New Behind-the-Scenes Videos on iTunes
New The Voyage of the Dawn Treader behind-the-scenes videos can now be downloaded for free on iTunes (the second video, “Making a Scene,” was released back in December). Download the videos here.
1. In Character with Georgie Henley
2. Making a Scene
3. In Character with Liam Neeson
4. Direct Effect: Michael Apted
You can also view the videos on YouTube: (1) (2) (3) (4)
The video about Michael Apted is probably the most interesting. He talks about the elements they injected into VDT’s plot:
â[VDT] is a sort of double adventure story. Itâs an exciting chase for clues as to who is about to attack Narnia. But underneath that, thereâs another journey which is into your own self. To find out who you are, what youâre made of, and whether youâre worthy to be what you are.â
âThe book was very difficult to transfer onto a screenplay. Itâs full of wonderful incidents, hopping from island to island which is wonderful as a bedtime book. […] It doesnât necessarily have to follow on with great urgency, but in a movie thatâs a death. A movie has to have a drive, has to have a motor. And there wasnât really a motor in the book, so we sort of had to find a way to put one in. And the way we did it was entirely honorable because we looked forward into the next book, Silver Chair, and found there was a big chunk of that missing. For example, SC is about Narnia being attacked from the underground, but there is no mention ever of how these people get into the underground, how these people are kidnapped and sent underground to prepare for war against Narnia. So, thatâs the element we injected into VDT to give it a kind of thrust to give it a slightly stronger sense of dramatic purpose than the book has.â
–Director Michael Apted
Of course, the big question fans are asking now is whether or not they will ever be able to connect this element to “The Silver Chair.” Right now, it is almost certain that if they make another Narnia film, it will be “The Magician’s Nephew.”
Hm, so the movie needed a motor? No offense, but although you gave it one, it was so broken that it didn't work that well. And we don't need to understand how SC works later on by putting it in VDT, because now, they've put yourself in a trap, and I fear that they'll add in something just as crazy and confusing as the GM and SS plot was…
Oh, no! I'm turning into a pessimist! :O
"and whether youâre worthy to be what you are."
???
Behind the scenes!!! My favorite part of movies đ
*would listen if she could hear over her father doing the dishes đ
For the record although they are not necessarily a war story both SC and MN (and the other two for that matter) have plenty of motor. Having to stop the Witch's rampage in MN and finding the Prince in SC should be plenty of emotional drive to carry the plot of the movie. Ignore the typical formula! You don't need a battle! You're better off without it!
Are the videos free? Because I don't want to have to pay for them if they aren't.
Don't me wrong, I LOVED the VDT movie to pieces, and I think they did a fantastic job with it, but am I the only one who is wondering what "people underground" this director is blabing about "borrowing" from silver chair? I thought, per my memory of SC, that it was Gnomes underground and we are told where they come from (Bism, right?). Well, Prince Rilian is not a Gnome, but we know where he came from and how he got there, too, so…
Just because he thought the book didn't have a "drive" doesn't mean it should be ultra-sped up. I can understand some of his decisions but it just seemed like he could've done it much better.
I think the book had enough of a "motor". đ But oh well, we can't change anything now. Best not to rehash it. At least there was no Lady of the Green Kirtle.
Me too !! I like them, bloopers, and the movie itself !! I do not have an ipod, ipphone, or anything like that. The closest I have is a CD player that picks up radio too. I love music and bradcasting even more than movies !!
I would be perfectly fine with the storyline of the Voyage of the Dawn Treader book, I can see how some would be find the book storyline overlong, but I still loved the movie. None of the characters were ruined, they were tempted, the movie does come out and talk about temptation while it's not so out in the open in the book. This movie was way better than Prince Caspian.
More evidence as to why "Silver Chair" must be next and "Magician's Nephew" should be done after.
A couple of days ago I dreamed that Andrew Adamson got angry with how VDT had turned out and decided to direct the next one.
I thought that too when reading it, i don't get how the 'green mist' fits in that way relating to the Silver Chair.
But i really liked the 'green mist', apart from it's introduction – which i found best to not get hung up on when watching film – it looked great especially in 3D, but more importantly, it's a really new way of playing the same theme that i find to be the underlying one in Prince Caspian.
Are you Kidding me????? A movie has to have a motor??? Now I know how they really screwed up this book. They didn't really trust C.S. Lewis's work in the first place, and then they looked for answers in the Silver Chair to try and sew everything together. *facepalm* I guess this means will be seeing more of the green mist in The Silver Chair. Apparently for the Silver Chair screenplay they will have the souls from the Lone Islands be taken by the green mist, and then they'll be plunged into the Underworld where we will again see Tilda. I really hope this does not happen, but I hope for the next film we get some new writers and someone who truly understands Narnia.
