....I'm thinking that Rilian can ask Caspian a question or two about the great hero Eustace before the camera focuses on a picture in the book of Eustace looking brave and resolute. Then, the picture can fade into a shot of present-day Eustace looking bravely and resolutely at a problem that the teacher is writing on the board. Then the camera moves it's focus to the girl, Jill, sitting behind him. From there the scene can progress as you described, except that Jill can also bump into Eustace while she's rushing through the hall.

Anhun I love love this idea! Pity you can't send it in to Fox without a literary agent.

I also liked Jill_Pole's idea above about how Jill's being chased to run into Eustace. Had a thought spurred by W4J's post about what a modern school might be like, that Experiment House definitely wouldn't be conventional. What would a modern school/boarding school of that type in Britain at the time really be like? Would they really have bells ringing to start and end each period? I could imagine that Experiment House didn't have grades (too conventional) and teachers just wrote what they thought of a student's work (maybe subjective homework evaluations?....since they thought the bullies were so interesting, they probably evaluated them very highly). Maybe they didn't even sit in desks in straight aisles, maybe they sit in a circle round the teacher...non-conventional roundtable seating showing equality with the teacher instead of subjection to? Maybe they called their teachers by their first names? Just wondering.....

Edited: I just had another thought. If Experiment House faculty only permitted kids to call each other by their surnames only (as in the book), then maybe the students wouldn't call the teachers by their first names. If they did make the movie I'd prefer them sticking with the surname thing until the point in the book where they (Eustace and Jill) finally call each other by their Christian names.

I also think it's important to set context for Eustace's character, and his background in Narnia. For one thing, we want this movie to be accessible to casual or former fans who may not have seen VDT. For another, when it comes to the folks who've seen VDT, we want to reinforce the fact that this is, in fact, the same Eustace. This would avoid any discontinuity. I anticipate character continuity would be an issue whether they replace Will P or not. He almost looks like a different person now.

WOW!! support for idea is GREATY appiciated!
So.... you would say, there wouldn't be "classes" as such...
I still think there should be desks and rows, just maybe she is sitting near a window on the right hand side or something...
But maybe the class leaves and she is still sitting there, reading a book or something, and then quietly leaves...
I am currently at school writing this (Shhh)

With your idea Anhum, I think Eustace should be sitting at the back, and the shot could be on him, and then move forward to Jill.
And she should definatly bump into him when running down the corridor from "them"
BRILLIANT!!

No, I don't think there would be desks and most certainly not rows. There may be some desks to sit on but imagine students would do whatever they felt like. After all, they attend a progressive school.

well, maybe if they have school in big house
she could be sitting on a window sill reading and eustace at the back drawing a picture of himself in narnia! WIN methinks

and the camera pans out of the drawing, into a mid shot of eustace then up the aisle and then follow a note even he throw at jill saying:
watch out for "them" or something??

thoughts???

the rest of the class should be on floor sitting on desks
talking

IDEAS???

I likle that Idea! The school sounds good, its kind of how i saw it when i was reading the book. And it is important that they introduce Jill and Eustace as at least aquantances, because of the end of VDT. Your idea covers those things! It sound great and i can see it in my mind when reading this! Nice!

I was in a progressive GTLD class for a year and, thinking back, I don't remember any desks, nor any defined "front" or "back" to the class. We had one large table with chairs around it, and a bunch of couches.

If Experiment House is similar to that, then maybe Eustace can be at a table, drawing (I remember one boy who used to do a lot of that). He has his back to Jill who is reading on one of the couches.

I don't like the idea of his being friends with Jill before he runs into her behind the Gym, although obviously, they would have to be acquainted. One part of the book's emotional journey is Jill and Eustace growing closer, learning to like, trust, and ultimately admire each other for their heroic qualities.

I think that they should be acquainted, but enough so that Eustace should warn her about "them"
I also would prefer that Eustace would sit down the back, in his own little world! And a window sill would create a bit of an kooky character for Jill

I just think that his warning her would create an automatic kinship and trust between them that would ruin the trajectory of their relationship.

Um, I have nothing wrong with thinking of how SC should work out, but just be careful about not doing fanfiction... (sorry, nervous person here)

Anyway, I do agree that we need to really get to understand how bad the Experiment House is. If we don't notice that, we might as think that it's not that bad. However they do this, I just want to see what poor Eustace and Jill were stuck with. After all, C.S. Lewis was put into a horrible school, and if he really disliked it, the kids probably don't like the Ex. House, which must be made obvious with many reasons.

C.S. Lewis was put into a horrible school?

Yes, he was. It was called Wynyard House School, and he and his brother Warren went there for a while. The headmaster was horrible, and Lewis and Warren had a terrible time. Thankfully, the school was closed down, and the headmaster went to a insane asylum or something like that. I wish I could remember (I had to look up info, although I have read and watched documentries about this before), but if you look around, you'll find out more.

With Eustace sort of loosely based on himself, it makes complete sense that parts of Lewis' life find their way into his books.

I've Wikipedia'd Wynyard House School: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wynyard_School

Thanks Shastafan for that info.

I promise I won't create a fanfic!
Whenever I read I start creating scenes in my head, and this is from that...
Maybe the bullies throw the note then, i dont mind

Jill, it's a progressive school. By that I mean something that would get you in trouble in a normal school (eg. throwing an insulting note around the classroom) would probably be recognised as an extra-curricular activity and an interesting psychological case.