A Visit to The Golden Compass Set

New Line are clearly taking The Golden Compass very seriously. The press event is attended by over a hundred domestic and international publications and is a great insight into the production. With the film due to wind up this week - the long CGI and polishing work still ahead - there was perhaps disappointingly little to see in the way of sets, but the enthusiastic presentations of the heads of various creative departments were enough to cheer anyone's optimism for the film.

Filming & Dakota Blue Richards

First on the itinerary on the day is a very exciting opportunity - to see Dakota Blue Richards. The set we are brought into is a cavernous green warehouse, a cathedral to illusion: green-screen, like blue-screen, is for placing computer graphics on to later. Ushered inside and urged to maintain silence, we are to watch several takes of a scene involving Dakota. Dressed in the winter furs seen in the promotional stills, she stands amidst white blocks of pseudo-ice, her costume and continuity handlers gently blowing snow onto her face between takes. The scene involves Lyra turning away from Iorek, before re-facing him to argue with the bear. Sound was not being projected from the floor, but enough lines could be garnered to place this scene more than likely as that where Lyra continues alone across the ice-bridge at the end of the first book. "I will try," says Iorek, with Lyra replying fiercely "No, you will not. I am your.." before the words slip out of range again. The scene ends with Lyra kissing the polar bear's head and his "Goodbye, Lyra Silvertongue," as she turns away. Iorek himself is of course not present at the set itself - he is a CGI creature - but Dakota has a giant model bear to act opposite and press her head against; with Iorek's lines played out for her to respond to.

In between takes, Dakota is composed and seems at ease in the studio under the attention of not only the crew and cameras, but as director Chris Weitz jokes later, the scrutiny of the "assembled press of the entire world." The director bounds over to his prot?ge after every take to confer with her; he ruffles her hair and she scowls and shakes her head, before grinning up at him and retaking her mark. She spots the CBBC journalist Lizo - a familiar face on British children's television - amongst the crowd and gives him a little wave. After the five takes - all for show - Weitz submits himself to the press whilst Dakota blows her nose heartily and takes the opportunity to strike back on adult-kind by herself ruffling the spiky hair of an intern.

Weitz has done this sort of thing before and he handles the questions deftly. "These books," he says, "are my favourite. They came at a time in my life when I was very receptive to them." When questioned on what he thinks his daemon would be, the director laughs and says he wishes it'd be something cool, but that it is probably a ring-tailed lemur, or a tree-sloth. Fingers crossed for December 2007 still. On the issue of his curious resignation and reinstation he is sanguine: "I didn't want to end up in a place like this," gesturing at the vast green-screen all around him. This reiterates his and New Line's statements at the time that he felt the technical challenge was simply too much for him to handle, but one then wonders what has changed in that regard.

Dakota wanders over at an interval and plonks herself next to Weitz. She fields a few questions on how she heard about the audition - friend of a relative - and what it was like working with Nicole Kidman - good. She is not a polished professional fending off questions or answering them fluidly and, as producer Deborah Forte explains to me later over lunch, this is precisely what they were looking for for the role. They did not especially want an experienced actress, but rather someone who possessed a measure of innocence and naivety. Dakota is still very chirpy, before she is led away by some crew to attend school - she is still only twelve, and it is a weekday; although the excuse is also a convenient one if she needs to be whisked away before she is consumed by the press.

Presentations

The filming action for the day over - although Weitz remains to check some other scenes - the assembled corps is led into a seated room fronted by three flat-screen televisions and long panels of concept art; the left-most of which is simply photographs of animals, pinned to each character as a daemon. Around the room are various props from the movie - costumes, instruments and furnishings; which are examined later. Seated, Deborah Forte takes the floor. It is worth reiterating Forte's immense role in the project - she went after the film's rights very soon after reading the initial manuscript for Northern Lights and has been guiding the (oft tumultuous) production for eleven years now. I have an opportunity to have a prolonged discussion with her at lunch and she is exceedingly keen and very knowledgeable about the books. Much of what she says when addressing the crowd has been heard before, but she gives insights into the film's casting: when she and Philip Pullman first sat down, they both agreed they wanted Nicole Kidman for the role of Mrs Coulter. To have her is a "dream" casting, she adds. The impression she gives of Pullman is of a man intensely interested in the movie project and one more involved in it than he perhaps first stated (and thought) he would be.

Forte explains Philip was regularly calling during the auditions process, asking if they had found a Lyra yet. Pullman was sent a DVD of the screen tests of forth promising girls and just forty-eight hours later he phoned Forte to say he was down to two girls - one of whom was Dakota. A month more of sorting through tapes and double-checking went by, but they had their girl.

