Movies - TV
The Shapes In The Opening Credits Of The Rings Of Power Have An Important Meaning
By JOSHUA MEYER
During the opening of “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power,” viewers can see formations of sand coming together before they quickly break apart. These images may seem mysterious, but as game designer Alexander King noted, they tie into both the lore created by J.R.R. Tolkien and Chladni figures.
“In [J.R.R.] Tolkien’s legendarium,” King observed, “the creator god Ilúvatar sort of creates the world out of music. The beauty of these figures is just a physical manifestation of the harmony of the ‘Music of the Ainur.’” The German musician and “father of acoustics,” Ernst Chladni, studied the natural phenomenon called cymatics and discovered that sand would vibrate into noticeable patterns with sound.
Plains to Yonder, the studio behind the opening, confirmed they took inspiration from Tolkien’s creation lore and formed the idea for the introduction main title sequence, which is “built from the world of sound.” While the intro uses an artistic take on cymatics, the creative team uses it to convey how “the unknowable realms of sound create fleeting visions of conflict and harmony.”