The very latest from Cinema Confidential regarding “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, & The Wardrobe” due out Christmas 2005 from Walt Disney Pictures!
Nominees and industry heavyweights will mingle in a fantastical setting at this annual exclusive dinner in Los Angeles.
A mystical theme from “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” will greet guests for the fourth annual celebration of New Zealand Filmmaking and Creative Talent dinner on Friday, Feb. 25 at the Beverly Hills Hotel.
NZ is celebrating three Academy Award nominations this year, including “Two Cars, One Night” (Best Short Film), Andrew Adamson (Shrek 2, Best Animated Feature) and Joe Letteri, lately of LOTR, (I Robot, Best Visual Effects).
Productions in New Zealand in the past 12 months include “Narnia,” (which is based on teh classic CS Lewis novel and directed by Andrew Adamson); “King Kong,” (directed by Peter Jackson with Naomi Watts and Adrien Brody); “The World’s Fastest Indian” (with Anthony Hopkins,) “River Queen” (with Kiefer Sutherland and Samantha Morton, “Legend of Zorro” (with Catherine Zeta Jones and Antonio Banderas); “Without a Paddle” (with Seth Green and Matthew Lillard); “Perfect Creature” (with Dougray Scott) and “Boogeyman (with Lucy Lawless).
Andrew Adamson will be there, among others.
“New Zealand filmmakng is going from strength to strength,” notes Rob Taylor, the NZ Consul General, Los Angeles. “Oscar Weekend is the perfect opportunity for us to celebrate with our friends and colleagues in Hollywood.”
Hosted by the New Zealand Ambassador to the US, the Honorable John Wood – with support from TheNew Zealand Consulate-General and Investment New Zealand – the dinner will feature keynote speaker producer Rob Tapert (Boogeyman) and a three course indigenous menu of New Zealand salmon, beef and blueberries, complemented by Morton Estate wine.
Can you talk a little about the range of effects you’ve got planned? We’ve seen the digital matting, –
Yeah, tons and tons of breadth and snow and stuff like that. The biggest challenge, I mean, it’s a pretty wide swamp of effects and obviously the CG creatures are for us, the toughest. Not just because we want to make them look real and all that, it’s because in this movie they’ve got lead roles.
There is Aslan, the beavers – both beavers are very funny and they’ve got pivotal dramatic points, they have to help the kids along the way -, you’ve got the bad guys that help the Queen and Ginarrbrik [her dwarf], who are real people, and they’re all fully CG except for the wolves. We do have real wolves that we’re basing our characters on, being that they’re basically a hybrid of wolves and dogs. They’re good for little bits of running and small pieces of action and then they’ll tend to go and be a dog again. So, it’s good for a little bit but for the most part we’re planning on doing CG because the wolves in this movie are not your typical wolves. The wolves are smart and intelligent and they may be brutal and mean but they have a purpose. So, when they’re moving and looking around you have to see the intelligence. It would differentiate them from all the other characters. We’re creating the beavers who are smart and talk and all that stuff. And then we’ve got it for this other character, the fox, which is a very endearing character and heroic as well.
So for us, to be able to pull off convincing performances that reach the audience emotionally and don’t blow the illusion of – this is an animal but he’s a character and he can talk too – is going to be a tough one but we’re up to it. And then have the kids with their performances when they’re all interacting together, you want to believe the kids are believing the animals are there too. Even on set, it’s a daily challenge to make sure the kids are really in the moment, that they’re seeing the animals there, and a lot of times Andrew [Adamson] and his assistant will actually perform the scene. So Andrew will sit there and he’ll be the Beaver and she’ll be Mrs. Beaver and just sit there and make eye contact with the kids and get them to feel it and believe it.
Other times we use wacky things on set. I’ve been wearing this stuffed lion head, I’ve got sort of BMX motorcross chestplate with a speed rail connection and there’s a head that’s got a pole and I stick it there and I’ll be on set talking to the kids so they can look right at where Aslan would be and we’ll shoot a take or two of that. Sometimes I put a little stuffed animal or a piece of tape, just something for them to look at.
The beavers have a pretty big role, did you motion-capture somebody and then map the beaver onto it or are they entirely in the computer?
