3. The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy (2001-2003)
J.R.R. Tolkien's mammoth fantasy epic, The Lord of the Rings, captured the imagination of millions of readers upon its release and became a target for a film adaptation since day one; however, the sheer scope and scale of Tolkien's tome proved daunting for many filmmakers. Even Stanley Kubrick declined an offer from The Beatles, who had purchased the book's film rights, to direct an adaptation saying that he believed the story was un-filmable. Director Peter Jackson and his team at the special effects company Weta accepted the challenge and in 2001 brought Tolkien's epic to the big screen. Jackson used every avenue available to him do the story justice, even reaching back to the cinematic pass to employ the Schüfftan processes to help create the appropriate scale for creatures of normal stature battling alongside the diminutive hobbits and dwarves. One of the greatest achievements in the Lord of the Rings film series is its depiction of the character Gollum. Weta created Gollum, a hobbit warped by dark magic into a gruesome creature, using motion capture technology to map a CGI model over actor Andy Serkis. Serkis wore a motion capture suit and performed scenes live with the other actors and digital animators created Gollum's facial expressions after the fact. Gollum proved to be a stand out character and showed the world that CGI creations could be integrated seamlessly along live action. The pioneering motion capture technology used in the Lord of the Rings trilogy paved the way for the technological advancements that were to follow.