Once again FX Rentals has played a large part in the scoring process. The West London-based hire specialist supplied transportable recording packages based around a Pro Tools Mix system and numerous Pro Tools edit systems, Prism ADA8 A/D converters, a Studio Network Solutions Storage Area Network (SAN), MADI routers and converters and a host of ancillary equipment to capture the orchestrations of composer Howard Shore. The soundtrack was recorded direct to hard disc with a Sony PCM3348HR as back-up by scoring engineer John Kurlander, who was based at Abbey Road for 30 years before moving to Hollywood and has collaborated with Shore since the Tom Hanks movie Philadelphia in 1993.
London-based FX Rentals has been involved with the Lord of the Rings from the first. The company was originally contacted by UK production company Hothouse Music to supply a small amount of equipment for The Fellowship of the Ring, by the time it came to scoring the second film, The Two Towers, FX Rentals' role grew substantially as New Line Cinema and Hothouse appointed it sole audio visual rental company.
"When I was asked to fulfill such an ambitious equipment request I instantly thought of FX Rentals as I knew they would be able to deliver the equipment we needed on time and on budget," says Hothouse's UK production coordinator Karen Elliott. However it wasn't a question of renting out the equipment for a straight three-month period, as the systems were constantly being set up, broken down and transported between numerous venues around London. The recording was split between Abbey Road and CTS Studios at Watford Town Hall. Meanwhile a studio was set up in the Dorchester Hotel suite of US composer Howard Shore, creating a 5.1 environment similar to his New York studio, which enabled him to review the recordings at the end of each day. On top of this, the soundtrack had to be sent by Fat Pipe to Peter Jackson in New Zealand and Shore's team in New York.
"We were really working as consultants to New Line Cinema as the brief wasn't just to supply some racks, but to build a complete mobile system that could be used across numerous venues," explains FX Rentals' technical director Frank Oglethorpe. "The solution we delivered included copper fibre-channel cards to access the large and small SANs, Euphonix MADI switchers and converters were used throughout all the editing and scoring sessions. For a project like this the recording is just the start of the process. Being able to share data between different locations around the world was just as important, and we worked with New Line, Abbey Road and also Shore's technical team to create a solution that could do that."
The project coordinator was FX Rentals' John 'Oz' Osmond who interfaced with all members of the scoring project and handled the logistics of transporting the gear between locations, a feat of accomplishment involving more than 70 moves between Abbey Road, Watford and FX's West London premises - in total more than 4,000 miles. Paying tribute to FX's role in the scoring of The Return of the King, Paul Broucek, executive vice president of music for New Line Cinema, said: "FX are more than just a rental company to us, they became a crucial part of the Lord of the Rings team. They helped make the whole thing possible."
(Sarah Rushton-Read)
