A Telmarine Lord's experience on "Prince Caspian"

Horsing Around.
Q - Why no blogging Booda??
A - I've been riding horses, I know...strange answer...but yes, I've not been painting, for some time now...about 3 months and it's because of horses.

I'm riding horses because I was cast in the sequel to 'The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe' as a horseman, I am one of several 'Lords'...a Telmarine in the new film 'Prince Caspian' by Disney. It's not a big part, but it involves horse riding and I have spent pretty much every working day training. It has been a fantastic experience that has stopped me from thinking about anything other than being a better rider.

I began by being tutored by an excellent trainer by the name of Maggie at Tetin Velkastatek (about 50km from Prague) and the first horse I rode was Marghareta, she was big and slow. Then I rode Bambi (La Bamba) and she was swift and lean....and I fell from her twice! (and only narrowly avoided falling a third and forth time by clinging on with my finger tips and toes!). This was in the English style (not the falling, that was rough and tumble style) and I lost balance when I was riding without reins or stirrups and slowly building up to a full canter, Maggie was controlling the horse as I rode in a circle and I lost it somehow...crunch. This is a typical training method. Over the weeks I rode Dollar and Penelope and Cameron and Marchena. Marchena is my favourite and is a beautiful and proud Spanish stallion.

I did most of my training with Marchena under the excellent tuition of Ricardo Cruz' team and most often under the watchful eye of Juan Diego. Just before we moved location we were told that we would have new horses for the film, all of which are Czech horses. I began riding Tambor (Tamborina) last week. He is not unlike Marchena to look at, the same tan colour with light or blond main. But he carries his head slightly lower and I miss the power of Marchena about whom I was warned 'Be careful, slowly, he is like a Ferrari'.

But Tambor is an excellent horse (but then they all are) and last week we galloped through the forest at the head of a group of fifty riders. 'We' being the lords (actors) and the rest experienced rider-extras. I can't imagine a better way to spend a summers day and I am extremely grateful to have had this experience...it more than adequately makes up for the long hours that are so typical of film work. What can I do...I've landed among a throng of perfectionists. At every level...what a great team of talented artists.

I will return to painting as soon as I can and when I do I will post my work here. I intend to return to more traditional subjects in the months to come and I will be making the work available for collectors. I may even create a few equestrian pictures.

Picture of Telmarine Castle Set

Czech newspaper "Blesk" has managed to get a snap of the set of the Telmarine Castle courtyard at Barrandov Studio. In the story, the castle is presided over by King Miraz the Usurper, though according to the book it was built by Prince Caspian’s great-great-grandfather.

Variety interviews Pierfrancesco Favino (Lord Glozelle)

Pierfrancesco Favino's 'Night'
Roman actor to play Lord Glozelle in 'Caspian'
By NICK VIVARELLI

ROME -- Nobody, not even his mother, recognized Pierfrancesco Favino in his first Hollywood role: a cameo as Christopher Columbus in "Night at the Museum."

But the 35-year-old Rome native has followed up with a meatier part in another Yank pic, "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian," as Lord Glozelle -- a general on horseback whom Favino calls a "bad guy with a conscience." This time, could international notice be far behind?

"Of course I care about visibility," says Favino, "but I've never been that hungry for popularity."

A rare case of Italian talent working internationally, Favino is a graduate of Rome's Accademia Nazionale d'Arte Drammatica Silvio D'Amico acting school and a bit of a late bloomer, even on his home turf.

After a long stint doing mostly stage and telepic gigs, Favino caught the eye of Italian film critics in 2002, playing a stoic soldier in the WWII ensemble drama "El Alamein," his first prominent bigscreen role.

In 2005, Favino played a cold-blooded mobster named Il Libanese in "Crime Novel," a gangster epic in the "Goodfellas" vein. "Crime" won him a David di Donatello Award for best supporting actor, but more importantly gained him fans outside national confines, especially in France.

And while Favino is still waiting to land a proper lead on either side of the Pond, playing Glozelle in "Narnia" is "really a gift," he says.

"The thing about this type of (Hollywood) production is that -- unlike Italian films I've done before -- if you have a scene in which you're on a horse, you prepare by riding for two months."

But that doesn't mean Favino is indiscriminate when it comes to big-budget Hollywood endeavors.

"I've had several offers from the U.S. to play stereotypical 'pizza and mandolin' Italians," he says, "but I had to turn them down. I just can't."

