The report was very encouraging, and if they use the clips they showed for the super trailer, it sounds like they will be advertiseing properly. This is so exciting.

Very encouraging!
I feel really good about the movie now. WOW this is great, pulled me right out of my "eddy izzard is leaving" depression

Very very nice report! It was, as others have so nicely said, quite encouraging and made me even more positive about the film in general. I like the theme of temptation and overcoming it, although I must admit I never really knew that was in the book until know. Perhaps I wasn't reading the book deeply enough last time. (Which means a re-read is in order. ) Anyways... it was great to hear some more news about the film.

Let's start the analysis, shall we?

1)Elizabeth Gabler (President of Fox 2000 Pictures) shared that she had flown to New York to try to secure the rights to The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe at the same time that Walden was doing so. She was disappointed not to secure the rights to make the films so when the opportunity came up to work on Dawn Treader she jumped at it.

This is really encouraging. If Fox was interested from the start, they must like the series, and that means that they are not just after the money. They actually care about the book series. I guess this is nothing new, and Fox must have loved the books, else they would not have picked up were Disney left of, but I’s sort of nice to see it confirmed.

2) He shared that this is a very character-driven film and that it is not going to be a film that has special effects without any real content. He said this movie is about temptation and learning how to overcome it, wrapped in an adventure story.

He already said that this movie was character-driven, so I won’t go into that, but I think that the comment he made about the special effects is pretty cool. I like strong visuals in a film, but I always believe that what makes them strong, is the story behind it. If a story can’t drag me in, the visual effects won’t o so either. I also realize that this doesn’t mean that much. I think that, and this goes for the entire report, we should keep in mind that they were ADVERTISING the movie. I’ve never heard a director say: “Oh, yes, this is a movie without any good story or content, but the visual effects are amazing, so everyone should go see it”. That would be ridiculous. About the temptation, Watziznehm already explained that.

I concur ,FriendofNarnia2! You take almost every instance, or should I say Island, in VDT and you will find a struggle with temptation. Eustace gets tempted with the riches on Dragon Island. Edmond and Caspian get tempted with the same thing on Deathwater. Lucy gets tempted while reading the Magicians book. All of these circumstances make for a good story and, what's more, an excellent film!

I guess I see your point, but I never really noticed that as the infinite theme of VDT. If they would ak me to describe the core theme in VDT, I would not say temptation, but discovery. It might work well ,and I’m still glad the filmmakers noticed it. I just hope that that is not the only thing the movie will be about.

3) He described the five islands, where we’ll see them, and what will happen on each one. He also pointed out how each island will have a different and unique look to it.

That was good decision of the filmmakers. I think it is sort of logical, but still… If the Islands would not all have a very distinct look, they would not be memorable.

4) I will tell you that the concept art looks very good. Some of the still shots in particular show the tremendous work of cinematographer Dante Spinotti. There were shots of Goldwater and the sailing Dawn Treader which blew me away.

This is one of those things that just makes me happy. After all, film is a visual medium. If you adapt a book into a film, you should make sure that the film visually depicts what the book describes, and not I do not just mean the scenery and stuff, but also the theme and the overall feel. And it seems like goldwater is in the movie. I always thought that that is the part they would leave out. I always wondered what Island they would leave out of the film. I’m not even sure they think of dark Island as an Island.

5) Just the concept art that we were shown of Aslan at the end of the film made my heart catch in my throat.

I’m sure, without any doubt, that this is the best quote in the entire article. I don’t think this needs any explanation. Still, it was only concept art, now they still have to make that real in the film.

6) Apted’s description of the movie’s storyline made a lot of sense. I can now see the storyline complete with changes that they’ve made and the rough outlook seems like it will work really well.

So, as we could already guess, there are changes made to the storyline. But Tirian seems to like it, so I guess the changes were alright. As we do not know what changes have been made, there is nothing more about it I can say.

7) Without giving away too much, I will mention a few things about the footage we saw. There were shots of the transition into Narnia and some shots onboard the Dawn Treader with Eustace (quite funny). We saw some interaction between Lucy and Gael and quite a lot of shots of Lucy in the magician’s house. There were a few finished shots of Reepicheep, several “beauty shots” of the Dawn Treader sailing, and some incredible shots of the entrance to Aslan’s Country from the end of the film. Liam Neeson’s lines have been recorded so we heard Aslan several times throughout the footage.

I guess this is all good news. A lot of shots of the magicians house, that means they are taking the time to make the scene works. I’m really glad about that. Nothing worse than a 3 hour storyline in a 90 minutes movie. Funny bits of Eustace, I hope it’s the right sort of funny. Those beauty shots of the dawn treader sound really great. I love wide helicopter shot’s, and I think they are important in the story, to show the endlessness of the sea, and the scale of their journey.
I’m looking forward to the trailer know, I want to see those shots of Aslan’s country as well. I’m glad they look amazing!

