The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 1 opened up a whole new world for Tolkien fans, offering glimpses of the rarely discussed and never-before-seen Second Age. With that whole new world came all new creatures, as well as fresh takes on well known monsters like the orcs. And, whether you're in it for the performances, the sweeping landscapes, or the creepy crawlies, we can all agree that the practical effects on this series are off the charts.
Before the first season aired, we sat down with executive producer Lindsey Weber and head of prosthetics Jamie Wilson to bring you a first look at these delightfully devilish creatures. Now, those very creatures have helped land the series an Emmy nomination. Prosthetic designer Jason Docherty, key prosthetic makeup artist Dan Perry, and senior prosthetics makeup artists Mark Knight and Simon Rose have all been nominated for Outstanding Prosthetic Makeup. You can check out their incredibly detailed work in the timelapse above.
IGN had the chance to chat with Docherty to discuss the movie — or TV — magic that brought the orcs to the small screen. He, like Jamie Wilson, is what Lord of the Rings teams call a “Sevener.” Meaning, if you watched a live-action Lord of the Rings project, he worked on it. As for recently? You saw some of his work on favorites like Evil Dead Rise and X.
Obviously, there are a whole host of hurdles to leap when it comes to getting hundreds of folks in prosthetics in varying kinds of weather, but weight and movement play a part as well.
“The prosthetics appliances are manufactured in a vinyl encapsulated silicone which does have some weight to it,” Docherty explains. “This makes the neck and head cowl a little cumbersome to apply but once on and with the excellent adhesives available it’s all very secure. Generally speaking, I’d say the lip area is always the hardest to keep on and maintain throughout the shooting day.”
The materials used may have added weight, but they also added to the versatility of the prosthetics. For example, Rings of Power featured paler orcs due to the fact that the creatures had been hiding underground for so long. Prior to the Prime Video show, orc builds had leaned on latex for its versatility, but silicon helped this new era or orc shine.
“We really leaned into the materiality of the prosthetics themselves, choosing translucent silicone over a more traditional opaque foamed latex.” Docherty goes on. “Our base color silicone was very light which allowed us within the paint finish to keep all the lovely translucent pale tones.”
When you’re working on armies of characters, you’ve got to be selective with the details but never in a way that sacrifices quality. Because of this, you have what they call “hero” characters. No orc is a hero in the traditional sense, of course! It just means that they’ll be front and center more than the others and require an added level of attention to detail. Those details then vary from hero build to hero build, and one such character stood out to Docherty in Season 1.
“It’s difficult to pick a favorite,” he admits. “But it was really cool designing Magrot, an orc that was performed by a longtime friend and associate Luke Hawker. Magrot is a nasty weaselly little orc, he’s nicely scared up too, which gives good visual depth to the character.”
You’ll remember Magrot from the scene where Arondir and the other elves try to escape the orc camp. As one of Adar’s most loyal foot soldiers, he was in charge of keeping the elves and the other captives in line as they dug their tunnels. Some fall in the elves’ attempt to escape, but Magrot is fatally wounded and ultimately offered a quick end from his wicked-but-loving leader.
You can check out Jason Docherty and the rest of the prosthetic team's incredible work in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power on Prime Video.
