting in a relaxed manner, almost as if he is bored. He is not focused on Elrond, and seems to not care what is happening.  This increases tension as I can tell that he isn’t happy with the proceedings, which implies to me that he is going to try and intervene with how Elrond is running things, and therefore intervene with the balance of power. 

Secondly, the mise-en-scène also includes two statues on the left hand side, which are tuned and facing away from the council. They are noticeably aged, which suggests wisdom and knowledge, like a lot of the scenery also does to fit in with the eternal and wise atmosphere the elves present. Worn and old scenery is a convention of the fantasy genre as it gives the old and other worldly feeling by showing that it has been there for many years, yet is still as powerful as ever, such as with Hogwarts from Harry Potter, which contrasts the real world which Harry and the audience are used to in order to create a feeling of wonder and the idea of a long and vibrant history, therefore suggesting to the audience that there is much to discover there. The statues looking away from Elrond’s seat struck me as strange, because I would have thought the statues looking at the council, to show guidance and pride in one’s surroundings, and give power to the council by showing that these huge creations are focused on them. I felt this increased the tension as it seemed to me as if the statues were avoiding looking, as their heads are twisted away at a seemingly uncomfortable angle just to avoid looking at the council. The statues also are holding what looks to be cymbals in front of their bodies. I noticed that if they were to look straight forwards, towards the council, these cymbals would block their view of not only Elrond, but of the plinth where the Ring will sit. This made the scene tenser by increasing the mystery of the ring by suggesting to me that the ring presents dangers that even the old wisdom that is built into the very walls of Rivendell would not dare to look straight at it.

As Boromir stands to make his point, the camera tracks him by moving around the outside of the circle of chairs as he turns to address to court. This shows the audience that Boromir is the focus of this part of the scene, establishing how important he is to the film as he can command the attention of some of the most important beings in Middle Earth, as well as the attention of the camera, going so far as to seem as though the camera has no choice but to follow him. This creates tension as he is disrupting the aforementioned balance and equality, by somewhat forcing his views and power upon them. This is also conveyed by the low angle from which Boromir is seen, implying how powerful he is and suggesting to me that he is more important than the rest of the characters in this scene. Low angle shots are quite often used to capture villainous characters by making the audience feel as if the character is above them, representing the power they hold, but presenting it in a threatening way because it seemingly puts the character in control as they dominate the shot. This reminded me of The Avengers, in the scene where Loki makes the civilians kneel before him. He is shot from a similar angle as he walks through the crowd of kneeling people. It immediately shows a power hierarchy between the characters in the scene, as does how Boromir is seen above the seated council.
As Boromir turns, we see that the backs of the chairs are large crosses. This is part of the mise-en-scène and it suggested to me that Boromir is trying to play God by taking control of the Ring as he suggests.
The scene then cuts to a close up of Boromir’s face, still from a low angle, as he talks further about his plans to wield the ring. The angle makes it seem as though the audience is one of the seated council members listening to Boromir speak. There is then a cut to a close up shot of Aragorn, who disagrees with Boromir’s idea. This is an eye level shot, which helps the audience relate to Aragorn, seeing him as a more peaceful and fair member of the group than Boromir because he is at the same level as they are. There is then another cut to an over the shoulder shot of Boromir as he turns to face Aragorn. As the camera is showing over Aragorn’s shoulder, it suggests to me that the camera is trying to tell us that Aragorn is in the right, and that we, the audience, should be on his side. This increases tension because it shows that the council is already beginning to turn on one another and pick sides, which can only lead to a larger conflict in the near future.

Impatient, Gimli hits the Ring with his axe, intending to destroy it. A mid-shot sees him swing the axe, and then it quickly cuts to an extreme close up of the still intact ring. Suddenly, instead of the Ring we see a very short shot of the Eye of Sauron, which is gone in less than a second, and the Ring can be seen once more. The scene then cuts to Frodo, and then cuts to Frodo again, ever so slightly closer in order to give a sense of confusion, and allow the audience to relate to the panic that Frodo must be feeling. It shows that he is visibly pained. It is suggested that he is the only one affected by the Ring as the next shot is a long shot of Gimli falling to the ground with everyone paying attention to him. This kind of sudden, unexpected and short shots and short jump cuts are a convention of the horror genre as they are intended to shock and scare the audience, whilst short, very small jump cuts give a feeling of a disjointed reality. This is effective at building tension as it raises questions about the Ring and Frodo’s relationship to it, as well as giving the audience a similar sense of danger to that which would be present in a certain parts of horror films.

At the end of the scene, the tension between the characters comes to a head, and they all stand and argue with one another. The editing repeatedly cuts to close up shots of the main characters as they speak, and reaction shots of the less involved main characters, such as Aragorn. This scene is similar to the 1957 film 12 Angry Men, where close ups of the characters build tension during conflict scenes as they show how chaotic the argument is getting by cutting from juror to juror, whilst other jurors look on, as if watching the scene unfold to judge how tense the situation is, much like how Aragorn does. For example, after Juror 2 asks if anyone wants a cough drop and the previous argument starts back up again, there are lots of close ups of Juror 3, showing him in a threatening and antagonistic light because he is acting quite aggressively by yelling and arguing. Since it is close up when he is arguing, it feels like he is arguing with you. When he’s not arguing, he can be seen standing by the window turned away from the group, the camera viewing him from a low angle. He is similar to Boromir in this way, as he attracts the focus of the camera, yet still seems like an outsider by separating himself from the group, not only by his placement but by his opposing views, such as how Boromir wants to harness the Ring's power unlike the rest of the council. Juror 8, the protagonist, is still sitting, much like Aragorn, and when he is not speaking is only seen beside Juror 2, watching carefully. This increases tension as it shows a growing split between the jurors, and a growing split between the council, which made me nervous as I felt it could only get worse.

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