No, they’re all going to be CG-animated. There is a lot of full animation, they’ve done a lot of reference for wolves, I don’t think we’re going to motion capture wolves, we will have all their running plates that were shot, all the second unit footage. We aren’t currently motion-capturing lions, we haven’t decided that but we are going to do horses, there are going to be CG horses in the battle as well as centaurs so we can use that motion for both characters to some degree. We are using on-set motion capturing extensively for all the creatures with hooves, we’re capturing all the data. We know we’re using it for Tumnus, we’re likely to use it for several other characters too but we’re going to capture it for everything and whether it becomes just a help for tracking or if we use it specifically to draw the animation, we’ll decide as we process the data and look at the shots. Sometimes when you’re doing 40 characters out there you might decide that motion capture isn’t the way to go, we can just do it animated, but we’re going get he data just to make sure – and the stuff we’ve seen back has been great.
What was the experience like doing the motion-cap for the faun, Mr. Tumnus, specifically?
It was interesting when James [McAvoy] flew in we only had a few hours to deal with him. He arrived literally days before our first day on set with him and so Howard [Berger] needed his time with him, Andrew [Adamson] needed his time with him and of course we needed our time with him because we had to figure out – how does a faun walk? – Tumnus being a lead character is going to set the tone for all the fauns. So what we did for James is we put him in a whole motion capture suit, we had our faun rig, a CG character with the bone skeletal structure and we just let him practice and do different things and try different stuff and see what works, what looks good and where does he break?
Because you can only go so far and the legs actually won’t do what human legs can do. So we wanted to test those boundaries so then when we’d get on set, we’d get data that would work. For him, I mean we ran the set, I played Lucy (laughs), and he used that as a tool to find the character too. Because on the day [of shooting] we didn’t want him to have to worry about it or think about, he would concentrate on his performance and the legs would just be there. We were watching the dailies and it’s amazing, the slightest little shuffle, step or movement, it’s those nuances that just add to his character. At first, he had created this jittery goat character but this little stuff will just be priceless, you would otherwise need weeks and weeks to try and animate it, and it’s just there.
Besides the characters, what other type of CG animation can we expect?
We have a host of other effects we have to do for the movie. We have CG ice that’ll be used in a couple of structures in the film. You saw the White Witch’s courtyard, of course, and the whole castle itself is made out of ice. There are several of the sets inside the castle that are ice structures. Also, the kids come upon a frozen waterfall and that’s going to be a huge sequence for us because we’re going to use a combination of miniatures and CG ice, CG water and all that stuff and as the kids run across the ice, the idea is it gets more and more precarious for them. We’ll have ice cracking and water gushing and all sorts of craziness will be going on around while they’re trying to make their way across the waterfalls.
We saw this process by which they’re using lasers to measure sets down to the millimeter and it gives you 3D environments. How does that help you?
It’s been used previously and at first I wasn’t sure how much we were going to use it. It’s called LITAR and those guys can tell you a lot more about how it works, it does so many scans and it’s got such a resolution that apparently if they turn it up really, really to high, like 11, it could sort of burn a hole through the ground or something. (laughs) It’s a pretty strong laser. For us, it grabs all the terrain which is essential for when we need to put all our CG characters up there in and have them moving across, so it looks like they’re really hitting the ground. An added effect for us is that we can track our cameras to it, so whenever we have a moving camera, and the camera is constantly moving on this movie, since we have the whole set basically scanned and digitized we can use pieces of it to help track the shots and not have to put so many markers all over the place.
We also have tons of set extensions, mat paintings obviously helping to create the environment. We’re shooting lots and lots of green environments so we just have to extend it out and create it. One of the cool things about going down to the South Islands is that we’re going to open up and see a lot of area. Another cool thing is Don McAlpine, our director of photography, who is just a great guy, he’s like a kid on set, he buys all these toys, he has more Mac toys than I do; he is doing something really amazing on this movie, basically he is lighting the movie for digital post. It’s something we did on both The Two Towers and The Return of the King completely and a little bit on The Fellowship of the Ring. What Don is doing is he’s lighting the set and knowing what he’s going to do later.
Can you speak a little about the final battle sequence?
