ComingSoon.net Visits “Dawn Treader” Set

Last summer (or fall), Heather Newgen of ComingSoon.net visited the set of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader in Australia’s Gold Coast (Queensland). She said they were the only Australian “outlet” allowed to do so. On the set, Newgen interviewed director Michael Apted, a portion of which is quoted below.

CS: Andrew Adamson acted out the CG characters for the cast. What’s your approach?
Apted: I cast Reepicheep with an actor. I thought it would build a relationship with the actor. It could be done by a professional actor so that’s what I decided to do. Whether or not I’ll use that voice at the end, I don’t know, but it is someone who will be there all the time doing that character. Plus I thought it’d personalize the character a bit more. . . .

CS: The Dawn Treader is one of the most speculator sets I’ve ever seen. Can you talk about your vision and how you wanted it to look?
Apted: It’s all based on the book – the look of it. It’s an iconic image. We wanted to deliver to the people who love the book. There are a few changes we had to make, but there are certain things you do want to hang on to. I thought the look of the Dawn Treader – that iconic image of it is what we wanted to keep so that was the basis of it. It was never going to sail so it never had to float. The challenge really is that it’s supposed to be rooted in Narnia in the story, but we don’t go to Narnia – this is a journey so the boat carries all of imprints of Narnian life, so all the decoration and all that sort of stuff. . . .

CS: How close to the book are you staying?
Apted: In some areas very close and in other areas not at all. The book is lovely because it’s just a lot of different stories, but that doesn’t work in a movie. You’ve got to have a drive to do this. You have to keep the audiences’ attention. You don’t just need one chapter in night at bed. You need the next one so there needs to be a drive to it and that’s one of the challenges we had. It took a long time to figure that out.

Newgen also talked about Georgie Henley’s (Lucy) initial reaction to seeing the set for the library in Coriakin’s house, on Magician’s Island. Apted did something similar with Georgie that director Andrew Adamson did on the set of Wardrobe.

When it was time for Henley to start shooting, she was brought in with her eyes close. The shot was set up with her stand-in and was ready when Henley was taken into the room. Apted wanted her original reaction once the cameras started rolling and he definitely got it. When she opened her eyes and saw the beautiful set and the snow, her face lit up and she screamed. This was also done with the young actress in “The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe” when she first enters Narnia. . . .

The part of the scene we were there for was a cut to Lucy just after she reads the spell. She looks up from the book and realizes that it is snowing. The scene is actually a significant part of the movie because the Magician tells them what is going on in Narnia and what they must do to defeat it. It is also explained why they must find the seven lords of Telmar who were exiled by Caspian’s uncle, around the time that “Prince Caspian” takes place.

Click here to read the complete article. But this is just part 1, which means more interviews — this time with the Dawn Treader cast — will soon follow! So stay tuned!

Photos: Directors Guild of America (distributor) / Narnia.com (via NarniaWeb)