Analysis:

The Fourth Age

The Lord of the Rings is a story of great battles, and men fighting against a force trying to enslave and destroy them. The kings were the leader of the people during this time that would fight alongside their men in the face of their advesaries in battle. The director wished to convey the idea that kings of ancient times were great, by using three different techniques, the close up on the Aragorns face, the Low angle shots of him, and the high angle shots of the people.

Too all of the actions that are going on there is always a close up reaction shot on Aragorns face. To all of the events happening through this scene Aragorn always has a reaction to what is going on. These quick references back to him show that the central focus is on him. When Aragorn bows to the hobbits, the crowd then bows after the king. This shows the respect the crowd had for the king's authority.

All of the shots upon Aragorn are also low shots. Low angle shots use is to show a supperiority to that of which they are filming. Aragorn recieves these shots from the director to convey the superiority he has over the common people of the kingdom. Even when Aragorn bows to the hobbits the low shot still continues upon Aragorn. Frodo basically just saved the entire world of man, yet the low angle is still consistent on Aragorn.

The High angle shots bring an extra gap between the common people and the Aragorn. This not only puts a superiority upong Aragorn, but also a inferiority on the other people atop Minis Tirith. This keeps the constant center of focus on the King by making all the other things in the scene less significant. Among the people in the crowd are also some heroes of the tale.

All of these effects chosen by the director show the importance and superiority of a king. The Kingdom stays together under the leadership of the king. The king is respected by the people and the system continues. The people live on and the story continues.