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| Movie Articles - Narnia Filming Overview |
In
early June, NarniaWeb was able to visit the Prague
set of the currently filming « Prince
Caspian ». Their exciting reports focus on different aspects
of the production: Creatures & Visual Effects, Production
Design, Costumes, and even the Cast
& Crew. You will find here a complete
summary of these articles.
EXCLUSIVE:
PRINCE CASPIAN SET REPORT #1 BY GLUMPUDDLE (NARNIAWEB)
This first report will be a general overview of my trip, a look at the
filming of a sequence, and an interview with Director Andrew Adamson! I
arrived in Prague on June 3. I thought waiting for the movie to come
out was hard, but that was nothing compared to this! I knew I would be
in Narnia the next day, and time seemed to crawl by. I only got a few
hours sleep because I was so excited. But the moment we entered
Barrandov studios the next day, I felt an immediate surge of energy.
Here is a brief rundown of my two days spent in Narnia:
Sets visited:
The Dancing Lawn
Telmarine Stables
Aslan's How interior
Aslan's How exterior
Telmarine castle courtyard and drawbridge (wow)
Tunnels Beneath Aslan's How
Smaller-scale Tunnels (for Wimbleweather)
Crew interviewed:
Andrew Adamson (Director)
Roger Ford (Production Designer)
Isis Mussenden (Costume Designer)
Kimberly Adams (Associate Costume Designer)
Richard Taylor (Head of Weta Workshop)
Howard Berger (Makeup, KNB EFX)
Dean Wright (Visual Effects Supervisor)
Rob Derry (Animatronics)
Cast interviewed:
William Moseley (Peter)
Skandar
Keynes (Edmund)
Ben Barnes (Caspian)
Sergio Castellitto & Pierfrancesco Favino (Miraz &
Glozelle)
Shane Rangi (Asterius, and a stand-in for various CG characters)
Probably the highlight of the trip for me was Day 2, when we actually
witnessed the filming of a sequence in Ústí! It
took us over an hour to get to the location, and we had to wind our way
through endless dirt roads. In this report, I will describe the scene I
saw being filmed, and how all the different departments had to work
together to make it happen.
The Scene
In the film, the single combat between
Peter and Miraz will take place about 50 yards (I would estimate) from
Aslan's How. Various Narnian creatures (centaurs, fauns, satyrs,
dwarfs, and even minotaurs) stand on either side of the entrance to the
How. As Peter and Edmund emerge (wearing their armor from the first
film), the Narnians begin raising their weapons and cheering them on.
Edmund carries Peter's sword as they approach the fighting area.
Glenstorm is there waiting for them. When they get there, Peter takes
his sword from Edmund and steps forward.
Creatures
& Visual Effects
Of course, there were still many elements
of this scene I didn't see, because they will be added later in
post-production. The actors playing centaurs, fauns, and satyrs wore
green pants. Just as in the first film, the centaur extras had to stand
on green platforms to make them the correct height. But Cornell John
(Glenstorm) was elevated using a great new method that I will discuss
in a future report.
Behind the camera, I noticed two detailed stuffed animals, which I
assume will be used as stand-ins for CG characters (they did the same
thing with the Beavers for the first film). The first one I saw
appeared to be a Badger, about 3 feet tall. Of course, I suppose that
must've been Trufflehunter! The other one I saw appeared to be a mouse
(about 2 feet tall)…but it had white fur with a brownish
back. In the book, Reepicheep is described as having dark fur. Was it
him that I saw? Dean Wright and Howard Berger later confirmed that
Peepiceek and the other mice will be in the film, so it may not have
been Reep that I saw. Unfortunately, there was so much activity on set
that I didn't get a chance to ask. "[Reep] is very cool," Dean Wright
said. "He's very dashing, very dangerous. You want him to look cute,
but he's also got an air of danger."
Just as in the first film, it looks like there is a pretty good mixture
of real things and CGI. "Usually, it's practical effects versus digital
effects," Howard Berger told us. "But Dean and I became such good
friends and worked so well together on the first film and then again on
this film, that it really works as a partnership." Ben Barnes (Caspian)
also talked about appreciating the limited CGI because he didn't have
to use his imagination too much on set.
The Narnians I saw on set also seemed a little more diverse than in the
first film. Berger talked about wanting to bring more of a variety to
the characters in this film. "We wanted to have old age fauns,
heavy-set characters, black centaurs, and just have a whole big
variety." He even said they would have child centaurs. And, his
favorite characters in this film are the dwarfs.
Shane Rangi was there most of the day, standing in for the Bulgy Bear,
who will be 100% computer generated. But, he still wore a full bear
costume on set. At the end of the day, they shot him for about 10
seconds for reference. Now, here's the exciting part: They began
shouting random directions at him, and one of them was "suck your
paws!" And Shane did! He stuck his paws in his mouth (well, the bear's
mouth)! I know die-hard Narnia fans everywhere will be excited about
that. It's a funny and memorable moment in the book.