The book is driven by the adventure of sailing into the unknown, strong charaterization, the mystery of what happened to the seven lords, and the longing for Aslans's country.
I think the filmmakers didn't know how to do that, so they resorted to smearing green smoke on the screen and calling it evil.
Bad film, dreadful adaptation.
More evidence that these filmmakers are trying to adapt books they don't understand.
"we looked forward into the next book, Silver Chair, and found there was a big chunk of that missing."
It wasn't "missing," Mr. Apted. I was intentionally "left out." These filmmakers seem to view Lewis' intentional artistic decisions as errors.
Basically, if it doesn't conform to the typical conventional formulas, the filmmakers view it as a mistake.
This whole movie is one giant mistake.
Off course I'm not the professionals, and most of the professionals says it's hard to adapt including the director, if just a fan like everybody here in NW saying things I really don't understand when it comes to film making I just care on a faithful adaptation. -_-
Are these going to be on in the special features on the movie??? If so I kinda wanted them to be a surprise………OH I HAVE A HARD TIME AVOIDING SPOILERS!!!! đ
The youtube links are, I'm not sure about the itunes link…
Actually glumpuddle, I'm still pleased by the movie, but by reading those comments I'm surprised he did as good a job as he did… I shudder to think what SC will be like IF (big IF) they keep on this story path. "…and We find LOTGK in her hidden lair, all the people she had captured through the green mist doing her bidding outside of the fortress, but what's this? the dynamic duo escaped? nanananananananananana Batman!" But seriously if he continues on this train of logic he'll have book fans leaving in droves and screaming for a reboot, and he'll have movie fans saying "hey, didn't they destroy the green mist AND free all those people in the other movie? what happened in between this movie and the last?" AND screaming for a reboot. Such a shame, If he can leave the green mist out of SC (except in the form of LOTGK's green dust) and keep the underground gnomes, as gnomes, then he'd be a fantastic director for it, but really he's setting himself up for more plotholes by trying to avoid plotholes!
@A+Sam LOL at the Batman analogy! Hopefully Apted won't be allowed to direct any more Narnia films!
VDT and SC are set many many many years apart….there's no continuity logic in what Mr. Apted says about the "missing" chunk of SC that he created. There wasn't any chunk that was missing, just a terribly sad plot contrivances. đ If they're smart they'll forget they ever added them to VDT and just make SC straight from the book plot.
Except that if Mr Apted actually READ Silver Chair he would discover that the underground army are NOT "people" (Narnian humans) but creatures who have been brought from deep in the earth to work in the somewhat shallower underground realm.
And he would be horrified at what his script writers had done.
You know, I just have to get my hands on the VDT DVD just to better understand the reasons Apted and the screenwriters did what they did. Every time Apted opens his mouth, he sounds like some alarmingly misinformed, befuddled has-been.
He's obviously parroting what someone else has told him to say about "the book that CS Lewis didn't write" etc. In my opinion, he and the screenwriters are ultimately failures.
A gifted screenwriter would have succeeded in providing a compelling adaption of the book, and a gifted director would have succeeded in bringing it to the screen.
I'm still happy that the film was made – it was lots of fun. But one day someone will do better.
But the audience won't sympathise with / find cute / understand strange creatures from lands far below. We found they complicated the plot, so we decided to make everything link in better and created a whole new sub-plot (which will actually be the MAIN plot of the film) about Narnians being kidnapped instead! Oh, you say that was the plot already? Well, who's going to feel worried about one lousy Prince?
I was looking on my i-Touch…and their free on there!!!
—-Meadow
Seeing the first video with Georgie and Will makes me want to see Will Poulter in Silver Chair so bad. I really hope they don't completely forget about SC, or recast Eustace. đ I would love to see a more mature, nice Eustace in SC, and it would be sad if Will Poulter didn't get to expand his character like that.
I don't get how Apted can say that what they did to VDT fits with SC, as the green mist "disappares" at the end of the film and all the "lost souls" come back to their families. Now they will have a second plot hole to fill in – Didn't the children heroically save Narnia after all…?
