Narnia Fans » Baja Studios

There has been more trouble getting The Voyage of the Dawn Treader going into production with rising violence in Mexico as of late.  Scheduled to begin filming production at Baja Studios next month, presumably set building and pre-production, the drug war violence may have led Disney and Walden Media to begin a search for another location.  Baja Studio is the home of the water tank that was used for Titanic and Master And Commander.

Word has it that the production may move down under, as film industry officials in NSW and Queensland are chasing the movie.  The Sunshine State is favoured to win because of the water tank at Warner Roadshow Studios on the Gold Coast. The Dawn Treader needs studios, beaches, jungles and other locations for a five-month shoot.

In the C.S. Lewis fantasy novel, Edmund, Lucy and their cousin Eustace return to the magical land of Narnia through a painting then set sail with King Caspian to find seven lost lords.

Briton Michael Apted, who made Amazing Grace, The World Is Not Enough and the Seven Up documentary series, is directing with returning roles for young Skandar Keynes and Georgie Henley. Also back will be Ben Barnes, who was Prince Caspian in the last instalment.

The producers are known to have investigated Australia as a location before they settled on Mexico.

Allan Wall has written a fascinating article about Mexico’s contributions to the Narnia films, he writes: Hi, my name is Allan Wall, an American who lives in Mexico. I’d like to invite you to read my article about Mexican contributions to Narnia movies.

Here a portion of the article. Read the rest at the source link!

“Prince Caspian,” a movie produced by Walt Disney Pictures and Walden Media, was recently released worldwide, opening in the number one position in 14 countries, including the U.S. and Mexico.

Contemporary big-budget movies, with their legions of actors, artists, technicians and other contributors, only a fraction of whom are seen onscreen, are international collaborations. “Prince Caspian” was no exception.

“Prince Caspian” is a cinematic adaptation of the fantasy novel of the same name by C.S. Lewis. It’s part of the seven-volume “Chronicles of Narnia” series, about the imaginary land of Narnia, first published in the 1950s. The books have sold more than 100 million copies and have been translated into 41 languages, including Spanish.

In 2005, Disney and Walden brought “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” (the first of the Narnia series that Lewis wrote) to the big screen, and now it’s being followed by “Prince Caspian,” which has several Mexican contributions.

Some of these contributions are in the area of computer-generated visual effects, produced at Studio C in Mexico City, under the direction of Guatemalan-born Carlos Arguello.

The twenty Mexicans working at Studio C produced 40 visual effects for “Prince Caspian.” These effects are briefly seen onscreen, lasting from 3-4 seconds apiece.

But the movie’s most prominent effect produced at Studio C was the “Hag,” a totally digital character, quite grotesque and evil, appearing about halfway through the film. Quite effectively done, it managed to scare one of my children when we watched the movie!

While producing such effects, Studio C had to be in communication with director Andrew Adamson in New Zealand, and a production director in Britain, illustrating once again the globe-girdling nature of modern film production.

Also, prominent Mexican actor Damian Alcazar had a major role in the movie. Alcazar, who has previously won ten Ariels (an Ariel is the Mexican equivalent of the Oscar) portrayed Sopespian, one of the principal bad guys.

Alcazar turns in a very solid acting performance, and near the end of the movie he is part of an impressive special effects scene (which I don’t divulge because I don’t like to spoil movies for others).

Alcazar thoroughly enjoyed his stint on “Prince Caspian,” his first Hollywood movie. The Mexican actor had not even sought the role. Rather, Adamson and the producers had seen his work in Mexican cinema and sought him out for the Sopespian role, not even requiring an audition.

Alcazar says he tried to bring a sense of “Mexican irony” to the role.

[...]

In October, filming is scheduled to begin on the next Narnia movie, “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader,” which is nautically-themed. Two-thirds of the movie is to be filmed in Rosarito, Baja California, Mexico, in the studio which was constructed for the “Titanic” movie.

Read the rest at Mexidata.info