Claim to fame: Enzo Monteleone's "El Alamein."

Career mantra: "The promise I have made to myself is to continue to choose roles based on passion, not on money or fear of the void."

Role models: "It's always good to choose several role models. Mine are Marcello Mastroianni, Gian Maria Volonte and Sergio Castellitto."

What's next: "I have offers from France and Italy, and will pick the project that best represents me in terms of where I am personally right now."

Official plot synopsis for "PC"

Release Date: May 16, 2008

Studio: Walt Disney Pictures/Walden Media

Director: Andrew Adamson

Screenwriter(s): Andrew Adamson, Christopher Markus, Steve McFeeley

Cast: Georgie Henley, Skandar Keynes, William Moseley, Anna Popplewell, Ben Barnes, Peter Dinklage, Pierfrancesco Favino and Sergio Castellitto

Genre: Adventure, Family, Fantasy

MPAA: Not Yet Rated

Official Site: narnia.com

Synopsis: The characters of C.S. Lewis’s timeless fantasy come to life once again in this newest installment of the "Chronicles of Narnia" series, in which the Pevensie siblings are magically transported back from England to the world of Narnia, where a thrilling, perilous new adventure and an even greater test of their faith and courage awaits them.

One year after the incredible events of "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," the Kings and Queens of Narnia find themselves back in that faraway wondrous realm, only to discover that more than 1300 years have passed in Narnian time. During their absence, the Golden Age of Narnia has become extinct, Narnia has been conquered by the Telmarines and is now under the control of the evil King Miraz, who rules the land without mercy.

The four children will soon meet an intriguing new character: Narnia’s rightful heir to the throne, the young Prince Caspian, who has been forced into hiding as his uncle Miraz plots to kill him in order to place his own newborn son on the throne. With the help of the kindly dwarf, a courageous talking mouse named Reepicheep, a badger named Trufflehunter and a Black Dwarf, Nikabrik, the Narnians, led by the mighty knights Peter and Caspian, embark on a remarkable journey to find Aslan, rescue Narnia from Miraz’s tyrannical hold, and restore magic and glory to the land.

Directed once again by veteran director Andrew Adamson, screenplay by Andrew Adamson and Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely and produced by Mark Johnson, Andrew Adamson and Philip Steuer, the film reunites the original cast and creative team behind the blockbuster first film in the series.

Warwick Davis chimes in on "PC"

Warwick on Caspian
And Gregson-William discusses the score.
by Paul Davidson

May 9, 2007 - Warwick Davis, the actor who's been a staple of sci-fi and fantasy films from Star Wars to Harry Potter, is enjoying the opportunity proffered him by Prince Caspian: playing a villain for a change (not counting all those Leprechaun movies). In the upcoming Narnia sequel, Davis takes on the role of the nogoodnik dwarf Nikabrik, who turns against his other dwarf brethren in the civil war between Midas and Caspian.

"I do like playing baddies!" he told the Disney Insider. "As an actor, they're always the most memorable roles. It's a part you can get your teeth into -- sometimes literally!"

Davis has perhaps the most experience of anyone playing characters from Narnia; he performed as Reepicheep in the BBC's TV versions of Voyage of the Dawn Treader and The Silver Chair, produced back in 1989 and 1990 respectively. Reepicheep is likely to be a computer-generated character this time around, but Davis's continuing involvement in future Narnia films can't be ruled out.

In related news, composer Harry Gregson-Williams is beginning to think about Prince Caspian, even though the film is still in principle photography and his job of writing and conducting the score is still a ways off. In a recent piece in The Hollywood Reporter, Gregson-Williams states that the Caspian soundtrack will be a little darker in tone than Wardrobe.

"I've read the script, and there are a couple areas that I'm researching, but really it's a very different story," says Gregson-Williams. "Hopefully, we'll be able to hang on to one or two of the cues and develop them, but it's quite dark, actually. I'm really looking forward to it."

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian arrives in theaters May 16th, 2008.

Co-Screenwriters blog on adapting "Prince Caspian"

Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely (Co-Screenwriters)

It's rare for a screenwriter to have the opportunity to deal with characters in more than one movie. Actually, let's rephrase that -- it's rare for a screenwriter to have the opportunity to deal with characters in even one movie. The odds against a story making it from screen to camera to multiplex are wildly high. The odds against making that trip two or even three times are frankly just silly. But that's where we find ourselves, in an uncommon position and feeling very lucky to be here.

