News on the Dawn Treader Sets and Ernie Malik Interview

From ABC Brisbane:

Yesterday, I was given a tour of the set of the latest Narnia film, “Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader”.

I saw four sets. The first one was a medieval, Italian village with dirt streets and high, stone, castle-like walls. Construction workers were pulling it down as filming was finished in that set.

The ship itself is built inside one of the large concrete “sound stages” at the Oxenford studios. It was quite a surreal experience to enter the building only to see a large ship, built on top of a hydraulic machine that makes the ship appear it’s pitching and rolling on the open seas.

The third set, in another sound stage, was of the masters cabin inside the ship and the fourth, below deck (where the slaves would row).

You can read the whole story here.

The interview with Ernie Malik (the movie’s publicist) has a lot of good information about the filming locations and the scenes they still have left to shoot. You can listen to it at ABC Brisbane’s site above, or on our own podcast link below.

Huge thanks to LucyP0104 and JadistarkilleR for the link!

70 Responses

  1. Last King of Narnia says:

    WOW! Thats awesome.

  2. decarus says:

    They don't row. Be concise.

  3. Fire Fairy says:

    fantasia_kitty, what would we do without you? You are so lucky you were allowed to see the actual set!! It sounds like they are doing a great job on things. Is the Italian village part of the Lone Islands, perhaps?? I can't wait to see the movie!! (Then again, who can??)

  4. fantasia_kitty says:

    Ha! I wish. Hehe, no, sorry if I worded it badly, but it was a guy from ABC Brisbane that got to go. Not me.

  5. Fire Fairy says:

    Actually, they do. In fact, in the book, it says: "Of course Caspian's ship was not that horrible thing, a galley rowed by slaves. Oars were used only when wind failed or for getting in and out of harbour and everyone (except Reepicheep whose legs were too short) had often taken a turn." I think as long as they get that part right, they'll be fine.

  6. Fire Fairy says:

    Oh, I'm sorry! Too bad. That would have been awesome.

  7. Fire Fairy says:

    Sorry, you're right, though. The guy was wrong. I didn't realize that he actually said "slaves".

  8. Princess Arya says:

    The DT is partly modeled on a famous ship? Which one? The Titanic maybe?
    *giggle* Hmm, that sounds kinda weird/ironic/funny.
    I'll bet the village is something more on the Lone Islands perhaps. Can't think of anything else for it.

  9. fantasia_kitty says:

    Ernie confirmed in the audio interview that it's the town square of Narrowhaven.

  10. JadistarkilleR says:

    ah good, you found the interview too 🙂 thanks FK!

    this is a great interview! and we finally have some idea where production is currently at: there are two more major sequences to shoot on the ship– the storm sequence and the sea serpent attack.

    they've already shot the last scene of the movie, "the key emotional sequence" which i'm guessing would either be the big goodbye between Caspian, Lucy, Edmund and Eustace and/or Reep's sailing alone onto Aslan's Country and/or the kids' return to Earth. i have a feeling that all of this will be rolled in together for the film (instead of separate sequences like the ones in the book) so that when the kids leave for Earth Caspian would still be there to see them go back for the last time, much like the way he saw them off at the end of PC.

    Oz folks, where is "Jumping Pin at the Broadstroke waterway"? this was where the last emotional sequence of the film was shot. is it a big beautiful open place like Cleveland Pt or is it a warehouse? it would be a good to figure out what this place looks like to have an idea what the last scene from the movie would be.

  11. JadistarkilleR says:

    the size of the ship was modeled after Captain James Cook's The Endeavor. the rest of the ship was drawn from Pauline Bayne's own rendition of the Dawn Treader in the book plus the whimsical quality of carousels.

  12. JadistarkilleR says:

    Ernie Malik said that the ship doesnt set an oar in the waters– thats the waters at Cleveland Pt. it doesnt mean that they wont show the Dawn Treader rowing in the water for the film. oars and everything else thats supposed to touch the water can easily be done via CG during post production.

  13. Princess Arya says:

    Whoops…didn't listen to it yet.

  14. Princess Arya says:

    Cool! I'll be sure to check out The Endeavor.

  15. Pippi Hunter says:

    I'm from Brisbane, but ive never heard of "Jumping Pin at teh Broadstroke waterway"… maybe I will have to go listen to the podcast first

  16. 7chronicles says:

    Great Interview, glad to hear things are coming along! If I remember correctly the LWW trailer came out in April, to think if they followed the same pattern as LWW we could get our first VDT trailer in five to six months!!!!!!! 🙂

  17. GlimGlum says:

    Good to hear where VDT is at, filming wise. Nice interview, good information, and glad to hear about the storm and sea serpent. Sail on VDT, your almost there! 😀

  18. ~Lava~ says:

    Glad to hear that the storm and the sea serpent sequence are in the movie. I wish he had said THE two big action sequences, but oh well.

  19. glumPuddle says:

    Great to hear Ernie mention Pauline Baynes!

  20. skandargirl_95 says:

    …wouldn't it be better if they showed the trailer this month?
    Oh, how I wish that it was already December 2010 already!

  21. Somebody says:

    You really shouldn't call that a "Narnia Web Podcast" because, well, it isn't… that isn't right. 😉

  22. aravistarkheena says:

    Man, I wish that I could have been the one to go! But the only way that I would go is in my dreams. Oh, I guess that like everybody else , I'll just have to wait till December 10 like everybody else in the world. (Who wants to wait anyway?)

