Kuper Motion Control special effects Lord of the Rings

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My Kuper Motion Control Systems were used in hundreds of shots in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings Trilogy.

Kuper controlled robotic camera system at the Helms Deep miniature

Motion contol boom camera at the Helms Deep miniautre

A motion controlled camera system prepares to run up the ramp at Helm's Deep, one of the many "Bigatures" used in that series. The film from this shot will later be combined with motion controlled live action and computer graphic imagery to build up a complete scene. The ability to repeatably control physical camera motion with a computer makes it possible to interchange motion data between all the different sources of imagery that make up a single scene.


There's my software screen parked on the doorstep of the Elven city of Lothlorien. A motorized General Lift camera boom carries a camera through the programmed motion. At right, a camera reproduces in miniature the motion of live action footage of actors ascending some stairs.


	At left a motion controlled camera dolly zooms in on the White Wizard, as real wizard Harry Harrison keeps an eye on the proceedings. Above Harry fine tunes the paths of the various motorized axes.

Thanks to Mike Kelly for all photos above

Here's an example of how my motion control systems were used to tie together various sources of imagery.

Two separate sets photographed with the same motion

A composite moving camera shot with elements from many sources

Images courtesy New Line Cinema

Frodo walks onto a Rivendell porch as the robotic camera system pulls dramatically back to reveal the entire scene. The image at top left shows him walking onto a partial set, while at right the same scaled down motion is later duplicated on a miniature set. In the finished scene elements from both live action and model scenes are selectively combined, with some computer graphic waterfalls and atmosphere added. Thanks to my systems, the motion of all three image sources synchronize perfectly. Without the underlying motion the scene would have seemed static and much less effective. There are hundreds of similar shots throughout the trilogy where actors were photographed with a motion controlled camera on a live action set, with the memorized camera motion later duplicated in miniatures and computer graphic imagery.