Photos from New Zealand Shoot

Back in March, Ryan and Pamela took some pictures of the Prince Caspian location shoot at Paradise, New Zealand – including photos of costumed Telmarine riders. Thanks to cepault for the heads up and to Ryan and Pamela for allowing us to reproduce their photos here!

There’s a little place called Paradise near Glenorchy, just north of Queenstown and this too was another LOTR location. The problem is- the road to paradise is hard to find and extremely treacherous at times. We crept slowly along a dirt track for ages, hoping not to damage our vehicle and just as we decided that we should turn and go back we approached a sign. The sign says ‘Film Crew’.

We decided to continue for a little longer and eventually came to a large field filled with vans, tents, and cables. Across from this was a group of horsemen in costume with a young man in their midst. The young rider was dressed differently and clearly stood out as the star of the show. A large camera followed the riders as they rode across the field. We asked someone what was being filmed and they said it was a little New Zealand documenary. This was said with a smirk and it was clear from the costumes and size of production that this was no small documentary.

We cheekily took some photos and then drove on a bit looking for the LOTR site. We think we found the site but the road became extremely rough and eventually we came to a stream that blocked our way.

We headed back towards the filming and passed an old man who had the exciting job of stopping cars from getting into shot. He was happy to inform us that they were filming the new Narnia movie – Prince Caspian! The young horseman was clearly Caspian. The old man waved us through and we drove past while they were still filming. So when the movie comes out and you are watching a scene with Prince Caspian and maybe a dozen horsemen in a field, look out for a bright orange spaceship in the background!

It is clear to see why so many movies are made here as the scenery is breath taking and unlike most other countries, you can drive for miles without seeing any other people, buildings, pylons or any signs of life. New Zealand is Narnia and Middle Earth.