I think what they did to the plot was a huge mistake, but I'll still watch the film again just for the sake of what's actually in there of C.S.Lewis' material.
glumpuddle, maybe I'm just being a little touchy since I'm only on a few hours sleep cuz I am dog-sitting for my grandparent's dog that if you're not sitting in his line of vision starts barking and never shuts up, but this has annoyed me before, so I think I should like to say something. Here goes. I think it's sort of harsh the way you talk about VDT the movie sometimes. (Winces and waits for everyone to jump down her throat.) I understand perfectly well why you didn't like the movie (you've explained your point countless times, we all get it, dude, trust me) but to keep on saying things like "this movie is awful" and it's "anti-Lewis" and "a mistake". I know you have videos glaore on youtube stating passages from the books to supposedly "prove your point" and that is exactly what everyone is going to shove in my face when I make this comment (please don't bother, just keep reading), but the thing is that so much of Narnia is open to interpation by the reader and that is one reason it's such a wonderful series. So you didn't like the film-interpation that came out this year, okay, but that doesn't mean it's automatically a bad film. You can say all you like about plot-holes, bad editing, etc…but not everyone agrees. I have read the Narnia books COUNTLESS times since I was sixteen and they are amoung my favorites. I would not hestiate to say I didn't care for the movie if I truly didn't. But I did like it, and I'll say so. Just like you didn't, and you're welcome to say so (provided you state it as more of an OPINON, cuz that's what it is). Also, dude, although they changed things, you have to learn to separate the books from the movies (no movie/book adaptation is every without it's changes) they're like AU mirrors of eachother. For example, the writer of "The other Boylen girl" when asked if she liked the movie of her film said the book would always be her baby but that she still enjoyed the film. And think of count of monty cristo (they changed A LOT in that film and it was still considered a good movie on it's own merits). I know you don't think VDT is a good movie on it's own merits, but you have to realize that a lot of other people (book fans like myself and others who are not) DO.
(okay, people, jump to his defense after only half-reading my comment…like you always do…I'm waiting)
What's with all the Apted hate? Narnia books are open to interpation, C.S. Lewis didn't write them in a detailed "lord of the rings" (I just started reading LOTR, and even though I like it so far, dang is that thing DETAILED!) style for a reason, so everyone could make up their own mind of what Narnia was like and what it meant to them. So you didn't like what it meant for Apted, or at least, how he chose to show it on screen? So what? Maybe he wouldn't like YOUR interperation or the changes you would make (and however faithful to the books you are, you have to make SOME). It's really sad that now so many of you are whining we want andrew back when after PC you all had a fit over one breif kiss scene AT THE END and were all, "Thank god there's a new director!"
Humph! Fickle much?
"Bad film, dreadful adaptation" -um, says you.
glumPuddle didn't like the movie…….. I'm shocked. đ
He does not seem to like anything at all these days.
Sorry, but I've said this before. Constantly talking about what you think is wrong with it in the midst of many people who do like the film is not cool. You are basically force-feeding your own opinion down people's throats. EVERY time there is any news about this movie, you post the same thing. We get it. I'm very sorry you did not like the movie. But many of us do. We respect your opinion. But please have some respect for the people who did like the film. Those who do like it are hurt when they see words like "bad film." If it's something one really respects and loves, one does NOT like to see someone constantly hating it.
Simply avoiding your comments is a good idea, and lord knows I have tried. But it is quite difficult to do, in part, because you are a big name on Narniaweb and A LOT of people listen to you.
"I understand perfectly well why you didnât like the movie (youâve explained your point countless times, we all get it, dude, trust me) but to keep on saying things like "this movie is awful" and itâs "anti-Lewis" and "a mistake". I know you have videos glaore on youtube stating passages from the books to supposedly "prove your point" and that is exactly what everyone is going to shove in my face when I make this comment (please donât bother, just keep reading), but the thing is that so much of Narnia is open to interpation by the reader and that is one reason itâs such a wonderful series. So you didnât like the film-interpation that came out this year, okay, but that doesnât mean itâs automatically a bad film. You can say all you like about plot-holes, bad editing, etcâŚbut not everyone agrees."
Totally agree.
I think M. Apted was a good choice for Dawn Treader. Some stylistic aspects not me as much as previous film PC but in the long term that will be good cause it gives the series more contrast. One thing i have thought is that M. Apted had more – might be the wrong word – 'interference, actually probably 'pressure' is a better word, whatever, anyhow something perhaps to deal with than wasn't the case with previous two films, yet for the most part everyone would agree that while we might having niggles here n there with it, VODT was another great Narnia experience on offer at the cinema – particularly after a first opening evening all hyped up viewing was out of the way:) -apologies for the never ending sentence!
