Production Dragonslayer

1 production

1.1 conception
1.2 dragon design , realisation
1.3 casting
1.4 set design

1.4.1 shooting locations in north wales


1.5 costumes
1.6 musical score

production
conception

according hal barwood, , matthew robins got inspiration dragonslayer sorcerer s apprentice sequence in fantasia, , later came story after researching st. george , dragon. barwood , robins rejected traditional conceptions of medieval world in order give film more realism: our film has no knights in shining armour, no pennants streaming in breeze, no delicate ladies diaphonous veils waving turreted castles, no courtly love, no holy grail. instead set out create strange world lot of weird values , customs, steeped in superstition, clothes , manners of people rough, homes , villages primitive , countryside primeval, idea of magic natural part of existence. reason, chose set film after roman departure britain, prior arrival of christianity. barwood , robins began hastily work on story outline of film on june 25, 1979 , finished in august. received numerous refusals various film studios, due inexperience in budget negotiations. screenplay accepted paramount pictures , walt disney productions, becoming 2 studios second joint effort after 1980 film popeye.

dragon design , realisation

according barwood, dragon s basic body plan based on of jurassic pterosaur rhamphorhynchus

twenty-five percent of film s budget went special effects bring dragon life. graphic artist david bunnet assigned design of dragon, , fed ideas on mechanics on how dragon move, , rendered concepts on paper. decided on in production film s important sequence have been final battle, deemed necessary design dragon emphasis on flying abilities. bunnet designed dragon have degree of personality, deliberately trying avoid creating titular creature alien, believed hideous @ .

ken ralston s flying model of dragon, vermithrax pejorative

after bunnet handed storyboard panels film crew, decided dragon have realized wide variety of techniques: resulting dragon on film composite of several different models. phil tippett of ilm finalized dragon s design, , sculpted reference model danny lee of disney studios closely followed in constructing larger dragon props closeup shots. 2 months later, lee s team finished building sixteen-foot head , neck assembly, twenty-foot tail, thighs , legs, claws capable of grabbing man, , 30-foot-wide (9.1 m) wing section. parts flown pinewood studios outside london in cargo hold of boeing 747.

brian johnson hired supervise special effects, , began planning both on , off-set effects various special effects specialists. dennis muren, effects cameraman, stated, knew dragon had lot more importance film of incidental things appeared in few shots in star wars or empire strikes back. dragon had presented in way audience absolutely stunned.

after completion of principal shooting, special effects team of eighty people @ ilm studios in northern california worked 8 months in producing 160 composite shots of dragon. chris walas sculpted , operated dragon head used close-up shots. model animated combination of radio controls, cable controls, air bladders, levers , hand, giving illusion of coordinated face wide range of expression. real ww2 era flamethrowers used dragons fire breathing effects.

phil tippett built model scenes in dragon required walk. tippett did not want use standard stop motion animation techniques, , had team build dragon model move during each exposure rather in between once standard. process, named go motion tippett, recorded creature s movements in motion real animal move, , removed jerkiness common in prior stop motion films.

ken ralston assigned flying scenes. built model articulated aluminium skeleton in order give wide range of motion. ralston shot films of birds flying in order incorporate movements model. walking dragon, flying model filmed using go-motion techniques. camera programmed tilt , move @ various angles in order convey sensation of flight.

casting

peter macnicol first met matthew robins while waiting audition pilot film of breaking away, , agreed take part in dragonslayer, despite having dislike performing magic tricks. mcnicol had learn horse riding, both english style , bareback role. mcnicol found difficult, saying took away stirrups, took away reins , whipped horse, , told me windmill arms , turn complete circle in saddle. took away saddle! later took on vocal coaching in order disguise texas accent, , took magic lessons british prestidigitator harold taylor, had performed british royal family.

caitlin clarke hesitant involve herself in film, preparing audition play in chicago. agent insisted, though, , after doing audition tape, called more tests. clarke failed them, managed pass after doing test @ insistence of matthew robins. got on ralph richardson, , stated taught more in 1 rehearsal in years of acting classes.