And that's where again? Oh, yes. Narnia. But hardly the same Narnia the Pevensies left at the end of the last film. Thirteen-hundred years have passed, and they haven't necessarily been pleasant. Prince Caspian sets us down in a torn and troubled land where new villains stalk the battlefield and entire races find themselves on the brink of extinction.

As writers, the biggest challenge we faced was connecting the Pevensies' story to that of Prince Caspian. In C. S. Lewis' book, they're essentially two separate narratives which only come together near the end. While this is perfectly entertaining to read, it makes for a strangely structured movie where your favorite characters are absent for long stretches at a time.

Consequently, we decided to weave the two plots together early, bringing the Pevensies into Narnia near the start and giving them a greater role in Caspian's journey. This not only helped on a structural level, it also allowed us to take advantage of the alliances and antagonisms that would evolve when we tossed three kings and two queens together into the same room -- or underground chamber, as the case may be.

Another intriguing thing for us in revisiting these characters has been exploring the effects their experiences in the first film might've had on them. It's an area Lewis leaves mostly untouched. He memorably examines what it would be like for a 1940's schoolkid to become King of Narnia. However, he doesn't much consider what it would be like for a King of Narnia to return to being a 1940's schoolkid.

That year back in London must have been awkward at best. Imagine going from giving orders...to taking them. From fighting wars and throwing royal balls...to doing homework. Given their different personalities, each Pevensie handles the situation with varying levels of success. Some are resigned, others frustrated, and their sudden return to Narnia should push different buttons in each.

Those are just a few of the things on our mind as we wind down the writing end of things on this film. What's next? It's hard to say. Who can know the future? Perhaps a nice, long ocean voyage...

BIO

CHRISTOPHER MARKUS and STEPHEN McFEELY (co-screenwriters) return to the land of Narnia having co-written the adaptation of the first project, the global box office hit, "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe." Their work on that film earned them nominations for the Saturn, Hugo and Humanitas Awards.

Markus and McFeely, born in Buffalo and San Francisco, respectively, have been writing together since 1995. Chris (Rutgers University) and Steve (University of Notre Dame) met while attending the Graduate Writing Program at UC Davis.

Prior to their success with the C.S. Lewis project, Markus and McFeely penned the original screenplay for the critically acclaimed HBO feature, "The Life and Death of Peter Sellers," starring Academy Award winner Geoffrey Rush. Their first produced film premiered in competition at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival and went on to earn numerous honors, including nine Emmy Awards. Markus and McFeely themselves won the Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries, Movie or Dramatic Special, as well as a Writers Guild Award.

The pair's next feature, IFC Film's "You Kill Me" (their very first screenplay), directed by John Dahl, will be released this year.

On Harry Gregson-Williams, Composer

Wild about Harry
By Jeff Bond
May 2, 2007

My first impression of Harry was a small bundle of energy," director Andrew Adamson says of his composer collaborator on 2005's "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe" and Buena Vista's planned 2008 release "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian."

He might be on to something. [...]

Adamson, too, praises Gregson-Williams for his creative flexibility. The pair first joined forces for 2001's "Shrek," which the New Zealand-born filmmaker co-directed with Vicky Jenson, and subsequently partnered for 2004's "Shrek 2" and the "Narnia" films.

While both franchises appeal to family audiences, they couldn't be more different in tone. But Adamson says he didn't hesitate to bring Gregson-Williams onboard for the live-action fantasy films, noting that Gregson-Williams is just plain fun to work with. [...]

"To him, the music comes first, and then he almost finds the application," Adamson continues. "On the 'Narnia' series, when we started with that -- before he'd even seen anything -- he said, 'I've got this big heroic theme that I'm imagining at a coronation or something,' and he sat down and played it for me on piano. It was beautiful, and it became one of the strongest themes in the film. He seems to have a very intuitive approach to film music."

The composer will debut a concert suite of his "Narnia" music with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra on May 19, and he already has begun thinking about the second film in the series, "Prince Caspian." "I've read the script, and there are a couple areas that I'm researching, but really it's a very different story," Gregson-Williams says. "Hopefully, we'll be able to hang on to one or two of the cues and develop them, but it's quite dark, actually. I'm really looking forward to it."