He is not making any sense. He definitely did not understand the next book SC if he thinks that people were capture and pulled underground. It more like they were bewitched underground and brought to a higher level of the underground closer to the surface.
ha, nice Mayor Wilkins đ
Well, we're all allowed to have our own opinions, just as long as we try not to force them upon others, it's perfectly okay on my part. I wasn't "in love" with VDT either, but for me it was more about some of the acting (minus Eustace's acting, which I found FANTASTIC ;):D ;)) and the music. The adaptation wasn't the best, I will admit, but I'm not a "purist", and I like to see people "make it their own", even if it's not my style. Yes, I was a bit disappionted too…okay, i was ALOT disappointed with VDT, but I still enjoy watching it and i can't wait for the DVD! đ
Everyone is allowed to have their own opinion, whether or not everyone agrees. Even if that person's saying it's a "anti-Lweis film." After all, gP's not the only one on here to say the movie was bad.
But I agree that it seems as if the movie makers had no understanding or faith in what they were adapting. Of course, somehow or other, they would've messed up somewhere, but we still would've be happy. I want to see MN (or SC, depending), and yet it's starting to harder to believe that they won't create another "Green Mist" disaster. Next time, they must get what MN or SC is about, because you can't make a good adaption if you have no confidence in it, or guts to follow the book without adding in something big and unecessary.
Not the movie's bad, but to me, I wish I was positive about saying it's a great adaption, but I just can't do it. :S
Well even if we don't consider the adaption part of the movie, I think VDT had problems just as a stand alone movie…A big part of that is scriptwiting as well. I mean, the dialogue had a lot of problems. That's just one example of why people didn't like VDT.
Also I think people have problems with Apted because he doesn't seem to like the source material. Now surely we can all agree that if a director isn't excited about the source material, the movie probably won't do well.
exactly what I thought! talk of a sentence that sounds smart, but really just has no meaning at all when you think about it.
Maybe it speaks to the worth of people with no filmmaking experience presenting themselves as experts?
You can't help island hopping if you're on a ship in the middle of an ocean and there is no land but islands.
We (The Purists, the book fans, those-who-agree-largely-with-glumpuddle) are not being fickle at all, my dear Lucy. Our wants and desires have not changed at all from film to film: We want good films that are good adaptations of Lewis' stories, beliefs, and vision.
Filmmaker after filmmaker keeps missing the ball. We will keep pursuing our same end until we find one that understands Lewis and can do the job well. Will we LOVE everything about him/her/it? No, not all of us. But we will be satisfied if he gets the most important things right.
Our goal is accurate film representation. We haven't changed one bit, darling. We still love the books, and we won't settle for anything less.
MN is one of my favorite books. I would feel much better if it were in Andrew Adamson's hands than Michael Apted's. Apted's comments betray his lack of passion for the books. I believe Adamson had both a passion for the books and a sincere love for the young actors that resulted in two films of much higher quality than Apted's VDT.
Fire Apted.
That way he can be free to go write all the Narnian fanfiction he wants about unwritten books, missing chunks, and all the incredible mistakes Lewis made in his astonishingly unfinished Chronicles of Narnia. Give him a few years, and he may even publish an expose on all the shocking things Lewis forgot to put in his series.
*Cue EPIC music*
The Green Mist was my favorite part.
Oh, and the Eustace Dragon.
But I really did like the Green Mist. Really liked it.
I guess I'm alone there.
Oh well.
I was wondering what Michael Apted is talking about when he says that about "barrowing" from SC? the only thing that was "barrowed" or was a lead into SC was the green mist, it made me think of the lady of the green kerrdle, which i think it was suppose to. but the thing is what Michael Apted is saying (I think) is the people that are captured by the green mist is what leads into SC… but the mist source was destroyed by Edmond, and ALL the people were FREED!!! so what is the "lead into" or concept "barrowed" from SC??? I am just kinda confused about that… I really enjoyed all of the other videos tho!!! đ
lol… why is it that Mayor Wilkins and Lucy are the ones that keep following GP's comments and replying to his comments all the time? It's his opinion so get over it. No need to constantly note about gP's 'negativity' ;P
I also find it amusing how Lucy used the example that the author liked it therefore the movie is good. The author for Eragon like the movie Eragon… does it mean that movie was good? The author's opinion is obviously going to be biased.
At the very least, gP's 4 hr commentary on VODT clearly explains the flaws of the film. While an opinion of a film is still based on opinions, films still have that BASIC standard that they must fulfill in terms of plot, pacing, and acting. Call me spoiled by well-made films but VODT fails Filmmaking 101 (and Screenwriting 101). First note of filmmaking: Always show, rarely tell. Film is visual medium and if you're going to tell me everything, I'll go listen to an audiobook.