set design

ulrich s castle looking on moel siabod, dolwyddelan castle, north wales

elliot scott hired design sets of film s sixth-century world. temporarily converted 13th-century dolwyddelan castle ulrich s ramshackle sixth-century fortress, surprise of locals. next, scott built entire village of swanscombe on farmside outside london. although scott extensively researched medieval architecture in british museum , own library, took artistic liberties in creating thatched roof houses, granary, simon s house , smithy , casiodorus castle, unable find enough information on how exactly. scott built interior of dragon s lair, using 25,000 cubic feet (710 m) of polystyrene , 40 tons of welsh slate , shale. shots of welsh , scottish landscapes extended through use of on 3 dozen matte paintings.

shooting locations in north wales

galen (peter mcnicol) & hodge (sydney bromley) rehearsing pack levitation scene. mathew robbins (director) can seen monitoring through camera. capel curig, north wales



location of valerian s speech , handing shield (made dragon s scales) galen. below tryfan, llyn ogwen, north wales



dolwyddelan castle, used ulrich s castle.

nearly of outdoor scenes shot in north wales. final scene shot in skye, scotland.

the filming crew based in betws y coed, , artists stabled further down conwy valley.
dolwyddelan castle used outdoor shots of ulrich s castle. includes arrival of delegation urland, arrival of guards urland, ulrich s first death scene , funeral burning. many locals hired extras during scene.
the external long shots of dragon s lair of main face of tryfan, within yards of a5, opposite llyn ogwen. lair shot looking upwards road, towards broken face of tryfan, nant ffrancon.
shots of galen , hodge on trek urland shot on old road cobdens bryn engan, in capel curig.
the morning camping scenes on trek urland, tyrian s shooting of hodge, , hodge s death scene take place on 500-yard (500 m) section of fairy glen between betws-y-coed , penmachno.
the scenes of delegation crossing on urland shot above ogwen cottage, nant ffrancon.
galen fleeing on horseback casiodorus s castle shot high above llyn crafnant.
the scene galen bradwarden sees apparition in lake shot @ bottom end of llyn crafnant.
the bleak rocky outcrop valerian gathers dragon scales castell y gwynt, above pen-y-gwryd hotel.
the scenes valerian delivers shield made dragon s scales , intimate scene between valerian , galen shot in boulder field below tryfan, 300 yards a5 near llyn ogwen car park.
the procession scenes in victims transported dragon s lair shot on gelli behind main shop in capel curig.
vermithrax crashes llyn llydaw, below snowdon.

costumes

the costumes designed anthony mendelson, consulted british museum, london library , own reference files in order make clothing evoke designs of middle ages. mendelson designed costumes stitched , utilised colours ones have been possible vegetable dyes in use. costumes of casiodorus , court designed finely silked, opposed coarsely woven clothes of urlanders.

musical score

the film s academy award-nominated score composed alex north. score s linear conception developed through transparently layered, polyphonic orchestral texture dominated medieval-style modal harmony. score largely based on 5 major thematic concepts: 1) suffering of urlanders; 2) magic motif; 3) amulet; 4) sacrificial virgins; 5) relationship between galen , valerian. north s score—which had 6 weeks compose —featured music rejected score stanley kubrick s 2001: space odyssey. (the opening sequence of dragonslayer features reworking of north s music opening of dawn of man sequence—which in final film played without music—and waltz representing dragon in flight variation of cue space station docking, in final cut of 2001 replaced blue danube). north disappointed resulting dragon scenes, did not use entirety of pieces composed them. later stated had written lovely waltz when dragon first appears, slight indication may not bad dragon . waltz scrapped in favour of tracks used earlier in movie. despite this, score praised. in article of new yorker, pauline kael wrote score beauty , , @ times, music , fiery dragon seem 1 . royal s. brown of fanfare magazine praised soundtrack 1 of best scores of 1981 .