Video of Filming - Dragon Attack!

[Warrior 4 Jesus]

I'm thankful for the video, but I'm just wondering why so few people know how to properly operate a video camera. It's not necessary to wave the camera around like its giving Cloverfield a run for its money.
That said, I think this change should work well. Maybe people's understandings of 'battles' differ greatly. Maybe this encounter is included as a 'battle', along with the sea serpent scene ?

[Beren]

the camera was greatly zoomed in, which also magnifies every little movement that the user makes. But I agree: it was too shaky, and it could have been avoided.

[narnian1]

Maybe people's understandings of 'battles' differ greatly. Maybe this encounter is included as a 'battle', along with the sea serpent scene ?

I must say I will be greatly releaved if that is the case, (along with a few other minor "battles").

This is a change from the books, to an extent, and I for one do like it,
this intro for Eustace the dragon is much better for the movie.

[Glumpuddle]

http://www.narniaweb.com/2009/09/new-da ... ng-report/

So it seems that Gresham himself confirmed that it is indeed DragonEustace attacking the Dawn Treader.

This doesn't explain why the crew is on board the ship instead of the island.
In the book, the crew, or at least most of the crew, is on the island when Eustace is transformed. It's difficult to tell in this video, but there seems to be a fairly large crew on the ship.

[lord_rhoop]

I'm suspecting they'll do a play on the book, where they'll either have the crew leave Eustace behind, or they might think he was killed by the dragon. If it's the former, I hope they have Edmund and/or Lucy protest against leaving their cousin behind.

[pogginfan]

They could be repairing the ship. I find that unlikely, however, since the boat seems to be undamaged. Maybe they cut out the storm.
Maybe they saw the dragon-Eustace on the island, and they all rushed onto the ship to get their weapons?
I really hope they don't decide to just leave Eustace. I can't really see them doing that, though.

[JadistarkilleR]

additional footage of the dragon attack:
http://www.narniaweb.com/2009/09/better ... mment-1594

first off, i've endured shaky footages before without a problem, but that made me sea-sick! i guess it didnt help that there was an annoying prattle (sorry it had to be said).

and i couldnt figure out where Ben/ Caspian is. is he really supposed to be onboard? if so where is he? (screencap anybody?) i know what the video said, but i couldnt pick him out among the rest of the crew who all have cream/light colored shirts and a crossbow (duh)! and as GP pointed out on the front page, why is he there when he's supposed to be on the island where Edmund and Lucy should be?

anyway, my best guess is that there's gonna be a huge divergence on this part of the book. if Caspian, Edmund and Lucy are already onboard and have set sail then something must've forced them to leave the island immediately, leaving behind anybody else who isnt on board-- Eustace. it adds for dramatic tension which is the general feeling of what the dragon-attack footages convey.

having said that, what if what forced them off the island is seeing this dragon? (which of course they dont know to be Eustace). Eustace will recognize them for sure, but Caspian and crew wouldnt. dragon Eustace approaches them asking for help, they get frightened and rush aboard the ship and sets sail? thats a good enough reason to leave the island, they could even assume that Eustace was eaten by the dragon. then dragon Eustace takes after them, flies towards the sailing Dawn Treader, then Caspian and crew shoot at him trying to keep him from landing on the ship and/or causing (further?) damage. Eustace is then forced to fly back to the island dejected.

[Bother Eustace]

I certainly hope they haven't left poor Eustace alone on the island. He may be annoying, but that's uncalled for!

I certainly couldn't pick out Caspian or Edmund or Lucy on the ship... could it be that their still on the island looking for Eustace, and those on the ship are just the crew left to man the vessel while the others are gone? Perhaps Eustace seeks their help after the others become frightened of him. That's something to consider.

Or perhaps everyone is aboard the ship, but they haven't actually set sail. Perhaps they were all returning in the longboats and in the confusion, everyone sort of assumed Eustace was with 'someone else', if you know what I mean, and they don't realize he's not their until they get to the ship. Then in flies Eustace, thinking they're trying to leave him, and everyone gets frightened and tries to kill him. I think that scenario would really increase his feelings of loneliness and rejection, thereby making his life-changing lesson even more powerful.

[adamie]

I'm pretty shore that there on they do not know it is Eustace. I mean, they can't possibly be leaving him behind, that just doesn't make sense in a movie for children.

think about this: they see the dragon coming when they are on the beach, and they hurry to the boat to sail away, but then the dragon attacks them and accidentally BREAKS THE MAST, so they can't leave. Then they have to go to the Island to repair it, but the dragon is there. This could be pretty exciting, but I wonder, would this be the case, does the audience know it is Eustace or not? It would make them feel sorry for Eustace, but if they do not know, this could be good to. Eustace disappears and when they are looking for him this dragon "attacks" them. Either way, I'm really looking forward to this scene!