I love this movie so much.
Apted did a fine job.
I also liked both of Adamson's films.
I don't understand any of this backlash.
Thing is, it's all totally shallow.
The only reason you (universal you) don't care for The Green Mist is because "it's not in the book." Meanwhile, if C.S. Lewis had written about such a Green Mist, you'd probably all be saying how cool it was. I think many of you have put this idea down simply because it wasn't in the book.
If you look at the movie, The Green Mist is a great visual symbol of temptation.
It suggests an almost Satanic presence, which is quite frightening to think about.
It was done very well.
Also, didn't Lewis himself pretty much tell people to fill in the gaps in his writing by making up their own stories? I have the Paul F. Ford book in which such letters to fans are quoted. Perhaps Apted, and the production (who are said to have referred to this book), were simply taking Lewis's advice. They made up a detail (the mist) that could tie VDT to the plot of SC.
Ford also suggests in his White Witch writings that perhaps The White Witch's sprit could live on by means of the Dark Magic. Hello, Dark Island anyone???
Further more, Lewis hardly described what the deal was with Dark Island.
Apted and co. interpreted it a certain way. The beautiful thing about the Narnia books is, if you want there to be a Green Mist at Dark Island, there's NOTHING that says it cannot be so. No where in that chapter did Lewis say "There was no Green Mist anywhere there." But he does mention a mist in the chapter.
Very well. I will stop replying to him then.
Consider this my last comment on the subject.
Life's too precious to waste any more time on Glumpuddle.
my best friend loves this movie but for me it´s not enaught
and she says that Eustace is handsome, put i think is horrifying
I actually liked Adamson's "Prince Caspian"…
My issue with Apted is his apathy and his astonishing lack of clarity on what Lewis actually wrote. I realize that he might have been working under parameters we are not yet privy to, but that doesn't excuse his ill-informed comments. He obviously hasn't read SC and that's pretty inexcusable.
I'll repeat that I think VDT was a fun film – but it could have been so much more. One Apted-directed Narnia movie is quite enough, thank-you.
When Mr. Apted says that the story as written has no drive or no "motor" that is his opinion. I disagree and that's fine. He and I have difference of opinion. But when he says that "there is no mention ever of how these people get into the underground, how these people are kidnapped and sent underground to prepare for war against Narnia" that is factually incorrect. The book "Silver Chair" very clearly states that the army underground was not sent underground but brought up from the land of Bism that lies even deeper underground. They were put under an enchantment and forced to serve LotGK against their will.
Now Mr. Apted can have the opinion that this is a poor storyline and needs to be changed. That is an opinion. But to not even know who is in the Witch's army and how they got there makes me wonder if he has even read the book. It is mentioned. And clearly explained. I don't get why he would say that if he has read the book. And I don't understand why they would ask someone who thinks that VDT wouldn't make a good movie to take over the job of turning VDT into a movie. It seems he has the same opinion of Silver Chair. Which is why I hope he is not the one to direct Silver Chair if it is ever made.
Very good points! I couldn't agree more. And you're right, Lewis DID say to fill in the gaps ourselves, more or less.
This. This exactly. It could have been SO much more – it was a passable general fantasy film as it was, but I think Apted really just missed the real core of the book – the real core of Narnia. He's just not the right director for Narnia – he never seemed to be 'in' it like Adamson was. Though Adamson did have some major changes in PC, I still LIKED it. Watching the making of, I was astonished just how much effort Adamson put into the movie. He did not cut corners, that man. He seemed to care. From what I've seen and heard from Apted, he really just *didn't*. That, and the sub-par screenwriting really just… just made it into a disappointment for me. đ It was fun, but nothing compared to what it could have been.
I do so agree with that. It will be very sad if we can't see Will Poulter reprise Eustace at least one more time.
Well I guess then that since C.S. Lewis didn't write about any green mist in VDT, then there is surely no reason why we shouldn't have Tilda Swinton play the White Witch in the next four movies. I can hardly wait!!!
I'm hoping that someday when they will make another Narnia movies, and I wish it will be Silver Chair and Michael Apted will direct it again, I hope Andrew Adamson and Ann Peocock will Write the Script.
glumPuddle is right "dreadful adaptation" but NOT BAD FILM, it is a GOOD FILM for me.:D
Oh hail to the purist! Your all concern on how you believe is right adaptation without even considering the limits and the imperfection of the production. Your speaking like your the movie makers, please study it first and have an experience before saying anything oh so purist.