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Behind the Scenes of Narnia's Special Effects

louismg writes "Walt Disney Pictures' Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe took in more than $100 million at the box office worldwide in its opening weekend, riding the back of special effects powering nearly all the movie's characters, from the lion Aslan to the Gryphon, Minotaur, Centaurs and more. VFXWorld has a series of diaries with the technology geeks at Rhythm & Hues behind the special effects. (Part 1, 2) For the fantasy film's special effects, Rhythm & Hues teamed up with Industrial Light and Magic and Sony Pictures Imageworks to deliver more than 1,400 shots for the film, and used cutting-edge technology from BlueArc, NVIDIA and others to keep the effects' production running."

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  1. login: slashdot, password: slashdot by igomaniac · · Score: 5, Informative

    Stupid login reuqired to RTFA, feel free to use mine...

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  2. Re:Anyone seen it yet? by stoolpigeon · · Score: 5, Informative

    I have no idea why you've been modded down- it's a valid question.
     
    My wife and I saw a preview showing last Monday. We recently finished reading this book to our kids so it was still pretty fresh in our minds.
     
    The extent to which it is true to the book is pretty great. About the only really big deviation I saw is mentioned in the first response to this question. They really tamed things down in regards to blood and especially so in the sacrafice of Aslan. But looking at the intended audience and the rating this is understandable.
     
    I wrote it up in my journal after we saw it and to sum up my impression, if you liked the book, I think you'll like the film. If you didn't like the book, I doubt you will like the film. If you were indifferent to the book, you might like the film due to all the fantastic creatures. I thought the effects were pretty incredible.
     
    The beginning of the film deviates slightly from the book, but I think it is also a good choice in that, at the time the book came out, the reason for the children leaving London would have been understood. For children today a little explanation is probably helpful.

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  3. Re:actually, christian messaging is subjective thi by stevey · · Score: 5, Informative

    The "new" ordering of the books is:

    1. The Magicians Nephew
    2. The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe
    3. The Horse and His Boy
    4. Prince Caspian
    5. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
    6. The Silver Chair
    7. The Last Battle

    That ordering works because the "Magicians Nephew" is the one where Narnia is created, and "The Last Battle" is the book in which it is destroyed/ascended. The original ordering has "The Lion .." coming first, and the "Magician Nephew" being a followup after the initial success.

    Personally I read them in the published order, and the small paperback set I have has them numbered in the "old" order - not a big deal to be honest.

    Read a this page for more details on suggested reading order.

  4. Re:Pathetic by Khomar · · Score: 5, Informative
    - Why is the witch so angry?
    - Where did Aslan come back from?
    - What connection does the professor have to the wardrobe and Narnia?
    - How did Narnia come into the hands of the White Witch?
    - Where did Aslan leave to and why?
    - How did Aslan become king?

    What you are looking for is "The Magician's Nephew", the sixth book in the Narnian series that is actually a prequel to the entire series. It explains where the witch came from, what the professor knows about Narnia, and who Aslan is (as well as what is up with the lightpost :-) ). These questions were all mysteries in the original books (in their original order) that were not answered until the second to the last book, and with the possibility of making all seven books into movies, they must have decided to keep them mysteries now as well.

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    I believe in de-evolution. God made the world perfect, man fell, and its been going downhill ever since!

  5. Re:Pathetic by JonathanBoyd · · Score: 5, Informative
    Why is the witch so angry?

    She's evil. There are more details in another Narnia story, 'The Magician's Nephew.'

    Where did Aslan come back from?

    He is ruler of many countries, so he was off visiting them.

    What connection does the professor have to the wardrobe and Narnia?

    That's detailed in 'The Magician's Nephew.'

    How did Narnia come into the hands of the White Witch?

    'Magician's Nephew'

    Where did Aslan leave to and why?

    Other countries to rule.

    How did Aslan become king?

    His Father is the Emperor over the sea and always has been. It's a bit like asking who put God in charge of everything. This is more apparent in the other stories.