That sequence will be pretty cool because there are several scenes where, when the kids meet Aslan and then when the Witch comes to confront him and then later in the battle there are scenes where we’re going to have to populate the environment with tons and tons of creatures. We’ve got everything from ogres and cyclops’ and centaurs, some which will be part prosthetic and others will be completely digital. Same thing on the good guys side, we’ve got little animals and big cats and all sorts of things that’ll be brought into the battle. So, once we get going on that it’ll send it all into high gear.
We saw the pre-viz [animated storyboard sequence on the computer] of the final battle, does that help you a lot?
Oh, did you? It’s actually a great help. We’ve been trying the pre-viz, off and on, so far in the movie and when we start a scene we usually look at it and then talk about it and then Don [McAlpine] and Andrew [Adamson] will sit and sort of make their shot list based on that. Sometimes scenes just get chucked aside because they could tell that’s maybe too many shots. So they’ll ink their essential shot list and we always have the B camera that can be thrown in for bonus shots. What typically happens is Don will get out there with our camera operator and they’ll just find this cool new shot that we never even thought of and that’ll be our master.
For the actual creatures themselves, how photo-realistic are they going to be?
We’re going for completely photo-realistic. Andrew won’t be happy otherwise. We are going to have prosthetic creatures on set that we will have to match to for any of the on-set creatures. We may do some enhancements in terms of facial stuff because not every creature has a radio-controlled face; there are some that aren’t. So we may go into post and add little extra emotions and facial movements that we can’t get on the day.
Will who the voice actor is, play any part in the look of the character?
It could. I mean obviously once we hear the voice we may want to adapt some of the facials to help reflect that. The stuff that Howard [Berger] is doing on set, in terms of facial for Aslan, is when he is on the Stone Table. Anytime he’s acting, talking or moving other than that, it’s us. It’s CG.
It’s the last week to register at the cheaper Early Bird rates for Seattle’s Tolcon (May 13-15), and they have some good group rates too. Special guests include Ted Nasmith and Kiran Shah, who’ll have stories about his time on LOTR and the Narnia sets.
The 28th of February is the last day to get the Early Bird TolCon rates. If you sign up as a group (10 or more) AND become a NW Tolkien Society member, you get a total of $10 off the TolCon membership price. That makes it only $15 for an entire weekend of fun. And hotel rates are only $79! Who wouldn’t want to hear Kiran’s stories about behind the scenes of LOTR and Narnia or meet the incredible artist, Ted Nasmith with his breathtaking Tolkien artwork??
Sign up soon! Check out www.Tolcon.org for more information
Part Two of the Behind the Magic of Narnia series is now online! This features the train station, a unicorn, the White Witch’s castle, wolves in the forest and a whole lot more with a video interview with director Andrew Adamson!
See the Footage:
The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe Game
(Ages: 8 & up; Players: 2 to 4;
Approximate Retail Price: $16.99; Available: September 2005)
Based on the exciting, new, live action film from Disney, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, this game lets players join Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy as they travel through the exciting world of Narnia. With Asian’s help, be the first player to reach the lamp post and get back to the wardrobe. But watch out for wolves, and beware of the White Witch who can turn players into stone.
The Chronicles of Narnia® The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe 100-Piece
(Ages: 5 & up; 100 pieces; Approximate Retail Price: $2.99; Available: September 2005)
Put together your favorite scenes from The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, anexciting new motion picture based on the award-winning book series by C.S. Lewis. Puzzles feature Aslan the Lion in the magical world of Narnia! This 100-piece puzzle is available in four different scenes.
The Chronicles of Narnia® The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe 200-Piece
(Ages 7 & up; 200 pieces; Approximate Retail Price: $7.99; Available: September 2005)
This challenging 200-piece puzzle features an exciting scene with popular characters from the The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, a new motion picture.
© 2005 Hasbro, Inc. All rights reserved.
THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA TOY LINE FROM HASBRO CAPTURES THE ENCHANTING FANTASY OF THE UPCOMING WALT DISNEY PICTURES FILM
Feb 18, 2005
This fall, Walt Disney Pictures will bring to the large screen The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, based on the classic novel series by C.S. Lewis. Hasbro unveils its toy line based on the film at the American International Toy Fair in New York in February.
