Rings of Power Stuff

[d4rk3lf]

I'm sure the anti-RoP internet parasites have bumped the statistics a little.

For sure!
That's why I wrote that being popular doesn't necessarily mean, being good.

However, don't think that I am ungrateful towards Rop.
Because of that series, I've started to appreciate a lot more LOTR and Hobbit movies.
And I see now that some series, I considered pretty bad, shine in comparison to Rop.

Rop have learned me that it's better to have bad dialogue, then nonsensical random dialogue. It learned me that it's better to have poorly written characters, then very annoying, unlikable main characters.
It humbled me to understand that it's nicer to have bad plot, then no plot at all.

 

[Ealdwyn]

I thought this was an interesting article, written by a military historian

Collections: Why Rings of Power’s Middle Earth Feels Flat

This week we’re going to take a look at the worldbuilding of Amazon Studio’s Rings of Power from a historical realism perspective. I think it is no great secret that Rings of Power broa…

acoup.blog

 

[Olorgando]

I thought this was an interesting article, written by a military historian

Collections: Why Rings of Power’s Middle Earth Feels Flat

This week we’re going to take a look at the worldbuilding of Amazon Studio’s Rings of Power from a historical realism perspective. I think it is no great secret that Rings of Power broa…

acoup.blog

Spock would blend in with the Elves with his ears. The just tell Scotty the beaming coordinates and the transportation problems are solved ... 🤪🤪🤪

 

[Halasían]

This week we're going to take a look at the worldbuilding of Amazon Studio's Rings of Power from a historical realism perspective.

Uhm... that cracks me up. Tolkien's Middle Earth is a fantasy world, not historical or real. 😆

 

[Aldarion]

Uhm... that cracks me up. Tolkien's Middle Earth is a fantasy world, not historical or real. 😆

Tolkien would disagree. His world is intended as a fictional history of a real world, not a made up one.

And even a completely fictional world has to follow some basic common sense rules, at least if you are writing about humans and not some kind of reality warping aliens.

 

[Halasían]

Tolkien would disagree.

I figured someone would come in and claim to be the 'Mouth of Tolkien' here.
Have fun!

 

[Aldarion]

I figured someone would come in and claim to be the 'Mouth of Tolkien' here.
Have fun!

I do not need to "claim" anything. Tolkien already did that. From Letter 165:

’Middle-earth’, by the way, is not a name of a never-never land without relation to the world we live in (like the Mercury of Eddison). It is just a use of Middle English middel-erde (or erthe), altered from Old English middengeard: the name for the inhabited lands of Men ’between the seas’. And though I have not attempted to relate the shape of the mountains and land-masses to what geologists may say or surmise about the nearer past, imaginitively this ’history’ is supposed to take place in a period of the actual Old World of this planet.

So yes, Tolkien's Middle Earth is absolutely real world (well, fictional history of the real world). Which in turn means that historical realism perspective is absolutely applicable, and Amazon's crimes against logic are also crimes against Tolkien.

 

[Olorgando]

I figured someone would come in and claim to be the 'Mouth of Tolkien' here.
Have fun!

Trying to estimate how low the level is at which you are capable of suspending disbelief has me scratching my head.
But then I have the impression that content of RoP went out your window as a yardstick for criticism before the airing of the first episode, propelled by violent knee movement ...

 

[CheriptheRipper]

Popular - how?
Back in the day, Genghis Khan and Hitler were popular too.

Well if Hitler's anything to go by, ROP's 2nd season should be a banger.

 

[Halasían]

I think I'll just drop this here in my thread...

‘LOTR: The Rings Of Power’: Vernon Sanders Talks Season 1 Return On Investment & Season 3 Renewal...

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power started setting records before a frame of it had been released when word came out of New Zealand last year that its eight-episode first season cost a record $465 million to produce (not factoring in tax rebates and start-up costs amortization.)

In an interview with Deadline, Vernon Sanders, Head of Global TV for Amazon Studios, says the financial bet “has more than paid off.” He addresses the success of the show on Prime Video — where it broke records for most global viewers in its first day (25 million) and overall (more than 100 million), for minutes streamed (24 billion) and signups worldwide during its launch window, attracted younger viewers (record number of adults 18-34 for a Prime Video original) and affluent audiences (40% coming from households with income greater than $100,000) — and beyond, boosting Amazon’s sales of J.R.R. Tolkien books on which the series was based.

Cue the usual shist in three... two.. one.

 

[Tar-Elenion]

Vernon Sanders, Head of Global TV for Amazon Studios, says Amazon Studio's Global TV program is GREAT!!!

 

[Halasían]

Vernon Sanders, Head of Global TV for Amazon Studios, says Amazon Studio's Global TV program is GREAT!!!

Yes, just like Peter Jackson touting his movies back in the day.

