Building Narnia In Miniature – Part 2

This project was part of a stage production of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. Our task was to produce a 360° animation that projected as the background during the performance.

Fur Coats

The fur coats were hung in the studio with a number of fishing lines pinned in key areas. For example, the shoulders, elbows, lapels and the bottom edge. Using a series of ratchet rigs custom made in house, the fishing lines were taken up and out of shot through a series of pulleys. This allowed us to animate the coats whilst having minimal interaction with the fur.

Stylised Balsa Wood Trees

Once we had made and painted the trees, they were covered in ice and filmed with time-lapse photography. After the ice had melted, each branch was cut down a bit at a time until the main trunk was left. This was then also cut away piece by piece. We then played the footage in reverse to give the effect that the tree first grew and then ice formed on and around it.

The Trebuchet

The trebuchet was made from balsa wood. We weathered it by sanding it back and painted it to give it a more seasoned texture. We had to make a scaled rope to match the model scale which was added to the prop.

The Witches Lair

The witches lair used a mannequin head as the base. We then added rocks to it and modelled an hand which reaches over the top of the head. Additional detail, like teeth and the glowing window in the eye socket was then added.

We made 2 models of the the witches lair. The second one was made from ice (and other materials), which was then shot in time-lapse throughout the day as it melted. We played this in reverse to give the effect of the lair rising up from the frozen ground.

Here is a second smattering of images from the studio during the shoot and edit.

You can see some more images in this blog post: Building Narnia in Miniature. Or, you can see our showreel from the production on our portfolio page: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.