Weta chronicles Narnia detail
03 Jun 2008
Fans of the Chronicles of Narnia films now have the chance to examine behind the scenes detail with the launch of a new book by the New Zealand special effects company Weta Workshops.
Well known for their Oscar-winning work on the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Weta also created a whole new world for each of C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia movies - The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and the latest, Prince Caspian which is due for release this month. New Zealand director Andrew Adamson was responsible for bringing both chronicles to the silver screen.
The book, The Crafting of Narnia, has been produced by Weta Workshop designers Daniel Falconer (author) and Paul Tobin (artistic director). It will be officially released by Weta’s Oscar-winning boss Richard Taylor on June 11, the same day as the Prince Caspian movie is released.
For each movie an entire world had to be created with a history, landscape, creatures big and small, weapons and clothing. The book catalogues each of those, showing intricate detail in 300 pages of photos and drawings.
Tobin said such detail in the props would never be seen by moviegoers and could only be appreciated by those looking at close-up pictures in the book.
Inspiration
Both designers say they hope the book will inspire young artists to follow their dreams and not be cramped by only painting fine arts.
"It gives them something to think about and say, 'Hey, drawing monsters in the back of my maths book can actually lead to a job sometimes'," Falconer said.
"And this tells you Kiwis can do this stuff - it's not just this magical stuff that happens oversees in Hollywood. It's accessible and you can do it.
"Here's a whole facility full of a couple of hundred people who are passionate about what they do and follow their dreams and are doing amazing stuff."
The men said they hoped to see more books produced from future movies Weta is involved with.
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