from: http://blogs.abc.net.au/queensland/2009 ... 12_morning

Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader
06 November 2009
by Coast Breakfast with Peter Scott

It was as though I pushed past the overcoats at the back of the wardrobe and wandered into another strange, wonderful world.

Yesterday, I was given a tour of the set of the latest Narnia film, "Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader".

I wasn't allowed to take photos of the set (you'll have to wait for the movie to come to cinemas at the end of 2010) but I can describe some of what I saw. It was very impressive.

I saw four sets. The first one was a medieval, Italian village with dirt streets and high, stone, castle-like walls. Construction workers were pulling it down as filming was finished in that set.

The next three sets I saw were of the ship, the Dawn Treader, where most of the action takes place.

The ship itself is built inside one of the large concrete "sound stages" at the Oxenford studios. It was quite a surreal experience to enter the building only to see a large ship, built on top of a hydraulic machine that makes the ship appear it's pitching and rolling on the open seas.

The third set, in another sound stage, was of the masters cabin inside the ship and the fourth, below deck (where the slaves would row). What struck me about these sets was the detail of the work, something that you miss when you see it on the big screen. The outside of the set looked like a construction site. There were timber supports and struts, wire and framing. But walk inside the set and immediately you're transformed to another world. You feel that you really are in the cabin for the Captain of an old sailing ship and that you look out of place in your modern clothing.

I did an interview with my tour guide, Ernie Malik. You need to imagine we were standing on aft deck of this 18th century ship. We looked down on the director and the stars and lots of extras in battle costume preparing to film the next scene.

You'll be interested to hear the "Dawn Treader" is partly modelled on a famous ship. Listen also for the Gold Coast locations used for filming and how they create a film about a boat sailing on the open seas that never really gets wet.

Download the radio program here

Thanks to Narniafans.com for the heads up!