Does anyone remember this little teaser for LWW?
I can't exactly recall when it was released. I even combed through the NarniaWeb archives and couldn't spot it. While I think the voice-over is a little cheesy, I still like the simplicity of it.
Rather than an elaborate teaser that gives away major plot points and key scenes, I like the idea of a first-look teaser capturing the "essence" of the story (as Mr. Joe Johnston might put it) and nothing else. Which approach would you prefer for The Silver Chair teaser?
Here's my amateur envisioning of it. Share yours too!
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Black screen. Sounds of water droplets. Slowly fade into a puddle of water on rock, slightly rippling.
A deep, solemn voice speaks:
"Far from here, an old King is sad."
Camera slowly pans up from the puddle into stalactites on the cave ceiling, where the water drips from.
"He has no heir, because his son was stolen from him. No one knows if he is still alive."
Camera slowly pans downward again, turns right to reveal a heavy wooden door.
"But he is."
Door creaks and begins to open.
"Your task is to seek this lost Prince until you find him..."
The door reveals a long hallway and a barely lit silver object long in the distance.
"Or died in the attempt."
Quick cut to black, hear a hissing serpent. Sounds of water again, this time a rushing stream.
Fade-in to a young girl standing, nervous and trembling. Jill stammers:
"But...how?"
Cut to a lion laying in wildflowers next to the stream. Aslan blares:
"By following the signs."
New fanfare music plays. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Silver Chair logo appears on-screen. Obligatory studio text follows.
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Mary Jane: You know, you're taller than you look.
Peter: I hunch.
Mary Jane: Don't.
Great idea for a thread! I've had an idea for a Silver Chair teaser for a few years now. I once even tried to make one of those 'fan trailers' out of it, but found my editing skills weren't vary good so I gave up on the idea. I don't think I could call this my ideal teaser, but here it is anyway.
Fade from black, to Several slow panning shot of a boarding school. As we see this, we hear voice over.
"What if I told you. I'd been to a place. Where all the sorts of things you find in fairy tales. We're real."
Cut to Jill and Eustace sitting together behind the gym. They hear something. "Thier coming!" Jill says panicky.
The two run through bushes until they come to a door in a wall. They push it open. There's a blinding light as we cut to the TriStar logo.
Once the logo fades out. We see shots Jill walking alone in in a beautiful forest. She turns a corner, then stops dead in her tracks. Then we see a shot of Aslan. Majestic. Golden. Powerful.
Then we see a series of quick cuts with voice over from Aslan. A wide shot of Cair Paravel. A vary brief shot of Caspian. "Their is an Old King. He has no heir."
A shot of Puddleglum walking in the dark with a lantern. "His son was stolen."
Shots of Jill and Eustace riding on owls. The travelers walking across the moor. "I lay on you this command. That you seek this Prince until l you have found him."
A shot of the Lady of the Green Kirtle and the Black Knight. Followed by shots of Ettensmoor giants. A ship on subterranean sea. The travelers struggling through snow to Harfang. "Or died in the attempt"
Shots of Rilian holding his sword. The travalers crossing the giants bridge. A serpent. And a final split second shot of Rilian in the Chair.
Cue title card. The Chronicle of Narnia: The Silver Chair. In theaters Christmas 2055.
Great thread! I hope they discuss this (ideal teaser/trailer) on the podcast at some point! I love both of your ideas! narnia fan 7, I especially like yours for the main trailer, and maybe just the part up to the logo for the teaser (without showing much of the children, just their voices and the brief glimpses of them mostly from behind).
My ideal teaser is the actual trailer , but since we have to wait for that, I think this would be a great tease that would catch the attention of viewers.
Enchanting music, the camera pans upward slowly on a leg of the silver chair showing its amazing (hopefully) design.
The camera pans across an arm of the chair a white masculine hand grips it convulsively (perhaps a ring on the hand with a green stone just for interest?)
A slightly wider shot of the chair from behind, slowly rotating around it. We see a head of golden curls leaning against the back (still from behind and slightly to the side)
Just as the face is about to come into view the camera cuts to darkness. We hear a tortured, anguished cry, a hiss and then the logo "The Chronicles of Narnia, The Silver Chair"
I think there is great possibility that the chair will be the teaser, but in my ideal there would be something else besides just the chair, something like above, or the green snake curling around the chair, or something!
Anfinwen, I like your idea of actually showing the Silver Chair in action, but without revealing Rilian. "The Silver Chair" is a rather odd title and it would help to give some clue as to what it is about. I think it should just be one shot, not the focus of the trailer. The focus should be on Jill, Eustace and Puddleglum.
I want them to include Eustace's line about "Are you good at believing things?" That would set anticipation for a story that is "out of this world."
I want them to include Eustace's line about "Are you good at believing things?" That would set anticipation for a story that is "out of this world."
I like that! The trailers would be a great place to establish early on the fact that one of these children has already be to another magical place. It will be really interesting to see how the handle the backstory of Eustace.
It would be interesting if the teaser-or the film itself-placed more emphasis on the actual chair, given how it appears in the book with little to no foreshadowing and is quickly eliminated.
