On the other thread about Aslan's first physical appearance in the 2005 LWW movie, the conversation has kind of shifted towards the first moment his name is mentioned, and I thought that was interesting enough that it deserved its own topic. 

In the book, this is a really memorable moment that changes the whole course of the story. 

None of the children knew who Aslan was any more than you do; but the moment the Beaver had spoken these words everyone felt quite different. Perhaps it has sometimes happened to you in a dream that someone says something which you don’t understand but in the dream it feels as if it had some enormous meaning — either a terrifying one which turns the whole dream into a nightmare or else a lovely meaning too lovely to put into words, which makes the dream so beautiful that you remember it all your life and are always wishing you could get into that dream again. It was like that now. At the name of Aslan each one of the children felt something jump in its inside. Edmund felt a sensation of mysterious horror. Peter felt suddenly brave and adventurous. Susan felt as if some delicious smell or some delightful strain of music had just floated by her. And Lucy got the feeling you have when you wake up in the morning and realize that it is the beginning of the holidays or the beginning of summer.

Both the BBC miniseries and the Walden Media movie tried to convey this by either doing a montage of the characters' faces or panning across their faces as music plays. You get the gist of what C. S. Lewis wrote from that. (Peter, Susan and Lucy react positively to Aslan's name and Edmund reacts negatively.) But nothing as interesting or specific. And while we book fans appreciate and understand what the miniseries and the movie are trying to do even if we don't believe they succeeded, I wonder if it comes across as odd, even silly, for newcomers. ("Why is the scene pausing for us to look at everyone's face? Is it just because someone said a weird name?") But what else can adapters do? It'd be silly to have the characters say things like, "Whoa! When you said that name, I felt...brave. And adventurous!" There's voiceover narration which I'd appreciate but I know there are other people out there who find narration a distraction. Maybe this moment is something you can only do in a book (or on the radio?), not in a movie or on TV. 

One thing I think future cinematic adaptations could try though is to have different music play for each character's face. The ones I've mentioned do this for Edmund. If I remember correctly, the BBC version plays ominous music when his face is shown and in the Walden Media one, the happy music for the other characters' reactions has trailed off by the time the camera reaches his face. But the same musical theme is playing over Peter, Susan and Lucy's faces even though they're each supposed to be experiencing something a bit different. Maybe instead you could play a martial theme for Peter, an ecstatic one for Lucy and Susan can get the kind of gentle music BBC and Walden played for all of them. Then again, maybe that would make the moment seem even more ridiculously over-the-top to viewers who haven't read the book.

(Sidenote: I hate to say this since I want adaptations to follow the book, but if they try to capture this moment, they probably shouldn't have Lucy immediately ask about Tumnus afterwards like a comical record scratch sound effect.) 

What do you guys think?