<<< Press Room Lord of the Rings Director Relies On Polycom Video Communications to Film Three Movies Concurrently Polycom technology lowers production costs; ensures artistic integrity across films, multiple crews, and 150 locations PLEASANTON, Calif. - Dec. 18, 2003 - Polycom®, Inc. (NASDAQ: PLCM), the world's leader in video and voice conferencing, conference bridges, and integrated web collaboration solutions, today announced that its industry-leading group video communications system played a key role in the making of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, whose final installment, The Return of the King, was released worldwide this week. In a first for a large-scale film production, the director Peter Jackson made movie history by shooting all three episodes of the trilogy at the same time in a remarkably fast 274 days over 150 locations. Jackson was able to direct in three places concurrently using video communications extensively to review daily rushes and direct multiple film crews in New Zealand. Jackson's innovative use of video communications provided significant financial and artistic benefits in the film series production. The director viewed daily footage by linking the movie cameras into Polycom's video conferencing systems and viewing the footage over a high-speed network connection from either the Pinewood editing studio in the UK, the main studio in Warkworth, New Zealand or on-location sites. The real-time interaction with the film crews and location directors resulted in fewer re-takes, which shortened filming time and reduced costs. "Peter Jackson would watch what the locations were filming and then make suggestions," said Duncan Nimmo, IT manager for 3Foot6 Limited, the company formed to make the film. "He suggested changes such as different lighting or camera angles, and could see differences in the way certain types of characters moved or acted and made sure that the film conformed to his overall vision. This didn't just save time, it made the overall film a better one." Video conferencing also played a key role in the post-production process. To help meet the important post production delivery date, the crew used Polycom's systems enabling the director to provide input from New Zealand to the music studios in London on the final music score. This highlights how such technology can provide significant benefits to the film making process by unlocking new, more effective methods of production. "We are very proud that Polycom's products were able to assist Peter Jackson in the making of the epic Lord of the Rings trilogy," said Ed Ellett, senior vice president and general manager of video communications for Polycom. "His use of video communications to communicate and collaborate effectively over distances demonstrates the versatility, reliability and adaptability of our solutions. But his example also demonstrates a smart business decision in which video communication delivered a tangible return on investment with faster decision-making and time to delivery, as well as reduced production costs." Satellite communications proved essential to the film series. Although the video conferencing system was originally conceived for video communications only, the ability to integrate phone and network services became a critical part of the operation. The production crew used high frequency radio transmitters and military grade fiber optic cable to connect crews operating at great distances. Once the signal was received, it was fed through the analog video inputs on the back of the Polycom video conferencing system and was ready for transmission. The footage was then transmitted over satellite to the director, whether he was in the central studio or out on-location. Polycom's video conferencing systems performed over thousands of kilometers and under unfavorable climactic conditions, without a single failure. Systems faced sub-zero temperatures in the winter, searing heat in the summer and were bounced around in the back of a variety of vehicles. The Polycom video communications systems run full-motion TV-quality video and deliver near CD-quality audio for effective remote communications. An embedded Web server handles diagnostics and simple software upgrades over the Internet. In addition to the simple Graphics User Interface (GUI), the voice tracking camera and preset tracking function ensures customers can adapt the product to fit their needs. The first two Lord of the Rings films have earned a combined US$1.8 billion and won a total of six Oscars. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King was released worldwide on Dec. 17, 2003 and is distributed by New Line Cinema; a subsidiary of AOL Time Warner. Notes to Editors: For a description of how Polycom's video conferencing systems were deployed please see the special extended DVD Edition of The Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers. (Disk 4, Music and Sound, Music for Middle-Earth, Segment 9) About Polycom Polycom, Inc. is the world's technology leader of high-quality, easy-to-use video, voice, data and web conferencing and collaboration solutions. The Polycom Office is our continued commitment to make distance communications as natural and interactive as being there by providing best-in-class conferencing solutions that are interoperable, integrated and intuitive to the user. The Polycom Office is based on industry standards and supported by an open architecture that promotes interoperability in multi-vendor environments and complements leading network infrastructure platforms. For additional information, call 1-800-POLYCOM (765-9266) or +1-408-526-9000, or visit the Polycom web site at www.polycom.com. # # # Polycom and the Polycom logo are registered trademarks and The Polycom Office is a trademark of Polycom in the U.S. and various countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. ©2003, Polycom, Inc. All rights reserved. <<< Press Room