ChristProclamer wrote:Don't get me wrong. I love the scenes in Charn, and I'd love to see a flashback, too. But I'm thinking about what will happen, not necessarily what I want to happen. I think the most we'll get is one or two lines from Jadis about destroying the whole world, before the script moves on to other things.
A flashback would be expensive because you'd have to hire an actress for Jadis' sister, and a whole bunch of extras for the armies. Plus you'd have to armour and costume them all, and then CG in a whole bunch; part of the armies, part of the city, etc. Add the cost of the film, the extra days on the Charn set, and all the other minimal costs...it'd add up to a big fat expense of a scene they don't really need to film.
I don't know about it being more expensive than the creation of Narnia, but the creation of Narnia is a pretty important scene.
Unless, of course, they do make it more relevant to the full plot. And I'd hate to see that done....
*bites nails and imagines the worst*
I don't see why doing Charn properly should be so expensive. You have to look at the movie holistically and Charn is needed, firstly because that is where Jadis is at, and subsequently, because from the point that Digory so foolishly rings the bell, he can't get rid of her. Without Digory and Polly's experiences of Jadis in dying Charn there isn't a story. They were trying to escape from her in Charn, but she caught hold of them. Although weakened in the wood between the worlds, she still kept hold of them, following them into London, where she creates more havoc. Then when Digory and Polly returned her to the Wood between the worlds, they all went on to Narnia.
As dreamy and important as Narnia's creation is, and yes, this must be one of the main attractions to the movie, it isn't the creation per se that is as important as Jadis' arrival in it to ruin a brand new creation. Jadis is the reason they are there, and it is because of Jadis' presence that Aslan sends Digory to get the golden apple. Also, don't forget the hurt Digory did to Polly when she tried to stop him from ringing the bell, a misdeed which Aslan also queried.
Getting back to how Charn could be pictured, I like the idea of pictures along the Hall of Ancestors coming to life. Or maybe one of the statues getting up and walking into a scene of dead people slumped around a great dining table, when Jadis mentions it. Or a sign showing a prisoner being taken to the torture chambers. Perhaps memories could be done in animation, something like the Tale of the Three Brothers in HPDH1 last Christmas.
I agree that you might have to have an actress to play Jadis' sister, though it is such a bit part it needn't be anyone too expensive to hire. All she really has to do is to mount a terrace of steps at the head of some supporters, with a wickedly triumphant grin on her face.
I don't consider it necessary to have more than a handful of differingly dressed high-ranking officers with their more lowly dressed aides, to follow Jadis' sister up the terrace stairs. Maybe ten or twelve extras at most. Perhaps only the two women and maybe a couple of the sister's henchmen would be all that is necessary. You don't really need to see an actual army. Just a lot of small camp fires in the twilight, maybe the outline of tents or houses, with enough people to create shadows around them, giving the impression of movement and fighting in the streets, a lot of yelling and screaming, and that there are considerably more people awaiting Jadis' sister than is the case. Adeona's idea would be good also.
You see Jadis doing to her sister what she did to the heavy palace doors, there is a whoosh, all the palace doors fly open and then collapse, the screen blacks out, then resumes amid disastrously sad music with a finality to it. We are shown Jadis, Polly, and Digory standing on the terrace beyond those ruined heavy wooden doors, overlooking a desolate, uninhabited city. Everyone is gone. It is also important that Polly and the audience see Jadis as the tyrant she really is. It is only because Polly talks back to Jadis, that Jadis lets go of Digory long enough for him to try the rings to get away.
A little tie in, nothing major, and nothing that expensive... Maybe if they showed him setting up the wardrobe in his house, then when he leaves the room the door opens and Aslan Roars like he did in LWW... or show a close-up of the panels.