Production Design

Deborah Forte stands aside and we are in to the meat of the day as the main production designer and concept artist, Dennis Gassner, starts to talk, more haltingly than the assured tones of his producer. "I always like to first think of one simple concept," he begins. His fingers hook on to the very first piece of concept art in the line - "the sphere." It represents "purity," he says, before going on to explain that the oval - the next picture - is an extension of the circle, evil. It's all a bit heady and presumably more of sense to a design graduate, but circles do appear throughout the props - on the Retiring Room table, on the Jordan gates and of course in the figure of the alethiometer itself. The oval meanwhile makes up the outline of the symbol of the Magisterium, a vaguely Soviet looking sign.

Gassner goes on to talk us through the varying stages of the film - Oxford, London, Trollesund, the North. Each has a specific colour palate to mark it out from the rest and make a visually appealing and diverse film. The artist talks of his technique of what he calls 'cludging' - bringing together two (or more) elements into one. For example, his gates of Jordan are a composite of the gates of the Royal College and those of Christ Church - and again feature the circle prominently as a symbol.

The challenge of making Lyra's world is that of not succumbing to the lazy way of making it simply Victoriana. Lyra's world is not our own one-hundred years ago and the designers seem to have this firmly in mind. Gassner tells us his 'starting-point' from which he goes off and adds divergent elements is 1900-1940.

His redesign of London is particularly striking. Glass and metal dominate, with many towers - this is not Edwardian London. Gassner evidently enjoys his work and has taken delight in the opportunity to redesign London - not something many people get to do; as an American, he says he can take a "fresh look" at the capital. Amongst his influences is Sir Christopher Wren, who drew up plans for a new London but was never able to put them into place. The artist, however, is, and Wren's St Paul's Cathedral plays a prominent part, a keystone in this alternate London; it is clearly visible through Mrs Coulter's stylish flat in the centre of London. Standing above all however, is the grand structure of the 'Magisterium tower' - a symmetrical building which builds up to a point in a triangular fashion, it is the largest building in London and the seat of the Magisterium's power in Brytain.

Less convincing however is Gassner's description of the "alchemical power" which he has driving the zeppelins - at least one of which (that which takes Lyra to London) is named the "sky-ferry." This mechanism also powers the carriage seen in the concept art on the official site, which is said to carry Lyra to Mrs Coulter's. The addition of this 'alchemy' seems at odds with the producers' adamance that they have no wish to make a 'fantasy' movie, and may even look a little silly. Certain other contraptions have gained a name too - the slide-viewing which Lord Asriel uses at the beginning of the book is a "spirit projector" whilst the silver guillotine has become an "incision machine" - which we'll return to later.

Costumes

The film is unusual in that the concept art existed long before actual production began - perhaps due to the project's prolonged commencement. This has meant that the other creative directors - costumes, props and the like - had a ready-made world as reference when designing their department's artefacts. Costume designer Ruth Myers takes the floor next and gets the press on their feet for a close-up look at some of her creations. The Oxford's scholar's gowns are colourful yet restrained, whilst her designs for the fashionable men and women Mrs Coulter mixes with in London remind the eye of Edwardian gentlemenship, but the collars are subtly different and the style cannot be pinned down to one of our own. "This is a world where women don't wear trousers," she says. "I wanted to make sure Mrs Coulter had glamour, but not now's glamour. It's a world I'd rather like to live in."

The influences for Mrs Coulter's clothes and apartment are clearly art deco; Dennis Gassner states this as his preferred fashion, with a dash of new vogue. A corner of Coulter's flat has been set up in the corner of the room - gold and black, it is clearly reminiscent of the 1920s. A huge portrait of Nicole Kidman - or rather, Mrs Coulter, for the golden monkey sits with her - stands upon the wall. A journalist ventures what Nicole made of the painting and Gassner explains how he brought her in to sit for it, helping her get in to her character.

Ruth Myers carries on and leads us to more of her creations - she exudes confidence and visibly takes great pride in her work. The witches' outfits are purple, long and flowing, specifically designed to blow in the wind, for we see them most upon their cloud pines in the sky. Serafina Pekkala's dress is a "pure shade of night," with the other witches' colours coming in less strongly. Lord Asriel's expedition costume is very similar to that which Timothy Dalton wore in the first run of the stage play, goggles and all. The Gyptian outfits can be seen very clearly in the promotional shots released so far; they are present here too and seem a mix of gypsy culture and Russian. Myer's says she aimed to give hints of ethnicities, but avoid tying them down to one culture. Her Tartar costumes are certainly impressive - the guards at Bolvangar are kitting out in thick dark material, with heavy obscuring hats. She says, "the Tartars have wolf daemons, but I didn't want them to seem just like guys with wolves - they're in control of their wolves, and that's scarier. I tried to give them something of an American footballer!"