8) As you can imagine, it was intensely exciting getting to see these first images from the film. My first impressions are that Michael Apted’s Narnia “feels” like the same Narnia that we’ve seen on film so far. The new director has brought a new energy and vision to the project, but the continuity between the previous films is vastly encouraging. The visuals are completely stunning. As good as we thought the Dawn Treader looked during filming, it looks much better on screen and sailing on the water–just absolutely phenomenal! All the footage that I have seen tells me that this is going to be a very well-built, well-paced film with a lot of attention to detail and character.

These sentences just describe the perfect version of VDT! They make me feel all warm inside. The new energy and vision is good, it has to be different from PC to be a success. But still there is a lot of continuity. This is great, I liked the Narnia in the previous films. Stunning Visuals, a stunning dawn treader, … This sounds amazing. A very well-built and well-paced movie with a lot of attention to detail and character! That sounds great.

Wow, this is one long post. I think I just broke the record.

Sail on, Dawn Treader, Sail on!

You are absolutely correct: VDT is a story about discovery. However, what is it exactly they discover? Is it just about them discovering amazing new lands or is it about them discovering... themselves? Hmmm, what goes along with the discovery of ones self? "Temptation?" Congratulations!

^^ discovering oneself.....that might have some part in VotDT, but then what about this unfathomable fate thing?

I have become convinced that the "unfathomable fate" was nothing more that a marketing exaggeration. I mean, I think if it was really such a big part of the plot I don't think Tirian would say that us fans were going to really enjoy the film. And besides that one synopsis we have heard nothing about this unfathomable fate. I just don't think it's there at all.

I absolutely loved what watziznehm said about temptation. I had never noticed this in the book for some reason but it is a big theme. I'm glad the filmmakers picked up on it.

I'm wondering if the "unfathomable fate" is something to do with being able to get Ed, Lucy and Eustace back to England. Sounds crazy, but you never know what Hollywood will do. Thought I'd throw the idea out there.

This is very exciting!

I'm curious to know which islands have either been cut or combined into each other. Any chance of you telling us that, Tirian?

I'm also wondering what you mean by continuity. Do you mean that it has the same overall faithfulness as the other two films? (I wasn't pleased with LWW and PC in that respect) What does, "It feels like Narnia" mean, exactly?

I'm so excited about the movie now! This gives me a great feeling about it and I feel more hopeful about it being a good adaption

On one hand I'm heartened by the report. On the other hand, Tirian does describe things that seem like they could be big differences. We know Gael is talking to Lucy in one scene. Tirian also said that Apted's reasons for the changes made sense to him. That doesn't mean that there are therefore no plot changes, it just means that Tirian approves of them. There clearly ARE changes.

I'm not trying to be a meanie, but I just think we should all take out our salt packets and munch a few grains .

^^I guess that's true. But it doesn't sound like there are any major plot cahnges, so I just have a better feeling about the whole thing. I'm not so worried anymore...

I am excited but at the same time disappointed. I wanted to know more spoilers and we didn't really get any but at the same time this report encourages me and I love the fact that I don't know everything right now. It is better sometimes to know right away. Now I will anxious wait for the trailer. I mean if I was told all I wouldn't be excited as much when I saw the trailer. So I am happy, and thinking of jumping up and down(*goes outside and jumps up and down) but at the same time I am anxious and waiting for the trailer. Thank you Tirian!

Awesome report! Sort of wish there were more details, but it's probably better this way
I don't have time to really think this through deeply, as I'm extremely tired right now and will hopefully be sleeping soundly soon but once I saw the new story posted, I just had to read it.
I really love that Fox has been interested in Narnia since LWW! Makes me wonder if it wouldn't have been better for them to be there from the start, in lieu of Disney. But, that's hard to speculate, and as Aslan Himself says, "We are never told what would have happened." Or something like that. Anyway, the report seemed really positive, and I'm really psyched about this movie now! (Of course I was psyched before... but now I'm super uber-psyched... ) The whole thing about the move being a story about "overcoming temptation" really interests me! What's that about? The first thing that comes to my mind is Eustace's greed in the Dragon's lair, which leads to him becoming a dragon. Interesting.
Anyway, I'll visit tomorrow and look more into this... it's been a long weekend for me and right now my brains at about 30% operating capacity.

I needed a booster shot of enthusiasm and encouragement; this report was it. It was great to hear that Tirian and Paul Martin of NarniaFans were both pleased with what they saw and heard.

I liked the description of the Dawn Treader herself looking better than the photos we have seen; and the fact that a shot of her sailing on the water was shown!

As the visit and events at Coriakin's house are of great interest and in the book, it was good to hear about a number of shots related to that.

As for Lucy and Gael, I am looking forward to seeing this new character and how she relates to Lucy and where the MLG comes from.

Good stuff. It will be nice when the rest of us get to see something. Until then, patience will be a most important virtue.

Sail on VDT!