It is an interesting choice to set the battle sequence in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe in broad daylight. This pathetic fallacy in a way foreshadows the Narnian victory against the forces of the White Witch. The sequence is a long one–more than twelve minutes–and begins with a gryphon’s-eye-view of the expansive battlefield (filmed in New Zealand). The costumes are elaborate and there is extensive use of visual effects. There is a particular attention to shadow in these scenes, which is both an indicator of distance (e.g. the gryphon’s shadow as it flies above the ground gives viewers an idea of depth of the y-axis) and of scale: every body on the battlefield is doubled by their shadow. The score, composed by Harry Gregson-Williams, naturally swells to its peak during this scene, revolving around the film’s main musical motif. As in most epic battle scenes, there is little dialogue, and instead a focus on the diagetic sounds of armor, animal vocalizations, wings beating, feet and hooves on the ground. This detailed diagetic sound and the score played over it are muted completely (except for a dull bass imitating a heartbeat) in the fifteen seconds leading up to the clash between the armies, and is suddenly broken with the violent collision of two large cats, and carries on with the various sounds of squelching and piercing of mythical bodies (at which point the sweeping musical score is abandoned).
The tone of this scene is quite a stunning blend of romantic and gritty considering it is marketed as a children’s film, and this is largely based on the way sound is used or not used, as well as the overall lighting choice. There is stark difference in tone between this war of the fantastic land of Narnia and the film’s opening sequence of the Blitz of London in World War II. While this first war to which the Pevensie children are exposed is vivid but completely dark, the war in Narnia is decidedly more colorful, sunlit, and glorious. That being said, the effect of pulling back the score to virtual silence and then focusing completely on the diagetic sounds of battle effectively dampens the vibrant landscapes and elaborate costumes with real sounds of violence. Everything leading up to the clash of fronts is typical of an epic battle scene–the elaborate build up, close-ups on key heroic or soon-to-be martyred characters, glinting of sunlight off of swords–but the thumping heartbeat, the slowing of sound while maintaining the speed of the visuals (following right on the heels of a slow motion shot) struck me as quite original. Only using diagetic sound in battle scenes is not original (see John’s post on Saving Private Ryan), but it is certainly striking in communicating a tone of fearfulness in a grand, pastoral New Zealand field. The only focus on individuals is on the children (Peter and Edmund Pevensie) leading the Narnian charge and the White Witch. William Moseley’s (playing Peter) acting is melodramatic, and therefore pretty typical of the classic epic hero. It almost verges on silliness, and thus slightly undermines the overall tone of the battle scene. However, as in many over-acted epic scenes, the characteristics of the mise-en-scène are so beautifully arranged that audiences on some level suspend judgment of poor acting and writing to just enjoy the visual and sonic scope of the sequence.