Early Footage

Next we have the opportunity to see some exciting stuff - pre-visualisations and some half-finished footage. Pre-visualisations, or pre-viz, are mock renditions (usually on a computer) of what scenes should look like. Mike Fink, the visual effects supervisor, takes us through some early pre-viz that was knocked up to plan certain scenes. The very first shot made was Iorek bounding through the snow with Lyra upon his bank - this footage was used to get the initial green-light for the movie. It has been redone in various stages since then and the more complete footage was very evocative of the loneliness of the north and the strength and speed of a polar bear. "I've been watching videos like this for months," Mike says as he flicks through some wildlife footage of the real creatures.

Fink reiterates the design philosophy espoused by the other creatives - Lyra's world is to be very much like our world, but with a twist. There are no huge set-pieces in the film and it will not be a Lord of the Rings -lite. Everyone here seems very conscious that they are perceived of as following in the wake of the fantasy revival with LotR and Narnia, and are keen to distance themselves from it. Forte explains to me at lunch that she was drawn to the book precisely because it was not so very different to our own - to her, and to many others, fantasy is at its most interesting when only a few things are different and the consequences of these explored.

The most impressive shot of all is that of the 'Nooderlicht', the boat which takes Lyra and the Gyptians to the north. The team originally had the idea of a panning shot from above, which eventually ended up behind the boat and upside down, with the boat sailing on a ceiling of water. This shot was revised and then actual film was taken of a boat from a helicopter - the camera pans across from above and makes an incredible turn above the boat before settling behind it as it sails into the sun. It's a little hard to describe, but it's a fantastic piece of cinematography and unlike anything else out there.

Mike goes on to explain how Dakota and the others are fitting in to these scenes. Dakota has been riding a mechanical bear for months now, with shots of her then later slotted on top of Iorek. Likewise, in the helicopter shot described above, she is placed in to the crow's nest of the boat and we see her spinning around as the camera pans through.

Finally, some actual footage - finalised all but for the computer graphics - is shown. Deborah Forte is anxious to stress that this is not the complete article without the CGI; later she explains to me that it feels as though she is showing something immensely private to everyone - for this footage has never been seen before and The Golden Compass is starting to make its way into the world. The footage is hard to judge as it leaps between scenes rapidly and the CGI placemarks are quite jarring. Scenes shown include:

• The Retiring Room - Dakota is simply magnificent in this scene, trotting along the chairs of the dining room and acting out the opening conversation with Pantaliamon (a disembodied voice at this stage) - absolutely perfectly; with vim and vigour.
• Lyra and Roger walking along the roofs of Jordan College, whilst Lyra boasts that Lord Asriel will want to use her as a warrior and a spy.
• Mrs Coulter walking up on to the High Table at Jordan. The Master is admonishing Lyra for not attending her scheduled classes with professors; Coulter enters - the men hastily stand - and she charms Lyra by saying that Lyra should just do what she wants.
• This scene is returned to later, with Coulter confiding in Lyra that Iofur Raknison wants to have a human daemon; the secret - which Lyra loves knowing - binding her to Coulter.
• Lyra and the Gyptians walking through the snow.
• Lord Asriel (Daniel Craig on screen at last) and Lyra walking in the gardens of Jordan College. Lyra has just saved Asriel's life, but he is cold to her and warns her to think nothing of Dust. Craig is very firm in this scene and the relationship between the two of them is caught quite well - it is certainly not a fatherly one. At last something of daemons is seen, with a placeholder spat between Stelmaria and Pan as their humans argue.
• Lyra wanting to say goodbye to Roger, but being whisked away by Mrs Coulter to London. The camera begins inside, but heads out to reveal the zeppelin docked in the quadrangle - it's quite an impressive image.
• A shot of the zeppelin entering London - this introduces us to the city and we see the Magisterium tower on the horizon.
• Farder Coram explaining to Lyra the difficulties of witches and mortal men falling in love.
• Iorek storming in to the priest's house in Trollesund to retrieve his armour. The police surround the house, aiming their rifles at the door and yelling in their language for him to come out. Iorek does eventually emerge - through the wall. Lyra runs forward to persuade him not to attack. And then, the only part of the footage which elicited an actual cheer from the crowd - Lee Scoresby's long-barrelled pistol enters the frame, nudging in to the cheek of the police commander. Sam Elliot introduces himself with a "Don't y'be doing anything hasty now," in a classic drawl that fits Scoresby perfectly. The Gyptians arrive and disarm the police.