[Eustace]

They could be repairing the ship. I find that unlikely, however, since the boat seems to be undamaged. Maybe they cut out the storm.

That would be so sad. We would miss the scene where Eustace tries to steal a cup of water, and the days he wrote in his diary about the storm.

[icarus]

The latest photos and description on Kerrie's blogspot page are quite interesting with regard to the Dragon attack scene:

Today scenes were with Lucy, the Minataur and some of the crew - Lucy was yelling out for Edmund, so i am guessing someone has taken him, she kept turning around and looking up so maybe some flying creature will be CGI'd in later - you can see another younger girl, not sure who she is

It could be that they've moved onto the sea-serpent scene already, but perhaps it could be the case that DragonEustace comes back to snatch Edmund for some reason? Perhaps so he can try and explain it to him in person on the island, without constantly getting shot?

Photos below you can see Lucy shouting out for Edmund while crew members fire their crossbows. I'd also recommend checking out the rest of her blog photos, if you havent already.

http://kerriegurney.blogspot.com/2009/0 ... riday.html

Also note the mention of the mystery 8-9 year old girl again. You can just about see her in the final photo (being held back by a ship crew member in blue - possibly Rhince?) That though is discussion for the other topic....

[narnialover101]

I'm not really liking the way these dragon Eustace scenes are developing. It seems like they're making too big of a deal out of this. Granted, Eustace being dragonfied is probably most fans favorite part of VDT, but in the book the crew figure out relatively quickly that the dragon is Eustace; there isn't all this hullabaloo. And snatching Edmund off the deck of the ship? I can't see Eustace doing that, especially after being hit with an arrow when approaching the ship last time.

Guess I'll just have to hope what we're seeing isn't really what it looks like and/or is reported to be.

I'll always be a,
NL101

[Gymfan15]

Well, I called it, didn't I?

The crew of the ship were running around while Georgie was on a higher level of the ship with a young girl. Before the dragon came, the scene consisted of Lucy having a conversation with her. When the dragon does come Lucy ducks down and forces the girl down with her, but when the ship’s crew start to fire at the dragon when he’s on the mast, Lucy shouts ‘what’s he doing?!!!’ or ‘what are are they doing?!!’ or something like that, obviously she is not happy with the fact that the dragon is being shot at.

Previously I wrote:

Eustace gets turned into a dragon. Not being the brightest kid on the block and perhaps not thinking through what kind of reaction the DT crew would have to his appearance, he flies to the ship and is very surprised and taken aback when he's fired at and injured. Disappointed and a sadder but wiser dragon, he flies back to the Island.

In the meantime, Lucy got a good look at the Dragon while he was at the ship and can't shake the feeling that something is up. She recognizes that he wasn't trying to attack them, and feels awful that he was injured. She convinces Caspian and Edmund to put to shore so she can try and heal the dragon's wounds. There, they meet the dragon face to face and Lucy is able to discern that he is, in fact, Eustace.

I'm even more convinced that this is going to be the case.

[princess_of_narnia]

I like your theory, Gymfan, but that still doesn't explain why everyone is on the ship, and obviously not Eustace. I think that they haven't kept track of everyone and they think that Eustace is on board. Or maybe they have already fixed the ship and are getting ready to set sail, when the Dragon attacks and then flies off. Then Lucy realizes that Eustace is missing, and then they go back to find him, or rather the Dragon.

[coracle]

Has the idea that it's only Eustace's fantasy that he's attacking the ship been discussed properly?
I can't believe they would be sailing off without him, since there is so much in the book looking at that whole issue - Lewis is adamant that Eustace is wrong to think they would go without him.
Even when they know he is the dragon, in the book, they try to think of all possible ways to take him with them.

[Gymfan15]

I don't think they're sailing off without him. I think they went back to the ship to re-group, discuss search methods or figure out what's going on (it could be a case where one group things Eustace went back to the ship and the other thinks he's still on the Island, so they ALL have to go back to the ship before the error is discovered).

Eustace, not being a nautical person, might see them all on the ship and thing they're leaving, and fly over in a bit of a panic without thinking through what an effect his sudden appearance might have on the crew. Then, wounded and bitterly disappointed, he goes back to the island, where he's eventually found by an insistent Lucy.

I think there are a bunch of scenarios that could get the whole crew on the DT without them actually preparing to sail off.