 

[Olorgando]

Vernon Sanders, Head of Global TV for Amazon Studios, says Amazon Studio's Global TV program is GREAT!!!

Yes, just like Peter Jackson touting his movies back in the day.

At least PJ was a filmmaker, as director and scriptwriter (I always seriously hesitate to include "pure" producers in this category).
As Sanders is the (co-) head of a company unit, which translates into business stiff for me (I haven't been able to find out if he was ever involved in the creative side of visual media), that most likely puts him in the category of the dull cave trolls plaguing every "entertainment" company. I'm willing to revise that preliminary judgement when provided with conclusive proof to the contrary.

 

[Tar-Elenion]

The PJ reference is just a whataboutism
But take a look at the numbers he gives:
25 million viewers the first day. What counts as a viewer? How long does the person have to watch?

Overall more than 100 million viewers.
So more than 100 million for the seven weeks, 8 episodes? Again how long does a person have to watch?
And 24 billion minutes streamed.
24 billion divided by 100 million is 240 minutes.The episodes were, what? 65 to 70 minutes each?
8x65 is 520. So the 100 million viewers watched less than half the series.

And then this:
"After we finished releasing episodes, we saw a new surge of people come to the service to start the show."
How does he know why they came to Amazon Prime? Could people be coming to Amazon Prime for another reason? Like, I don't know, maybe Christmas and the free shipping ?

 

[Barrow Wight]

Yes, just like Peter Jackson touting his movies back in the day.

As he was rev'ing up the PR machine to maneuver into Oscar contention. Sadly, the worst of the three LOTR movies actually won an Oscar . . . .

 

[CheriptheRipper]

And then this:
"After we finished releasing episodes, we saw a new surge of people come to the service to start the show."
How does he know why they came to Amazon Prime? Could people be coming to Amazon Prime for another reason? Like, I don't know, maybe Christmas and the free shipping ?

I would think they put those numbers up against those of their other shows post release and on year to year basis.
So they would conclude there aren't any sudden surges in prime membership in that period of time after the last episode.

 

[Ent]

"After we finished releasing episodes, we saw a new surge of people come to the service to start the show."

I would think they knew precisely that the 'new people' came to the service "to start the show."
Guaranteed, they have precise counts and userIDs of exactly who, when, why, how many, how much, etc. watched the shows. So it's easy for them to see 'a new surge' of userIDs that came to the service and once there, watched the show.

The questions are: what is the definition of 'a new surge of people"?? Is it people who haven't been there for 6 months? Is it a 'new surge' of already existing users finally getting around to it? 'How do you define a 'surge' ? 3 more people? 30 more people? Note it doesn't say the people are new people, but the surge is a new surge. Well... so it just means existing people didn't watch until after all 8 episodes were available to them? I know many who are 'binge watchers' of things, and don't like to wait. It's easier for them to see things in continuity at one time.

The category is meaningless.
That said, I'm a little surprised people still fuss over the thing at all. The very fact it keeps coming up is great testimony to its power and hold on people...one way or another.

They either enjoy it enough to discuss it, or they hate it and amazon so much they just can't let it go.
Both give the series great advertising and awareness space, for which I'm certain Amazon is thankful.

Thank you all for contributing to it, as I'm also happy to do.

 

[Olorgando]

They either enjoy it enough to discuss it, or they hate it and amazon so much they just can't let it go.
Both give the series great advertising and awareness space, for which I'm certain Amazon is thankful.

There's a German saying that goes roughly like this (and can probably be translated innumerable other ways):

"Better a well-known abominable reputation than being ignored."
THE driving force behind 99.99% of the Internet? 🤨

 

[Aldarion]

Turns out, Rings of Power showrunners used Schindler's List to make Galadriel into a demon:

They are not incompetent, they are evil.

 

[Olorgando]

Turns out, Rings of Power showrunners used Schindler's List to make Galadriel into a demon:
They are not incompetent, they are evil.

Well, I'd guess they just take their orders from their boss.
I think it was part way through the second clip that I started thinking that RoP's Guyadriel may be Bezorc's very personal Mary Sue in this stuff.

Bezorc tells the showrunners something like "here's the stuff from the author that we can use ... what's-his-name ... funny thing is his name sounds almost the same as that of the author who wrote the GoT books ...
Anyway, there's some names that we'll be using, but most of the others you can invent.
Then there's these maps with the places the characters will be running around in, again we'll use some names ... you get the idea.
But I want the lead character to adhere to this document!
It's my mission statement ... no, no, not the one I gave to the PR folks, the real one!
So you can't keep a copy, just get in the spirit of what's in it. And I'd appreciate the other characters not straying too far from it either."

'Course, you can probably substitute the name of any IT bigwig whose company has metastasized since the turn of the century - Goo, FB, etc. - and others who have only dabbled in IT like Muskrat etc.