All in all, the footage shows that the film has a very definite look to it. It's colourful without being garish. One oddity to note: Nicole Kidman pronounced 'day-mon' whilst Daniel Craig went with 'demon.'

Stunts

It's off to another stage now, to view some stunt action. Dakota has her very own double - a young girl named Sophie. Deborah Forte tells me she's quite something, before the stunt coordinator explains she's ten times European martial arts champion! The scene to be showcased today is the escape from Bolvangar - witches, Tartars, Gyptians, children and Iorek - it's quite the scene. The actor playing Tony Costa, Steven Loton, is a professional stunt actor and heavily involved in this scene - he punches, stabs and pulls men down as he helps the children to safety. The stuntmen - including Sophie - run through part of the scene for us after some lengthy tweaking owing to the absence of one of the planned stuntmen, who is otherwise engaged in the roof high above us.

To enable the witches to seem to fly, wires are used. There's one contraption which allows a flier to be pulled 360 degrees around a camera, which on shots looks like a simple horizontal movement - so can be used in many ways. Eva Green's double gives us a show, hands outstretched in a flying pose, and shows us her skill in pulling an air-arrow shot or two. Actual bows are used in filming, but as the coordinator explains, the arrows are later CGI additions. He seems a little disappointed. Some footage is shown of Eva Green herself spinning around on the machine; as she whizzes around repeatedly she pouts occasionally to the camera. Much more footage is shown of stunt actresses taking off and landing - there's a real lightness to the flight and an other-worldliness about it, no visible effort is put into ascension and landing is graceful, as befits a witch.

We are introduced to Nick, a man who Loves His Guns. With the impracticability of constructing their own guns from scratch, he and his team searched for obscure and beautiful guns from around the world - and are confident that the weapons eventually used have not been seen on screen anywhere else before. Each gun chosen for each character is a deliberate design choice. Lord Asriel carries an 1880s revolver and a rare Swiss Canton rifle with a huge reloading bolt. The Trollesund police pack a standard Russian WW1 rifle, whilst the Magisterium police bear a more advanced weapon, coloured back to match their uniforms. Nick gleefully showcases each gun by firing several dummy rounds from each, admonishing bystanders to stick their fingers in their ears.

It only gets louder with the Tartar's weapon - a 1960s Spanish police carbine, practically an assault rifle. This is the gun most frequently used in the Bolvangar scene we've just witnessed part of and has been modified to hold separate rounds, which give a lighter sound, so as not to alarm the child actors. The guns don't end there as Nick whips out a flintlock pistol - carried by Farder Coram he tells us, the character perhaps being made more muscular than in the book - he is certainly a younger actor. Amongst the Gyptians, John Faa lofts an 1870s Austrian model, with Tony Costa brandishes a pair of French pistols. Even Ma Costa reputedly packs a weapon - three we're told, one of which being a small sawn-off shotgun, whilst one always remains concealed. In the film, Ma Costa will be heading north with the men, as seen in some of the promotional stills.

Nick and his team's approach to the weaponry of the book is a microcosm of the film's design philosophy - Lyra's world is not to be any one recognisable period from our world, it will always remain truly alternate. The team have a clear vision for the pieces - the Gyptians' guns produce more smoke as they are not able to afford quality ammunition. Only Lee Scoresby has a very typical weapon - a Colt revolver and a Winchester rival, famous in America for "winning the west;" this is because it was felt that the character was a very traditional cowboy. In a scene where Lee shoots from his balloon, Sam Elliot reportedly wanted to use a revolver, not a rifle - better suited for long-range - as he thought his character was such a good shot. The big gun - literally - is saved for last: a Nock Volley, a gun so large the Royal Navy had to abandon it as too few men were strong enough to fire it. It is the Gyptians' special and Nick quips, "when this is fired, everyone in front of it falls over."

End

It may just be the occasion of a press jaunt on someone else's money, but the event is remarkably affable. There's a conspiratorial feel in the air as key concepts of the book are left unexplained, with everyone there knowing (or pretending to know) the details already, with a jump straight to the nitty-gritty. There is no explanation of the book as containing 'shape-shifting pet' or 'an adventure between worlds,' as dot the press releases and press coverage. Designers casually use terms such as 'anbaric' and 'photogram' when discussing their work. It's all quite giddy for the His Dark Materials fan.