  23. aravistarkheena says:

    It is? I didn't know that!

  24. yeswelovenarnia says:

    I still can't fathom how they can be done filming in just under 4 months when the last 2 movies took about 6-7 months to film!!!! It can't be a good film if they are done already!!!

  25. Peepicheep says:

    I want to see it! 🙂

  26. Mirima Rosetrader says:

    That sounds awesome! Can't wait to see the movie or trailer even a teaser would be nice to help the wait! Sail on VDT!

  27. Going4God says:

    Battle costumes??? Oh no!

  28. decarus says:

    I think it is very unlikely that they are going to be showing a trailer anytime soon. I mean i hope i'm wrong, but it just seems unlikely.

  29. Fire Fairy says:

    Nobody does!

  30. gaby says:

    hi ilove narnia movies iam going to be the first one to see this movie hahahahahahahahahahahahahah! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Me too iam sidney and!!!!!! gaby hahahahahahahahahaha

  31. JadistarkilleR says:

    excellent summary there Mark thanks! 🙂

  32. JadistarkilleR says:

    someone just explained it to me, its Jumpinpin channel. sorry i aint local to realize the location 😉

  33. JadistarkilleR says:

    length of shooting period has nothing to do with how good or bad a film is. there are lots of indie movies filmed within a span of a month that makes it to the Oscars. as for major film productions, just look at The Dark Knight– a well crafted, excellently written, big budget film. it took only 4 months to complete main production on that and spanned 3 different countries (they started August and ended in November, shooting in Chicago, London and Hong Kong).

    big budget films really just average 4-6 months to complete the main shoot, so theres nothing unusually substandard for VODT to finish by the end of November. truth to be told a film that finishes on time and within budget is a credit to the people working on it. it means that everybody– from the movie stars to the humblest technician– has done his/her job most efficiently that they're able to get everything done within target despite interruptions to the shooting schedule (bad weather, malfunctioning equipment, other professional commitments etc.)

  34. gaby says:

    Hey i looooove pepe iam sidney me too gaby hahahahahahhahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!ahahahhahahhahahahahahhhahah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!@#$%^&*()_+PLEASE WRITE BACK LOVE SIDNEY AND GABY

  35. gaby says:

    I LIKE UR COMMENT BUT I DONT UNDER STAND Y U DONT LIKE PEPE!!!!!!HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

  36. Giuliano says:

    why an Italian village?, I do not know, I have not read the book because I want to watch movies, but I do not understand what sense has an Italian village in the chronicles of narnia

  37. Fire Fairy says:

    Could you please try to keep your comments understandable and relevant?

  38. Fire Fairy says:

    It's the town of Narrowhaven. Apparently the filmmakers are basing the Lone Island population off the Italian culture. You really should read the books. There's a lot in there that the movies failed to capture. As great as the movies are, there's a magic about the actual books.

  39. narnian resident says:

    ooo i love hearing about stages and sets, its my fave! so the village set is probably narrowhaven. i wish i could see the inside of the ship. any pics?

  40. iLiveInNarnia says:

    Whoah Whoah Whoah, wait a second.. did I just read what I think I read? Slaves to row the boat? Or are my eyes just playing tricks on me?? What could this mean? In the book they clearly state that there are no slaves to row the Dawn Treader.

  41. narnian resident says:

    there were no slaves i think that was just a slip up. besides in the biginning it says that that is NOT what the ship is- a slave ship. it was just a slip up.

  42. narnian resident says:

    oops wait it just said she couldnt take any pics nevermind.

  43. JadistarkilleR says:

    take nothing of it. they just used the word "slaves" as reference to the area where the rowers sit. it doesnt mean that Caspian will be using slaves on the Dawn Treader.

  44. Mal says:

    Cool cool! Well, best of luck, DT! I think it's going to be a great movie.

  45. tenthofthatname says:

    If that's the case every movie Caspian is in will have him looking sad in the ending. I'd like to see him at least end one of them with a smile, but I loved PC's bittersweetness so I'm torn.

  46. tenthofthatname says:

    Great to see more news. I like how they're proud to say the design is partly inspired by carousels.

  47. Servant of Aslan says:

    I first remember seeing the LWW trailer before a showing of Ep. III Revenge of the Sith and that was in May 2005. Either way I'm about to bust to see even a teaser trailer.

  48. aslanschild says:

    oh yea! when i saw that there were like 2 things of news today i was like "OH MY FREAKING REALLY!!!! FINALLY!!!" all the news about skandy candy are still the best though 🙂

  49. Fire Fairy says:

    Don't forget that this is a Newscaster, not a Narnia nut/spy, that's talking. Of course he would assume that it would be where the slaves would row. He wouldn't have known any better.

  50. Slaves?!?!?!? There aren't any slaves in VDT — but awesome to hear about some more progress!

  51. WilliamLuver13 says:

    That's Awesome!

  52. WilliamLuver13 says:

    how you toured it

  53. Silver the Wanderer says:

    Ooooh I do hope so! Even a couple of "official" pictures would be neat.

    Thanks for the interview!

  54. caboo29 says:

    Wow, that was a great interview. Everything he mentioned was in the book! Glad to hear about their progress.

  55. NarnianElf says:

    AWESOME!!! The interview sounds like he got the perfect impression of the perfectest movie ever going to be made in the history of filmmaking… For Narnia, and for Aslan!

  1. November 6, 2009

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