take the scenic route
Roger Ford (right) with director Adam Adamson on the set of 'Prince Caspian'
Acclaimed production designer Roger Ford - the man behind The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (2008) - is in town to give us a rare insight into the art of cinema.
With almost 40 years as a film production designer under his belt, Roger is perfectly qualified to be taking the first of the public Floor Talks for Setting the Scene.
Roger began his career designing television shows for the BBC - including the 1971 series of Doctor Who (the Jon Pertwee vintage) - before moving to Australia, where he has been based ever since. Some of his earliest credits include The Year My Voice Broke (1987), Grievous Bodily Harm (1988) Flirting (1991), for which Ford was awarded the first of three Australian Film Institute (AFI) Awards. Ford was honoured with an Academy Award nomination for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration for his work on Chris Noonan's Babe (1995). Since then, his work has featured in Rabbit-Proof Fence (2002), The Quiet American (2002), Swimming Upstream (2003), The Rage in Placid Lake (2003) and Peter Pan (2003).
As the production designer of the first two film adaptations of The Chronicles of Narnia (The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe in 2005 and Prince Caspian in 2008), Ford has once again displayed his outstanding talent for visualising and realising complex and layered filmic environments.
When speaking about bringing classics like C.S. Lewis' novels to life through created environments, Roger admits the task is at first daunting. "These are much loved books read by the most discerning audience - children - each with their own idea of what the land of Narnia should look like, so it's a huge responsibility," he has said. "In order to surprise and delight them in the cinema, you have to go further than their imagination takes them. It's intimidating but very exciting for a designer."
In keeping with the original stories, the films are set in both historical World War II London and the fictional Narnia, which offers Ford a great challenge on one hand and almost complete creative freedom on the other. "It's a wonderful combination of serious historical recreation with life in wartime London. But then there is the other world of Narnia where you are free from the constraints of historical accuracy. It's like a playground for the imagination."
To hear more of Roger's insights into production design get along to the free Setting The Scene Floor Talk on Friday Dec 5 at 11am. More information can be found here
Published Thursday, 4 December 2008
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