Posted by: @icarus

 

In many ways I would say that the Walden movies weren't twee enough. Given that the Narnia stories are fairly playful books for children, the overall sensibility of the movies seemed to be to amp up the LOTR like elements (battles, action, chases) and downplay the whimsical elements (the parties, the romps and such).

However I would still agree with you that I would like to see a more realistic look in the new films. This has nothing to do with tone, but more so with cinematography. The Walden movies, despite having some amazing production design were shot with a very heightened colour palette, very little natural light, and overall had a somewhat larger than life vibe to then (even somewhat cartoonist look by the third film) which for me diminished the sense of Narnia as a real world 

A movie can still be playful, whimsical and joyful yet still have a realistic cinematography.

Wow - so much this.  I've always thought that I wanted a more realistic look in the new series, but I hadn't thought about how much the lighting on set might factor into that.  Especially what you mentioned about depth and shadows. Netflix probably wouldn't go for this, but if they were willing to shoot on actual film (especially 35mm) that would definitely add to the grit and authenticity. 

I've been hesitant to post this because I feel like it's unrelated to the actual topic but since people keep coming back to it, I will. I like that they didn't use natural lighting in the Walden Media Narnia movies. I can't say why. That's just...exactly how I picture Narnia. (I'd try to apologize by saying that I may have been influenced by Deborah Mayze's Narnia picture books which I read at a young but the lighting in them looks natural to me. ) 

I was also hesitant to write this because I can't really make an argument as to why the Walden Narnia movies look like Narnia to me. It's just so subjective. I can't convince people that what looks bad to them really looks good and they can't convince me that what looks good to me really looks bad. I love a good debate but that's just never going to be one. However, there have enough posts in this topic expressing disapproval of the lighting for the Narnia movies that I thought it only fair that my tastes be represented here too.

To desperately try to relate this post to the topic , I guess that's sort of why some fans want adaptations to be darker and some don't. We all just imagine the world of Narnia in slightly different ways though there are some things I know we all agree on too. Me? I don't necessarily feel like we need adaptations that are darker than we've gotten but I wouldn't say Narnia should never be dark. The scene I'm most interested in seeing in any LWW adaptation is Aslan's death. For some reason, that's a part of the story that's really captured my imagination in part because it's so much darker than other parts of it.   

Posted by: @col-klink

I've been hesitant to post this because I feel like it's unrelated to the actual topic but since people keep coming back to it, I will.

Honestly, that's fine with me (seeing as I started this thread and this little rabbit trail fascinates me just as much). 

To desperately try to relate this post to the topic , I guess that's sort of why some fans want adaptations to be darker and some don't. We all just imagine the world of Narnia in slightly different ways though there are some things I know we all agree on too. Me? I don't necessarily feel like we need adaptations that are darker than we've gotten but I wouldn't say Narnia should never be dark. The scene I'm most interested in seeing in any LWW adaptation is Aslan's death. For some reason, that's a part of the story that's really captured my imagination in part because it's so much darker than other parts of it.     

That's pretty much where I'm at with this (seeing as the books are all pretty lighthearted and playful, except when they're not). But yeah, if they can somehow find a way to portray Aslan's death without either sanitizing it too much or traumatizing their audience, that would be ideal. 

I would love to discuss cinematography further in its own thread (maybe I'll start one if there isn't already such a thread in existence 😊)!