Dungeons & Dragons

News for December 1999:

31 December, 1999

Four more pieces of production art for your viewing pleasure. The first shows an all new race for the movie, hunter elves. They are similar to wild elves but they have distinctive face paint that identifies them to their tribe. They are fierce warriors, nomadic, and none too fond of humans. This sketch was used as a template for the makeup artists.

This next drawing should please old time D&D fans. It shows the design for the elven ranger Norda's battle armor. The design is very much in line with the artwork appearing in D&D books for years. It probably wouldn't make too much sense in the real world but then again, this is a fantasy world. This is not her generic outfit however. This is strictly battle armor. My only question is, how can she see out of that helmet?

You may remember that one of the first pictures we ever got was an interior shot from the School of Magic. This sketch shows us what the outside of the building would look like. Like the other sketches of buildings we've seen so far, this will be used to aid the CG artists in rendering the building on computer.

Finally we have yet another tower from the city of Sumdall. Mages dearly love their towers so expect the city to be filled with these kinds of buildings. Again this will be rendered in 3D for the movie.

29 December, 1999

A review of the script has appeared on the net. It's not a good review however. In short the reviewer Stax calls it unorigianl. To quote, "For all its spirit, this shooting script for the live-action version of DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS was plagued by all the familiar elements of countless other mediocre scripts: cliché characters and situations, contrived dialogue, and an overwhelming similarity to most every other film of its genre. "

To read the rest of the review, click here.

24 December, 1999

Three new design sketches for your viewing pleasure today. The first shows us the concept design for Damodar's dragonscale armor. He reportedly fashioned himself out of the hide of a black dragon. The next is a sketch of a room that the wizard Profion uses to try out his homemade rod of dragon control. To test it he needs a real dragon of course. The rod itself is the third sketch. This rod is made by Profion himself and proves a failure. This forces him to go looking for one of two existing rods of dragon control. This forms the backbone for much of the movie's story.

23 December, 1999

Another design sketch for you to look at today. This one is for Profion's castle. This sketch was used to help the Station X people develop the 3D design of the structure.

16 December, 1999

Corey Solomon comes out of the shadows to speak about his movie in an interview with the Unofficial D&D Movie site. Part of the interview is below, head on over to the site to read the whole article. Several things were discussed. One was why one of the existing D&D worlds like Forgotten Realms, Greyhawk, or Dragonlance were used. Solomon says, "In order to not be in a position where we had to deal with other people's specific vision of certain D&D settings (i.e. Forgotten Realms, etc), and to create our own lore, we made a decision from the beginning to create our own setting for the film. This setting is to be taken as a place within the D&D universe which follows the basic rules of generic D&D/AD&D." He goes on to describe his world, "Sumdall is a city of mages created by mages, and much of the film revolves around the city of Sumdall and Empire of Izmer. The film needs to be looked at... in D&D terms...as an adventure that takes place in a D&D world. Due to the nature of the game, and every adventure being different, we felt that this was a good approach."

Since Sumdall is a city creates by mages it helps explain the absence of clerics. He says, "We specifically did not focus on the clerics for the film. We did this on purpose for story reasons as the film was written as the first of a trilogy...and a variation of clerics, due to the dominance of mages in Izmer, plays a role in the future films." That backs up comments we've heard in the past that indicated the movie is set up to allow sequels if it proves popular enough to warrant them.

Solomon also touched upon the Lord of the Rings project currently filming in New Zealand. "The format we took was more of a cross between the characterizations and world building of Star Wars...what they originally created...and the pacing and fun of Raiders Of The Lost Ark. I also want to tell you that although the film has its fun and adventure, there are also darker moments which keep the credibility of the story and characters. Obviously, for commercial reasons we went for a PG-13 rating in how we filmed certain sequences, however, it is by no means geared for children, and certain scenes...as they pertain to content..are very D&D, and are right at the edge between an R rating and PG-13. In any event, LOTR had no influence on D&D, however, we are glad that the film is being made because its good for the fantasy genre."

Curious about Jeremy Irons' comments a few days ago I thought it would be good to get the official response. I asked Grant Boucher about it and here is what he had to say:

"You have to be really careful with press quotes, especially when they are clearly in another language, and thus subject to both reporter interpretation and translation errors. For example, the "demon" line would probably have translated better as "villain", or "very evil character".

Likewise Jeremy's comments about the money for his castle are probably true enough in fact, if not tone or intent, as retrofitting an Irish castle isn't cheap by any stretch of the imagination. No actor does film work gratis! However, as has been reported all along, Jeremy did defer a large portion of his fee in support of the project.

I was in Prague when he brought his son (11 or so) and wife to the set. Jeremy seemed particularly pleased that he was finally making a film that his son would be able to see him in at the theaters. For his part, the young man was swinging prop swords and even got a fancy cape from the wardrobe ladies. He'll enjoy the film to be sure.

For clarification, I talked to the director about the odd interview. His take was that all actors take roles for many different reasons. While Profion is clearly not the kind of in-depth character he is known for, Jeremy saw his role in the film as fun. In any case, Corey wanted to make it clear that Jeremy gave his usual 200% to his performance - a fact I can attest to as well. He was also sure, as I am, that if Jeremy were to be asked directly about his experience with the film, he'd speak very positively indeed. "

15 December, 1999

When the news comes out from this movie it just pours out. Today we've got a design painting of the city of Sumdall. This is just the painting used as an early reference for the Station X folks to work from. The opening sequence of the movie will feature an extended flyby of the city all done in CGI.

13 December, 1999

What we have here is a design sketch for a gauntlet worn by Damodar, Profion's lieutenant. Click on that thumbnail to get the larger version because it is rather elaborate. It sports a trio of blades off the back of the hand, reminiscent of the comic book character Wolverine. Clearly Damodar is meant to be an extremely nasty and evil character. It's the only way to explain wearing such a piece.

10 December, 1999

Jeremy Irons was interviewed by Espectaculos Mar Del Plata in Argentina. In the conversation he had a couple of things to say relating to the D&D movie. They aren't exactly the kindest words.

To what do you attribute the decision to withdraw from movies for eighteen months? "I started to feel that my work was . . . acting was starting to get boring. and to continue to be boring. When you have done a good job, it is the most difficult to find good roles. I like to be available, so when they call me to do something no one has done before, new projects which will change me.

"There are some movies which are done with the heart, and others for the pocketbook - I hope - . I just finished Dungeons and Dragons, in which I play a real demon. And, considering the bills I am paying in Ireland, I agreed to do it."

NEWS ARCHIVES

Latest January to March 2000 December 1999 October-November 1999 August-September 1999 June-July 1999 May and ealier 1999