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Don't restrict yourselves so closely to my questions. Those were just general ideas.
When I read LotR for the first time the way to Bree went quite slow, compared to the rest. The speed of the narration is slower in this part anyway, but the many scenes that weren't in the movie or were very different had me a little disappointed. But maybe this was just because I'm not that big a hobbit fan: I didn't find the Scouring of the Shire that interesting, too, even though I read it before the Return of the King came out. I liked chapters like the Shadow of the Past and the Council of Elrond because they finally gave some much-desired background information. Interestingly, my favourite parts of the trilogy today are Book 5 and the end of Book 4 - parts that weren't in the first two movies. Coincidence, maybe.
On my first reading my mental images were very movie-influenced. I even had Elijah Wood as Frodo in my mind, though I knew of course that it was completely wrong. This has changed by now. I think I can say safely that I now have a complete set of own imaginations, though quite a few of them don't differ much from the movies (the look of Orthanc, for example). The scenery of the movies was mostly very good and fascinating.
Having my own images had a strong effect on my feelings while watching the movies. I still like to watch them for fun and I still say that they are great - as movies, but they don't manage to transfer me to Middle-earth anymore. Now only the books do.
One strange thing that occurred to me is that, when reading or imagining a corresponding scene, I hear the soundtrack in my inner ear. I admit that I like this. The music, with few exceptions, was brilliant to me, and the books were not able to create their own soundtrack in my head - at least not yet.
Even though the significance of the Jackson-movies has dropped for me, I will always hold them in high regard because it was them who introduced me to Tolkien and Middle-earth, which has now become a part of my life.
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