Perhaps not as the initial teaser, or at least not the entirety of it, but I think it would be great if they interspersed various travel or action sequences with Puddleglum making predictions about what could go wrong, ending with “Got to put a bright face on it.”
"...it's not as if you can do one special thing and that's it-it's what you go on being that matters." -Urchin, Urchin of the Riding Stars, The Mistmantle Chronicles by Margi McAllister (highly recommended)
The teaser needs to reintroduce us to the mythology of Narnia while letting audiences know it is a reboot. So if it shows Eustace make it clear that it is him. Hear Aslan say something so they know it is a different actor and take on the role. Heck, even film a quick shot of a different Lucy stepping into a different wardrobe even if it is just for the teaser. Something they can whip up on set and get one of the producer's daughters to do.
The Mr, the Mrs (that's me) and the little Smooshers....plus our cats
Fancy Signature pending......
The teaser needs to reintroduce us to the mythology of Narnia while letting audiences know it is a reboot. So if it shows Eustace make it clear that it is him. Hear Aslan say something so they know it is a different actor and take on the role. Heck, even film a quick shot of a different Lucy stepping into a different wardrobe even if it is just for the teaser.
How about a voice over by Eustace? Something like:
"After my strange adventure in the magical world, my cousins told me how they first discovered the land of Narnia through the wardrobe and then were called back to fight against the evil Telmarines and put Caspian the 10th on the throne. My own adventure began with a painting of Caspian's ship the Dawn Treader. They told me you couldn't get to Narnia by trying, but I keep hoping that perhaps, one day, I can go there again."
As you said, they could show snippets of the things mentioned, the wardrobe door opening, swords clashing, water splashing out of the painting. Then you could insert a clip of Aslan saying "You would not have been calling to me unless I had been calling to you" followed by the normal trailer stuff.
^I really like that idea, Anfinwen!
I've been thinking about how Jill and Eustace's conversation behind the gym is almost a ready-made teaser trailer in and of itself, but I really don't want them to spoil that scene before the film. It's one of my favorites in the book. A voice over from Eustace vaguely detailing past Narnian events to an unseen listener could work well, though, especially if they only use it for trailer material. I can imagine it seeming very mystical and spellbinding with a montage of hazy and otherworldly images, and then they suddenly cut to the two kids sitting in the dirt and Jill says fiercely, "If I find you've been pulling my leg, I'll never speak to you again!" Then a lion roars, or we see Jill and Eustace standing awestruck in front of the door with the Narnian light streaming through, and then up pops the title screen.
I have no idea whether I’ve already posted this, I’m still getting used to using the forums.
So I’ve been thinking about this for a while, and I think it might be cool to show a couple different storylines or perspectives in the one trailer, just to mix things up a bit. I love the idea of starting the trailer with “are you good at believing things?” because it’s a good way to introduce one of the themes of the movie.
Something like this:
A shot of a girl, from behind, standing on a cliff.
VO (a boy’s voice): Are you good at believing things?
A shot of the same girl, still from behind, walking through a wood by herself.
VO: Things everyone here would laugh at
A closeup shot of “Experimenal House” on the girl’s jumper.
VO (the girl’s voice): What do you mean?
A shot of a boy, sitting on the ground, looking nervous, but excited.
Boy: Last holidays...
A shot of the boy falling through the air, looking terrified.
A shot of the girl rounding the corner, running her hands on the bark of a tree, and stopping short.
Another shot of the boy sitting on the ground.
Boy: I went out of the world.
Another shot of the boy falling through the air, but a kind of mist is starting to surround his legs.
A shot from over the girl’s shoulder, and we see a lion.
A shot of a young boy (Rilian) in knight’s armour, kneeling in the grass with the starry sky above him.
A shot of the girl’s hand, framed in the same mist, and we see the cliff in the distance, with a golden figure watching.
The Silver Chair logo and all the credits stuff
What do you guys think?
I think it sounds super cool.
"To the shining eastern sea, I give you Queen Lucy, the Valiant."
-Aslan, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe (movie)
"Don't, die kids! Dying is bad for your heath!"
-My friend Alex
Welcome to NarniaWeb, hiraeth! That's an excellent concept for a trailer. My favorite part about your idea is that it only draws from scenes that take place early on in The Silver Chair. It's an intriguing montage that's sure to hook the potential audience, but it doesn't spoil much from the film. Nice!
Thank you all for your kind comments! I love the idea of using the flying on owls scenes in the trailer, Anfinwen. Spending all that time in the air during the trailer is kind of metaphorical, like telling the audience “you’ll see the ground when you see the movie!”
Regarding Eustace in the trailer, I feel it won’t be too necessary to establish that it’s a different actor playing him, since unfortunately I think most of the younger audience won’t have much of an idea of who he is anyway. I guess they could work on that more in the film itself.
Personally, I think it would be fun if one of the trailers or tv spots ended with a bit of sinister comedy, something like:
Jill: It all sounds so wonderful. May we go?
Giant Queen: Hohoho! *bites lip* You'll be there, my dear.
Mary Jane: You know, you're taller than you look.
Peter: I hunch.
Mary Jane: Don't.