Countdown:
______________________________________________________________

Here it is – the first glimpse of footage from “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian” movie. Actor Ben Barnes, who plays Caspian in the upcoming film, talks about the movie and his role. The film is scheduled for release on May 16, 2008. Only 272 days to go! (The trailer is about one minute long.)

(more…)

In the latest entry over at The Chronicles of Narnia Blog, storyboard artist Mike Vosburg gives you an inside look at the process behind creating storyboards for the upcoming Prince Caspian movie.

The storyboard artist takes the script … and starts to translate it into a series of pictures. A simple phrase (…the hero rushes in and saves the girl…) might turn into a sequence of several hundred frames, while a page long description of a characters internal distress might be capsulated in a single drawing if the expression is right. But in successful collaborations, the storyboard artist enables a viewer to “look” at the story rather than “read” it.

Not all movies use storyboards … But on Prince Caspian, like “The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe,” we storyboarded the entire film so that it could be viewed on an animatic. Then Andrew is able to watch a test version of the film. He can suggest changes..so we draw new frames…he makes more changes…we draw more frames…he makes more changes…we draw more….well, you get the picture. His goal is to solve whatever problems there are in the story and visualization of it before any of the movie is shot …

The actual process of working is fairly simple. Watch any five year old lying on the floor with a box of crayons and a couple action figures and you get the idea of what happens.The only difference is that we’re working from a script.One of my mentors once told me, learning to draw is a prerequisite for this job, but the drawing should always be secondary to telling the story. I use of lot of reference to make sure things are accurate, but I also simplify everything in the pictures so that not only can they be drawn quickly, but that they read quickly.

Click here for more Narnia and Caspian related posts.
Click here for Narnia sermon series.

Howard Berger, makeup effects and creature designer for the first Narnia film, as well as for the upcoming Prince Caspian movie, discusses the creatures of Narnia in the April 17 posting over at the Narnia blog. 

The story of Prince Caspian takes place 1500 Narnia years after the events of the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.  So, it was important to reflect these changes for the new movie.

We wanted to take another pass at what the Narnians would be like if they had become more wild in their appearance, seeing how they have been living in hiding within the forests all these centuries. What if they were all different age groups, sizes and races? We felt that the Narnians in the first film were all in their thirties.

What types of creatures can we expect to see in Prince Caspian?

In PRINCE CASPIAN, we have heavy set fauns, old age fauns, female dwarves, centaurs and their families. The minotaurs are now on the side of good. A new hag, a werewolf and the satyrs are back, but all newly redesigned to be more animal-like than the prior movie.

And of course the world of Prince Caspian would not be complete without a great Trumpkin the Dwarf.

I think in every film there is one character you fall in love with. The first movie had Mr. Tumnus, played by the great James McAvoy. This time it is Peter Dinklage who plays Trumpkin the Dwarf. The character is so wonderfully written, and once you see Peter as Trumpkin, he becomes alive and real. We gave Trumpkin his look, but Peter gave him his heart, and the collaboration brings to life a new and interesting addition to this rich world.

If you have not yet read the book Prince Caspian, don’t wait for the movie. The Narnia books are simply some of the best books ever written for children and adults. Go out and buy the whole set or check them out at the library. You will not be disappointed.

Click here for more Narnia and Caspian related posts.
Click here for Narnia sermon series.

Over at the Chronicles of Narnia blog, the script writers have posted an interesting discussion on adapting Prince Caspian from book into movie form.

As writers, the biggest challenge we faced was connecting the Pevensies’ story to that of Prince Caspian. In C. S. Lewis’ book, they’re essentially two separate narratives which only come together near the end. While this is perfectly entertaining to read, it makes for a strangely structured movie where your favorite characters are absent for long stretches at a time.

Consequently, we decided to weave the two plots together early, bringing the Pevensies into Narnia near the start and giving them a greater role in Caspian’s journey. This not only helped on a structural level, it also allowed us to take advantage of the alliances and antagonisms that would evolve when we tossed three kings and two queens together into the same room — or underground chamber, as the case may be.

This reminds me a little bit of the movie adaptation of Tom Clancy’s A Clear and Present Danger. Jack Ryan, the main character, doesn’t appear in the book until almost halfway into the story. Of course, for the movie you couldn’t really have Harrison Ford not show up until halfway through, so they adapted the storyline accordingly. The result? I thought it made for a better movie than if they had stuck strictly to the book’s progression.

What do you think about adapting books into movies? How are books and movies different, and how does that affect the adaptation? Do you have any favorite movie adaptations or any real groaners to share?

Related post:  How Will the Prince Caspian Movie Be Different from the Book?

Click here for more Narnia and Caspian related posts.
Click here for Narnia sermon series.

Here is a list of the top 50 religious films as put together by the Church Times. These are classified as religious films, not necessarily Christian films.

I have seen eighteen of these. Some of my favorites from the list are: The Mission; On the Waterfront; The Apostle; Chariots of Fire; Witness; The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe; and Brother Sun, Sister Moon. Another favorite that is not on the list is Franco Zeffirelli’s Jesus of Nazareth.

What are some of your favorite films on the list? Any favorites missing? Any titles that should be removed? Continue reading for the complete list.

(more…)

Countdown:
______________________________________________________________

Calling all Narnia fans! Here is a sneak peek at the filming of “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian,” hosted by director Andrew Adamson. The film is scheduled for release on May 16, 2008. Can’t wait! (Got to.)

(more…)

Fred Sanders has an interesting post at the Scriptorium today on Narnia and Holy Saturday. First he draws the comparison between Aslan’s delayed arrival to help Peter and the Narnian army in their battle against the White Witch to the disciples’ waiting for Christ’s resurrection on Saturday.

One of the most interesting decisions Lewis makes in establishing the chronology of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is the way he keeps Aslan out of the picture long enough that the armies of Narnia have to face the White Witch in his absence. The film adaptation handles this very well, I think. Dramatically speaking, it makes for a great story to have the heroes bravely fight against overwhelming odds with no hope of rescue. They give their all and face real martyrdom, before the risen Aslan comes over the hilltop at the last possible second, leading a re-animated army he has gathered from the dungeon of the Witch.

Then he goes on to compare the waiting of the disciples on Holy Saturday to our waiting in the present for Christ’s return.

Since Jesus ascended into heaven and left us waiting for his return, we are in a position strikingly similar to the disciples: for them, Jesus had descended into the earth and left them waiting for his return. The two returns of Jesus –from the grave and from the Father’s right hand– are different. But the waiting should feel familiar. Welcome to the meantime, where we have God’s promise and live by faith that Christ will be back, keeping all God’s promises. Welcome to Holy Saturday in Narnia.

As a big Narnia fan, I really enjoyed this one. You can read the full article here.

Click here for more Narnia related posts.
Click here for Narnia sermon series.

Okay, the Narnia Christmas series of messages from Christmas 2005 is now up and ready for viewing. You will find the following three messages under the Sermons tab at the top of the blog.

• The Lion is a Lamb – Revelation 5:1-14
• Always Winter, Never Christmas? – Galatians 3:10,21-23, 4:4-5
• The Cradle, the Cross and the Wardrobe – Matthew 1:21

Click here for more Narnia related posts.
Click here for more Christmas related posts.