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."

Comments

actually, christian messaging is subjective thing

[passingNotes.com]

sorry to pull at this thorny issue, but people are complaining about the tie-ins to the religious themes and messages (eg lazarus rising yadda yadda) - however, the movie pays homage to the author's intended delivery - although fans will note that the story, like the books, is being told out of order (remember, there was a re-issue of the original books in the author's original desired order)...at any rate, what do you expect? this was a religous guy, and the film carefully caters to these themes without pushing them down viewers' throats...i do NOT believe that the amazing special effects are going to be tricking kids into buying some sort of christian message if that's your real concern - and hopefully kids under 10 are with older people (parents, siblings etc)- and the impressive effects serve only to wow the audience, period. what i'm eager to see is how the movie is packaged for bus tours and religous groups (again, that is not me, i'm the most secular heeb you're gonna meet, but i loved these books even as a kid - and when i heard that they were going to be edited with an eye toward theme omission, i ran out to get original copies....good lord, what would ray bradbury think?)

Re:Jesus=money

[radarjd]

Perhaps people have chosen to see Christian messages in it, but they were also most certainly put there by the books' author.

And by your tone, it seems that you are condemning someone, but I'm not sure who...

Re:Anyone seen it yet?

[pizzaman100]

I've heard it's made alot of money, but how does it hold up to the novels? I am sick of novels I love being destroyed by two-bit producers who can't invest the little time and energy it would take to do them right.

The story followed the books very closely, much more than (for example) Peter Jackson did with LOTR.

The movie is what it is - a children's fairy tale. My 9 year old daughter absolutely loved it. But if you can't check your mind at the door, you won't like the movie.

The Christian allegory is unmistakeable as well. Aslan = Jesus is pretty obvious. Being a Christian myself, I had no problems with that. But the typical more secular slashdotter might not enjoy the movie if they don't ignore the religious parallels.

Re:Jesus=money

[TallMatthew]

Why is this flamebait? He hit it right on the money. The studio has been unapologetically pushing this movie to evangelical Christians for weeks.

The Passion of the Dollar Sign.

Re:Mere Christianity

[OakDragon]

I think we all might be suffering from the culture wars. I read over some of Card's comments, and I agree they could be characterized as "rantings." However, Lewis seemed to be just a mainstream Christain of his day, no more at war with science than any other fellow. It's only in the last 20 or 30 years or so here in the U.S. that "fundamentalist" Christains (they're not really fundamentalists in the original meaning of that word, but that's another topic) have been targeting science that did not agree with their religion.

So there's no reason, in my opinion, that a "man of science" could not read, enjoy, and even agree with a mainstream Christain author.

Narnia is not immune to the fantasy haters, either.

The Magic Is Gone

[Petersko]

I remember when calling it "movie magic" was accurate. The sci-fi blockbuster took you where you had never been. I remember watching in awe as Jupiter was eaten in "2010: The Year We Make Contact". I watched in wonder as tie fighters strafed the Millenium Falcon. I saw things that couldn't possibly be real unfold in front of my eyes, and when the magic was good, I believed. Maybe for only 120 minutes, but nevertheless, the suspension of disbelief was often total. But the magic is gone. We walk out of theatres saying things like, "Those special effects were fantastic!" rather than, "Can you believe there was a monster in that cave on the asteroid?" We all know how bluescreens work. We know when image layering is used. Most people have at least some familiarity with how computers are used to generate effects. In fact, DVD extras are working hard to make sure every last ounce of wonder is ripped from our minds and hearts. We're being forcefed the knowledge that will destroy our enjoyment. Magicians have known for centuries that once the wonder is gone, so is the audience. And so they jealously guard their secrets, surrounding themselves in a sense of wonder and mystery. The film industry should have done the same. They should have become a mysterious brotherhood, and kept the secrets, passing them down from mentor to student. Sadly, they didn't. They became so enamoured with how great they were that they began to brag about how it all worked. "Look at the great tools we make! Look at how we put those images on the screen!" We didn't really want to know. Maybe we thought we did, but in the end all that has happened is that we have lost that visceral connection to the screen. We know that there's no danger. So we care far less. The last time I saw a movie during which I really experienced true suspension of disbelief was in 1993. Jurassic Park. For 127 minutes, I believed in the resurrection of dinosaurs. When the snorting Tyrannosaur blew off Dr. Grant's hat while sniffing for him, I was afraid for him. I remember the girl trying to hide in the metal cupboard in the kitchen. When the raptor saw her and began closing in, my heart was in my throat. I wasn't the only one. When the raptor smashed into what turned out to be a reflection, several people screamed. I miss that. Can you imagine what an impact the Lord of the Rings movies would have had if we had not known in advance how it all came together? I'd suggest that the movie industry stop destroying the magic, but that genie isn't going back in the bottle. It's far too late. (A past blog entry)

Re:The Magic Is Gone

[That's Unpossible!]

So, in other words, you remember when you were younger.

Jesus dude, get some perspective.

You are one of those "I remember the good old days," which conveniently works because you forget what actually happened back then, probably because you were young. That's normal.

