HisDarkMaterials.org

UGO Set Visit Report

February 27, 2007 10:07 by Ryan den Rooijen

Tagged with His Dark Materials Movies 2 comments

Another set report of the press event that took place in London on the 23^td of January.

UGO writes: While set visits usually keep you within the confines of North America, it's always cool when a flight takes you across the pond. New Line Cinema extended an invitation to the online community to head to London, England, where the studio was filming two upcoming projects, The Golden Compass and Inkheart. As of late, New Line has been reveling in the aftermath of the Lord of the Rings trilogy and, with the hope that fans will love a three-part setup, the studio has taken to adapting the fantasy works of Philip Pullman and Cornelia Funke into two distinct trilogies. After touching down in England, the first set we explored was The Golden Compass, the first movie in the His Dark Materials trilogy by Pullman, starring newcomer Dakota Blue Richards, Academy Award winner Nicole Kidman and the new Bond, Daniel Craig, along with his Casino Royale co-star, Eva Green.

The Golden Compass, based on the bestselling novel by Philip Pullman, chronicles the story of an adolescent girl named Lyra (Dakota Blue Richards) who finds herself in a parallel universe where people's souls become physical manifestations known as daemons, children have become the target of a series of kidnappings by a organization called the Gobblers, and where giant bears are a regular sight. After Lyra's best friend, Roger, becomes a victim of the Gobblers' kidnapping plot, she embarks on a quest to find Roger which takes her to the ends of the Earth, literally. After making it to the Arctic, Lyra discovers the secret behind the Gobblers' plans and must set out to save more than just her friend as the stakes become higher than she could have possibly imagined. Nicole Kidman has signed on for the role of Mrs. Coulter, the head of the General Oblation Board, also known as the Gobblers. Daniel Craig takes on the role of Lord Asriel, a strong-willed and spirited adventurer with no particular love for the oppressive Church that dominates the alternate world, while Eva Green portrays Serafina Pekkala, a witch queen who rules over a portion of the Northern lands.

Upon arriving at Shepperton Studios, where the project was almost ready to wrap up its shoot, two things stood out: filming had, for the most part, already wrapped, meaning all of the talent, save for Dakota Blue Richards, had vacated the studio, and this fantasy film obviously wasn't based off of practical sets. In fact, the only bit of shooting on that particular day took place in Studio H, an expansive warehouse-like stage that has been transformed into one of the biggest green screens I've ever seen. Richards shoots a scene with her animated co-star, Iorek, a warrior bear that has traveled the Arctic with her in an effort to end the diabolical plot to kidnap the children. As it's revealed to the group, the scene will later be inserted near the end of the film, as Lyra departs the company of her friends for her next adventure to be picked up in the apparent sequel, The Subtle Knife, assuming New Line decides to produce it.

Along with Dakota Blue Richards, director Chris Weitz huddles over a monitor in bundled Arctic garb, observing each of the four takes. The unfortunate part was that neither Richards nor Weitz was able to say anything to the roving horde of journalists. While shooting continued, the entourage of reporters were herded to an adjacent set, where we were treated to a production presentation. Producer Deborah Forte began by discussing her involvement on the project, as well as her passion for the source material. "This project for me started almost 11 years ago when I read the manuscript for The Northern Lights, which is the name of The Golden Compass in the U.K.," Forte explained. "When I read the manuscript for the book, I thought to myself, 'Who is this extraordinary writer?' I had never read Philip's work before. And wherever he's going, I want to go with him."

After Forte talked up the $150 million New Line Cinema project, production designer Dennis Gassner explored the concept designs and the conceptual art, including the use and utilization of several key images of shockingly vivid color and vibrant symbolic imagery. Gassner then told the flock, "Obviously color is really important but also the architecture of the snow is interesting." Gassner discussed the vivid creation of the Arctic world he was tasked with visualizing, saying, "I wanted a place where a meeting took place so the nature of snow and ice converge and create a massive shard which gave a focal point to that world itself."

As for the London skyline in the parallel universe, Gassman described the time setting he used to create his own London skyline. "It's very, very complicated," he said. "The time period was obviously something that came forward actually quite quickly to me, sort of where are we placing this? This told me that story. I said, 'This will be the turn of the century to the '40s.'" That sort of general time frame allowed for much more freedom than he had expected. "So we're dealing with a generality and that opened things up so it's much more fun for the audience to look at because it is a fantasy even though we're basing it in a reality environment."

