The Chronicles of Narnia

The Chronicles of Narnia

The Chronicles of Narnia

Walt Disney Pictures and Walden Media presented the film The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe in 2005. With director Andrew Adamson, this epic tale of four siblings is based on the book by C.S. Lewis. The story begins with a war strongly underway forcing families to protect the children by sending them to safer faraway places. The Pevensie children: Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy are the main characters in the mystical voyage through the magic wardrobe leading to the land known as Narnia. The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe is the first of a seven series enduring adventure written by Lewis and has captivated the minds of many, leading to the production of three more Narnia films since this release. It is said that C.S. Lewis never sold the film rights to the Narnia series, being skeptical that any cinematic adaptation could render the more fantastical elements and characters of the story realistically (Lewis, 1992, p.405). It wasn't until after Lewis' stepson saw a demo reel of the computer generated imagery of the animals that a decision was finalized. Narnia is an assiduously written fiction utilizing the film industry and providing an array of digital mastery.

As mentioned by Devin Brown "in the summer of 1948, as he approached his fiftieth birthday, C.S. Lewis picked up pen and paper and resumed the story he had started nine years earlier" ( Brown, 2005, p. 12). The story written by Lewis soon became a classical piece of children's literature even though his friends and colleagues believed it was too mythological and had no business being published. Once the story was written, it became a huge success, and no plans of a film were ever thought of. Luckily for us, Andrew Adamson had a vision of an astonishing motion picture and with the help from the producers and cinematographer, Donald McAlpine, Narnia has become a remarkable success.

Each and every actor in the film displays critical features responsible for bringing the characters to life-and they do provide a phenomenal performance. From the costumes, makeup, positioning, and memorizing the script each actor displays a unique role in developing the characters position in the film to present the very specific desires of Adamson. Their main responsibility is to "become" the character and the actors playing the four Pevensie children (along with the many others involved) did have one advantage. According to Goodykoontz and Jacobs (2011) "shooting in sequence is highly unusual in film production". However, The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe (referred to often as TLWW) stars children, some of who are relatively young, so Adamson decided that shooting the film in sequence would be an advantage for his adolescent actors to help keep the story in chronological order.

How the cinematography was displayed in TLWW says a lot for the overall production of the film. The cinematographer's job is to translate the director's vision for the film, to capture what the director wants to see and to say, and to physically make that happen (Goodykoontz & Jacobs, 2011, 4.1). Donald McAlpine was nominated and awarded the AFI International Award in 2006 for excellence in filmmaking (IMBd) which is no surprise given the fantasy portrayed vision that this film is credited for. Every type of shot possible must have been used in the shooting of TLWW, ranging from various angles and distances to illuminate the drastic mystic beings and bizarre sceneries with scenes involving the talking dwarfs, fauns, centaurs, giants, and many other beast like creatures. There were times when certain characters were unable to be present for shooting and another actor would fill in-dressing as the character from the waist down. This was the habit for many scenes to capture and create the animal/human appeal given throughout the film, with help from editors Jim May and Sim Evan-Jones, along with a very large team specializing in visual effects. As mentioned above, TLWW was shot in chronological order which was also an advantage for the editors and their work with Adamson by eliminating the need to arrange the shots in sequence. However, transitioning from scene to scene was not so simple.

In June 2004 the shooting of TLWW began and although the cast and crew consists of hundreds of people, the list of people involved in the visual effects seems almost never ending. Although these people were critical in developing the look for the film, there was over fifty members included and responsible for the sounds. Several scenes in this movie include music score to enhance the energetic and suspenseful feel of the scenes. Most shots involve dialogue, yet sound effects play an extremely important role in TLWW as well. The sound of the reindeer running through the snow covered land with their jingles and jangles, whooshing and swooshing is only one example of sound effects in the scene with Father Christmas. Digital sound is captured in this movie through Dolby Digital according to the credits following the movie.

With a distinguishable personality, TLWW has a noticeably clear style similar to Lord of the Ring and Harry Potter films. Full of mystical creatures and stunning realistic special effects, this style of film is famous for the magnificent art and computer generated imagery. Many films with these special effect applications involve gruesome scenes with violence and bloodshed. Since TLWW is based on the stories from children's literature, Adamson has chosen to invert the blood spilling details and replace them with just the understanding that death has occurred. Some viewers don't agree with that side of the film while others, including myself, totally respect that feature of the film. Adamson's methods in directing this film are surprising and very effective. The actor playing the youngest Pevensie child, Lucy, was brought onto the set with a blindfold on to protect her from viewing the set. This helped in aiding her realist expression during actual filming when she seen the land of Narnia for the first time (IMBd). Several other approaches similar to this were made by Adamson to create the feel he acquired.

C.S. Lewis had completed The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe in 1950. The story was publicized and he began the series which consists of 6 other Narnia chronicles, completed by 1956. Fifty five years have passed since the creation of TLWW, and the infinite tale still carries a strong position in the lives of many people-young and old. With courageous and noble characters, this film has been an inspiration for many years, touching the lives of millions in a way only motivation and encouragement can fulfill the hearts and minds of