I watch THE GOONIES now and cringe at the movie. Just last night I was excited to see Close Encounters of the Third Kind was on, which my (younger) gf had never seen, so I made her watch it. I told her, "This is a classic movie." I hadn't seen it in probably 8 years or so. At the end, we were wondering what the big deal was about the movie. I have no idea.

You say your suspension of disbelief last occurred in 1993 for Jurassic Park. Before that, you said, "the suspension of disbelief was often total. But the magic is gone. We walk out of theatres saying things like, 'Those special effects were fantastic!' rather than, 'Can you believe there was a monster in that cave on the asteroid?'"

I find this amusing, because 99% of the discussion of JP when it came out was regarding how fantastic the special affects were. They were indeed groundbreaking.

The Magic is not gone, you're just too old to see it now. So am I.

We need to look at the context in here...

[Spy der Mann]

I read that Tolkien took christianity and turned the religion into hidden allegories. I mean, Gandalf descending into the pits of hell, fighting with a flame demon, to be risen as "the white"? That kinda reminds me to Jesus' resurrection.

And Sauron could be interpreted as Satan. I also read that the orcs were once elves that were turned into evil, wretched beings that hated themselves, and the elves for reminding them what they once where. Couldn't this be an allegory for the fallen angels?

And taking into account the fact that Tolkien played a key role in Lewis' conversion to christianity (does anyone have details on this?), it's not a mystery that many elements of christianity were embedded in Tolkien's works. And yet, we love Tolkien's works.

I'm sure that it wasn't Lewis' intention to push down christianity down the readers' throats, perhaps he just wanted to make his writings useful for christians, or to explain parts of christianity somehow.

I think that people have become seriously disappointed of christians, because of the amount of fundamentalism and zealotry present in today's christian environment. So they reject anything that resembles or includes christianity. But we need to go back to Tolkien and Lewis' environment, and see, from their point of view, that they went to church, where priests were still respected and earned that respect.

A problem with today's view of religion is that whenever we're mentioned catholicism or christianity, our first thoughts come to either the inquisition or pedophile priests, or religious zealots who promote creationism. But Tolkien's and Lewis' christianity was a relatively quiet part of their environment and society, not the circus we see today in the news.

Re:Movie was amazing, but I was a tad disappointed

[ZaMoose]

Part of what was sorely lacking in the film was the presence of a narrator. I understand that a narrator is a bit of a dated concept these days, but one of the charming "features" of the book was the fact that you, the reader, were essentially hearing this story second-hand from an unnamed but affable narrator with insight into the thought processes of the characters. The witty little asides that Lewis managed to slip in at places gave the whole thing a very British flavo[u]r, which I felt the movie essentially lacked.

YMMV, of course.

Re:Pathetic

[Bazzalisk]

God is neither a Republican nor a Democrat. He's a monarch.

Not even that Polybius defined a monarch as a single ruler acting within the constraints of what tradition and his subjects will allow. By his definition God is a Tyrant.

Re:If the Christian Allegory bugged you...

[CaffeineAddict2001]

Couldn't it just be that we no longer find the idealistic Christian view of the world compatable with our experience as adults?

Maybe we just don't see anything just or right about sacrificing the innocent to save the guilty.

Perhaps we understand the 'greater story', but we find it inherently evil and decide to align ourselves with good.

Re:If the Christian Allegory bugged you...

[demachina]

I think the problem I have with Christianity today is that many Christians and many Christian institutions have strayed so far from the ideals Jesus espoused in the New Testament that I figure Jesus would be aghast if were alive today and saw the idolatry being practiced in his name. It should also be noted the New Testaments were written LONG after Jesus died and it is completely unknown if they are in fact even close to accurately describing him or his teachings.

All in all, I don't have a problem with Narnia or the Christian message in the books or the movies. I do have a problem with the people and companies who are trying to exploit the Christian themes in Narnia to:

A. Make more money by trying to make it in to mandatory viewing for every church goer and their children, just like "The Passion". Disney saw the profit in exploiting the religious obssession overrunning America today and:

1. Made religious themed kids movie
2. ????
3. PROFIT

I rather doubt Jesus would have been in favor of exploiting his message for profit, he was for example not plussed my the money changers next to the temple profiting off the worship of God.

B. I also have a problem with the people who are trying to use Narnia as a way to seduce children in to Christianity and they are doing it very blatantly. Come here boys and girls and watch these pretty pictures and this exciting story. Did you like that? Yes, well you should be a Christian now even if you don't know what that means or entails. It teeters on brainwashing in much the same way fundamentalists are up in arms about Harry Potter seducing children to the black arts.

In my idealized world I think I would like to see Christians, who if they really believe in the things Jesus said to:

- Abandon their fixation on money and wealth and lead a life where they dedicated themselves to the well being of their fellow man and not to lining their pockets

- Stop supporting politicians and institutions who are proponents and purveyors of wars and killing. For example the U.S. military (the Air Force academy in particular) is coming to be completely dominated by an officer corps of fundamentalist "so called" Christians who pray on Sunday and kill people with little remorse on Monday. That turns my stomach and I'm sure Jesus would gladly climb on another cross in protest against it.

Bottomline if you are going to claim the title Christian you should really walk the walk. If your priorities are to get rich at any cost and you are a big fan of wars and killing you should stop dirtying Jesus' name with your false idolatry of him.