In “Prince Caspian,” C.S. Lewis’s four Pevensie children return to Narnia older and wiser, applying lessons learned during their first trip through the wardrobe. The same applies to animator/director Andrew Adamson, who made his live-action debut with “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” and now builds upon that experience for the sequel. Here are the five principles that guided the helmer through his return visit.
1. It’s the battles, stupid
“Prince Caspian” takes place more than a thousand years later in Narnian time and lends itself even better to epic confrontations. “I loved the idea of seeing mythical creatures in a medieval environment and being able to explore more the way the different creatures fought, which I only got to tap into a little bit in the last film,” Adamson says. “Because this book is more action-based, I could really have some fun with it.”
2. Reality sells fantasy
When the production team scouted locations, they fell for Pierrefont Castle, a beautifully restored medieval stronghold not far from Paris. “But it turned out it’s very, very expensive to shoot in France, and it was more cost effective to build a full-scale castle courtyard in the Czech Republic,” says the director, who staged the daring “Night Raid” sequence by blending CG with live-action footage shot on towering 200-foot sets with fancy camera moves done with a series of miniatures.
“This is one of the scenes that is somewhat invented,” Adamson explains. “In the book, Reepicheep [the swashbuckling mouse] says he would like to attack Miraz’s castle, but that’s as far as it goes. But the moment made perfect sense and felt like it belonged in the story.”
3. Actions speak louder than words
In drafting “Prince Caspian,” Adamson and co-scripters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely decided to change their method, doing all their writing together in a common room. “We would each take a scene, write it and pass it to the next person, and then that person would tear it apart, and you’d have to defend your ideas, so we were editing as we went, which led to a much tighter script,” Adamson says.
4. With young actors, get physical (or, twist and shout)
With the young male actors in particular, Adamson observed that the easiest expression for them to play was anger since it allowed them to stomp and shout and get physical. “People spend a lot of time trying to hide their emotions, and I think that’s hard for an actor to do that when their job is to show emotion,” he says. “What I would do with William [Moseley, who plays Peter] and Ben [Barnes, as Caspian] is let them get very angry and do a scene where they shove each other and yell, and then I would say, ‘Now take all of that and put it inside.’ ”
5. Make the transition to Narnia unforgettable
This time, when Prince Caspian blows on Queen Susan’s horn, the Pevensies are suddenly whisked from their spot in a crowded subway station back to Narnia and Adamson was determined to show it: While the other passengers await an oncoming train, a strong gust of wind peels the tiles off the walls to reveal the magical beach where their adventure begins.
Read the rest of this fascinating article at Variety. (There is a lot more)
