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Re: Joe Johnston - Q&A

PostPosted: May 30, 2017 12:12 am
by AJAiken
waggawerewolf27 wrote:Scotland can be a bit foggy. Okay, a lot foggy. I've been to Scotland three times and have yet to get a proper look at Ben Nevis, due to cloudiness. And it rains. And then some. 8-|

Isn't that just perfect for Jill, Eustace and Puddleglum's rather miserable journey though? They battle cold and damp. Sounds just like Scotland to me! :P I'm sorry you haven't seen Ben Nevis properly - some of this last week has been extraordinarily hot and sunny (for the UK in general) and I had a good look at it on Friday while I was up in the West Highlands.

I would love for a Narnia movie to be made in Scotland, or at least partly here, because to me it is Narnia. I was disappointed by Joe saying it would be New Zealand because of that, but I still think it will be beautiful and appropriate for the movie. I think it's interesting that New Zealand is being kept as a location when, as Joe said, "Everything is new."

waggawerewolf27 wrote:Scotland likes to print its own money, so-called Berwick money, which isn't always recognised south of Hadrian's Wall.

Hadrian's wall is not the border between Scotland and England - but yes, Scotland has at least two banks that print notes. And Northern Ireland prints notes too. It can get confusing. Many places in England do take the notes - they are legal tender after all!

That's a good point about the exchange rate, though. The pound isn't doing very well at the moment and I imagine that would impact decisions on whether or not to film in the UK.

I was pleased with his confirmation that LotGK will not be the White Witch. I'm glad that can be moved on from.

His answer which mentioned how he wants to remain true to the source material was encouraging, too. And I think that - as mentioned above - because he has a good knowledge of Lewis' work, that means a lot.

Re: Joe Johnston - Q&A

PostPosted: May 31, 2017 3:37 pm
by Anhun
I'm excited about some of his responses:

1. No Jadis.
2. Hope is going to be a theme.
3. THIS MOVIE IS ACTUALLY GETTING MADE!! (sorry for shouting, but I couldn't contain myself :ymblushing: ).
4. A similar level of Christianity from the book will be maintained (revealing rather than preaching). I had some concern about this because of rumors that Douglas Gresham would be heavily involved. I feared that his need to preach would overcome any story-telling instincts he may have.

I'm disappointed in other things:

1. A battle! x_x
2. Filming in New Zealand. :(( This bothers me on two levels. First of all, I had my heart set on Scotland. Secondly, this is going to make the setting feel like deja vu for anyone who's seen LotR (and who hasn't?).
3. "finding out who you are" 8-|

Re: Joe Johnston - Q&A

PostPosted: May 31, 2017 5:05 pm
by waggawerewolf27
Anhun wrote:1. A battle!
2. Filming in New Zealand. This bothers me on two levels. First of all, I had my heart set on Scotland. Secondly, this is going to make the setting feel like deja vu for anyone who's seen LotR (and who hasn't?).
3. "finding out who you are"


1. Battles: Not to worry. I agree that we've seen more than enough battles, scuffles or whatnot so far in the series. But Joe Johnston did say the battle would be at the end and might not be what you expect, and it depends on what is expected. According to the Talking Beasts podcast. It could refer to anything from the scuffle where LOTGK is killed, something to do with the gnomes returning to Bism or the taming of the bullies at Experiment House, don't know which. I suppose we will have to wait and see what happens. And trust that everything goes well.

2: New Zealand is quite as good a place to film as Scotland, especially in the South Island, settled by Scots immigrants in the 1800's, around Dunedin and further west, where convicts never trod in chains, where the children of sinful transportees were looked down on, where horses and sheep flourish, and also the mountains are just as rugged and even more snow-capped than anywhere I've seen in Scotland, especially at this time of year, in winter.

And where the US dollar is worth considerably more than the New Zealand Dollar. Currently 1 AUD = 74.28 cents USD, and the ratio between 1 NZD and 1 AUD often favours the AUD. So to use a common expression, whatever the budget is for SC, the director will get more bang for his allocated bucks in NZ.

3. "finding out who you are": Yes, that could be of concern, especially as it is Jill's character arc that is most in question in the story. But what about Eustace's character development in SC? And what about Puddleglum's character developent? Finding out who a person is, depends on what values that person holds and how well that person sticks to those values. I don't know whether or not this is something that was easy for Joe Johnston to put into words for us fans to understand in the equivalent of a sound-bite though.