Swordfighting and Stunts on the Dawn Treader!

Have you ever wished that you could feel what it would be like to be a sailor and a fighter on the Dawn Treader? Dan Laryea of the Daily Mail was privileged to enjoy this experience a few months ago. Here are some excerpts from his interesting article about his experiences. It also mentions several little…incidents and accidents that the cast and crew of the Voyage of the Dawn Treader had during the filming.

 

In a lucky move, I swing my sword towards my opponent, forcing him to lift
his weapon and lose his balance. Then I swoop for the kill, ploughing my sword
into his throat.

At least, that’s how the battle was choreographed to finish. In truth, I was
no match for the stylish swordsman who was trying to give me the same sort of
masterclass that the cast of the latest Narnia adventure, The Voyage Of The Dawn
Treader, experienced.

The fact that I survived our combat with all my limbs and not even a scratch
makes me think he took pity on me! I was lucky, because sword fighting stunts in
movie scenes can go horribly wrong. As Georgie Henley and Ben Barnes found
out.

‘Georgie forgot to duck and was whacked by a handle,’ says Barnes. ‘Skandar and
I got our choreographed moves mixed up in our fight scene and I got a smack, but
— like a good swordsman should — I carried on.’

‘Sword fighting, even in films, is dangerous,’ says 29-year-old Barnes, who
first played Prince Caspian in the 2008 film, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince
Caspian.

‘Even the stunt people get hurt. When I was filming Prince Caspian, I spent a
third of the time using a sword on horseback. The first stuntman I attacked fell
backwards off his horse.

‘I then hospitalised four others before the fifth guy, who was 65, came
along. At first I thought: “Oh, no, this poor man.” But he proved more than a
match for me!’

 
You can read the entire article HERE. It has a lot more information, as well as quotes from Will Poulter and others.