Finally, costume designer Ruth Myers walked the crowd through an extensive collection of wardrobes, props, paintings and other fixtures within the Golden Compass universe. A large mock zeppelin stood to one side of the set. Myers discussed her works, saying, "My department has made something like 600 costumes. We've painted, we've manufactured, we've done all sorts of extraordinary things. We've taken modern things and played with them. We made period things, and we moved them around." In a slight nod to the concerns of animal activists, Myers discussed her attempt to avoid fur even though it was specifically referenced in the novels. "I was very interested with the idea of not using very much real fur. I like the idea that I could play with other furs and again create a fur that we didn't know."

After the presentations had wrapped up, New Line Cinema offered reporters a true gem. Roughly 10 minutes of rough-cut footage had been edited together to show some of the film's post-production work. The scenes, not nearly completed by any stretch of the imagination, reveal the chemistry between the actors and CGI characters, with the first scene focused on Richards having a conversation with her yet-to-be-rendered daemon, Pantalaimon. The next scene showcased Nicole Kidman in an elegant, alluring dress that really brought out her beauty. Set in a dining hall, the scene allows Kidman to give Mrs. Coulter life as a charming and regal woman, but one who is also hiding more than she lets on up front. Next, Daniel Craig looks nothing like James Bond in Casino Royale. A bearded, accented Craig still develops his character's backstory, as Lord Asriel doesn't yet play a prominent part in the trilogy. For that, fans will have to wait until at least the second film, as his role grows throughout His Dark Materials, culminating in a spell-binding finale, The Amber Spyglass.

The rough cut footage also included some of the close-to-complete CGI, as scenes with Richards riding the computer-animated Iorek across the frozen tundra look on par with the upper tier projects in the digital realm of animation. But with the amount of work required to turn this rough cut into a final product, it would be unfair to pass any judgment, other than to say the actors have done a marvellous job discovering their characters, though that, coupled with a large enough budget, is still not enough to guarantee an outstanding film. With the rough cut footage in mind, the gaggle of reporters flocked over to another adjacent set, where an elaborate stunt demonstration had been arranged.

A diverse group of men and women, young and old, armed and unarmed, gave an example of the stunt coordination for one particular fight scene. While the sequence was performed at half-speed, resembling a well-choreographed ballet, the full speed execution created a much more violent and frantic fight. Undoubtedly, the on-screen result will make for a more high-octane cut, but as the fight demonstration wrapped, the "flight" demonstration began. Since Eva Green plays a witch queen, a rigging setup needed to be constructed to allow the actress to fly around while being able to fire arrows. In a cool move from New Line, two lucky journalists were fitted for flight and took off over the stage.

The last demonstration of the day focused on the custom-made weapons. Most of the guns (some modified antiques, others disguised as modern weapons) were fired one at a time, sending a shockwave throughout the stage. While most of the guns seemed rather ordinary and unimpressive, a seven-barreled death-gun was hauled out and fired, which resulted in laughable shrieks from some of the ladies of the group. And with the earth-rattling blast, the experience of the set of The Golden Compass was complete.

The real question facing The Golden Compass is simple: Can New Line Cinema repeat the success The Lord of the Rings trilogy? New Line is gambling that the answer is yes, and that the Chris Weitz adaptation of the Philip Pullman novels will strike a chord with audiences of all ages. As opposed to LOTR, these films are not being shot concurrently, as New Line held off on giving the green light to the sequel, The Subtle Knife. While a script is supposedly in development, there has been no commitment to finish out the series should The Golden Compass fail to live up to expectations.

Having locked down top-notch actors, along with some incredible visual effects artists, it seems unlikely that the movie won't hit a chord with the general movie going crowd. Where The Golden Compass does run the risk of going astray is with the fans of the original books. The alternate world created so masterfully by Philip Pullman is one that could seemingly only exist in one's imagination, with the details of the storyline not, let's say, lending themselves to a practical recreation. As well, the anti-Church sentiment expressed throughout the trilogy, revealed through Pullman's fictional Magesterium, has been toned down significantly in order to make it marketable to the United States. While these questions linger, and with a huge investment on the part of New Line Cinema on the line, everything will be decided on December 7, 2007 when the film hits theaters everywhere.

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