Tuesday, October 6, 2009

To Narnia We go...


Yes, truly ....as literally as possible. A few weeks ago we went to Narnia, not that we haven't been there before as we have read and reread CS Lewis' books. But this time it was a little different....we went to see the filming of the Voyage of the Dawn Treader or Narnia 3 Movie in Queensland Australia. Jo and Erica know the story so well that they reckoned they could figure out exactly what was going on even though we watched the filming from a distance.

There was added interest too as we know one of the artists who is working on the scenery. Margerie was about 13 when her family first went to NZ and we have been friends of the family since. Despite the distance we have stayed in touch over the years...and now Margerie is a brilliant and talented artist....she has painted scenery for the Lord of the Rings and after Narnia 3 she goes on to do the Hobbit back in NZ. The Dawn Treader has a Dragons head at the prow....which gave Margerie the opportunity to display her talent.



Another high-light was seeing actors up close through the fence taking an afternoon break ...
poor guys they must have felt like monkeys in a zoo, only the spectators were swooning young lasses. The kids figured out we saw Prince Caspian in the distance? I was disappointed that I did not see Reepicheep as he is my favourite character in the book of the Dawn Treader. I find him a little bit too mousy in the Narnia movies, my imagination had as a more human looking mouse and a bit bigger, cute like a mouse but at least ratty size. He goes to Narnia heaven in this book, I wonder if he does in the movie? I would have loved to see how they made a man into a mouse....or is he fully animated, I don't somehow think so? Maybe he is just a real mouse??? He play a big role in this book, so it will be interesting what they make of him in the movie.

Maybe he had Mouse flue the day we were there? Or had already reached the end of his voyage in that day of filming?

We think we also saw Mr Tumnus who had unusual ears that looked very real and bright green Lycra leggings which Jonathan explained was for the computer animators to easily spot where his goat legs will go .

A generous dwarf came and chatted to the flirty girls in front of us, and one of my bigger kids wanted to know out loud for all to hear..." What would this dwarf look like in real life after the movie finished, how big would he be?" As quietly as possible I explained that that was his real size, no tricks here. Doug and I giggled ourselves to sleep that night trying to figure out what the child was thinking...that they chopped off his legs and rejoined them after the movie???? Don't you love them, kids! The other people around us were clicking away but I must say I felt conspicuous clicking away at a dwarf and so did not get a very good shot....he is the one in the white shirt with the long hair on the other side of the fence with his back to us as I sneaked a shot.

Action Take...The filming crew.

The Action.
Here Lucy and Edmond are diving off the edge of the ship, into the ocean? No onto a trampoline like thing....How I wish I had taken a a movie of this as it was such fun watching them repeat this scene over and over again! I will certainly enjoy watching the movie and thinking - "we were there," as they dive off the edge of the ship!


And in case you don't believe we were really there we visited a dear couple the Pearce's and then we couldn't resist going back to take another look even though it was dark! It was even interesting to see them packing up and taking crew back to the camp site.



What a pity we could not have gone to the 'spare oom' to find the Narnia wardrobe! Although I would hate to loose a kid in Narnia, they may land up like poor Edmond being tempted by Turkish Delight or turn into a dragon like Eustas. Although of course I don't think they are quite as naughty as those two! (But I am a biased, besotted mother!)

My late grandfather was a great fan of CS Lewis and as I read more and more about CS Lewis, the more I wish my grandfather had had the opportunity to meet him as they were very similar in many ways...imaginative academics, with a classical education, seldom found in our day and age, generous imaginations and a great love for God and his people.

I must say we were very tickled when we finally realised that some our little girls favorite friends are in fact related to CS Lewis' s step son. Joseph and Erica in particular having lived together in Narnia in their imaginations for so many years secretly savour ever single little bit of inside information that comes their way from these girls. I must remember to ask about how they film/make/do Reepicheep!

Happy Narnia dreams,
I must finally take my littlest cherub to bed - he slept all afternoon and has taken a long time to fade tonight, he has sat on my lap and enjoyed me reading about our trip to Narnia as he gets sleepy. Actually he seems to enjoy the photographs in a way that indicates he remembers his trip to Narnia which fascinates me as I thought at the time it was beyond him ...he turns two in two days, so quite cute really!

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