Production Design
One of the reasons I love good adaptations is that it's so much fun to
see a world that exists only in my imagination become real on screen.
But getting to actually visit the amazing sets really made it feel like
I was IN Narnia! This will be Roger Ford's last Narnia film, and he's
going out with a bang. The cost of construction in the Czech Republic
is relatively low, so they were able to build bigger sets for this film
(All the writers gasped when we saw the Telmarine courtyard, but that's
for another report).
"We always go back to the book and look at the illustrations by Pauline
Baynes," Ford said. "And then we think 'well, we have a movie to make
here. What can we do to go a few steps further?' So that when the
children who've read the book see this movie, they'll be re-inspired.
So that it's even better than they thought possible."
The front of Aslan's How was gray stone, and stood about 60 feet high.
It seems there will be different "levels" to the How. The bottom had a
huge rectangular entrance, which must've been at least 20 feet high.
The second level had three openings: one on the left, one in the
middle, and one on the right (the perfect place for Narnian archers to
hide, I suspect). All I saw of the third level was a blue screen.
Andrew Adamson told us that in the final film, the How will appear
about 2 1/2 times higher.
A stone path led out of the How and to the single combat area, which is
much different from the boxing ring idea described in the book. But
I'll let Roger Ford himself explain that in a future report.
Costumes
It was a great thrill to see Glenstorm
(well, half of him), because he's one of my favorite secondary
characters in the book. His hair appeared to be blondish dreadlocks,
and he wore only a little armor. Kimberly Adams (Associate Costume
Designer) explained that Adamson didn't want creatures being in
clothing in this film. "So, pretty much it's the dwarfs, and then
everybody else is in armor or nothing. The centaurs are bare-chested or
they have armor when they go to battle."
The Narnian armor in this film looks almost exactly like their armor in
the first film, except very worn out and dirty. Isis Mussenden (Costume
Designer) talked a lot about the tedious work of "aging" the armor.
"[The first film] was the dawning of the Narnian armed forces," she
said. "Now, it's a thousand years later."
The look of the Narnians was established in the first film. But,
designing the Telmarines was a tremendous challenge, and they tried a
lot of different ideas. They have drawn on the idea in the book that
they are descended from pirates. More on that in a future report.
Actors
One source of amusement during the takes
was the music. A few weeks before our visit, the actors came up with
the idea of playing music during the takes. As
William Moseley and Skandar Keynes walked out of Aslan's How, 'Eye of
the Tiger' was playing. Of course, they cracked up on a few takes. "It
keeps the light atmosphere on set," Moseley told us. "It reminds us
that we're here to have fun." As odd and funny as that might sound, I
think it actually did help pace the scene. I don't think I'll ever be
able to hear 'Eye of the Tiger' without thinking of this scene. "We
just put on anything that had kind of a cool beat," Skandar Keynes told
us. "It goes so good when you're walking down and everybody is
cheering. We're trying so hard not to crack up."
Caspian was not in the shot I saw being filmed, but he is present in
this scene. After lunch, I saw Ben Barnes behind the camera (in full
armor!) watching the monitor and dancing to the music a little.
Although I assume Sergio Castellitto (Miraz) and Pierfrancesco Favino
(Glozelle) must be in this scene, they were not in the shot I saw being
filmed. I believe the duel was scheduled to be filmed the next day, and
there was talk of possible sunlight continuity problems. In between
takes, I noticed William Moseley and a stunt guy rehearsing the fight.
When we talked to Castellitto, he showed us a cut on his hand he'd
received while practicing. Moseley said that this fight will probably
be about three times as long as the White Witch sword fight at the end
of the first film.
We didn't get to talk to Anna Popplewell (Susan) or Georgie Henley
(Lucy), but I did see Georgie (not in costume) walk by in the lunch
tent! I also saw Douglas Gresham (Lewis' stepson) eating lunch with
William Moseley. It was very encouraging to actually see Gresham on set
that day, watching the monitor with the director.
Crew: Andrew Adamson
Interview
Much of the day was spent waiting for the
sun. It was a cloudy day, so the crew had to wait for those moments
when the sun was out. The moment the sun appeared, Adamson would shout
''action!'' But, even in the middle of all the craziness and the
frustration of having to wait for the sun, Adamson never lost his cool
or his smile. As he came over to us to answer questions, he joked, ''If
you're the reason the sun is out, you're welcome to stay.''
We interviewed Adamson at the very place where Peter and Miraz would
duel the next day. You
can read this great interview HERE !
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Narnia
- The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
The
Chronicles of Narnia - Prince Caspian
The
Chronicles of Narnia - LWW
