So there Orlando Bloom stands, arrayed in the finest gear of the elves, hopefully with good callouses on his fingers. Now what part of this is he actually doing?
Consistency:
 A few millimeters of change in one's draw translates to inches, feet, even yards in the arrow's trajectory, rendering any visual reference points on the bow or arrow useless for aiming unless the archer's instincts are so good he can compensate. On a bow with no arrow rest or grip, it's that much harder to position the arrow the same way every time. Part of the reason Bloom looks so polished is the amount of effort he's putting into a consistent draw, making it into a dance. He doesn't always wind up with the same anchor, but his movements follow a set pattern.
Stance:
Gorgeous when he has time to set his feet: his back's straight, his shoulders, hips, knees and feet are all lined up with the bow and centered over one another, and his bow-arm is straight but not locked. The forearm he's using to draw winds up exactly aligned with the arrow.
Tilt:
Without an arrow rest, he's got to tilt the bow so the arrow rests lightly in the V formed by his knuckle and the bow. Sometimes the tilt is quite dramatic, more than necessary: I don't know whether this is an alternate technique, or whether it's simply to allow us to see his face and a little more of the bow itself in the widescreen, three-quarters camera angle used to film most of his shots.
Firing an Arrow
 - Nock: It's actually a very complicated maneuver to find and pull an arrow from the quiver, flip it around to land on the arrow-rest, catch the string securely, and slide the arrow up to the nock-point! Bloom does it without looking and makes it look easy, but it's actually a technique many archers never master. They have to rummage for an arrow and watch what they're doing while placing the arrow on the string, whereas he's already aiming. Watch his reloads at the beginning of the fight in Balin's tomb, or that stunning draw near the beginning of TTT when he gets a mite tetchy. Yikes.
- Draw: It's actually done mostly with the back muscles. The bow-arm braces against the pull, doing as much work as the hand that holds the string. It's a tricky combination of strain and staying relaxed; if he tightens muscles while drawing, he'll jerk when the tension is released.
- Anchor: For consistency, Bloom usually draws to a tooth or the corner of his mouth (see above). He keeps his mouth shut, which is important: change in jaw position can obscure or alter reference points on one's face.
- Aim: That's the intent look in his eyes. Lacking modern conveniences, he sights right down the arrow-shaft.
- Release: It is so easy for the fingers to drag at the string or some muscle to twitch when all that pressure lets go! Now and then the graceful flourish Bloom uses on his release includes a "pluck", a common problem for most archers, but his follow-through is crisp. He mentally stays with the arrow after it's fired, not dropping form in his stance or bow arm, and his eyes are still following it and the target while he's reaching for the next arrow.
- Repeat until string eats through hand, or all targets or arrows are eliminated.
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Different techniques, or lack of...
Standing still
This is where Bloom makes his fellow cast members jealous. Look at those lines! He is his bow.
On the move
I don't know enough about cross-country archery to have any clue how good his form is here. The arms and upper body seem to stay aligned with the bow, but his anchor varies.
Aiming up
 Now doesn’t that look snazzy? True, he raises his bow-arm instead of tilting from the hips, and that will shorten his draw-length and alter the arrow's flight path. I’ve seen plenty of archers get away with this; apparently their instincts are well-honed enough to compensate for the changes in draw. The problem is that it shaves yards off the bow’s maximum range, making this particular shot an example of why Legolas the elf has a few advantages over mere mortals.
Publicity shot
Whoops! There's that tilt. His hair and sleeve are going to screw up the shot if he releases. Evidently he's been standing there a while, because he's got one finger wrapped around the arrow and another braced down the length of the string, putting a weird bend in it. Real archers have quibbled over this picture, but I still like it.
Aiming down, aiming from horseback
Sorry, I do not have pictures for these; you'll just have to go watch TTT again! I was delighted to see him shooting from horseback, which is an incredibly rare skill even among archers; a long recurve instead of a horsebow makes it even tougher. And that really was Bloom shooting while sliding, not a stunt double — I got thrown off at first because he wasn't using his usual draw. I forgot you can't anchor while moving without risking losing an eye.
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The floating anchor
Aragorn's a better swordsman than he is an archer. He doesn't stand up straight, and his anchor is loose at best. It is possible to shoot by sheer instinct. However, if you're looking for archery tips, don't watch the Ranger! Watch him for his sword-work. Note the spare arrow tucked in his bow-hand: he can’t speed-draw like the elf.
| Under the chin
Faramir knows what he’s about, although his technique is different from Legolas'. He's using an anchor I've seen illustrated in medieval paintings, drawing to chest or chin. He doesn't tilt the bow as much, instead extending a knuckle as an arrow-rest. That lets him turn his head so that he's looking down the arrow, which is good. But wait— isn’t his target overhead? He must be doing his complete draw first, then cranking back, whereas Legolas aims and draws all in one smooth move. Gloves make Faramir's job less painful.
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You didn't just insult my technique, did you?Just to add insult to injury, Lurtz has the most ugly draw in Middle Earth, even without the snarling. His fingers are on the wrong side of the string, and he pulls on the arrow instead of the bowstring! Squeezing the arrow tends to cause it to wobble on release. Another archer has also pointed out to me that, in TTT, one guy in Faramir's company standing ready while they're down at the edge of the pool has a finger of his bow-hand hooked over his arrow to steady it. That would've been a painful misfire. Archers in these films keep having to draw and hold their arrows for too long, which is especially tricky with traditional, non-pulley-assisted bows. They fight back.
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