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe tells the classic struggle between good and evil, pitting the magnificent lion Aslan against the forces of darkness in the magical world of Narnia. A White Witch has used her dark powers to keep Narnia in winter for 100 years, but it is foretold that four humans will be able to help Aslan break the spell. When the Pevensie siblings – Lucy, Susan, Edmund, and Peter – discover the magic of Narnia by entering the enchanted world through a wardrobe, the stage is set for a classic battle of epic proportions. The live-action and CGI film is being directed by Andrew Adamson, who directed Shrek and Shrek 2. The film’s magical special effects are being created by WETA and Richard Taylor, Oscar winner for his work in Lord of the Rings.
Hasbro’s line of toys is slated to reach retail outlets nationwide in November and includes:
· Basic Action Figures
(Approximate retail price: $6.99)
· Deluxe Action Figures
(Approximate retail price: $14.99)
· Basic Battle Scale figures
(Approximate retail price: $6.99)
· Deluxe Battle Scale figures
(Approximate retail price: $14.99)
· Mini Plush
(Approximate retail price: $5.99)
· Basic Plush
(Approximate retail price: $9.99)
· Deluxe Plush
(Approximate retail price: $19.99)
See Pictures of the Action Figures from Toy Fair 2005
Action-Figure.com Pictures
New “Kong” and “Chronicles of Narnia” resin collectibles!
Revealing news at Toy Fair was the announcement that Dark Horse had signed on as the exclusive distributor of upcoming product from WETA Collectibles.
Collectibles will include high-end resin pieces and prints for two major 2005 motion pictures: “The Chronicles of Narnia” and “Kong: The 8th Wonder of the World;” the official title for Peter Jackson’s remake of the 1933 classic “King Kong”.
Following last year’s success, CEA has formulated a new mission strategy for 2005 which focuses on introducing Christian faith through contemporary culture.
A project is based around the release of the film The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe at Christmas. Based on C. S. Lewis’s well-known children’s book, the film is expected to have many spiritual resonances and the CEA will produce material which can be used by churches as part of their outreach programmes.
Amy H. Sturgis, Conference Director for ‘Past Watchful Dragons’ writes: Just a quick update re: the “‘Past Watchful Dragons’: Fantasy and Faith in the World of C.S. Lewis” conference on November 3-5, 2005, at Belmont University in Nashville, TN. Just added to the list of events is the Nashville Symphony’s performance of Howard Shore’s The Lord of the Rings Symphony, a musical journey into the realm of Middle-Earth that calls to the stage more than 200 musicians and vocalists, including the Nashville Symphony Chorus, and a multimedia tribute to the Lord of the Rings film trilogy. This performance will take place at Belmont’s Curb Event Center on Saturday night at the conclusion of the conference.
Other key events, beyond each day’s scholarly panels and presentations, include Thursday night’s dinner with and keynote address by Doug Gresham (stepson of C.S. Lewis and consultant to the forthcoming The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe film), Friday night’s performance of “An Evening with C.S. Lewis” by British actor and President of Rising Image Productions David Payne, and Saturday afternoon’s The Inconsolable Secret concert by literary progressive rock band Glass Hammer. For more on these events, visit belmont.edu.
More details, including conference registration information, will be available very shortly. Paper abstract submissions are currently being solicited at the website and accepted through May 1, 2005.
As the residents of Narnia like to whisper, “Aslan is on the move.” And so he is. But for the moment, Walt Disney Pictures has him on a very short leash.
Aslan, a talking lion with mystical powers, is the central figure in “The Chronicles of Narnia,” the much-beloved seven-volume series of fantasy novels written by the British academic C. S. Lewis in the 1950’s. By the year’s end, if Disney marketers have their way, he will have joined Mickey Mouse, Pinocchio and Buzz Lightyear in a long line of characters that have periodically provided the Burbank giant with entertainment’s most valuable asset, a new fantasy to trade on.
This next wave begins with the expected release on Dec. 9 of “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” which combines live action and computer-generated images in a movie adaptation of Lewis’s epic. Sequels may follow. But films are only the spearhead of a corporate initiative that is likely to include a theme park presence, toys, clothing, video games and whatever other tchotchkes the infinitely resourceful Disney team can devise. Having been criticized for failing to cash in on the merchandising opportunities offered by 2003’s “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl,” Disney is preparing for the kind of all-encompassing drive it hasn’t mounted since 1994, when it turned “The Lion King” into a pop cultural event that still reverberates in its retail stores and on Broadway.
For the rest, visit the source. Registration is free.
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