Prince Caspian's screen synergy

By Michael Osborn Entertainment reporter, BBC News

Peter Pevensie as he appears in the film and game

The second Narnia adventure recently hit the big screen with huge fanfare, picking up critical scrutiny and box office success on its journey.

But The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian film was preceded by its gaming counterpart. Both were pushed with equal vigour by makers Disney.

The videogame was given a lavish launch at a medieval-style castle in rural Cheshire, where journalists could test out their archery skills in real life and in the computer-animated world of Narnia.

Its makers were quick to stress how the film and game are bound together, trailing both at the same time and extolling their inexorable links.

Arthur Parsons, the game's lead designer for Traveller's Tales, says synergy was only possible by working closely with the film's director Andrew Adamson.

"If we were going to match the film then we needed to see inside the director's head," he says.

Advertisement

How the Prince Caspian film was turned into a videogame

"Every time there was a script update, we'd get it. We could see everything that was shot too.

"Andrew has a passion for games which made the game a better one. We had a harmonious relationship."

Mr Parsons also speaks of video gaming as an "emergent cinema", and says the process of making a game is becoming "more and more cinematic".

"I don't want people playing a game knowing that they're playing a game. I want them to lose themselves in that world and believe they are that character," he adds.

Huge accolade

The making of the game also brought on board the film's actors, who provide the voice-overs for the game and had full body scans to make their console counterparts as true-life as possible.

One actor who became involved in this process was William Moseley, who plays eldest Pevensie child Peter in the big screen hits.

The film's action sequences are closely mirrored in the game

Working in the motion capture studio was "like something out of Doctor Who," explains the 20-year-old.

"It was a black room and there was a light sensor and if you blink at the wrong time it wrecks the whole thing. You have to do as you're told."

While Moseley says this was harder work than acting on set, laying down vocals for the game made regular use of his acting skills.

"I had to do dying, less intense dying and falling. But I did the actions and tried to give it some," he says.

The film star maintains that the extra work required to make the game closer to its big screen counterpart is all part of an actor's lot.

"I see it all as part of it. If I didn't do it would be like not acting out scenes on set and telling Andrew Adamson that I'm not doing it and will have a cup of tea instead.

It's every guy's dream Actor William Moseley on being a star of the Prince Caspian videogame

While he insists the game is of equal importance, he admits the film still has the edge in terms of reach and accessibility.

In its first weekend of release in the UK, the movie took £4m and crowned the box office chart.

Aside from being a lead actor in the Narnia trilogy, Moseley says starring in the videogame is also a huge accolade.

"Who of my age has had a game made for them with their own character? It's every guy's dream. It'll be one for the grandkids in years to come."

The third part of the Narnia series, The Voyage of The Dawn Treader, already in the pipeline and pencilled in for release in 2010 and will also co-star William Moseley.

With the investment made in the latest video game to closely accompany the film, it is expected that a third will not be far behind.

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian feature film and video game are both out now.